Saints, sinners and heroes

Some provocative statements made by Charles Demicoli (March 2) prompted my reaction.

He refrained from any judgment on the Nationalist Party's decision to disenfranchise the residents of Zejtun and Marsa, some others had tried to defend that strategy but failed miserably.

Although smart, Mr Demicoli has a very selective memory and failed to realise that the people's memory is not so short. He portrayed a one-sided picture of political violence being committed only by Labour supporters during the years gone by, which acts I find no difficulty to condemn. However, unlike Mr Demicoli, I have no reservations and my condemnation is not one sided.

My memory is not so selective as I also remember other violence which Mr Demicoli has conveniently forgotten. The list is too tall to be exhausted in this letter so I will just mention a few:

I remember the arsenal which the police found in the PN headquarters at Hamrun; the anarchical private army wearing blue jackets; the still unknown motive behind the attempted murder of Richard Cachia Caruana; the murder of Raymond Caruana for which Eddie Fenech Adami blamed Labour thugs but were never accused by his own government; the case of Wilfred Cardona, an ex-PN activist who had threatened to spill the beans and was afterwards found murdered; the murder of Karin Grech and the attempted murder in Mosta of Paul Chetcuti Caruana, a former Labour MP.

There was the bomb planted at the residence of the Police Commissioner who was then imprisoned in connection with the killing of Nardu Debono when the actual perpetrators got a presidential pardon; another bomb outside the Sliema police station and others; the attempted murder of the visiting Socialist International delegation at Wied iz-Zurrieq; the brutal attack on Tarcisio Mifsud; the attack on Joe Debono Grech's residence; the balustrade battle at Zebbug; the police shoot-out at Rabat during a PN mass meeting followed by the strange promotion of the same officer in charge by the PN; the criminal acts after the 1998 general election and a lot more violence.

The list of moral violence is also unending and for a small sample I remind Mr Demicoli of the atrocities of the Church when, as an ally of the Nationalist Party, imposed the mortal sin on anybody who supported and voted Labour. Labour Party supporters were then even deprived of a Christian burial. And what about the tolling of church bells, the jeering and whistle blowing to disrupt Labour Party meetings? The fracas, stone throwing and the ambush organised by the Church and Nationalist supporters to throw into disorder public meetings in Gozo?

Proof of more moral violence committed by PN governments can also be found in the court of laws thanks to the Tribunal Against Injustices, enacted by Alfred Sant's Labour government. The list of Labourites who were awarded compensation after being discriminated against by the PN government is also far too long to go into. My name is also in that list which shows some of the worst political discrimination in Maltese history.

For 10 long years, a government subsidiary company had cut me and a big group of other Labour supporters out and deprived us of promotions as well as grossly humiliated us. The law condemned that company and declared us political victims of the party which Mr Demicoli is portraying as "the knight in shining armour".

I had also shared a dose of political violence when on the night of the Nationalist victory of 1987 I was held at gunpoint and beaten up black and blue. Today I am very grateful to a group of tourists who saved me to tell the tale. Yes, Mr Demicoli, during the night that you and other Nationalist supporters were celebrating a political victory, people like us were very active to protect our lives and limbs from the Nationalist victors.

Although I am a fervent social democrat, my journey down the black area of memory lane was not intended to justify the other side of the political violence committed by criminals disguised as Labour supporters. Socialism teaches kindness, justice and true Christian principles. I merely wanted to remind those with a blurred vision that Labour supporters were also victims of that era. Anybody professing otherwise and posing as holier than thou is a hypocritical fool.

Malta's political past was not always a legend of patriotic heroes and saints; unfortunately, it also saw sinners. At the risk of sounding patronising I must remind all that the effective clean-up was only initiated with a successful result by Dr Sant, the same leader who the Nationalists tried to ridicule when he was giving us forewarning of the situation today.

Now analyse this Mr Demicoli & Co. and I would welcome your response.