Malta’s Political Crisis to Assassinate Journalist. The Maltese government has fallen into crisis due to recent arrests in the case of the death of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The Chief of Staff of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Keith Schembri, and the Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi stepped up on Tuesday because of the case. The Minister of Economic Affairs Christian Cardona put himself inactive because he was questioned on Saturday.
Cardona says it has nothing to do with the case and is temporarily withdrawing “out of national interest”. This is pending the conclusions of the police investigation into the murder of the investigative journalist in 2017. Cardona was briefly questioned by the police on Saturday regarding the case. In their own words to provide clarification.
Although he resigned, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi denies any involvement in the murder. After a long thought, I decided to leave. This is out of loyalty for the prime minister and our country. I see it as my duty to resign so that the government can sit out its term of office in peace. I will keep my seat in parliament, “he said to Maltese media.
According to Mizzi, there is no connection – direct or indirect – between him and the Dubai-registered firm 17 Black and the Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech.
The latter was arrested last week because of his ties with that company, which appeared in an investigation into corruption of the murdered investigative journalist. He said he wanted to talk Saturday in exchange for a government pardon. On Monday, an intermediary in the case received grace after he had provided information.
Chief of Staff Joseph Keith Schembri resigned after being questioned by the police for a long time in connection with the murder investigation.
Investigative journalist Galizia regularly wrote about politicians and corruption, and the names of Schembri and Mizzi often emerged.