Zerafa Civelli faces backlash over Valletta remark deemed offensive by residents

Alison Zerafa Civelli has angered Valletta residents after she suggested that people were ashamed to say they hailed from the capital in a throwaway remark in parliament.

The parliamentary secretary, a former mayor of Bormla, was speaking during the debate on the legal notice that allows establishments in Valletta to play music outdoors until 1am. The debate happened on Monday and a vote is expected today.

Zerafa Civelli was praising the government investment in Valletta over the past few years, arguing that it has transformed the locality into a vibrant capital. And it was at this point that she decided to emphasise the transformation by saying that people used to be ashamed to say they hailed from Valletta in the past.

The remark led to a backlash on social media with inflamed Valletta residents tagging Zerafa Civelli in posts proclaiming their ever-lasting pride for the city they call home. 

The parliamentary secretary’s comments were perceived as adding salt to an already gaping wound after none of the Labour Party MPs elected on the 1st District spoke in parliament to voice residents’ concerns.

Deo Debattista, Keith Azzopardi Tanti, Aaron Farrugia, Cressida Galea and Davina Sammut Hili were elected on the PL ticket in the 1st District but none of them participated in the debate on the legal notice on Monday. Only recently, when approached individually by sister newspaper Illum for a reaction to the legal notice, it was the party that sent in a collective reply.

Confronted by MaltaToday during an unrelated press conference on Wednesday, Galea toed the government line, adding that she would ensure that the law is enforced.

The debate was forced by the Nationalist Party after its 1 District MPs, Darren Carabott, Mario de Marco and Paula Mifsud Bonnici, filed a motion calling for the repeal of the new rules.

READ ALSO: MPs debate legal notice extending music playing time in Valletta

Bars, restaurants and other establishments in several streets in Valletta are allowed to remain open until 2am and play ‘moderate’ music outdoors until 1am after government published a legal notice with the new rules last month.

Residents fear Valletta will become another Paceville and have protested the rules.

Government has shown no sign of reversing the decision or taking on board the residents’ concerns despite reservations on the interpretation of the word ‘moderate’ and the inconvenience the music will cause residents. Prime Minister Robert Abela has insisted that "a balance has been reached".

It was in this context that Zerafa Civelli waded in with what many Valletta residents interpreted as an offensive remark.

There is no doubt that Zerafa Civelli did not mean to offend Valletta residents but she did the cardinal mistake of assuming that the same feeling of shame and neglect within the Bormla community – something she referred to - was also felt in Valletta.

Unrepentant, Zerafa Civelli took to Facebook on Wednesday afternoon to explain what she meant to say, attaching a 20-second clip that omits the part residents are complaining about.

“I am from Bormla and know what it means to have a government and authorities that do not invest in your locality… I spoke of how I also felt the pain of coming from a city or locality with an enormous potential and instead of using that potential in a good way, allows negativity to prevail. I also spoke of how Valletta today has become the envy of everyone,” she wrote in her post.

READ ALSO: Valletta should not become another nightclub destination, MHRA says