Angelo Gafa reappointed Police Commissioner

Angelo Gafa’s appointment as Police Commissioner has been extended for a further four years, the Home Affairs Ministry said on Saturday.

"In the last years and months, the police corps revamped its systems to become closer to citizens," the ministry said in its statement.

Angelo Gafà was formally appointed police commissioner after his nomination was approved by parliament’s public appointments committee back in 2020. He was the first police commissioner to not be directly appointed by the prime minister.

This time round he needed the Public Service Commission’s approval for the contract to be renewed.

The ministry also said public trust is high in the police, saying it improved its governance and managed to agree on a new collective agreement.

In his initial reaction, Opposition leader Bernard Grech slammed the decision, saying the county deserves an objective commissioner who does not favour anyone, and does not defend the interests of the Labour Party.

The Nationalist leader said he would keep insisting Malta needs a police commissioner which has a two-thirds approval by the House of Representatives.

Robert Aquilina from Repubblika, a strong critic of Gafa, said police officers who spoke to him said they consider his reappointment as an insult.

"Because of Angelo Gafa's leadership style, the police are demoralised and demotivated," he said.

He also said they told him Gafa does not represent the police’s values.