Going back to using tactics of the 1980s

On March 16, the Maltese and Gozitans witnessed, both in parliament and outside it, to what depth the PN opposition is ready and willing to go in order to have a glimmer of hope of recapturing power in the distant future.

First, the utterly despicable and rowdy behaviour of the opposition in parliament, primarily by former leader, Adrian Delia and the ‘Blue Heroes’, who are presently in a temporary marriage of convenience with the person they had ousted from opposition leader. They did everything possible to hinder the prime minister from exposing the lies, especially their claim that “€400 million have been stolen” by VGH/Steward and that the government was in some way in collusion with VGH/Steward in “fraud”.

They have been peddling to easily gullible voters since Mr Justice Francesco Depasquale handed down his sentence on the hospitals concession and neither the €400 million nor the fraud claim involving the government can be found in the court’s sentence. Indeed, fraud was attributed by the court solely to VGH/Steward. So much so that Steward is now accusing the court of collusion with the government.

But, most probably, what incensed the PN most was when Robert Abela exposed the fact that Delia had been the legal adviser for 10 years of Skanska, the Swedish company entrusted with the scandal-ridden construction of Mater Dei Hospital. Skanska was given a waiver clause in the contract which cleared Skanska from any legal responsibility if any construction defects emerged in future, as indeed happened.

A protester holding a fake €400 million cheque outside parliament. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Due to that waiver, the government has found it impossible to legally recoup the millions those defects have cost it, especially the poor quality of the concrete used and which have made it impossible to build another floor on the existing building. Delia was also reminded by Abela of the time Daphne Caruana Galizia – referred to by Delia as “biċċa blogger” – had accused him of being a serial liar.

Second. The disgusting scenes we saw in front of parliament, when the crowd of diehard PN voters hurled insults at PL MPs and ministers, spat at One News journalists (which resulted in immediate condemnation from the Institute of Maltese journalists ) etc. were reminiscent of what the PN used to do way back in the 1980s and much later in 2017 when Simon Busuttil was PN and opposition leader.

But the ‘Man of the Disgusting Match’ award must surely go to former PN secretary general Paul Borg Olivier who started hurling fake €400 million cheques at the prime minister’s face as he was walking from parliament to Castille to address journalists. I was amazed to note that the police had allowed Borg Olivier to carry out his condemnable provocative action.

The opposition’s boycott of the parliamentary vote on their own motion by walking out of parliament because the government had moved an amendment to the original motion again confirms that the PN only wants to play on its own rules. This too is reminiscent of the tactics used by the PN in the past, especially in the 1980s.

Don’t be surprised if the PN now also resorts to boycotts of businesses which advertise on TVM and One TV, as they used to do in the 1980s. They probably believe that what succeeded in giving them power then, can also succeed in today’s Malta. The PN wants to take our dear country back to the 1980s.

Eddy Privitera – Naxxar