Valletta protest: Coalition of 22 organisations call for a ‘cleaner’ Malta

Protestors took to the streets in Valletta to call for a “clean Malta” (Malta Nadifa) and protest the prime minister’s recent comments against journalists and the judiciary.

People marched from the former opera house to Great Siege Square and waved Maltese flags as they chanted "Mafia" and "Daphne was right".

Rule of law group Repubblika organised the protest alongside a coalition of 22 organisations uniting for a clean Malta.

Addressing the crowd, Repubblika’s honorary president Robert Aquilina recalled how a similar crowd took down Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in 2019 after weeks of protests.

“Like we did in the last two months of 2019, we took to the streets tonight, and we will continue doing so until justice reigns,” Aquilina said.

“Six months before we took another important step to rid ourselves of this deception and abuse,” he said, referring to Repubblika’s request to open a magisterial inquiry into the sale of three public hospitals.

Aquilina thanked lawyer and former PN MP Jason Azzopardi, “without whom we could have never gotten here”. Azzopardi is Repubblika’s lawyer.

Aquilina warned that, despite the conclusion of the magisterial inquiry, and a raft of charges against former and current public officials, “each step brings major risks and obstacles”.

“Prime Minister Robert Abela is giving into pressure and threats from Muscat because he is weak, and instead of defending our country’s honest citizens and the institutions working with integrity, he is repeating and building on Muscat’s attacks.”

“This is why, as Repubblika, we brought together our Maltese activist friends […] groups of brave Maltese and Gozitans who dedicate their time and skills towards the common good.”

“In unity there is strength, and tonight we are 22 organisations fighting for what is right, united for a clean Malta.”

This protest comes after the Vitals magisterial inquiry was concluded earlier this month, and has led to criminal charges against former prime minister Joseph Muscat, his former chief of staff Keith Schembri, and former minister Konrad Mizzi, among others.

The organisations endorsing the protest are: UĦM, Aditus, KSU, Occupy Justice, Vuċi Kollettiva, Fondazione Falcone, SOS Malta, Kunsill Nazzjonali taż-Żgħażagħ, manueldealia.com, ICT Student’s Association, Medical Biochemistry Students Association, Media and Knowledge Science Association, jef Malta, SDM, PEN Malta and Moviment Graffitti.