On 1 December he announced that he would step down from his position as Prime Minister, after a PL leadership contest. Both Malta's main newspapers, "The Times of Malta" and "Malta Today", as well as international media such as "The Guardian" called on Muscat to make his resignation immediate. The European Parliament also called for Muscat to immediately quit over the Caruana Galizia murder. National protests were held calling for his immediate resignation, rather than stepping down in January 2020. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project named Muscat "Man of the Year in Organized Crime and Corruption" for 2019 for the increases in criminality and lack of prosecutions during his term.