When silence is arrogance

Last week there were two incidents, which merited at least some form of response from the government. I would have expected a mutter, a simple croak, perhaps a badly worded press statement. 

The first episode involved the joint stand taken by three newspapers, the Sunday Times, The Malta Independent and MaltaToday on hunting in spring. There was an eerie silence from the government. Not a word, not a murmur, nor a whisper.

Muscat believes that he can ignore the press on this. I do not blame him for thinking that the press are irrelevant, more so when the opposition is so weak. You might as well take it for granted that Muscat is here to stay for another 10 years.

But the point that should have been noted by the government is that the joint effort by the three media houses is based on the premise that Muscat still believes that there is such a thing as a ‘good’ hunter. And that these ‘good hunters’ do not shoot at protected birds in spring.

Muscat has to be told that this is complete bollocks.  A hunter is a shooter and shoots at everything.

There is another problem. Muscat has little empathy for birds and green issues, which is understandable, considering that he was brought up in an environment where hunting was considered to be a legitimate pastime.

The point that needs to be made is that if Muscat really wants a modern state, he cannot have a pick and choose menu. It is either modern all the way or not at all.

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The other story that should have elicited some form of reaction from the police, the government and the political parties was the story about Martin Debono and Bobby Cali. Anyone who has not heard the audio clip should do so by logging to www.maltatoday.com.mt.  

The shocking revelation is not what Joanna Gonzi said: her legacy should be of a mayor who was incredibly spiteful and unfit for the job. Her clear suggestion that she would like Martin Debono’s mother to die of a heart attack, shows the level of malice in tribal politics. She should be banned from politics for life and not have any official or unofficial role in the PN, ever.

But as far as I know Joanna Gonzi is no longer in politics, she entered politics on the strength of her surname and not of any unique abilities.

The real issue concerns Cyrus Engerer, the enfant terrible who still continues to receive consultancies in government service and could have nearly made it to the European Parliament were it not for an appeal that was upheld by the courts. That appeal confirmed a criminal sentence.

Today in this newspaper, we reveal how One TV and maltastar.com aired Joanna Gonzi’s vile comments but conveniently edited the voice of Cyrus Engerer in the background.

That is diabolical to say the least. To put all the blame on Joanna Gonzi and Svetlana Curmi and to exculpate Cyrus Engerer.

At the time Cyrus Engerer, a former Nationalist diehard, had decided to elope to Labour and was considered to be a star defector. Little did we know at the time, that he was probably already eyeing the European elections as a Labour candidate.

There is no doubt in my mind that Cyrus Engerer was a big influence on Joseph Muscat when it came to gender equality reforms, or to put it simply, gay rights, but this does not make him eligible to have a green card.

His track record raises many questions about his wrong choices, and his criminal intent and his awful judgements. He is in other words not fit for purpose.

In this scenario one would have expected a decision, a reaction, a riposte from the protagonists. 

Which goes to show that accountability, if it did have any standing in our society, is surely not considered to be a very important issue.

Engerer is afforded special status when he should not.

Nothing is said, either, of the prosecuting officer’s implausible zeal in nailing two innocent councillors, a Nationalist and a Labourite, and this raises questions about his suitability in the Maltese security service.

Needless to say, if there are questions to be answered by Joseph Muscat, there are a few questions that need some attention from Simon Busuttil as leader of the opposition. He too should shed some light on the mess that was.

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Last Friday I faced Paul Borg Olivier in court. He has instituted libel action over a news story, which is very much linked to the Martin Debono, Bobby Cali and Nikki Dimech saga. And another news story about entrepreneur Zaren Vassallo and the PN. 

In both cases Paul Borg Olivier was tagged to the story because of his involvement as secretary general of the PN.

Since his fall from grace, the PN has opted to divest its interest in the case, but Dr Borg Olivier wants his pound of flesh even though he admits it is very clear that he was in the picture because of his political office and not because of anything personal.

In reality I have never been remotely interested in Paul Borg Olivier’s personal life, it is his political decisions (or lack of them) that concerned me.

I was in court on Friday, and I have to say I cannot live any longer with the hypocrisy of so many politicians and their lawyers. Some minutes before his court deposition he literally crossed over in the courtroom and sat next to me and recounted his personal story of how he had nearly died some years back.

I patiently listened.

Later he was called to testify. Under oath, he explained that he was aware that the PN had divested its interest in the case but he wished to continue with it in a personal capacity.

What happened next is court gobbledegook but what followed was an amazing rendition by Borg Olivier – credited by many for having expertly captained the financial disaster at the PN started off by Joe Saliba.

When asked about Zaren Vassallo’s €350,000 transaction to the PN he quipped: “These are transactions just like we had transactions from MaltaToday.”

I could not believe my ears. 

I could not hold back and simply barged in and told Borg Olivier in open court: “You should be ashamed of yourself, the PN owed MaltaToday over €6,000 and we erased that debt as a sign of goodwill and because the party could not pay up.”

Borg Olivier slogged on.

When quizzed by my lawyer if he knew Zaren Vassallo and if he had joined him on his luxury cabin cruiser, Borg Olivier replied: “… just like Joseph Muscat spends time on Phyllis Muscat’s boat.”

It was as if I was defending Muscat. 

Again I remarked: “Are you serious?  What do I have to do with Muscat?  And after all Vassallo was a donor and recipient of government tenders and owner of a luxury cabin cruiser, the other is a friend of Muscat and owner of a much smaller boat. Get real Paul.”

When all was over, I turned to Borg Olivier and asked him to reveal his personal experiences with life and death situations to some other fool.  “If you are a fool, I am not one, I cannot be two different people at the same time.”

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Lino Farrugia has taken umbrage at a cartoon which depicts him urinating against a wall with his pants down.  Yes, I guess these kind of cartoons are not tolerated in Tehran or ISIS-threatened Iraq.  But this is Malta.

As much as I find intolerable the draconian measures taken by the court in incarcerating a hunter because he posted a Facebook comment about a protest, I find Farrugia’s legal action distasteful and antediluvian.

Worse, the fact that legal representation to Lino Farrugia’s action is spearheaded by Emmanuel Mallia’s legal office.

Ouch!