Malta’s prime minister Joseph Muscat announced yesterday he will leave his post on January 12, after 2 weeks of protests in the capital La Valletta.
Prime minister Muscat’s decision came after weeks of demonstrations amid a political crisis that hit the country after journalist Galizia was killed in October 2017.
His decision left the demonstrators unhappy, especially the family of the murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia that asked him to resign immediately.
The streets of Valletta, Malta’s precious capital city, was crowded with thousands of people screaming and chanting against politicians and the government for the past 2 weeks. “Mafia”, “Barra”, “Assassini” (Mafia, Out, Murderers).
Among them, Luca, 26, a sound designer that decided to dedicate his free time and take some leaves from work to assist the massive gatherings. He said, preferring not to revealing his family name: “This is the worst scandal of our history as independent country”.
Yesterday night, when President Joseph Muscat announced he would continue being Prime Minister for 6 more weeks, people in the streets became angrier. Luca stressed that “Maltese people just want him to leave. People do not trust him at all. This is a step to make justice towards Galizia’s family and the corruption scandals that happen in the country”.
“Muscat does not want to leave because he still wants to show that he has done something to address the issue but he is the most corrupt leader our country has ever seen”.
“Proofs that Malta’s Prime Minister is directly involved in Galizia’s murder are not straightforward. But of course, his administration tried to hide many evidences and help protecting some suspects since he is in control of the secret services, the police and the government”.
Luca has been protesting for many years against corruption. So far, all the gatherings have been mostly peaceful.
“I am really proud of seeing a big change in my country. Only 5 years ago, not so many people would have protested. Now you can feel that the people in Malta, who are used to the corruption scandals, are finally fed up. Many people gathered to scream, chanting with us. The murder of Daphne affected the country so much that people started opening their eyes and under standing what is wrong. We were 5 thousand yesterday” he added.
As many others, left disappointed after the PM announcement yesterday night, he will continue demonstrating: “All Maltese want him out now. He still has time till Wednesday to make the right decision and give the power to his deputy in order to let the democratic process do its job in January and elect a new PM. Today at 4PM, Tomorrow, Wednesday, we will keep protesting in front of the parliament”.
Known as the biggest scandal that ever happened in the country, the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 started a big fight against corruption and mafia in the small Mediterranean country.
Galizia died after a bomb planted under the driver’s seat of her rental car detonated as she left her home. She was known for her revelations on big corruption scandals involving Joseph Muscat’s administration. However, direct ties between the government and the murder have still not been found.