Busuttil: ‘weak’ Muscat has lost his moral authority

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil hit out at an unprecedented decision by Prime Minsiter Joseph Muscat to ask home affairs minister Manuel Mallia to resign, while considering the contents of the report of a board of inquiry on the Sheehan shooting incident.

“The Prime Minister today continued to lose his moral authority, showing he is weak, and that he failed in his duties as prime minister,” Busuttil said.

Mallia was not pinpointed by a board of inquiry led by retired judge Albert Magri as having played part in a political cover-up of the shooting incident involving his security driver, Paul Sheehan; but Muscat said that he had asked Mallia to resign.

“While admitting that a cover-up was at hand as stated by the Opposition from the very start, the prime minister has show how weak he is when it comes to important decisions, and that he did not have the political or moral courage to remove Mallia despite wanting him to resign.”

Busuttil said the last three weeks since Sheehan shot twice at the car of Stephen Smith on 19 November, had been a show of lies upon lies. “It is clear that Muscat was more interested in covering up his actions than say the truth and take political responsibility... his credibility has been dented and today the people are right in doubting what he says.”