Adrian Delia asks that Tony Zarb be stripped of Gieh ir-Repubblika award

Adrian Delia is asking that Tony Zarb be stripped of his Gieh ir-Repubblika award, following comments the former General Workers Union leader made regarding murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

In September, Zarb had said that what mattered for Malta when it came to Caruana Galizia was that she “would never be returning”.

Delia presented a motion to the Speaker of the House asking for Parliament to debate the revocation of the award which Zarb had been given, following the “hateful comments” he had made in public about the slain journalist.

“In light of the various appeals by a number of MPs in the past months - including by the Prime Minister, the Speaker, and by the President - the Opposition feels the need to present a motion in order for it to be concretely demonstrated that everyone wants hate speech to stop,” Delia said.

He emphasised that the Maltese people should no longer be made to believe that such comments were in any way acceptable, all the more when they were made by somebody who was given the highest honour Malta could bestow on a person.

He went on to appeal for unity in Parliament in the fight against all that creates division.

The motion was approved unanimously by the PN parliamentary group during a meeting last week.