While no one, except a few within a rarefied circle, can put their finger on the definite date of the next election, speculation is rife about the imminent timing of the election.
A well-trodden path has it that the run-up to an election is the perfect breeding time for opportunists, who choose this interlude to lumber down from their customary fence and lethargy and to jump on the bandwagon of their choice, depending on the direction the wind is blowing.
And Marlene Farrugia did just that, albeit in a spectacular fashion, morphing herself from a paladin of the pro-life camp into a poster child for the pro-abortion one. ‘Spectacular’ might be somewhat of an understatement here, given her vehement missives just six years ago, in 2015, against embryo freezing, which she considered to trigger a slippery slope towards abortion, eventually.
Quoting verbatim from her social media post way back in 2015, one is literally gobsmacked at the abrupt way the chameleon has managed to change skin: “I am against embryo freezing. I will not support the introduction of any law that compromises the protection of any born or unborn child. We have enough carnage of children as it is. Whether we kill them or abuse them while they are still unborn, that is during gestation, or after they are born, like little Aylan washing up lifeless on the beach… it remains a cold-blooded murder of the innocent.”
Four years down the line, in 2019, Marlene took her husband, family doctor and fellow independent MP Godfrey Farrugia to task for signing a pro-life declaration, given that, by then, she had suddenly become in favour of embryo freezing, to the point that she dubbed those against as “extremists” and “fundamentalists”, probably as a strategic stunt aimed at not alienating rising star Camilla Applegren.
Godfrey Farrugia, being true to the Hippocrates Oath he swore allegiance to as a doctor, was quoted as saying the following at the time, in 2019, to justify his position: “The Democratic Party is in favour of life from conception to death. We are against the killing of babies in the womb and of all human beings at any stage of their life.”
Such an unequivocal pro-life stance prompts me to ask the sacrosanct question: where is Godfrey in all this? Can he stand up to be counted?
This is not simply about the conventional pro versus anti-abortion debate but, more significantly, about the coherence and credibility of those chosen to represent us in parliament. Everyone is entitled to a revision of his/her own views but, frankly, such Damascene tactics should be taken for what they really are... a desperate call for attention, a sensationalist shot at hogging the limelight, a melodramatic attempt at stealing the show and leaving some ‘legacy’ behind before it’s time for the swan song, given that the divorce and cannabis platforms have already been squatted over by others.
Marlene Farrugia morphed herself from a paladin of the pro-life camp into a poster child for the pro-abortion one- Alan Deidun
As a ballpark figure, I would estimate that a good third or even close to half of my acquaintances are pro-abortion but I have no axe to grind with the same, given that they have consistently been so, rather than whimsically changing their views on the matter, in the same way that someone changes the dye of their hair, on the eve of an election.
Those seeking to address poverty on these islands frequently remind us that there is indeed ample poverty on these islands, lest we forget that not everyone shares in the prosperity our economy generates. I fully subscribe to such a view but I would go a step further, namely that there is ample poverty on these islands of another genre... poverty, or better still, paucity in debating points, as aptly encapsulated in the Maltese adage faqar fil-ħsieb.
Marlene Farrugia’s main justification for her anomalous position seems to be that Malta is the only country in the EU with a total ban on abortion. This is a stale argument which has been used over and over again to usher in all forms of new legislation, lest the Maltese be perceived as some archaic dinosaurs by their European counterparts.
By the same argument, why don’t the Icelandic or Norwegian citizens stop hunting whales, the practice being so barbaric and limited to their own waters across Europe? Point is that matters of conscience should not be deliberated through peer pressure from other countries.
Being anti-abortion, I find comfort in Malta’s staunch defence of life and such an ‘anomalous’ (at European level) position should be lauded and not censured.
The dizzying heights that her sleight of hand has taken her, with even Reuters reporting on her brash move within hours, is probably precluding Marlene to think straight at the moment. Otherwise, she would realise that, come the aftermath of the next election, she will go in history as the master opportunist who has not stood consistently for anything during her political stint, dabbling on both sides of the fence on so many issues.
But, on the other hand, as Edward De Bono reminds us, “If you wait for opportunities to occur, you will be one of the crowd” and Marlene is definitely not one to be part of a crowd, at least not when an election is just round the corner.