The thousands of people who turned up for Jean Paul Sofia’s vigil last Monday were in for a big surprise. “I invite you to thank the prime minister, Robert Abela,” Peppi Azzopardi told the crowd.
Those thousands were there to express their anger at Abela’s callous rejection of a public inquiry. They were there to condemn the cold-blooded injustice perpetrated by Labour in the face of the family’s agony. They turned up enraged at Abela’s cynical last-minute attempt to sabotage a massive public display of anger at his cruel insensitivity.
Abela knew he would be humiliated by the overwhelming unity of the nation in condemning his arrogant inhumanity. So, just minutes before the vigil he U-turned spectacularly.
Abela’s change of heart wasn’t driven by compassion for Sofia’s family. It wasn’t guided by respect for the will of the nation. It was compelled by political expediency. Abela was desperately trying to save his skin. Everybody knew that. Even Azzopardi. So why was he encouraging the crowd to thank Abela? What should Abela be thanked for?
Maybe for the misery and anguish he caused the family with his intransigent rejection of a public inquiry? Or the catalogue of cynical lies Abela uttered that afternoon at his hastily convened press conference? Maybe we should thank Abela for his vicious attacks on the judiciary and his hostile intimidation of the inquiring magistrate, knowing full well she cannot defend herself?
Perhaps we should be grateful to Abela for his brazen attacks on our democracy. Maybe Azzopardi wanted the assembled crowd to express their gratitude to Abela for his unsuccessful attempt to disrupt the vigil.
The crowd could not believe its ears. It was being asked to show its gratitude to the very man responsible for all the torment. Azzopardi was left in no doubt about what those thousands felt. Even Abela, studiously waiting inside his Castille office for his opportunity to appear at that vigil must have heard the roar of disapproval.
The crowd was right. Abela deserves no gratitude. His performance at that press conference was revolting. Abela lied repeatedly and shamelessly. He claimed that he’d changed his mind because he was expecting the magistrate to conclude her inquiry on Saturday but, instead, she requested an extension. He claimed “everybody anticipated” the magistrate would conclude the inquiry by then. The magistrate’s request to extend the inquiry was the “only” reason for his change of heart. “Because of this development today, it was the only reason for this decision.”
Abela bragged that he’s a lawyer with “20 years in the Courts of Justice” and “trained in the legal discipline”. He knows that magisterial inquiries can take years, even decades. There are 1,700 magisterial inquiries still pending. He must have known that Sofia’s inquiry wasn’t going to be concluded by Saturday. He was deceiving the public by claiming that “everybody anticipated” a result by Saturday.
There was only one working day between his party’s obscene vote in parliament on Thursday and his sudden turnaround on Monday. Abela expected the magistrate to heed his parliamentary motion and wrap up the inquiry in 24 hours.
Robert Abela is a fickle flip-flopping failure- Kevin Cassar
“I was informed a few minutes ago,” Abela claimed, “that neither the magistrate nor the court experts have heard evidence from Sofia’s relatives”. Abela, by his own admission, met the family more than once. Hadn’t he bothered to ask them whether they’d been called to testify? Abela expects us to believe that he found out the family hadn’t testified minutes before the vigil. The family’s testimony is hardly relevant to what caused the tragic death. But that doesn’t fit Abela’s fabricated story.
Abela has no shame. “You’re misquoting me by saying that I don’t or didn’t agree with a public inquiry,” he accused one of the journalists at that press conference.
“What I said is that the magisterial inquiry should be concluded and then, if there are any points still to be investigated, one moves to an inquiry of this type,” Abela lied.
Just three days earlier, Abela told MaltaToday that those gaps should be investigated by INDIS Malta, a government entity led by Silvio Schembri’s canvassers. He never mentioned any public inquiry. Everybody knows Abela viciously opposed and vociferously rejected a public inquiry.
Even at his press conference announcing the public inquiry, Abela couldn’t bring himself to say the words “public inquiry”. Like Vladimir Putin calling the war in Ukraine a special military operation, Abela comically avoided the two words. “It will be an inquiry open to the public, the public can attend, the media can attend,” he said.
“An inquiry open to the public, it will be conducted in the same way as the last inquiry we had in this country,” he euphemistically declared. He called it “an inquiry according to the Act of Inquiries”, “an inquiry of this type” and “the inquiry we are announcing today”. Try and say it Abela – it’s a public inquiry.
Abela is only interested in scoring political points. He couldn’t possibly be heard stating that he’s ordering a public inquiry, just days after coercing his MPs to vote against it in parliament.
“Away from the cameras, because it’s not my intention to politicise or to gain publicity, I discussed this issue with Isabelle Bonnici,” he stated. He chastised one of the journalists publicly: “Don’t keep politicising and trivialising this.”
But the man who doesn’t seek publicity decided to come out of the front door of Castille where thousands of people were still waiting to place their candle before Sofia’s image.
Abela craved his photo opportunity, hugging Sofia’s father. His pathetic stunt to snatch the limelight and accept the plaudits for his false benevolence backfired. Abela expected the crowd’s adulation. Instead, he was chased away with jeers.
Abela got what he deserves and it isn’t gratitude. He is a fickle flip-flopping failure, shamelessly accusing the magistrate of being “completely indifferent to the consideration of delivering justice”. That is exactly what he is guilty of.
Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery.