Former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali too should be stripped of the honours bestowed on him by Malta, according to the Labour Party, which yesterday expressed disappointment at a lack of “bipartisan coordination” on these matters.
The government has decided to withdraw former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s honorary membership of the Xirka Gieħ ir-Reppublika, dating back to 1975, as well the National Order of Merit bestowed on him in 2004.
It announced the honours would be withdrawn through a resolution presented in Parliament once it reconvenes after the summer recess. But Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said it would have been “more prudent” if the government first coordinated the national issue with the PL.
It would definitely be proposing the repeal of the similar honours conferred on President Ben Ali in 2005, Dr Muscat said.
He was speaking on a visit yesterday to Shipwright Wharf in Marsa, where the Civil Protection Department has embarked on a drive to collect humanitarian aid for the “Libyans friends”.
The collection started on Saturday but has seen minimal response, with items just about trickling in.
Accompanied by his wife Michelle, Dr Muscat said he supported the initiative and appealed for contributions from Maltese families, acknowledging that being summer, a Sunday and the heat did not help.
Having assisted far-off countries, Malta had an even stronger obligation towards its immediate neighbour, which had also supported it in times of need, he said, adding that this would augur well for the “continuation and start of a relationship with the Libyans at such an important time of democratic hope” for the embattled country.
Dr Muscat has been conspicuous for his silence throughout the Libyan conflict and criticised for failing to call on Col. Gaddafi to go. But during the visit to the CPD’s humanitarian aid section yesterday, he justified his party’s “prudence not to politicise the issue”, while accusing the government of doing so.
Its meetings over the past few months with “representatives of the various factions of the rebels”, which emerged yesterday, were held both in Malta and elsewhere, Dr Muscat said, mentioning formal and informal contacts from Benghazi and Misurata.
The discussions were based on how the PL, within its limits as an opposition party, could provide concrete assistance to the rebels.
Elaborating slightly on the “supplies and assistance” through which the PL has said it has supported the Libyans, Dr Muscat said the party was referring to contacts it shared, as well as facilitating supplies – “not wide-ranging solutions”.
He said the rebels wanted to work with Malta and were positive the relationship between the two counties would flourish again.
Confident the relationship between Malta and Libya would go beyond economic relations, Dr Muscat said “we need to rediscover the value of friendship”.
Yesterday’s crucial initiative showed the Maltese were not only interested in contracts but wanted to build the relationship first, he said.
CPD director Patrick Murgo said the operation, in collaboration with other organisations, to collect and ship to Tripoli basic necessities, such as food, water and sanitary items, was still slow.
Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea handed over medical supplies on Saturday, while preparations have accelerated for Malta to serve as a logistical base for humanitarian aid to the Libyan capital. The World Health Organisation also plans to channel some of its aid through Malta.