Independent eggs on President: react to MaltaToday, 'short of suing it for libel'

The Malta Independent’s editorial today issued a bizarre call to the President of the Republic to react to MaltaToday’s reports on the state of finances at the presidential office, by egging his office to resort to the “infinity of options” available short of suing the newspaper for libel.

The Independent's leader, written by acting editor Noel Grima, is accusing MaltaToday of being ‘scandal-mongering’ for having had the journalistic temerity to ask the presidency questions over its financial management of its €2 million budget.

The editorial was written the day the President announced a press conference at 4pm, saying a board of inquiry would investigate the leakage of documents by the presidency's former secretary.

MaltaToday’s coverage of mishaps inside the presidential office have namely focused on three recent events: the resignation of Olaph Terribile, secretary to the presidency, after clashing with senior aides over breaches of financial regulations; concerns raised by the finance ministry on the breach of financial rules; and the employment of two directors of Image 2000, the audiovisual firm of which the president’s press secretary, Marica Mizzi, is its company secretary.

The Independent says George Abela’s office must relinquish its “disdainful silence” –referring to the fact it has not even answered MaltaToday’s questions in the first place – and react to the reports. “It is true that the Head of the State, like monarchy, does not ‘do’ libels but there is an infinity of options between doing nothing and coming out with guns blazing… It is simply not enough to fob off questions by words spoken in confidence,” the editorial stated.

The newspaper has a high opinion of President Abela, with today’s editorial describing him as one of Lawrence Gonzi’s “most inspired decisions” and “one of Malta’s most popular persons… if not the most popular.”

Not so of MaltaToday, which it accuses of being “scandal-mongering” and of publishing “scurrilous stories”. In even mentioning the word ‘libel’, the Indy betrays its disdain for the kind of journalism that probes the powers that be.

What the Independent does not realise is the kind of journalistic endeavour such stories require before going to print. The newspaper fails to recognise the public interest served in supplying readers with information on how their tax money is spent, by people in power.

It even claims this newspaper’s ‘sniping’ “will not undermine the love and affection” for George Abela, but “a careful response can actually strengthen the love and care.”

At the same time, the Indy’s convoluted leader points out how the President’s charity, the Community Chest Fund, already falls foul of transparency requirements because it refuses to register with the Commissioner for NGOs. While calling on the President to restore credibility to the fund by registering it, the Indy denounces MaltaToday’s reports on presidential spending as ‘scurrilous’.

It also shows disdain towards the whistleblowers in the story, who like all whistleblowers in the economic history of the country, remain unprotected by a law that has been promised by this government.

The Independent is also standing by the Presidency’s decision to spend an undisclosed amount on luxury furnishing fabrics for San Anton’s Sir Anthony Mamo room, which MaltaToday last Wednesday featured on its front page. The Indy claims the renovation is just a personal touch every president must give to the presidential seat:

“Every successive President, like every successive Governor General before him, is tempted to ‘do something’. The past interventions by the Governors General have ranged from the ineffective to the damaging. There is clearly the need for in-depth, strategic, holistic restoration rather than piecemeal changes which may be reverted by the next incumbent.”