[WATCH] Mallia 'still has a role to play' – Muscat

Joseph Muscat says dismissed minister Manuel Mallia still has a role to play • Video by Ray Attard

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat today said that sacked minister Manuel Mallia still has a role to play in government, insisting “nobody should be discarded.”

Refuting claims that he gave Mallia an option to stay on, Muscat said “contrary to what the opposition is claiming I gave Mallia two options, he could either resign or I would have sacked him.”

Explaining that first contact with Mallia on Monday was done through his chief of staff Keith Schembri, Muscat said he gave the disgraced former minister an option to go gracefully or otherwise face the sack.

Describing Mallia as a “friend,” Muscat said he respected Mallia “personally and professionally” but the minister had to “pay the ultimate price” for his involvement in the Sheehan shooting case. 

Claiming that he was still on good terms with Mallia, the Prime Minister thanked him and said that although the sacked minister was “hurt” the doors were open for him.

“I’m sure he’ll continue giving a valid contribution,” Muscat said, adding that the same applied for Mallia’s former chief of staff Silvio Scerri.

Insisting that the inquiry report did not apportion any blame on Scerri, Muscat said it was up to the new home affairs minister to pick his aides.

Asked whether it would have been wiser to sack Mallia immediately after the incident instead of allowing the saga to drag on for weeks, Muscat said “maybe I could have opted to suspend Mallia while the inquiry was being held.”

“Will we do things differently in the future? Yes, we can always learn and do things in a better way.”

Standing alongside new home affairs minister Carmelo Abela and new police chief Michael Cassar, Muscat underlined the importance of “humility,” adding that restoring the people’s trust in the police force was now a priority.

However, a bullish Muscat, who has been accused of showing weakness in dealing with Mallia, said people were “astonished” by his willingness to take difficult decisions.

Describing the shooting as an “ugly episode,” Muscat said his decision to give Mallia an option to either resign or be sacked showed that his government tackled the crisis “promptly” and asked for an independent body to investigate the matter before taking a decision.

“Things have now changed, unlike previous governments we have installed the European culture of accountability,” he said.

Insisting that all politicians, himself included, should read and take heed from the inquiry report’s conclusions, Muscat said accountability should not only be a priority for the opposition party.

He also slammed PN leader Simon Busuttil for being selective in the broadcasts of police phone recordings, adding that Busuttil’s only intention was that of shifting blame on people such as his communications chief Kurt Farrugia who have been absolved by the inquiry.

“This was dishonest on his party, especially when he had all the recordings,” Muscat said, adding that Busuttil should shoulder responsibility for putting “undue political pressure” on the retired judges leading the inquiry.

He went on to warn Busuttil to take a good look around him because he was surrounded by people who were in involved in abuse of power.

Muscat also said that despite the opposition’s motion of no confidence in Mallia was now “redundant,” government would be holding talks with the opposition to hold a debate on Wednesday to analyse what happened, understand what went wrong and discuss what needs to be done.