Edwin Vassallo to Labour MPs: 'You’re talking bullsh*t'

A parliamentary debate on a motion filed by Nationalist MP Chris Said, calling for a board of inquiry to investigate claims made by journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, degenerated into an exchange of insults and accusations, with Edwin Vassallo even accusing government MPs of “talking bullsh*t”.

The motion – as amended by the government -  was approved with 36 votes in favour and 29 against.

The government had put forth four amendments to a motion which had been tabled by Said, asking for a board of inquiry to be set up to probe the writings and allegations made by journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was murdered on 16 October.

In a short but impassioned speech, Vassallo accused government MPs of “talking bullsh*t” and of not relating facts correctly.

Government MP Byron Camilleri said the government would be moving a number of amendments to the motion.

These included highlighting the police’s good work in the investigation and the respect which Malta has for the rule of law and European democratic values, and stating that Malta has functional institutions, including the police corps and armed forces, whose work was seen when ten people were arrested in connection with the murder while three men were arraigned in court.

Justice minister Owen Bonnici added the government was requesting that the text be changed to emphasise the role the police had in the arraignments. Similarly, government MP Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi said the motion should include the government’s efforts to strengthen the rule of law in Malta.

Said insisted that the amendments showed that the government was not willing to have a serious investigation on the murder.

“The amendments are a means of the government praising itself,” Said maintained, adding that the amendments showed that the government had something to hide, and was afraid to approve the motion as originally worded. Caruana Galizia was considered meddlesome by some, Said said, but she was doing her job.

The government had a role in creating the climate for the murder to happen, he claimed.

He told the House that the government had to do all it could to catch whoever had commissioned the crime, and not only those who had undertaken the order.

“Daphne was not killed on October 16 – her assassination happened long before. The perfect environment for her to be killed was created over a period of time. Her murder did  not happen in a country were the rule of law reigns supreme,” Said said.

Some commotion broke when Said claimed the government had labelled Caruana Galizia a ‘witch’, and had done all it could to discredit her, with government MP Glenn Bedingfield protesting loudly.

“What I want is that a serious and independent investigation takes place on Daphne’s writings,” Said reiterated, adding that the motion was in no way politically biased, and that those voting for the motion as amended by the government would show that they either have something to hide, or had no interest in seeing the countries institutions function correctly.

Democratic Party MP Marlene Farrugia said that what was being discussed was a result of an investigative journalist having been murdered under Joseph Muscat’s administration.

“Just because three people were arraigned in court does not mean that the killer has been caught. The murderer – the person who commissioned the three accused – is still roaming the streets as a free man.”

Turning to the motion, Farrugia said the government’s amendments completely eliminated the possibility of a serious investigation on Caruana Galizia’s claims, and that it was the MPs’ duty to vote in favour of the motion as tabled by Said.

Subsequently, the Prime Minister told the house that he had been lied about [when it came to claims that his wife owned the Panama company Egrant], and he had subsequently asked for an investigation about the allegations.

“I reiterate my and the government’s effort to ensure justice is done,” Muscat said.

This was followed by an impassioned speech by former PN deputy leader Beppe  Fenech Adami, who stressed that the government’s amendments to the motions were meant to stop a real investigation of Caruana Galizia’s allegations from taking place.

Opposition leader Adrian Delia, addressing the house towards the end of the debate, said that the rule of law implied that every person was subject to the law, including lawmakers, the police, and judges.

The motion, he said, had been tabled so that government officials, departments, the police corps, and the FIAU – that were the subject of Caruana Galizia’s claims – could be investigated.

“I did not hear anyone in this House, from either side, explain with which part of the original motion as tabled by Said they did not agree. I would thus vote in favour of the motion as tabled by Said, as I have nothing to hide,” he said.