PN Leader Simon Busuttil this morning insisted that the government had completely hijacked the authorities and the courts were the country's last hope for justice to be carried out and for the laws to apply to all.
Speaking on Radio 101, Busuttil referred to the recent sacking of two senior FIAU officials. "The FIAU is the state entity tasked with investigating money laundering. This is something that is expected of a European country and one that is a financial services sector. We have to protect our reputation and this is done by showing that we have serious and competent authorities that actually do their job."
The FIAU, he said, had investigated the PM's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and concluded that it had found reasonable suspicion that he had committed money laundering. "No action was taken against Schembri, who was retained in his position. The police failed to act for over a year and now, to add insult to injury, these two officials have been sacked."
"The message they are sending is that the government will remove the last shreds of seriousness left in these authorities – they are purging the people that do their jobs, the people the government does not want. The message is that in order to work with the government you have to do what Joseph Muscat wants. Our authorities are no longer functioning. The law does not apply for everyone. Our last hope is in our justice system."
Asked whether this would have an effect on the ongoing magisterial inquiries, Busuttil said he would not tell the magistrates what to do. But he said that they are the country's last hope for the law to be applied to all, for justice to be carried out. He reiterated that the courts have the proof at hand and one hoped that they would carry out their work in an impartial way and come up with their conclusions.
On the gay marriage bill Busuttil said both parties had promised to legalise gay marriage in their electoral manifestos so there is a clear mandate for it. "There is no other way of looking at this."
He drew a parallel to the 2011 divorce referendum, saying that the PN, despite not agreeing with the result, had bowed its head down to the will of the people. "In this case to the law should have everyone's support."
But he criticized the government's intention of removing the words husband, wife, mother and father from all our laws, replacing them with 'parent' and 'spouse'.
"If the governments wants consensus it should not have removed these words, but added the new terms in the law. The PN will be presenting 'common sense' amendments in this sense."
Admitting that this is a controversial law he urged respect towards those who disagreed with it, but reiterated that there was a mandate to introduce gay marriage.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2tzVRsS
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