On November 27, 2009, a young opposition leader was due to meet King Juan Carlos. Joseph Muscat arrived late. Muscat had already kept his Majesty waiting the night before, arriving late for the state banquet.
In May 2010, a flight to Dubai was delayed for over an hour. Muscat turned up late again. MP George Vella and a planeload of passengers were kept waiting.
In the run-up to the European Parliament election, Muscat was 45 minutes late for a debate with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.
Fast forward to October 2017. The president of the republic and other dignitaries were kept waiting for over one hour for the Leader of the Opposition Adrian Delia to turn up for his own swearing-in ceremony. Twenty hours later, Delia tweeted a half-hearted apology – “I apologise for taking longer than expected to arrive”.
In both, the tardiness belies a lack of self-discipline and organisation. It also reflects a disdainful disrespect for others, including heads of state.
This is the least significant of the ominous traits both men share.
When Muscat came to power, he rented his personal car to the state, pocketing a few thousand euros. Faced with the overwhelming responsibility of running the country, Muscat’s priority was his own pocket. This remained his priority until the end, shamelessly accepting €21,000 worth of flights. To ensure funds could be passed on, he changed the MP code of ethics, removing the obligation to declare the assets of spouses and children.
Delia stands accused of defrauding Arcidiacono of thousands of euros. He transferred €86,210 into his own account. Delia could not remember giving the bank any client authorisation.
Amnesia is another trait both men share. Delia forgot his offshore Jersey account and the funds that flowed through it, forgot whether he had contacted Yorgen Fenech, forgot thousands of euros he owed in taxes. Muscat forgot when and where he met Yorgen Fenech, he forgot where Neville Gafà worked despite working at Castille.
In both, the confected amnesia is only one of a list of tactics used to hide the truth – others include evasiveness, bullying and outright lies.
Muscat’s reluctance to answer basic questions – why he resigned, who paid his €21,000 trip, who owned Vitals, who negotiated the MOU – is notorious. Delia’s list is as impressive – how does he spend €9,000 a month earning less than €3,000, who really paid his tax bills, how did his WhatsApp texts with Fenech vanish from his phone, what happened with the Jersey account?
When you have so much to hide, your biggest threat is nosy journalists. Which explains why both men treated journalists with such contempt.
Joseph can teach us so much about Adrian
Muscat desperately avoided interviews. He sent Chris Fearne to the Tim Sebastian slaughter and Edward Scicluna to the BBC grilling. He prevented the press (and civil service) from joining him in Azerbaijan. Worse still, he conspired with Christian Kalin to destroy Daphne Caruana Galizia with SLAPP lawsuits. Delia’s spiteful reference to her as “biċċa blogger” triggered a tsunami of abuse against her from Delia’s supporters.
Both abused their positions of power to bully.
Muscat threatened Peppi Azzopardi he would hit him hard below the belt. His abrasiveness (“it’s none of your business”) and threats to journalists (“you risk being sued”) were routine. The locking up of journalists in Castille against their will drew international condemnation. The use of his state-funded ex-Super One trolls to hound and intimidate adversaries was systematic.
Delia has in his repertoire the curious case of the Birkirkara FC goalkeeper who was held by Delia and his tough guys against his will in a garage. More recently, Delia has targeted the youth branch of his own party when they expressed their genuine concerns about him. Therese Comodini Cachia exposed his aggressive and intimidating tactics. His latest showpiece was his slogan Mod ġdid, b’nies ġodda (a new way with new people).
It is these traits that attract shady characters to both – ‘Kenneth of Castille’, Neville Gafà, Adrian Hillman, Brian Tonna, John Dalli, Ċensu l-iswed, Yorgen Fenech.
While one invited an alleged money launderer under police investigation to his private party at the PM’s official residence, the other was busy exchanging WhatsApp messages and joining him for dinner at his ranch.
The most ominous attribute both possess, however, is their unwavering conviction that they are always right.
Muscat’s arrogance reached its nadir with his Invictus tattoo. To his mind he is never wrong – no remorse, no selfdoubt, no contrition. He feels above the norms, above standards, above the law.
Delia went one step further: “I am sure I’m right. I am sure of my ideas and so I can never lose”.
Joseph can teach us so much about Adrian. The man who thought himself invincible came crashing down in abject failure. He failed to complete a single legislature, lost his dream EU post and his legacy is a corrupt failed state. Even his allies, including Robert Abela, are lining up to point out his errors. His future will be haunted by the fear that European justice will come calling. But the harm inflicted on himself pales compared to the irreparable damage done to the country.
Delia will be no different. His penchant for failure is clear – the expulsion of Birkirkara FC from European football, the ruinous state of his personal finances, the failure of his business ventures, his mediocre polling. Having failed to satisfy the original 2017 ethics committee, Delia should not even feature on the ballot sheet.
No due diligence process could allow a person under investigation for money laundering to contest party leadership. But if that diligence process fails, PN party members have one final golden opportunity to save the future of their party and the country.
Let us hope they won’t squander it.
Kevin Cassar, consultant vascular surgeon and former PN candidate