Labour party makes public apology to Mario Galea

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat yesterday apologised for a comment made by Labour whip Joe Mizzi about Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea.

Speaking during a television programme last week, Mr Mizzi had remarked that, given that Mr Galea was unwell, "the PN should not have allowed him to drink whisky" before Parliament voted on the controversial Delimara power station extension.

Mr Galea ended up making a mistake on that vote, triggering uproar in the House and an Opposition walk-out after a Nationalist claim that Labour MP Justyne Caruana made a similar mistake.

Mr Mizzi had apologised privately to Mr Galea as did Dr Muscat who urged the Labour whip not to repeat it. But the parliamentary secretary, speaking to The Sunday Times, called for a public apology from the PL.

Asked for a reaction to Mr Galea's request, Dr Muscat told The Times yesterday: "As Mario Galea said in his interview (in The Sunday Times), I told him privately that I take exception to such comments (by Joe Mizzi). Since then Mr Mizzi has apologised to Mr Galea. I am repeating the apology publicly on behalf of the party."

However, Dr Muscat also reiterated his call on both Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg to apologise "for lying" about Labour MP Justyne Caruana.

"So far they haven't done so privately, let alone publicly," Dr Muscat said.

He was referring to Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg's claim the previous Thursday that Dr Caruana had made a mistake and voted against an opposition motion condemning the government over the extension of the Delimara power station.

Her vote was questioned after Mr Galea mistakenly voted for the motion - a move which would have won the vote for Labour. When this happened, Dr Borg raised a point of order, saying that Dr Caruana had also made a mistake, but the whole Labour bench insisted this was a lie intended to short-circuit the vote because it would have embarrassed the government.

Fuelled by a doubt voiced by an assistant House clerk, the Speaker decided to listen to the recording - prompting a walk-out on Labour's part.

The vote was taken again because the recording was not clear and the government won - no Labour MP was in the House for this second vote.

The alcohol comment came in the wake of this squabble, during a breakfast show that was dealing with the subject.

The remark was considered by many to be in bad taste since the parliamentary secretary is being treated for depression, which was an open secret in political circles until Mr Galea made his condition public last week.

Mr Galea, a nurse by profession, said the Labour Party's insensitivity could have contributed to the stigma of mental health.

He emphasised that only some 28 per cent of the 33,000-odd annual cases of depression seek treatment because of such stigma. In fact, he said that he had decided to make his case public to raise awareness and combat the stigma.

Mr Galea said he had immediately informed Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi about his condition when he was diagnosed a few months ago, but did not offer his resignation at the time since he believed he could continue doing his job.

"He told me to take care of myself and that my health came first," he said.

The Times also tried to contact Mr Mizzi yesterday but several attempts were unsuccessful.