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MALTATODAY 19 January 2025

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KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT SUNDAY 19 JANUARY 2025 • ISSUE 1315 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Reform or restriction? PN jus PN justice spokesperson Karol tice spokesperson Karol Aquilina says proposed reforms Aquilina says proposed reforms to magisterial inquiries aim to to magisterial inquiries aim to restrict citizens' rights restrict citizens' rights INTERVIEW INTERVIEW MT2 MT2 maltatoday Number of personal cars increased at a slower rate in post- COVID years PAGES 2 - 3 How Gaddafi backed local music projects promoting his political ideas PAGES 10 - 11 On the road Funk diplomacy €1.95 Abela's magisterial battle to lump PN with the 'extremists' ROBERT Abela has set his eyes on a new political battle - associating the Nationalist Party with Repubblika and Jason Azzopardi. His aim is to appease the Labour Party's core vote and appear tough with political opponents and government critics. His cause is a yet undisclosed reform of magisterial inquiries to protect ministers and government functionaries from judicial scrutiny. The collateral damage is the ordinary cit- izen's right to request magisterial inquiries. Over the past few weeks Abela has tried to dictate the narrative by trying to depict ri- val Bernard Grech as a hostage of NGO Re- pubblika and former MP Jason Azzopardi. Abela has called the latter two "extremists" because of the indiscriminate way they have called for magisterial inquiries. The Prime Minister has characterised his reform as an act to stamp out abuse by these 'extremists'. Little does it matter that the system in place today does have in-built safeguards, or that any decision to prose- cute rests with the Attorney General, or that the PL in the past had vehemently opposed moves to stifle inquiries. It is the political gamble that Abela is bank- ing on to shore up his stature within the PL, several Labour sources suggest. The Prime Minister also believes that taking on Azzo- pardi and Repubblika will win him sympa- thy among the wider electorate. Whether the gamble will work still has to be seen, especially when it was a magisterial inquiry that led to a former prime minister being charged with corruption in the Vitals deal. Nonetheless, the scenario has left PN strategists wondering how to navigate the situation. The party wants to appear tough in standing up for ordinary citizens without appearing as if it is being led by forces out- side its control. The PN so far has had partial success in dictating the narrative. It came out strongly against Abela's reform, even forcing a roll call vote in parliament on the First Reading, an unorthodox move by all counts. Its jus- tice spokesperson Karol Aquilina has also pledged that a PN administration will re- verse any changes the government decides to push through. But in doing so, the PN is treading a fine line. Party sources have told MaltaToday the PN remains wary of being associated with the actions of Repubblika and Azzopardi, who are not burdened with the expectation of being a government-in-waiting. "Bernard Grech has to be out there more; he has to be the one calling the shots within the PN; he has to show he is in charge of this battle from the Opposition benches," the sources said. As the 'magisterial battle' unfolds, the ini- tial skirmish will be to dictate the narrative as a sceptical electorate tries to understand why Abela appears miffed by judicial scruti- ny; why Grech is calling this a restriction of citizen rights; why Azzopardi would request five magisterial inquiries on Christmas Eve, largely based on news reports; why the two main parties have swapped roles, 19 years after a similar fight. Welcome, to Season 1 of the Magisterial Battle! PAGES 5 - 8 When Labour accused the PN of fascist tactics • A quick guide to inquiries • Owen Bonnici on the 'blue heroes'

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