What have parties said and not said about the public inquiry into Daphne's assassination?

In 2021, the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia concluded that the Maltese state must shoulder responsibility for her death. The inquiry’s final report was delivered to Malta’s Prime Minister on 29 July 2021, yet most of its recommendations remain unimplemented, leaving journalists exposed to ongoing risks.

The public inquiry was not only about assigning responsibility. Its purpose is to help the Maltese state understand its failures and identify the reforms needed to prevent future attacks on journalists and protect democratic accountability. Under human rights law, the State has a positive obligation to safeguard life and uphold press freedom. Our latest briefing note analyses how the political parties contesting Malta’s 2026 general election propose to address these recommendations, almost five years after they were published.

Our analysis is based on the political parties’ electoral manifestos, focusing on the ones that reference reforms that relate to the public inquiry’s recommendations. It summarises the parties’ respective proposals related to the recommendations on media freedom, rule of law, anti-corruption safeguards, institutional accountability, and journalists’ protection.