Will you condemn Karl Stagno Navarra’s harassment of Jason Azzopardi, Prime Minister Robert Abela was asked. Vehemently refusing to denounce Stagno Navarra’s despicable actions, Abela cynically retorted: “I’ve never got involved in your work.
I never believed the government should interfere with the work of journalists. The media forms an important pillar of the country’s democracy and I don’t think it’s the role of the prime minister to comment on what one journalist or another should do.”
And then he swiftly told journalists exactly what they should do and precisely what to put on their front pages: “What I expect from the media when you have a decree like that of yesterday (a magistrate rejected Jason Azzopardi’s request for a magisterial inquiry) is that you don’t bury it in the centre pages but that it’s on the front page.
When you have such a powerful decree exposing the really bad way in which those inquiries were opened, you should give it due prominence ‒ that’s the real news item.”
“Karl Stagno Navarra did what he felt he had to do. I am surely not going to interfere in the work of journalists,” Abela repeated. But, then, he told the journalist questioning him: “I feel that even you should protect the work of your colleague (Stagno Navarra).”
Abela is the master of contradictions, the king of U-turns, the champion of hypocrisy, the diva of deviousness.
“I am not going to allow the hijacking of any institution,” he told parliament in March 2023 during a debate on the Ombudsman. At a conference called ‘The Right to Good Administration: Myth, Aspiration or Reality?’, Abela delivered a flowery speech.
“As politicians,” he insisted, “our job goes beyond ensuring transparency, meritocracy and accountability, each being an essential element of good governance.” He bragged that “year after year, there is an increasing rate of acceptance of the recommendations made by the Office of the Ombudsman”.
But now he’s rejecting the Ombudsman’s recommendations and attacking and discrediting him: “It’s easy to sit behind a desk today and censure from that comfort and write reports behind that desk – those who criticise need to put themselves in the shoes of those taking decisions.”
Abela was livid that the Ombudsman published a scathing report condemning Colonel Alex Dalli’s tactics, that were “in breach of positive law and which violate human dignity”.
The Ombudsman denounced the “systemic maladministration at the Corradino Correctional Facility” in breach of article 22 (1) and (2) of Cap 385.
The Ombudsman highlighted the inhuman and degrading treatment that prisoners were subjected to by Dalli and which the Commission was “morally convinced that particularly vulnerable inmates must have been affected by the treatment accorded to them upon admission to CCF, leading to unfortunate situations”.
“Unfortunate situations” is a terrible euphemism for suicides and deaths in Dalli’s jail.
Abela isn’t just mocking the Ombudsman “writing reports behind his desk”, he’s openly defying him. The Ombudsman highlighted criminal activity during Dalli’s tenure.
Yet, Abela viciously declared: “Let me answer very clearly – Alex Dalli is not going to be removed.” “If Alex Dalli hadn’t addressed the prison’s difficulties, we would probably still have a jungle for a prison,” he commented.
We didn’t have a jungle under Dalli – we had a morgue. Fourteen people died under his brutal leadership. No word from Abela about whether he intends to implement the Ombudsman’s recommendations – he’s studiously ignoring them.
Robert Abela is the master of contradictions, the king of U-turns, the champion of hypocrisy, the diva of deviousness- Kevin Cassar
Dalli, according to Abela, did “a great job, he’s making a crucial contribution to the country and performing miracles”. That’s open defiance of the Ombudsman’s damning judgement of Dalli’s criminal abuse which led to countless deaths.
But Abela isn’t just defying the Ombudsman. He’s defying every institution. When the NAO requested information about the millions overspent on EuroPride week, Abela’s office actively obstructed the NAO, withholding invoices and refusing to divulge names of key officials responsible for the gross mismanagement condemned in the subsequent NAO report.
Carmen Sammut, Rebecca Buttigieg’s closest official and Labour’s golden girl, was shielded and her identity concealed by the OPM. No wonder Abela refuses to implement the Caruana Galizia inquiry recommendations, one of which called for the criminalisation of obstruction by public officials of inquiries.
Abela is also defying the standards commissioner he appointed himself. Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi called on Abela to table the declaration of assets “as soon as possible”. Abela vociferously rejected the commissioner’s request. He’s got too much to hide.
Abela has defied public inquiry boards and doggedly refused to implement their recommendations. He refused to adopt any of the Caruana Galizia inquiry recommendations but also viciously derided and disparaged the board members, ascribing bad faith to those public-spirited judges and former chief justice.
But Abela is also defying the courts and their rulings. Another former chief justice, Silvio Camilleri, commented that “the rule of law cannot rule if the laws are not applied and enforced”.
That’s exactly what Abela’s doing. The court declared Ian Borg’s swimming pool illegal months ago.
No enforcement action has been taken. The courts declared Joseph Portelli’s developments illegal. But Abela’s Planning Authority sanctioned those illegal structures and Abela’s entities provided them with power and water.
For Abela, there is no rule except power. He’s crowned himself emperor, assuming absolute power with which he trashes the authority of the institutions. Abela openly and contemptuously defies, mocks, ignores and intimidates those institutions. He’s rushing through parliament legislation to deprive ordinary citizens of their right to request magisterial inquiries.
What’s most disturbing is that not even those unnecessary deaths from Dalli’s flagrant abuse move Abela. For Abela, the end justifies the means. He shows no anguish over the capricious deaths of so many young people, as long as “order” was restored at Corradino.
He doesn’t care that those young lives were the price paid for Dalli’s “great job”.
He expresses no sympathy or condolences to the parents of those helpless souls abused by Dalli. Abela heaps praise on the culprit, he expresses admiration for Dalli’s brutality but not a single kind word or apology for the victims and their loved ones.
That level of reckless callousness should worry all of us, not least his own cabinet. Abela is sending a clear message – what’s a few deaths, as long as we impose control. If Abela considers young people’s lives to be so worthless, his own ministers must be totally expendable for him. They should watch their backs. And so should we. It’s not Dalli he’s defending, it’s himself.
Nothing matters more to Abela than his own power. And that is truly scary.
Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery.