Legendary Maltese politician

It was breathtaking to see so many people express their appreciation for Roberta Metsola’s remarkable accomplishment. This legendary Maltese politician made Malta proud – following times of prominence for the wrong reasons – when elected European Parliament president in a landslide victory.

This historical event significantly coincided with her birthday, presenting a well-deserved gift for her and her country. Everyone can attest to her humility, the virtue described by Thomas Moore as that low, sweet root from which all heavenly virtues shoot. Humility enhances the potential of the individual for self-improvement and leads to increasing cooperation with other members of society.

Here one can easily say she is absolutely credible when she says: “Europe is about all of us standing up for one another and defending principles of our founding mothers and fathers while battling against anti-EU narrative.” She promises politics of hope, inspiring the people to recapture a sense of belief and enthusiasm for our European project and determined to cultivate a clean and stable political environment.

EP President Roberta Metsola

Metsola has all it takes to be successful and to overcome challenges linked to the great responsibility this role carries. She has the competence to address various issues, including some world issues, and she is fully aware of the urgency of the fight against climate change as a common destiny because tomorrow is too late. Like Bernard Grech, she is a bridge builder believing in consensual politics. Strongly supporting unity in diversity, referring to the EU’s last divided country, Cyprus, she states: “We can never be truly whole while Cyprus remains split.”

Amid this political malaise, Metsola has provided a ray of hope for Malta to regain a favourable reputation originally earned by PN administrations. The poise and stature of this strong and formidable woman – equally a wife and a mother – speak for themselves. So does this Konrad Adenauer quote incorporated in her first speech as European Parliament president: “European unity was a dream of the few, it became a hope for the many and today it is a necessity for all of us.”

Josephine Vella – Birkirkara

How to shoot oneself in the foot

How can anyone with even a modicum of self-respect and respect for the welfare of the Maltese people fail to condemn what the supposed leader of the PN and the opposition stated on January 12, regarding the COVID-19 restrictions which came into force on January 17?

Bernard Grech had appealed to the government, together with the health authorities, to withdraw the restrictions.

Just four days prior to this statement, Grech had also stated publicly that the PN was in total agreement with the restrictions which had just been announced. He even called upon the Maltese people “to abide by what the health authorities decide since they base their decisions on science and have all the necessary information and data in their possession”.

But, as soon as owners of restaurants claimed that the restrictions announced, which necessitated presenting a COVID-19 certificate when entering restaurants, bars etc., would impact their  business negatively, Grech immediately turned tail and incredibly appealed to the government to withdraw those same restrictions, which he had strongly backed just four days earlier.

Another glaring example of how the PN’s supposed leader and his faction of the parliamentary group think they can convince voters by resorting to theatrics has been the song and dance they made about the search of Joseph Muscat’s residence, conducted by the police, which was ordered by PN-government-appointed magistrate, Gabriella Vella. First, Grech indicated that the search was ordered by the prime minister. The following day, he said the search was ordered by the magistrate. 

But what struck me most was Therese Comodini Cachia’s article under the heading ‘Robert Abela chose Joseph Muscat over Malta’. Comodini Cachia failed to realise that, with what she wrote, she was shooting herself and Grech in the foot.

First, when Comodini Cachia was elected to our own parliament in 2017, she immediately announced that she was going to resign in order to go back to being an MEP in the European Parliament. So she had chosen Brussels over Malta. That she later retracted her decision was only due to the enormous bad reaction from many PN voters.

Second. Her supposed party and opposition leader had chosen Greece over Malta. In fact, he had publicly boasted that when he used to go abroad and talk to foreigners, whenever they asked him from which country he came from, he used to reply “I am Greek” because he “was ashamed to be Maltese”.

Is it any wonder, then, that the latest public opinion survey published on January 16 in MaltaToday has again shown the PL ahead of the PN by 46,000 votes if an election were to be held now? What is hilarious is hearing Grech’s interpretation of these surveys’ results.

Eddy Privitera – Mosta 

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