“I honestly wish that the upcoming election provides an opportunity to the electorate to purge the political class from members who have decided to make it their mission to score political points through personal attacks, the throwing of mud and venom.” This was Owen Bonnici’s New Year wish.
Bonnici wants the electorate to kick out all MPs who engage in “personal attacks, the throwing of mud and venom”.
Who does Bonnici have in mind? Is he perhaps thinking of Glenn Bedingfield who set up a blog with the explicit intention of personally attacking a journalist?
Bedingfield admitted running the blog. He also admitted participating in the One TV programme Tanatnejn in which Daphne Caruana Galizia was described as “el fava” (the witch), a pejorative term with sexual connotations which rendered her a target of ridicule and contempt, according to the inquiry conclusions.
Bedingfield defended his despicable actions as being “an equal and opposite reaction” – a justification the inquiry roundly refuted.
Bedingfield showed no contrition or regret, even after her assassination, vindictively accusing the journalist’s family of “not having an interest in discovering the whole truth”. He accused the family of ordering the destruction of evidence and demanded action against them.
Maybe Bonnici was thinking of Justyne Caurana who labelled all PN supporters “snakes”? He could have been referring to Minister Clint Camilleri who called journalists “a bunch of imbeciles”. It could have equally been his ministerial colleague, Edward Zammit Lewis who insulted his own supporters calling them idiots (Ġaħan Laburist).
Maybe Bonnici wants the electorate to purge Alex Muscat because of his mud slinging. Muscat falsely accused MP Karol Aquilina of sending his brother to intimidate Labour MPs.
Or he might have been referring to his own leader, Robert Abela, who cold-heartedly attacked the assassinated journalists’ family, accusing them of being “more interested in their repugnance for their country than finding those who are criminally responsible for the assassination”. Abela incited his supporters by falsely accusing the opposition and its MP Jason Azzopardi of lodging a police report accusing him of voluntary homicide, which crime carries a life sentence. Was this the “throwing of mud” Bonnici had in mind?
Bonnici wants the electorate to dump MPs who relentlessly exposed the unprecedented filth of Labour’s government- Kevin Cassar
Surely not. Bonnici wants the electorate to dump MPs who relentlessly exposed the unprecedented filth of Labour’s government. He hopes the electorate will rid him of MPs who stood up for truth and demanded answers, who insisted on transparency and publication of secret contracts through which Labour looted the country’s assets.
He wants the electorate to vote out those who accused Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi of corruption even when Labour’s media heaped ridicule and venom onto them.
He wants to get rid of MPs who helped engineer the fall of his disgraced idol, Joseph Muscat. He wants to get rid of MPs who, against all odds, still seek to hold Mizzi to account.
Bonnici wants a purge of MPs who live up to their role by exposing the rotten corruption of his government.
Bonnici doesn’t want the electorate to purge politicians mired in corruption or those found guilty of breaching ethics. He doesn’t wish the electorate to dump politicians who deceived the public with persistent lying. Or those, like Caruana, who robbed taxpayers to reward her intimate friend. Or those who accepted thousands of euros in cash and then attempted to conceal the truth by speaking at the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly against an independent inquiry.
Bonnici didn’t call for a purge of MPs who broke fundamental human rights like he did. He abused his power by appointing his soon-to-be girlfriend onto the Manoel Theatre committee despite her complete lack of competence in the field. He voted in support of his shady colleague, Mizzi, enabling him to continue to harm the nation.
Bonnici didn’t augur the electorate dispose of him. Because “throwing mud” is a worse evil than pilfering state coffers.
“We need to keep attracting the best and the brightest,” Bonnici insisted.
Presumably, Bonnici considers himself one of “the best and brightest”. That’s not surprising. He’s surrounded by people like Aaron Farrugia.
Farrugia uploaded a Facebook post wishing himself “the happiest birthday”. “Cheers to the person I’m turning into and the open doors in life – I can’t wait to explore new frontiers,” the puerile minister commented with a photo of himself holding a glass of red wine. These people have absolutely no insight into their own ridiculousness.
The level of incompetence and dilettantism is staggering. Bonnici’s biography on the official website of his ministry is eye-watering. It hasn’t even been proofread.
Although the biography is in English, part of it drifts into Maltese. It is studded with gross, basic grammatical errors. It’s also absolutely cringeworthy.
“He believes that his family gave him a strong foundation in regards to commitment, effort and to working together for the common good,” it reads. “Minister Bonnici gained momentum and succeeded in politics” is a real gem.
The biography reaches its climax with a true classic: “He considers himself as a self-critique though, he believes in what he can achieve and do.” When you’ve hardly achieved anything, it’s pretty difficult to populate your bio – except with inanities.
This man was minister for education. He can barely string a sentence together, a sad indictment of our educational system and the university which conferred his doctoral degree.
It is also a damning reflection of the Labour Party that somebody so eminently unqualified, so utterly lacking in any basic competence and with such an inflated ego could be minister for justice, minister for education and minister for research and innovation.
It is symptomatic of a political system that, too frequently, promotes completely clueless amateurs with the added handicap of considering themselves “the best and the brightest”.
Bonnici is right. The country needs a purge, a purge of those politicians who are shamelessly corrupt, hopelessly incompetent or guilty of human rights violations. And, especially, of those who are all three.