European Parliament urges Maltan premier to resign

The European parliament has called on Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, to quit immediately over his handling of the investigation into the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, as it declared there were “serious and persistent threats” to democracy and the rule of law on the island nation.

In a resolution approved by a large majority, the European parliament said it was deeply concerned about “the integrity and credibility” of the investigation into the death of Caruana Galizia, who exposed the shady financial dealings of Maltese elite and was murdered in a car bombing in October 2017, The Guardian reports.

The journalist’s assassination has turned the spotlight on Malta’s governing class, raising questions about its record in tackling corruption and money laundering, as well as the sale of “golden” passports that allowed wealthy people to live anywhere in the EU.

While the resolution cannot compel the Maltese government to act, it heaps pressure on the embattled prime minister, who has promised to stand down on 12 January. Two-time election winner Joseph Muscat announced his resignation earlier this month, after it emerged his chief of staff was about to be questioned by police in connection with the case.

The MEP resolution states that anything “whether perceived or real” that compromised the investigation into Caruana Galizia’s murder had to be excluded, but that “this risk [of compromise] persists for as long as the prime minister remains in office”.

A European parliament press statement to accompany the resolution was more direct: “Maltese prime minister should resign now.” But the parliament retracted that statement a few hours later, returning to the more cautious wording of the resolution described by one source as “a very roundabout way of saying he should resign now”.

The resolution was approved by 581 of the 690 MEPs who voted in Strasbourg, with 83 voting against and 26 abstaining.