European Interest

Rule of law ‘breaking down’ in Malta

Flickr/Neil Howard/CC BY-NC 2.0
A view of La Valletta, capital of Malta.

The rule of law in Malta in breaking down and the government is trying to silence dissenters. This is according to the Democratic Party (PD).

In a statement one year after Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, who was re-elected to office, PD said the prime minister did not humanise and consolidate politics whose core value is the dignity of all persons, and the common good?

“We saw the dismantling of our national institutions continuing unabated. In fact, those implicated in political scandals continue in office and are even appointed to steer capital projects,” PD said in a statement.

“We would have also expected some serious effort in developing a national master plan that would anticipate and plan adequately so that our landscape and character be preserved. In contrast, we continue to see our congested environment daily degenerating into a cosmopolitan concrete jungle. Our countryside, especially our valleys, has continued to be raped. And trees, even protected ones, have suddenly becoming the country’s number one enemy and are being chopped down indiscriminately.”

“Our expectations for good governance from a serious EU member state, where the culture of common decency with the spirit of the law being honoured, could go on and on, but instead we even encountered intensified attacks on free speech, culminating in the vindictive killing of a journalist who dared criticise. The rule of law is visibly breaking down, with impunity for the powerful, and hate speech, trying – and often managing – to silence anyone who dares to continue criticising,” the PD said.

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