Nationalist MP Claudette Buttigieg this evening said she would be filing a formal complaint with the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality about a speech by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo last Sunday and writings in the social media by V18 director Mario Philip Azzopardi.

Speaking in Parliament this evening, Ms Buttigieg called for a public apology from Mr Bartolo for using a term used in plastic surgery (restoring the hymen) to show how the PN was trying to restore its virginity after the 'orgy of the past'.

She deplored Mr Bartolo’s speech saying it was “sexist and vulgar” and asked what steps were or are to be taken by the NCPE. The commission’s silence, she said, was worrying. The education minister’s speech was an abuse of freedom of expression and offensive to every woman, she said as she asked if this was the example the Education Minister wanted to give. The minister was also a member of Parliament from whom good behaviour was essential.

As for Mr Azzopardi, his comments on the social media verged on xenophobia and led to a lot of racist comments.

Ms Buttigieg said she expected the NCPE to take action and the minister to say something on the subject.

As capital of culture, Malta was supposed to be highlighting the richness of cultural diversity in Europe.