Does everybody have a touch of ħamalla? ADPD leader Sandra Gauci certainly seemed to think so as she rebuffed her haters on social media on Thursday. 

Taking advantage of the last day that politicians are allowed to talk shop ahead of Saturday's vote, Gauci addressed her less-than-diplomatic critics head-on with the help of Bis-Serjeta satirist Matt Bonanno. 

Reading insulting comments like "f'##### kemm għandek żibel" (f### you trash) and "f'g#### il-kruha l-għandek" (f### your ugliness) in a cheerful tone, Gauci could only remark that the insults were misspelt. 

It's a shame, Jacky's forgotten how to spell, said the ADPD leader, who is on Saturday's ballot sheet for the European elections.

Gauci also called out comments that constantly made fun of female candidates' appearance or expected women to appear a certain way. 

"I generally don't read the comments because they're not constructive and people are going on about how I look and about my voice," she said. 

"I don’t know what’s this obsession with commenting about how us female candidates look. And at the end of the day, who are you to pass these comments? I think some of you should consider putting up a mirror at home."

As one commenter called her a "baħnana" (fool), Gauci said she has a "box of certificates to prove otherwise" and when another called her "the biggest clown in Malta" she said that she's "still an amateur compared to the clowns in parliament". 

Addressing comments that called her a ħamalla, Gauci said that it wasn't really an insult and she thought that "everybody has a touch of ħamalla" in them. 

"I am from Qormi after all and I am proud to be. It doesn't take anything away from me and if anything it brings me closer to people."