The leader of the Opposition was making it very obvious that he and his party were using the unfortunate abduction in Libya of a fellow Maltese citizen – Martin Galea – to try to score a few political points.

During the parliamentary debate on the present Libyan crisis, Foreign Minister George Vella explained in detail what he and his ministry have been doing to help those Maltese who wish to return from Libya. All Maltese citizens who were, or still are, in Libya were contacted individually by the foreign ministry and informed of the situation in the country.

They were offered the chance to return to Malta. A minority accepted and are back, but the majority preferred to remain since their livelihood and that of their family in Malta depends on their work there.

With regard to Galea, the minister explained that publicising the abduction would have further jeopardised the man’s predicament. If Simon Busuttil was so concerned about Galea and wanted to know certain details that cannot be made public, all he had to do was to ask the minister to brief him in private.

After all, the minister had invited Carm Mifsud Bonnici, the PN’s shadow minister on foreign affairs, to visit him at the ministry, anytime he liked, to get all the information in confidence.

Busuttil knew this, however, it seems he and the PN believed they had another golden opportunity to play politics, even if there was the safety of a fellow Maltese citizen at stake.