Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/430850
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 DECEMBER 2014 News 5 CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 But the bull- ish Muscat – now accused of showing weakness in dealing with Mallia – in- sisted that the general public was "as- tonished" by his "steadfast willingness to take difficult decisions". Describing the shooting as an "ugly episode", Muscat said his decision to give Mallia an option to either resign or be sacked showed that his govern- ment tackled the crisis "promptly" and asked for an independent body to investigate the matter before taking a decision. "Things have now changed, un- like previous governments we have installed the European culture of ac- countability," he said. Insisting that all politicians, himself included, should read and take heed from the inquiry report's conclusions, Muscat said accountability should not be a priority only for the opposition party. He also slammed PN leader Simon Busuttil for being selective in the broadcasts of police phone record- ings, adding that Busuttil's only inten- tion was that of shifting blame on peo- ple, such as his communications chief, Kurt Farrugia, who has been absolved by the inquiry. "This was dishonest on his part, especially when he had all the record- ings," Muscat said, adding that Busut- til should shoulder responsibility for putting "undue political pressure" on the retired judges conducting the in- quiry. He warned Busuttil to "take a good look around him" because he was sur- rounded by people who were involved in abuse of power. Muscat also said that despite the Opposition's motion of no confidence in Mallia being made "redundant", the government would be holding talks with the Opposition to hold a debate on Wednesday to analyse what hap- pened, understand what went wrong and discuss what needs to be done. Yesterday evening, government and opposition agreed to hold a discussion today between 6.30pm and 9.30pm. 90 minutes will be allocated for each side. The debate will be opened by the government and concluded by the op- position. Carmelo Abela sworn in as minister Muscat slams 'dishonest' PN leader JURGEN BALZAN HOME affairs minister Manuel Mallia's replacement, Carmelo Abela, was sworn in yesterday in a ceremony at the Palace in Val- letta. "The Prime Minister has shown that he has faith in me," Abela said in his first comments to the media. "Naturally, I am ready to take on the responsibility that has been entrusted to me and I will look to the future to ensure that what needs to happen will happen." Mallia's portfolio, which includ- ed national security, citizenship, lands, film and public broadcast- ing, is expected to be split between three ministries: with Owen Bon- nici taking the Public Broadcasting Services, and tourism minister Ed- ward Zammit Lewis to take film. On Monday, Mallia was asked by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to tender his resignation follow- ing the publication of the inquiry report on the shooting incident in- volving Mallia's driver Paul Shee- han. Acting police commissioner Ray Zammit has been replaced by se- curity services head Michael Cas- sar. Abela, 42, will be government Whip until the end of the year. He was recently appointed as a gov- ernment spokesperson, pocketing a €30,000 salary for this role apart from another €10,000 in expenses, and over €30,000 for his role as MP and Whip. A former deputy Speaker, Abela has been an MP since 1996 and has been returned to the House ever since. As an MP he shadowed youth and sport, and education, and then social policy. He is mar- ried to Melanie with two children. 'Muscat dragged the country through three weeks of agony' – PN In a response, the Nationalist Party said that Muscat "has finally done what he should have done three weeks ago". "The Prime Minister dragged the country through three weeks of ag- ony, during which he showed that he is incapable of forming proper political judgement as is expected of him as a Prime Minister," the PN said in a statement. "Instead, he dragged his feet until he was left with no other choice than to do what he should have done from the start and sack Manuel Mallia." The Opposition added that it is thanks to themselves, their media and the independent media that Manuel Mallia has been sacked. "If it had been up to Muscat, Mallia would have remained the Home Affairs Minister, despite the shooting incident involving his driver," the PN said. The party repeated leader Simon Busuttil's criticism of the inquiry report for "leaving doubts as to whether the whole truth has come out". "It did not in any way find Mus- cat's communications chief, Kurt Farrugia, responsible, Muscat and his Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri, weren't interrogated, the docu- ments annexed to the inquiry re- port haven't been published, and the whole truth about Muscat's telephone calls on the night of the incident has not yet come out. "We now leave it up to the people to judge whether the Prime Min- ister is truly capable of shoulder- ing the responsibility that his job entails. His credibility has taken a large knock and the people are doubting his word." PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD Carmelo Abela taking his oath of office as home affairs minister, administered by President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca Muscat: "Opposition leader was selective"