A political and institutional crisis within the Republic of Malta followed the uncovering of alleged links between government officials and the 2017 assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and Minister for Tourism Konrad Mizzi resigned following the arrest of businessman Yorgen Fenech in connection with the murder.
On 1 December 2019, the former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced his intention to resign on 12 January 2020 after increased pressure from 2019 Maltese protests. An EU mission called for his immediate resignation. Constitutional experts, legal bodies and other representatives stated Muscat's decision to remain in office until January 2020 and to have a six week parliamentary recess over Christmas had led to a constitutional crisis.
Background
Since accession to the EU in 2004, Malta enjoyed a financial boom fuelled by online gambling, crypto-currency exchanges, the sale of EU-citizenship, and a financial centre with a reputation for lax controls on money laundering and tax evasion. According to The Guardian, the country has been used as a gateway into Europe for money from Libya, Azerbaijan, Russia and Venezuela.
In 2018, the European Central Bank revoked the licence of Pilatus Bank, which had first been investigated by the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, after its Iranian owner was arrested on sanctions-busting charges by US prosecutors. Among other things, Caruana Galizia wrote about gifts and money from the presidential family in Azerbaijan to Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, his wife and connections between opposition leader Adrian Delia and a prostitution ring in London. She has been described as "one-woman-Wikileaks" and one of the most important, visible and fearless journalists of the country. She ran a popular blog called Running Commentary, which investigated allegations of corruption and other criminal wrongdoing which Caruana Galizia alleged, ran into the highest levels of Maltese government. In a murder plot, she was killed in a car bomb attack to her Peugeot 108 on 16 October 2017.
Persons involved in the crisis
Yorgen Fenech
Yorgen Fenech served as head of Tumas Group and a director of energy company Electrogas until he resigned from both positions in 2019. In 2018 he was identified as the owner of a Dubai-registered company, called 17 Black. The company was listed in the Panama Papers. Caruana Galizia had written about 17 Black eight months before her death, alleging the company had links to the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's chief of staff Keith Schembri and to former energy minister Konrad Mizzi. The political blogger Manuel Delia assumes Fenech wanted to cover up a bribe scandal, which Caruana had uncovered. Yorgen Fenech's "17 Black" company had spent millions on offshore accounts of several Labour Government ministers, evidence was found only after Caruana Galizia´s murder.
Joseph Muscat
Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta, promised a fair investigation after the murder. In November 2019, clues pointed directly to the immediate circle of the head of government in the case. Since his resignation as Prime Minister in January 2020, Muscat is a back bench MP in the Labour Party.
Keith Schembri
Keith Schembri was chief of staff of the Office of the Prime Minister. He is said to be one of the most powerful persons in Maltese politics. Schembri was the subject of Caruana Galizia's last blog post, minutes before she got killed. Caruana Galizia alleged he had benefited from secretive shell companies.
Schembri was a successful businessman before entering politics. His Kasco Holding bought paper, sold it to the printers in Malta and expanded into the trade of printing machines. His many clients included the Times of Malta, the oldest newspaper of Malta. Control of newsprint supplies allowed Schembri to often put pressure on newspapers to suppress or promote stories. Kasco also invested in beverage brands, restaurants and luxury furniture. In 2008, Joseph Muscat brought his friend Schembri to the Labour Party. Schembri updated the stale communication style of Partit Laburista. In 2013, Schembri was appointed as the "Chief of staff", a newly created position in the organigram of the ruling government.