Letters to the editor – March 7, 2026

Two Mintoffs but the same shenanigans

Eddy Privitera of Naxxar writes:

When I read the grossly un­ethi­cal and irresponsible e-mail-letter sent by Judge Lawrence Mintoff to all cabinet members and the president, and which also ended in the hands of the newspapers, my mind raced back to the 1998 shenanigans of judge Mintoff’s uncle, Dom Mintoff, which ended Alfred Sant’s Labour government’s 22 months in power. 

Judge Lawrence (Wenzu) Mintoff. File photo

Even then, Dom Mintoff’s despicable decision to end Sant’s tenure as prime minister had quite obviously been motivated by the fact that he had failed to get what he wanted from Sant. 

The then prime minister was not willing to allow Mintoff to retain a tight grip on both the party and the Labour government by using its one-seat majority for blackmail.

This is why, in my opinion, as soon as Alex Borg and his extreme faction of the PN got wind of what Judge Mintoff intended to do they must have believed this was another golden opportunity not to be missed. 

They decided to vote against the government’s nominee for chief justice, Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera, without giving one sole reason for their objection. Furthermore, up to the time of writing this letter, the PN has not yet said yes or no, or given any reason for rejecting the government’s second nominee, Judge Myriam Hayman.

In parliament, instead of asking for an urgent debate on Judge Mintoff’s e-mail-letter, due to the serious allegations he had made about the prime minister, Borg only challenged the prime minister to deny the allegations. 

When the prime minister rose to explain, Borg made it impossible for the prime minister to continue. 

He knew that if Robert Abela was allowed to explain what had been discussed and decided when the prime minister and the leader of the opposition had last met to discuss the appointment of the new chief justice, Borg and the PN’s hypocrisy on Judge Wenzu Mintoff’s nomination would have greatly embarrassed them.

We have seen Abela spending 30 minutes answering each question put to him by all journalists in a very calm way. Borg keeps shying away from doing the same. 

He believes that yelling in parliament can convince much more than giving calm and clear answers. 

Alas, 2026 is not 1998. And Judge Mintoff does not have a parliamentary seat he can use to oust Abela. 

In fact, he could even lose his own seat on the Bench since he is under investigation for breach of the code of ethics.