Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/430850
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 DECEMBER 2014 News 4 PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD 'Muscat has failed his first real test of leadership' – Busuttil TIM DIACONO PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat "failed his first true test of leader- ship" when he requested Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia to resign instead of sacking him on the spot, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said. Addressing a news conference around two hours before Mallia was indeed sacked and replaced by La- bour whip Carmelo Abela, Busuttil claimed that Muscat was "incapa- ble" of sacking Mallia. "Muscat is weak, he cannot control his Cabinet and has failed in his first real test of leadership," Busuttil told journalists yesterday. "How good is the Prime Minister's political judge- ment if he took three weeks to come to a decision that was obvious and logical from the start? "Even then, he was too scared to sack Mallia and asked him to resign instead. How can people now trust the Prime Minister to take harder and less obvious decisions?" He insisted that an inquiry by three retired judges into the shoot- ing incident involving Mallia's driver Paul Sheehan and Scotsman- Maltese Stephen Smith had failed to put people's mind at rest because "it did not uncover the whole truth". According to the inquiry board, "before going to bed", Muscat had e-mailed his communications chief Kurt Farrugia to verify facts with the police commissioner before re- leasing an official statement on the shooting incident. The statement released by Farrugia inaccurately stated that Sheehan had fired "warn- ing shots into the air". "How could the Prime Minister go to sleep when faced with such a grave situation involving his minis- ter's driver?" Busuttil questioned. "Is he a fit-for-purpose Prime Minister? Did he really go to sleep?" He repeated his challenge to Mus- cat to publish all his mobile phone call-logs on the night of the shoot- ing incident "to prove that he's say- ing the truth and nothing but the truth". He also said that the inquiry board should have questioned Muscat and his Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri, and that the testimonies received by the board should be published in full to ensure transparency. While stressing that the inquiry report showed that Mallia was re- sponsible for the incorrect statement issued on the night of the shooting, the PN leader criticised it for "ab- solving" Kurt Farrugia of blame. "Since the board concluded that Mallia should shoulder political responsibility because he hadn't checked the statement's factuality, it's only logical that Farrugia has to shoulder responsibility as well," Busuttil said. "After all, he wrote the statement and had two and a half hours to verify the facts. The in- quiry found nothing against Farru- gia because if it had, then the Prime Minister would have been politically responsible." He also expressed hope that Mal- lia's super ministry's portfolio of national security, citizenship, lands, film and public broadcasting would be split up between different minis- tries. Indeed it has since been split up, with Justice and Culture Minis- ter Owen Bonnici taking control of public broadcasting and Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis taking control of film. 'Police force in a state of distrust' Muscat has also sacked acting police commissioner Ray Zammit after the inquiry found that he had acted with "gross negligence" by in- sisting on the night of the incident that Sheehan had fired warning shots, even after witnessing Smith's bullet-holed rear windscreen with his own eyes. Former security serv- ices head Michael Cassar has now taken up the role of police commis- sioner, while Zammit has returned to his previous post of deputy com- missioner. When asked whether he has faith in Cassar, Busuttil said that Cassar has a lot of responsibil- ity on his shoulders to ensure that the police force is run properly and that it charges people in court when required. "The police force is in a state of distrust that it hasn't been in for a long time," Busuttil said. "We'll wait and see whether Cassar will rise to the occasion." However, he criticised Muscat's announcement that Zammit will re- turn to his previous role. "Zammit didn't handle the situa- tion professionally and he definitely had to shoulder responsibility but the Prime Minister needs to explain why he has now returned to a sec- ond-in-command position," Busut- til said. Cassar has now become the fourth police commissioner in the 22 months since Labour's election to government, following John Rizzo, Peter Paul Zammit and Ray Zam- mit. "The government removed a very able police commissioner in John Rizzo," Busuttil said. However, Busuttil refused to re- spond to the inquiry board's dis- covery that Mallia's chief of staff, Silvio Scerri, had first told them that he had had nothing to do with the statement before later admitting that he had added the part that said that the shots were fired "in the air. "Scerri will resign along with Mal- lia, so I have nothing to add about him," Busuttil said. AD slams government's 'weak and indecisive' treatment of Mallia MATTHEW AGIUS ALTERNATTIVA Demokratika has described prime minister Joseph Muscat as "weak and indecisive" and Manuel Mallia as "the albatross around the Muscat government's neck". AD chairperson Prof. Arnold Cas- sola told reporters that "while the prime minister is admitting that there was a cover-up, all the blame has been shifted onto the Acting Commissioner of Police, Ray Zam- mit". "Muscat should have made a deci- sion on the morning of the 20th. The fact that this did not happen shows that he is not a strong leader", said Cassola. The decision by the prime minister to give Mallia the choice of stepping down was "the ridiculous decision of a weak prime minister who, for some reason, is scared of taking any action against Mallia and his clan," he said. "When the prime minister wants to be decisive he can be", said the AD chairperson, adding that he was con- vinced that the firing of Mallia took place solely due to the groundswell of public opinion against him. Also addressing the media out- side the Auberge de Castille, AD's deputy chairman Carmel Cacopardo described the question of political responsibility as "the most impor- tant part" of the report following the magisterial inquiry into the shooting incident last month. "Political responsibility is only dis- cussed when parties are in opposi- tion and forgotten when they are in government", said Cacopardo, adding that the report of the inquiry criticis- es appointments based on "political loyalties, nepotism, friendships and other unworthy considerations". "It is difficult to imagine a more clear and severe condemnation of the Maltese political system, which in- vokes sanctity and principles while in Opposition but then forgets all when in government." "Mallia got to the point where he could challenge the prime minister," said Cacopardo. "This is the worst form of arrogance against the prime minister and the Maltese people." The leaking of phone calls between the police control room and officer Sheehan "cast a long shadow on the security of the state," Cacopardo said, adding that this exposes a lack of se- curity in the corps. "How do we know that criminals are not able to do the same?" he wondered. He described the incident as casting a long shadow over the Police force as a whole, which obscures the fact it is largely made up of "good, dedicated people." He said the force now has lots of work ahead of it to pick up the pieces and expressed the party's solidarity with the force, saying that AD is "four square behind these better elements in the police force who are acting in the national interest and making their best efforts to ensure that the Police force reacquires the public's confidence." Prof. Cassola and AD representatives addressing the media Busuttil: The Prime Minister is weak