This archive report was first published on 1 December 2019.
Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced his resignation on December 1, 2019, after two weeks of mounting pressure and protests over his handling of the investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The announcement came after Muscat's Labour party secured the unanimous backing of its MPs at an emergency meeting, where they also reinstated Chris Cardona as economy minister and deputy leader.
Cardona had suspended himself from the investigation into Caruana Galizia's murder, which implicated top government officials, including Muscat's former chief of staff Keith Schembri and former tourism minister Konrad Mizzi.
Police sources said Yorgen Fenech, a tycoon charged with complicity in Caruana Galizia's murder, had identified Schembri as the 'real mastermind' behind the killing.
Caruana Galizia, a 'one-woman WikiLeaks', had accused Schembri, Mizzi, and Cardona of corruption before her murder in a car bomb attack in 2017.
Protesters, including Caruana Galizia's elderly parents, marched through central Valletta on Sunday, carrying signs reading 'Mafia' and 'Daphne was right', slamming Muscat as 'an obstacle to justice'.
A European Parliament delegation is due to arrive on Malta on Monday to examine doubts about the Judiciary's independence and investigate allegations of high-level corruption.
