Updated | Labour and PN in war of words over Police

After abandoning the Police Force for years on end, the Nationalist government is in panic two weeks before election day, Labour MP Michael Falzon said.

Falzon said that the Nationalist administration held two meetings with the Malta Police Association last week, in a desperate attempt to gain political mileage within the corps.

"After taking police officers for a ride on a number of issues, including the setting up of a house union and overtime payments, two meetings were held last week with the Malta Police Association in an attempt to repair the damage which had been done," Falzon said.

He explained that the meetings took place on Wednesday 13 February at the Prime Minister's office and the following day in Pietà. Falzon added that according to an internal Police memo, the meetings took place with the blessing of the Police Commissioner, John Rizzo.

"This shows that GonziPN has not given up on taking the Police for a ride till the very end, in order to gain political mileage without having any genuine interest in improving conditions in the Police Corps," Falzon said.

In reaction, the PN accused Labour of wanting to turn the Police Corps into a political instrument.

This was evident by Labour deputy leader Toni Abela's involvement in interfering in Police investigations, the PN added.

"On the other hand, in the past five years, the PN introduced a payment system which reflected the amount of hours police officers work, including special duty allowances," the PN said.

In the coming legislature, the PN would introduce a law which will unionise the police force, while on the other hand Labour's proposal would translate itself into a Labour run union, "putting citizens' security at risk."