Of toddlers and giants

Alex Agius Saliba cut a sad figure. He sat rigidly, looking glum and oozing bitterness. All around, his fellow MEPs were on their feet, clapping and cheering the woman who’d just made history, again. That standing ovation seemed like it would never end, especially for the scowling Agius Saliba.

Roberta Metsola had again been voted in as president of the European Parliament with an unbelievable and unprecedented 90 per cent of the vote.

Metsola managed a true political miracle. She convinced practically every single MEP from all political affiliations to come together in a rare show of unity to back her.

Metsola personifies the hope of an entire continent. She embodies the vision of a bright future for Europe and Europeans. For Malta and all Maltese, she is a beacon shining brightly. She’s a true ambassador for Malta’s true potential – a new generation of bright, hard-working, disciplined pioneers who know they can make their country, their continent and the world a better place and who strive to achieve those objectives with dedication, integrity and commitment.

Those MEPs could not but rise to their feet to laud Metsola’s massive achievement. Her triumph was not just a personal victory. It was a victory for the entire continent. She managed to bring unity in a turbulent ocean of divisiveness and enmity. The joy of those MEPs was palpable.

In the midst of that atmosphere of euphoria sat a lonely, bitter man, refusing to share in the elation of his peers. That man had even more reason to delight in that success, for it was a fellow Maltese being feted. He should have been amongst the proudest in that chamber knowing that a Maltese woman had achieved that unique accomplishment.

Agius Saliba epitomises the caustic mean-spiritedness synonymous with Joseph Muscat’s coterie of allies. Muscat is Agius Saliba’s mentor, protector and idol. Agius Saliba let his toddler instincts get the better of him. He stamped his feet and wouldn’t be part of that joyous celebration. He just moped and moaned to himself, swamped by the festive spirit around him.

Like his hero, Muscat, he embarrassed his country. At that same chamber Muscat had made an utter fool of himself with his epic “what the heck” speech. He too threw a tantrum and refused to carry on with his speech because there was no live translation of his words of wisdom, as fellow MPs politely suppressed their laughter.

Agius Saliba didn’t just embarrass his country. He embarrassed his party. Practically all the MEPs from the Socialist and Democrats grouping, of which Malta’s Labour Party forms part, voted for Metsola. But Agius Saliba, a fellow Maltese MEP, didn’t.

Agius Saliba embarrassed his own prime minister. Robert Abela publicly stated that he supported Metsola’s nomination for European Parliament president. He made it explicitly clear that he expected his MEPs to vote for her alongside their Socialist and Democrat colleagues. Agius Saliba openly defied Abela. His strong vote in the European election has gone to his head. He feels comfortable spurning his own leader publicly. He knows he can ridicule Abela because he has Muscat’s backing.

Not only did Agius Saliba refuse to comply with Abela’s publicly expressed direction but he also got his sidekick, Daniel Attard to follow suit. After all, Attard too owed his MEP seat to Muscat who campaigned on his behalf. He even got his wife, Michelle to publicly endorse Attard.

Agius Saliba was left looking like a buffoon. He’s now isolated from his allies in Europe and ostracised by his own party.

Abela is right to fume. Such a public humiliation from his own head of delegation at the European Parliament must sting. It shows Abela lost control of his own parliamentarians. It exposes Abela’s weakness, his helplessness. Abela won’t take kindly to such an affront.

Alex Agius Saliba was left looking like a buffoon- Kevin Cassar

Agius Saliba must have realised the utter stupidity of his pettiness. He’s trying to dig up excuses for not voting for Metsola. He’s coming up with the most pathetic excuses. Agius Saliba declared that he didn’t vote for Metsola because “she didn’t address the issue of the Maltese language” during her first term as president.

How ridiculous can you get? Muscat looms large over Agius Saliba’s small-mindedness. Like Muscat, he’s using the Maltese language as an excuse.

He didn’t vote for her because she “ignored” the Palestine issue, because of her “different stances on abortion” and because of her “stance on defence and security”. What a pathetic loser. Is that all he could come up with?

Didn’t Abela’s Labour Party run ads claiming that Metsola “bombed children” and that she was “sending your children to war”? Strange how Labour’s head of delegation at the European Parliament, Agius Saliba, didn’t dare make such comical claims at the European Parliament. What’s even stranger is that Abela, who made those claims and got his party to repeat them, still supported her nomination.

There are only two possible reasons why Abela would back a candidate for European Parliament president who “bombs children”. Either his principles are so malleable that he doesn’t really mind handing power to a politician who “bombs children” or the far more likely alternative reason – that Labour’s despicable election anti-Metsola propaganda was pure fiction.

Do you blame Agius Saliba for defying Abela and his schizophrenic approach to Metsola? How could Agius Saliba face Labour’s hardcore if he voted for Metsola after Labour’s relentless campaign of vilification of Metsola? How could he justify voting for her when she had rejected Muscat’s hand? More crucially, how could he face Muscat if he had voted for her?

Agius Saliba was caught between a rock and a hard place. Vote for Metsola as Abela demanded and lose face with Labour’s hardcore and incur the wrath of Invictus. Or appease Muscat and defy Abela.

What’s telling is that Agius Saliba chose Muscat. Sadly, he also chose to humiliate himself, his leader and his country.

The next time Agius Saliba calls his political adversaries negative, remember that image of a pathetic Agius Saliba sitting stiffly in his chair as fellow MEPs cheered and clapped for Metsola.