[WATCH] Abela is attacking institutions he cannot control, PN leader tells protestors

Robert Abela is attacking the institutions he cannot control, Bernard Grech said while addressing a protest outside parliament on Monday.

“The Prime Minister has attacked three institutions - journalists, parliament and the judiciary. What do these institutions have in common? They are the three democratic institutions which cannot be controlled by him,” he told protestors.

The protest was called by party leader Bernard Grech last week after it was reported that former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, former minister Konrad Mizzi and former OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri will be charged with money laundering, fraud and making fraudulent gain, as well as conspiracy to commit an offence punishable by imprisonment for more than four years and participating in a criminal organisation.

Hundreds attended the protest, with Nationalist MP Adrian Delia delivering the opening speech.

“We are living in unprecedented times, and all the PM is doing is protecting the fraudsters and the corrupt,” he told those present. “They stole from us, and yet he continues to protect them.”

MP Adrian Delia

Halfway through Delia’s speech, Labour MPs walked out from the parliament building and the crowd started booing and shouting ‘mafia, mafia’.

In his speech, Bernard Grech said protestors were not there because they are Nationalist, but because they are Maltese and Gozitans protesting against those ravaging the country.

“For the PM and the Speaker, this building behind me is not the country’s highest institution, but a bunker where they hide from democracy,” Grech said.

He said that under a Labour administration, people wake up to a new scandal every day, unlike the times under a Nationalist government, when people used to be proud of being Maltese.

Grech said he understands people who are disillusioned by politics “in such an ugly time for the country”. “But on the 8 June, you cannot allow Robert Abela to tell you what to do, but you have to tell him what to do.”

“I know there are those among you who voted for ‘Malta taghna lkoll’ (a Malta for us all), but you realised it was a Malta for them only,” Grech said in a dig at the Labour party slogan for the 2013 general election.

He made reference to international reports over the charges filed against former public officials, saying the reputation built by Nationalist administrations has been torn down by Labour governments.

“I don’t enjoy saying this, but I know it will be you and your families who end up bearing the brunt for all this,” he said. “This is the Malta Abela wants.”

Party secretary general Michael Piccinino also addressed the protest, slamming government attempts to take over the country’s institutions.