Public inquiry recommendations will take time to implement, Abela says

The implementation of the public inquiry recommendations will take time, the Prime Minister has said but government is activley working to draw up the necessary legislation.

Robert Abela said several internal meetings were held to discuss the recommendations, including with authorities and stakeholders over the past since the inquiry was published. The results of those discussions will eventually be beefed up with legislation that will be tabled in parliament, he said.

However, he emphasised that the recommendations will not take shape overnight, and highlighted that the inquiry itself took a year and a half to complete its work.

“The public inquiry and its report established several facts, but in its recommendations the inquiry talks about principles and recommendations for change,” Abela said. “The inquiry took a year and a half to set those principles.”

Abela has come under fire from certain quarters for not taking concrete action since the publication of the inquiry report.

The Prime Minister reiterated his government's commitment to good governance, and emphasised that the reforms should be long-lasting.

On reforms that impact the journalistic profession, Abela said a meeting was held with the Institute of Maltese Journalists and elicited the participation of all stakeholders in the sector.

He added that he wants to spearhead proper anti-SLAPP legislation to prevent the use of lawsuits that financially cripple journalists. However, one concern he mentioned was that the legislation could conflict with other laws under the Code of Organisational and Civil Procedure.

"In principle we agree journalists should be protected by anti-SLAPP legislation but the question is how to achieve it," he said.

After hearing witnesses across Maltese government and business circles, the public inquiry deemed the State responsible for having “created an atmosphere of impunity, generated by the highest echelons at the heart of Castille”.

The public inquiry had been requested by the Caruana Galizia family and after resisting it, the government gave in on the matter in late 2019 when a Council of Europe resolution lambasted Malta over the matter. The inquiry board was eventually set up weeks before the arrest of Tumas Group businessman Yorgen Fenech, who stands accused of masterminding the assassination.

His arrest prompted the resignation of his business partner Keith Schembri, who was chief of staff to former prime minister Joseph Muscat. Following a string of protests in Valletta, Muscat also tendered his resignation.

Asked to react to Muscat's recent statement in an interview that he will not exclude a return to politics, the Prime Minister avoided answering whether he would allow him back. The Prime Minister said Muscat’s resignation as prime minister and subsequently as a member of parliament, made his position "crystal clear". "These are speculative questions that have already been answered," he said.