President Myriam Spiteri Debono has called for restraint and caution in the wake of a magisterial inquiry into a hospital privatisation deal that has led to a number of key politicians, civil servants, and business facing charges.

Over the past week, headlines have been dominated by the news of the Vitals scandal, a deal to privatise three state hospitals that saw around €400 million in public funds being spent. The deal, pushed by former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his administration, was later annulled by court and is now engulfed in legal proceedings. Current Prime Minister Robert Abela on Monday held a 90-minute press conference, in which he appealed for calm, stating that a magisterial inquiry is not a court of law, and that according to law, all individuals involved should be seen as innocent until the judicial procedure is launched and concluded.

Additional reports have stated that Dr Muscat, together with his former Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and ex-Minister Konrad Mizzi, as well a number of individuals and companies, are facing several charges, ranging from money laundering and bribery, to filing false declarations and disclosing confidential information.

In a statement on Wednesday, President Spiteri Debono, who was only sworn in last month, stated that the times Malta is living through requires “restraint and caution.”

“Prudence has to be exercised in the choice of words spoken; emotions should not rule our heads. Such behaviour only serves to cloud the reasoning faculties,” she added.

Dr Spiteri Debono reaffirmed that “prudence is of utmost importance,” as such situations need to be given time to develop.

“Our laws provide remedies in those cases where individuals feel injured and subjected to prejudice. This also includes instances where individuals consider they have been discriminated against, and deprived of their legitimate rights,” she continued, possibly in reference to how Dr Muscat stated that he was not given the opportunity to provide a statement before the inquiry was concluded.

She also noted that legal remedies exist if legal processes “are in some way vitiated.”

“The present situations essentially require that all institutions, but particularly the courts and the judiciary, can exercise their functions in a serene atmosphere,” Dr Spiteri Debono said.

“A calm and serene atmosphere is beneficial to all parties involved, or somehow involved,” she concluded.

Over the past week, Prime Minister Abela has repeated the claim that the conclusion of the inquiry, five years after it had been ordered, has been timed to coincide with the MEP elections, set to take place in June, in order to damage the Labour Party. Despite appealing for calm, he said that the upcoming elections will also be an opportunity for the public to vote in favour or against the magisterial inquiry that led to the charges.