The 2019–2020 Maltese protests started in Valletta and other urban centres of Malta on 20 November 2019, mainly calling for resignations after alleged political links to the assassination of journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia surfaced following the arrest of businessman Yorgen Fenech. The protesters also targeted government corruption and the lack of action on money laundering. The protests were unprecedented in Malta's political history since its independence from the United Kingdom.
As of December 2019, the Maltese government was accused of using intimidation tactics against protesters and journalists. Caruana Galizia's family accused Muscat of trying to shield members of the inner circle from the investigations.
On 1 December 2019, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced that he would resign on 12 January 2020. Constitutional experts, legal bodies, and other representatives stated that Muscat's decision to remain in office until January 2020 and to have a more than six-week Parliamentary recess over Christmas led to the crisis within Maltese institutions. The Caruana Galizia family, political parties, the European Union mission in Malta, academics, NGOs, industrial organisations, and organised business and labour unions called for his immediate resignation. On 13 January 2020, Joseph Muscat resigned, satisfying one of the protestors' main demands.
Background
Malta's political context
Malta, an island nation of nearly 500,000 citizens, gained its independence from Great Britain in 1964, and its people subsequently declared it a Republic in 1974. It has largely been viewed as a nation of general geopolitical neutrality (since 1979), but also of extraordinarily impressive democratic voter participation. Its modern governmental body - a unicameral chamber known as the House of Representatives - was predominated by a two-party system, of which the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, holds the majority of seats.
Despite several markers of socioeconomic success, such as its high life expectancy of 81 and its classification as an advanced society according to the IMF and UN (along with 32 other nations worldwide), public perception of Malta's public servants has been marred by allegations of corruption. This has resulted in a worse Corruption Perceptions Index compared to several other similar small economically advanced nations like Denmark, Singapore, Luxembourg, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. In recent years, investigative journalists have increasingly reported on allegations of money laundering, tax evasion via offshore havens (including those connected with the Panama Papers), nepotism, and various other indications of bribery and fraud; journalists are protected pursuant to Malta's Constitutional law on free press and free speech.
Leaders of both parties, including Muscat and the opposition party's Adrian Delia, were commonly the subjects of critique.
Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination and civil response
Daphne Caruana Galizia garnered international reputation as a resolute critic of political and business malpractice, despite being targeted by several SLAPP suits. Throughout 2017, she released a series of controversial and sensitive pieces of information that link a number of Maltese politicians to the Panama Papers. She was subsequently assassinated with a bomb installed into her car, on 16 October 2017. At the time of her death, she was fighting 48 libel suits.
Thousands of people attended a vigil in Caruana Galizia's hometown of Sliema the night of her murder. A series of monthly protests and vigils in remembrance of Caruana Galizia were held by civil society organisations on every sixteenth day of the month from October 2017 onward, in addition to ongoing anti-corruption protests and marches. These demonstrations, in opposition of secretive Panama accounts being opened by Maltese officials, had been consistently and formally organised for years leading up to Caruana Galizia's death. However, protests in Malta – some of them spontaneous – fundamentally transformed in meaning following her assassination, and evolved and intensified as more information about her murder has surfaced, implicating businessmen and politicians alike.
Her death was covered by international media, and the name Caruana Galizia began trending worldwide on Twitter.
On 22 October 2017, the Civil Society Network organised a protest demanding justice and calling for the immediate resignation of the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General.
Both Muscat and Delia expressed frustration over her death, viewing it as a representation of the "collapse of democracy and freedom of expression" Pope Francis sent a letter of condolence to the Maltese people. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announced that he would pay a €20,000 reward "for information leading to the conviction of Caruana Galizia's killers", stimulating the creation of additional crowdfunded campaigns and state-sanctioned rewards with similar goals.
In April 2018, a consortium of 45 international journalists published The Daphne Project, a collaboration between 18 news organizations including the locally syndicated newspaper Times of Malta, as well as The New York Times and The Guardian to complete her investigative work. In 2018 the European United Left–Nordic Green Left Award for Journalists, Whistleblowers & Defenders of the Right to Information was established in honor of Caruana Galizia.
In October 2019, as the second anniversary of the assassination approached, Civil Society organised a protest march, with the US Embassy issuing a statement, reiterating its offer to help Maltese investigators. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat insisted that the press misinterpreted this statement by the US embassy.
Protests
21 November 2019
On 20 November, civil society groups led by Repubblika, Occupy Justice, and manueldelia.com, announced a protest in front of the Prime Minister's Office, Auberge de Castille, calling for Muscat's resignation. In their statement, the groups said that Muscat should have demanded Schembri and Mizzi's resignations when their names first appeared in the 2016 Panama Papers release. At the end of the protest, protestors walked to the makeshift memorial to Caruana Galizia at the foot of the Great Siege Memorial. Those present then gathered outside Parliament, shouting "barra, barra" (out, out) and "Mafia, Mafia" at Government politicians. At the same time, opposition members of parliament (MPs) walked out of Parliament over Muscat's failure to dismiss Schembri and Mizzi.
Protesters also assembled in the streets around the Parliament buildings, heckling and stopping a number of ministers' cars from leaving the area. Justice Minister Owen Bonnici's car was targeted by protesters as it left parliament, with the Minister describing how he stood by the Police Force, two of whom sustained minor injuries in the course of doing their duties.
22 November 2019
On 21 November, another protest was called for 22 November in front of Auberge de Castille. The organising groups stated that Muscat needed to shoulder political responsibility because had Muscat not failed to have Schembri and Mizzi removed, "Daphne Caruana Galizia would still be alive."
Thousands of protestors met in front of the Auberge de Castille, renewing calls for Muscat to resign, saying that justice for Caruana Galizia was being stifled.
25 November 2019
Another protest was called for 25 November 2019. That day pressure continued to mount for Mizzi and Schembri's resignation, with cabinet members commenting publicly on the need for the country not to protect murderers and money launderers, while Malta's reputation was suffering "almost irreparable" damage.
26 November 2019
As the investigation into the Caruana Galizia murder continued, following further pressure, first Schembri and then Mizzi resigned from office. Schembri then faced questioning by police over allegations of his involvement in the Caruana Galizia case. Another minister, Chris Cardona, suspended himself in the wake of other police investigations. Prime Minister Muscat thanked Schembri, saying "I thank Keith for his hard work, he played a crucial role." A protest was held next to Parliament, hours after these political resignations. Hundreds of people gathered outside cried "shame on you" and "killers", with the angry crowd pelting ministerial cars with eggs and coins as they left. Muscat was shielded by security officers as he exited on his way to a Labour executive meeting in Hamrun. Protesters carried banners, flares, drums, megaphones, and flags to get their message across and shouted: "Daphne was right". The protest then moved from outside parliament to Castille Place, where protesters were addressed by Manuel Delia, one of the organisers, and other speakers. Protesters vowed they would protest until Muscat's resignation.
27 November 2019
Another demonstration called for Wednesday 27 November began as a protest march, ending in front of Auberge de Castille. This was the fifth protest in less than a week. Following the disturbances of 26 November, steel barricades were placed in front of parliament, Auberge de Castille and on Merchants' Street, as police increased security ahead of the day's planned protest.
After the main demonstration, protesters blocked traffic in Floriana as they demanded further resignations.
28 November 2019
An unannounced protest was held on 28 November, following reports of the release of Schembri from arrest. Fenech had claimed Schembri was responsible for the Caruana Galizia assassination in October 2017.
29 November 2019
In the early hours of the morning on 29 November, after the protest which began in the evening the previous day, unknown security officials clashed with demonstrators and journalists were forcibly kept within the Ambassadors' Hall in Auberge de Castille. Maltese and foreign journalists were kept against their will after attending a press conference organised at 3 a.m. Tensions escalated after the security officials refused to identify themselves to journalists, or tell them why they were not being let out of the building. The decision to keep journalists locked in the Ambassadors' Hall was condemned by the Institute of Maltese Journalists.
News broke that Muscat was named by Fenech in his first statement to the police. Protesters began a protest march in Valletta at 6:30 p.m., holding posters and Maltese flags while protesting at the government's handling of the criminal investigation. The protest followed news earlier in the day of Muscat's imminent resignation. After the main protest, a smaller crowd gathered beneath the Great Siege Monument in front of the Daphne memorial where flowers and candles were left in tribute.
30 November 2019
Moviment Graffiti organised a protest in the morning, with organisers saying that there was "nothing socialist, leftist or progressive about what the government had allowed to happen over the past few years, despite the fact that the Labour Party was supposed to hold true to these values." Protesters reiterated calls for Muscat to resign following the Caruana Galizia probe, and they were joined in their protest by author and activist Immanuel Mifsud, and Arnold Cassola, amongst other politicians, NGOs, academics and activists.
1 December 2019
Thousands of people descended on Valletta on Sunday, 1 December, demanding Muscat's resignation. Marching to shouts "Daphne was right," "Justice," and "Assassins," protesters insisted that Muscat was not their prime minister. Close to 20,000 protesters filled Republic Street in Valletta, by far the largest turnout at the time in weeks of protests aimed at Muscat's government. A protest march started in front of Parliament at 4 p.m. and moved to the square in front of the law courts, where protesters were addressed by activists. The protest was the largest one so far. Late in the evening on 1 December, Muscat announced his plan to resign on national television.
2 December 2019
On Monday, 2 December 2019, access to Valletta's Freedom Square was heavily restricted as activists began to gather in front of parliament for the evening protest. Police also asked businesses located on Republic Street and Ordnance Street to close early in anticipation of the protest. Authorities laid out hundreds of metres of steel barricades in the square in front of parliament in the afternoon, considerably limiting the area in which civil society activists were able to protest. Opposition MPs walked out of Parliament, saying they will not attend any function with Muscat as prime minister. Protesters blocked politicians from leaving the Parliament building during the demonstration and demanded the resignation the Prime Minister.
Some kilometres away from the protest, government supporters turned up in Hamrun, in front of the Labour Party's headquarters, in an unofficial rally in support of Muscat.