I suppose it helps to periodically remind that ‘guest post’ means someone else (I know) wrote this:

Letter to the Commissioner of Police

Over the past days I was struck by the thought of the immense amount of pressure you must be experiencing.

Having been brought up in a strong military environment, and having risen through the ranks in the Police Force, you are for certain aware of the meaning of the Oath which guides the law enforcement body of which you are lead. And yet over the past months there have been so many instances when you seem to have opted not to take action, when the need of action was screaming in everybody’s face.

There have been several occasions where the PoliceForce’s action under your direction has been denounced fervently as being inadequate, incompetent, and even maliciously withheld. Condemnation has come from sources far and wide, not just local but also foreign, even at a pan-national level, including the Pana Committee. The Attorney General has even strongly suggested that people have not been brought to justice as a result of your instructions, or lack of them.

The calls for your resignation, and demands to the Prime Minister for your removal, from various quarters, particularly the newly-formed civil society movement, have been going on for weeks now. But you choose to stay put.

I do not know you in person, but from the press conference you eventually ‘gave’ following the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, you came across as meek, a weakling rather. And so, I cannot believe that the bold decisions to go against the grain, against the principles of justice that you have been moulded in, are of your own doing.

Reflecting upon the resignations of the other three commissioners that preceded you, all of which were men of strong character in varying respects, crystalises the whole picture. You have been selected precisely for your weak character, which fits the intentions of higher authorities like a glove.

My guts tell me you’re dying to get out of the kitchen now that the heat is scorching, but yet you are being kept there because your weakness suits the strength of the malicious perfectly.

I urge you to find the faintest streak of courage within you to show a shred of respect to the country you pledged to guard and protect, respect to your family by preventing them from living through a horrendous experience and safeguard your own sanity. Leave your post. You do not owe your loyalty to those who are feeding on your submission to protect their own corrupt interests, but to the principles of justice.