In 2011, prime minister Lawrence Gonzi and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton addressed a press conference at Auberge de Castille. It concluded the end of the first Libyan civil war. Malta was by no means a protagonist in the conflict but the political and geographical proximity to the conflict forced the Maltese government into tough calls.
Gonzi refused to betray his commitment to democracy and human life. He did not stand in the way of critical evacuations from Libya on the basis of Malta’s neutrality. He did not hesitate to make Malta’s voice heard against atrocities.
When meeting with Muammar Gaddafi’s envoy in April 2011, he was not swayed. “We see this as an opportunity for Malta to add its voice to that of the international community in asking for the atrocities to end.”
That was back when leadership meant something.
I find it hard to digest that the Maltese government is now dragging its feet with regard to Ukraine. It’s almost as if the Labour Party has not yet renounced its emotional connections with the Cold War era bloc of communist states.
We have Alfred Sant qualifying his condemnation of Putin’s invasion, putting some of the blame on the West.
We have Robert Abela seeing nothing wrong with selling passports to Russian oligarchs a week into the war while the West united to impose sanctions as hundreds of innocent Ukrainians lost their lives.
We have the Maltese government cave in to pressure by the US and the EU to stop selling golden passports to Russian oligarchs. But they don’t refer to the illegal invasion of sovereign Ukraine as such. They prefer to use the Russia-friendly “recent developments” in the official press release.
What is going on? In 10 years, we’ve had Iranian bankers flee in the middle of the night to be arrested in the US. We’ve had Azeri connections,
Chinese agreements, Panamanian companies, Emirati bank accounts and Maltese assassinations. This is not the Malta that stood up to Gaddafi in 2011. This is the Malta where journalists are killed. This is the Malta where prime ministers are salesmen first before they are leaders.
At the height of the illegal invasion against the innocent Ukrainian people, Malta drags its feet to condemn the Kremlin. Abela wanted Ukrainian refugees only if they had deep pockets. It had to be the hotel industry to offer to host them for free during quarantine periods.
To avoid losing out on a quick buck, successive Labour administrations have squandered our reputation. And they are still going strong with making Malta look like a desperate country trying to please everyone. We learnt the hard way during the 1980s when Malta’s foreign policy attracted only suspicion and mistrust, not healthy relationships based on commitments to mutual values.
It’s almost as if the Labour Party has not yet renounced its emotional connections with the Cold War era bloc of communist states- Christian Micallef
While Europe and the world looks on in admiration at the bravery and sheer commitment to democracy of the Ukrainian people, I can’t help but feel how our country’s leadership has let us down. Bernard Grech’s PN has been fighting tooth and nail to shift Abela’s stance against helping Ukrainian refugees and to condemn Russia. It should not take so much effort for Abela to do the right thing.
The Maltese stand up for what it right. The MHRA stepped in when Abela would not waive the hefty hotel quarantine bills. We give generously to those in need. We did not earn the reputation of the ‘Nurse of the Mediterranean’ for nothing.
How far we’ve come. We are a people who love justice, love peace and love democracy. But we are being led by a cabinet of passport-sellers who are more worried about their Russian oligarch clients than how Malta will look on the world stage.
Because looks matter. How can I hold my head high when I speak to a Ukrainian citizen or anyone else from countries that have committed assistance? I want to be proud to be Maltese because we helped those in need from our own pockets when it really mattered. Labour is telling me to be proud to be Maltese because we built a flyover from passport sales.
Looks matter. Like so many others, I want to live in a country where values are lived, not just splashed onto billboards.
What the Ukrainian people teach us is that a nation is built during times of crisis to fight injustice. Its values are affirmed when its people are ready to give up everything for them. A nation is built by its people.
It irks me that so many young people want to leave. Living in ‘the best of times’, you would imagine young people want a return ticket when flying out. It is one thing to experience life abroad. It is another to be ready to cut ties with home.
We’ve seen how people who love justice are treated in Malta. Memorials swept away and protests censored, shockingly including one to protest against the illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Malta is more than its morally bankrupt leadership. If we want our reputation back, we need to elect people with a genuine sense of justice.
Not those who sell our values to fuel their yachts.
Christian Micallef, PN candidate
mieghek@christianmicallef.com