Unrest in Malta continues December 2019

Unrest in Malta continues on December 2nd as protesters maintain their stance, calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat.

Around 4,000 protesters gathered outside the Maltese Parliament on Monday, while inside the building, Nationalist lawmakers tossed fake currency bills, used by protesters as a symbol of corruption.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who is under mounting public pressure over his handling of the aftermath of a car-bomb murder of the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, and his party’s lawmakers were briefly blocked from leaving the building.

Daphne Caruana Galizia had been looking into suspected corrupt dealings in political and business circles in the island nation.

Police prevented anti-government demonstrators from surging forward towards the entrance, and Muscat was able to leave from a different exit.

The country’s main opposition Nationalist party announced a boycott of parliament for as long as Muscat remains in power.

Muscat announced on Sunday night that he would resign in January amid citizen outcry over the two-year-old investigation.

Even the head of an EU mission to Malta on December 3 has called on the country’s embattled prime minister to quit immediately amid anger over his handling of the investigation into the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.