Dalli accuses PN of apartheid-style management

EU Commissioner and former Nationalist minister John Dalli has accused the Nationalist Party of allowing itself to be run by an intolerant "policy of apartheid where one either obeys, or one has no place there."

"That is not the Nationalist Party," he said, speaking on Norman Hamilton's discussion programme Bla Agenda.

Dalli insists that during his time within the Nationalist Party, he and many other Nationalists valued the freedom they enjoyed in being able to voice their opinions.

"I, like many other Nationalist, was always the sort of person who always used our heads and reserved the right to do so," Dalli said. "I was always protective of my right to criticise freely."

Dalli however dismissed attacks made in his regard by PN loyalists who accused him of rocking the boat in an attempt to assuage his resentment at being sidelined. "I will not be accused of disloyalty for criticising someone internally," he said categorically.

He insisted that disloyalty "is when one applauds those who do wrong despite being aware of it," and added that "those who unfailingly praise my successes are not friends."

"It is those who point out my mistakes who are true friends," he said however, "because they have my best interests at heart and want me to do better."

Dalli also insisted that "constructive criticism is vital and it should never be considered disloyalty and result in a 'death sentence'."

Dalli also spoke about his recent claims that his email account was hacked by individuals within the Nationalist Party, and a police investigation which began in July when Dalli provided a list of names to police investigators.

While reiterating that email accounts "belonging to me, friends, and family were hacked" Dalli said that while he had his suspicions regarding phone tapping, "I have no proof whether telephones were tapped or hacked."

He however expressed doubt whether the official police investigation into the email hacking allegations will bear fruit or uncover any perpetrators. "Today I don't think that there is any possibility that one arrives to the source of the hacking in a legal manner," Dalli said.

He hinted that the investigation may lose momentum or simply peter out due to a lack of political will to drive it forward. "This is because there is no will to ensure that what should be done, is done," he said.

Dalli however added that "I am capable of waiting" suggesting that the situation could yet change in the future.

Asked to comment about the ongoing parliamentary instability whereby government is being held hostage by rogue MP Franco Debono, Dalli opined that "parliament is not functioning."

"It is an essential institution which, in my opinion, is being disfigured," Dalli said. "It is harmful for the entire country."

He insisted that a government should put the individual at the centre of its administration, while however hitting out at those who thought that the individual's interests could be superseded by other considerations.

"I rebel against those who believe that they can think they can manipulate the individual as they wish," he said.

He also accused the government of turning its back on the manner in which Fenech Adami's administration approached wealth distributions.

He said that while Fenech Adami's administration generated large volumes of wealth and ensured its even distribution across society, he said the current administration is achieving exactly the opposite.

"Today, I'm seeing a 'funnelling policy' in effect, whereby wealth is being siphoned away from the population towards the few," Dalli said.