If any evidence was needed that the government has hijacked institutions and is trying to use them to survive, all one has to do is look at the reply to a parliamentary question given by Justice Minister Jonathan Attard.
In a most vile manner, on Tuesday, February 11, Attard answered a PQ not about the way the Labour government is operating and misusing public funds. Questions like that are never answered. To the justice minister, it is acceptable that the auditor general faces blank walls when he asks about the misuse of tens of millions of euros in public funds that are unaccounted for.
The justice minister answered a question about a private citizen and listed how many times this person wrote “against the government”. It sounds incredible but Attard laid on the table of the House a 90-page document with 546 comments by former chief justice Silvio Camilleri on Times of Malta. The document was filed in response to a parliamentary question asked by star Labour MP Katya De Giovanni.
It seems like a piece from a fictional plot. It is indeed amazing this new brazen Labour MP and justice minister are worried by criticism of the government but are unperturbed that their party in government gave €400 million to Vitals; that the Gozo minister spends more the €10 million over budget on a stretch of road; or that the auditor general found serious irregularities in the €80 million SmartCity ITS campus project; or the millions of euros paid to phantom workers who were either not showing up for work or were being assigned to private companies while being paid by public funds in the Community Work Scheme; or the National Pool project cost overruns, which ballooned from an initial €11 million to over €23 million, with questionable procurement procedures and weak contract management.
Government manipulates parliament’s question time to be used against private citizens. The justice minister has just confirmed what many have been suspecting for a long time. The government has turned into Big Brother. It is spending public money to spy and keep tabs on what private citizens are writing. If the government was viewing public comments to see what is going wrong and change course, there would be nothing wrong with that. It would indeed be a government that listens, as we were promised. But it is very clear that we have a government of spies.
The message by Attard was in line with his previous job as a Super One reporter: each one of you posting out there is being watched. We know who you are. And we will pay you back. And we all know how it works. Next time you apply for a promotion, if you’re posting against the government, forget it.
The justice minister should indeed be concerned that a former attorney general and former chief justice is criticising the government’s laws and behaviour. Camilleri was not the only one to criticise the government ‘reforms’, especially the latest regressive one where the government wants to take away a citizen’s right to demand an inquiry when suspicions of corruption crop up.
The government is spending public money to spy and keep tabs on what private citizens are writing- Christine Amaira
Former European Court of Human Rights judge Giovanni Bonello has publicly endorsed, without reservations, the condemnation expressed by Camilleri for this latest, sordid and desperate keep-me-out-of-jail card.
Attard should have a lot to learn from the former chief justice. But, instead of swallowing humble pie and righting what is wrong, he tries to intimidate him in parliament. Yes, in parliament, which is meant to be the voice of the people but which has now been turned into a tool to attack people.
Compare this with what PN leader Bernard Grech is saying. We are there for you. We are there to ensure that your quality of life improves. We are there to assure that democracy prevails. We have moved an opposition motion to address your quality of life by targeting the rising cost of living.
What a contrast with what the government is doing. It is only trying to protect itself from us citizens. It is trying to make it impossible for us to seek redress when there is a strong indication of corruption. Don’t forget that Labour is the party that resisted and objected to a law about unexplained wealth. Who fears a law on unexplained wealth?
Only those who are buying property at a fraction of the real cost while in government need to fear unexplained wealth. Only those dishing out contracts worth millions which inexplicably vanish, or those buying boats, restaurants, works of art and antiques while on a pauper’s salary should be afraid of the law on unexplained wealth. And that is why they are resisting it.
On the other hand, we have the Nationalist Party led by Grech who has consistently emphasised that the PN aims to position itself as a party that listens to and serves all segments of Maltese society. Grech speaks about the party’s goal of being a political force that understands everyday struggles, particularly around cost-of-living issues and quality of life concerns.
Grech has positioned the PN to be not just as an opposition party that criticises the government but a party that offers concrete solutions and a clear vision for Malta’s future. The PN’s commitment to fighting corruption and promoting good governance is a way to ensure the government works for the benefit of all citizens rather than select groups, as Labour is doing.
A PN government would work for you. Labour work for their pockets and try to intimidate you if you dare call them out.
Christine AmairaChristine Amaira works at the Nationalist Party’s communications office.