Guardian of the Future Generations Maurice Mizzi resigns

Maurice Mizzi has resigned from Chairman of the Guardian for Future Generations. Environment Minister José Herrera has accepted his resignation.

In a statement from the Environment Ministry, Herrera said he thanked Mizzi for "his dedication shown in his work during the past two years of his tenure... noting the valuable feedback given on various subjects related to sustainable development."

In May of this year, Herrera had called for an urgent meeting with Mizzi over an anti-Muslim rant during an interview with The Times of Malta.

In the interview, businessman Mizzi had ostensibly argued that Muslims were "taking over" the country and that something should be done by government to stop them from entering.

“We are living in a Catholic country, and when I die, I want to die in a Catholic country. At the moment, there are so many Muslims coming – they’re all having nine babies, next to our two – and they will take over eventually," he had said.

Following the tirade, several NGOs called for Mizzi's dismissal.

They pointed out that Mizzi’s role is to “endeavour to facilitate closer collaboration between all stakeholders in the pursuit of the right balance between socio-economic development and environmental stewardship in the Maltese Islands”.

The statement released by the government on Friday said that Mizzi tended his resignation of his own accord.