PN says emergency landing incident exposes serious security shortcomings; PL replies

The Nationalist Party said Friday that two days after several individuals escaped following an emergency landing flight at the airport, there has been absolute silence from the Government."A gag has been placed on the responsible authorities to expla

By: independent.com.mt

Jan 07 2025
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The Nationalist Party said Friday that two days after several individuals escaped following an emergency landing flight at the airport, there has been absolute silence from the Government.

"A gag has been placed on the responsible authorities to explain what happened in this case of national importance, which reveals serious security shortcomings in the country," the PN said in a statement.

Three of the five men involved have been sent back to their country while a search continues for two others who escaped.

It is surreal that, two days after several individuals escaped from a flight that made an emergency landing at Malta International Airport on New Year's Day, the Labour Government has yet to issue any statement or confirmation regarding the current situation and what steps have been taken, the PN said through its spokesman Darren Carabott..

The government has effectively gagged the responsible authorities from providing any explanation of what happened, the PN said.

This is a matter of national importance, where serious shortcomings in our country's security have been exposed - with two individuals still on the run and an ongoing search underway.

It is scandalous that in such an important case, neither Prime Minister Robert Abela nor, even less so, the Minister responsible for Home Affairs and Security Byron Camilleri, have uttered a single word about what is happening.

Silence signifies incompetence, and this is yet another clear example of the Government trying to sweep everything under the carpet, the PN said.

PN insists on remaining 'partisan and opportunist' - PL

"A new year, but at the Nationalist Party, it is more of the same," is how the Labour Party replied to the PN's statement.

"Unfailingly and unashamedly, they attack the Malta Police Force and its brave men and women," the party continued.

The PL said that the Malta Police Force had issued a statement to the media on the incident at the Malta International Airport, yet the PN had tried to give a "false impression" that the police were kept silent - something the party simply described as a "lie."

The PL said that the PN "insists, with its puerile partisan politics, on ignoring the fact that police investigations are a serious matter that are done in a serious and responsible manner and that, in this case, there are third parties that are involved too."

"It seems that the PN's New Year's resolution is that of keeping up its attack on the members of the disciplined forces and the Malta Police Force. It targeted them last year. It is targeting them again this year," the PL said.

"Bernard Grech's PN insists on remaining puerile, partisan, and populist. The more things change, the more they remain the same."