Letters to the editor – April 16, 2025

Running downhill

As 2027 looms closer and the Nationalist Party’s hope of recapturing power keeps diminishing with each ludicrous statement made by Opposition leader Bernard Grech, party exponents in parliament and in the English language newspapers keep ramping up their wild accusations and statements.

Here are some recent examples.

Karol Aquilina claimed that “the government has taken over the institutions to do whatever it pleases.”

Jason Azzopardi’s “18,000 fake ID cards”, which ended in just seven fake ones, will be remembered for decades to come.

Participants at a PN rally. “The party’s hope of recapturing power keeps diminishing.” File photo: Times of Malta

This was followed by Nationalist MP Charles Azzopardi’s claim that “Labourites live in a drainage Bonello pit”.

What about Grech’s criticism against that patriotic song Tema 1979 because it was sung by Mary Spiteri during the Mużika, Mużika concert and the PN’s general secretary, Charles Bonello, defining the occasion as comparable to what happens in North Korea? Grech used this excuse as a reason for failing to attend the official Freedom Day ceremony in Vittoriosa.

A much more serious statement was made by the former president of the PN’s front-organisation, Repubblika, who threatened to resort to street protests, until they “topple the government”, if Yorgen Fenech absconds after having been granted bail by the court under very strict conditions.

A comment that must have baffled journalists and opinion writers alike, again by Grech, was his claim that “millionaires find themselves uncomfortable attending PN events”. 

Could this be because the PN often depicts rich people “becoming richer due to greed” rather than because they may have been very successful in their profession or business?

I close this letter by referring to a recent editorial in which Times of Malta offered the PN some wise advice. But the part I liked most was the advice to the “Bonello-Grech tandem to hit the ground running”. 

Barely two days later, Grech ran out of parliament followed by his MPs. 

Add to this his decision to boycott Freedom Day’s official ceremony and one can easily conclude that he is running the PN downhill.

The taste of the Nadur carnival we saw in Valletta on April 2 is a good indication as to which direction the PN is heading.

Eddy Privitera – Naxxar