Beneath lies the wolf

While momen­tous events were unfold­ing on the world stage, on the na­tional front we had developments on two separate cases, both of which offer us clear insights into the mindset of the Leader of the Opposition and his approach when it comes to dealing with accusations of wrongdoing by public figures.

Our right to know this is beyond dispute and discussion...- Victor Scerri

The first case relates to his now clear objective of strategically retaining “contact” journalists in key roles in the independent media. At the height of his party’s scathing attack on Lou Bondì and Peppi Azzopardi, one of his skeletons comes popping out of his cupboard.

While deflecting attention through attacking the two successful media personalities mentioned earlier, he is evidently happy to have a faithful (no pun intended) journalist heading the Church’s radio station – RTK. When caught with his hands in the media cookie jar, he yet again tries to deflect attention by using his parliamentary privilege to cry foul, first alleging that his e-mail account had been hacked, then, when it trasnspired that this was not the case, crying that his privacy had been breached.

The issue here is not whether or not we have a right to know how the Leader of the Opposition tries to control the media. The issue is precisely the way the Leader of the Opposition tries to do so. Our right to know this is beyond dispute and discussion and anybody who thinks otherwise should perhaps consider the whole context including Parliament, the media and the attempt for invisible control of independent media. May I also point out a basic principle with the media? Advertising has to be declared as being so. Commercial messages cannot be hidden as editorial content and Dr Muscat, a former-journalist, is well aware of this. The same applies to members of a newsroom.

Cospicua and Sliema have somehow always been connected, even if sometimes purely in contrast. In court the other day, it happened again. According to reported evidence in court, the former mayor of Sliema, Nikki Dimech, had asked for and received over €25,000 in kickbacks from refuse collection contracts and over €4,000 from the purchase of ponsiettas.

In another case, Cospicua mayor Joseph Scerri was convicted of having broken the law regulating local councils in order to employ a family member with the council.

The contrast in these two cases and how they were handled by their respective parties bring out the stark difference between the Nationalist Party and Dr Muscat’s Labour.

In the first case, when there was the first indication of wrongdoing by Mr Dimech over a year ago this was immediately made public and Mr Dimech stopped being a part of the PN. Dr Muscat immediately saw a chance for some cheap mileage and, in true wolf fashion, welcomed this new sheep with open arms and smiling face into his fold, even giving him space on One TV to pronounce himself. One wonders how he is going to try to wriggle out of this one when the full extent of this case is brought to the court’s attention and the procedures are concluded with the eventual sentence being handed down.

On the other hand, the case of the Cospicua Labour mayor was hushed up and hidden and no action was taken by his party. Why is this, one wonders, when the PN’s policy (of immediately asking any of its councillors or members to resign when faced with criminal charges) seemed to have been accepted even by his party as being the correct practice?

These two separate events speak volumes about the nature of this young man’s view of his role as a party leader and as a wannabee Prime Minister. While unfortu­nately eclipsed by the headlines dominating developments in Libya, another part of his sheepskin cover has slipped down further from the shoulders of Dr Muscat, revealing more of what lies beneath. And therein lies the wolf.

Dr Scerri is former president of the Nationalist Party and a candidate on fourth electoral district.