I would like to make some observations regarding the comments made by Roamer in yesterday’s The Sunday Times. Not that I usually react to these biased, controlled, agenda-driven commentators who every intelligent reader can see through. But the Libya tragedy is of mammoth importance in its own right and to the Maltese people.

Hours after it was reported that the Rebel Army took over Tripoli, I was asked by a journalist of The Times to give my comments. I stated that I do not have the full facts about what was happening and I reserve my comments. The events that unfolded later proved me right. The counter attacks by Gaddafi loyalists, the genocide in Tripoli, the pictures of corpses littering the streets, the atrocities that were reported, the journalists besieged in the Rixos Hotel, the hundreds of corpses found in hospitals show how premature it was to make any statement at that point.

I made my first comments back in March. I belied those who stated that Gaddafi would be thrown out in three days and stated that this was going to be a protracted, messy affair. I was proved right even if the GonziPN propaganda machine tried to warp this – both here and in Brussels – as some kind of freaky statement. I stated from the outset of this tragedy that I did not rely on what the media was feeding us. My analysis – and I have a right to such an analysis (unless we are also redrawing the concepts of democracy) – is that this human tragedy has been treated by the media as a reality TV show with journalists competing to get the “best angle”.

The reported control of Tripoli, the reported capture of Seif al Islam Gaddafi, the cornering of Gaddafi and his clan in an apartment building, all proved to be false. I heard one commentator on France24 state that such news could have been given to boost the morale of the rebels in their incursion in Tripoli. Does Roamer expect me to make a serious comment on such superfluous data?

At this very moment of writing, the situation in Libya is far from certain. Not whether Gaddafi will be out of the government of Libya. That is certain. Not whether democratic Libya would be a better option for all than a dictatorial regime. Contrary to the present oracles in the media, I used to tell the Libyan politicians and technical people (to their faces) that their system was inefficient and fallacious.

But now many questions have started to be asked. And intelligent journalists and commentators should be focused on these questions – in the interest of Libyans and in the interest of Malta.

Will Gaddafi be captured? Will he relinquish power? Will a deal be struck with him to move out of the scene? Or will he become the Osama bin Laden of the region?

Will the extremists and fundamentalists who were not allowed to raise their head during the Gaddafi regime now seize the opportunity to extend their influence and make an attempt to seize power? What will that mean to Malta and Europe’s security?

Will the National Transitional Council manage to coalesce all the factions, tribes and interests into a viable government that builds from scratch credible institutions, to have democratic elections, freedom of information and good governance?

It is in our interest as Maltese to have a secure, organized and viable Libya. That is what we should be working on. And on this we should not be spectators but should be active actors.

Roamer, being an apologist of GonziPN, has asked me whether I was blind to the action of the Maltese government over the past months. I was not. There was the evacuation of expatriates from Tripoli. Excellent.

Could we have alleviated the suffering of Misurata and Zawija? Could we have given refuge to the Tripoli civilians who were besieged in their city? Women and children could have been removed away from the danger they are now facing in Tripoli.

I have talked to the government, to the Red Cross and to some people who were pushing the dissident cause in Malta to set up a medical support centre to assist in the medical apocalypse that is now unfolding and which could have been foreseen. I suggested the conversion of the existing non operative St Philips Hospital (after acquiring it from its present owners) into such a facility. I offered my help as the European Commissioner for Health to work with my fellow commissioners responsible for these areas to bring this to fruition. Now, at last, the government seems to be talking about it.

I have one comment to make after all this. This is the advice I gave to the Libyans I talked to over the past months: Reconciliation.

We achieved this in Malta after the 1987 election, thanks to the strong leadership we had at the time. The Libyans must make this their policy if they want to move forward with a unified democratic, secure, viable Libya.

Mr Dalli is European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy.