Labour Whip Carmelo Abela said Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi would have been credible in his criticism if the ideals he was promoting had been practised by PN administrations of the past, when injustices in the Armed Forces of Malta were rampant.
Mr Abela invited his colleagues to check various Ombudsman reports on the large number of complaints by soldiers and officers after every promotion exercise concluded under Nationalist governments.
These reports showed there were people in the AFM who had been promoted as a result of direct political interference from the Office of the Prime Minister. Among these were people who gained multiple promotions within a short period of time.
This political interference from Castille was also rampant in the issuing of direct orders in the armed forces, he said, adding there were also allegations of people in the hierarchy marrying each other and remaining in the force.
Mr Abela said it was therefore wrong to assume that a new government would let such injustices continue and not try to change these practices.
He said that he was proud that the State had showed its appreciation to the Armed Forces maritime section by awarding them the Ġieħ ir-Repubblika medal.
On the Bill to amend the AFM law, Mr Abela said although short, it was significant because Malta was sending a message to international fora that minors would not be engaged in Malta’s armed forces.
Winding up the debate, Minister Mallia said that if one believed in equal rights, then there should not be any problem with a female officer, Major Ruth Ruggier, being asked to serve at the male-only Safi detention centre.
Dr Azzopardi had described the posting as a vindictive and cruel political transfer.
The minister added that Dr Azzopardi had been misinformed because there were a considerable number of women serving with the refugees. Dr Mallia reminded Dr Azzopardi that since 2005, 16 officials had been sent to work at the detention centre under PN administrations. Using this same yardstick, were they sent there vindictively because they were Labour sympathisers?
Dr Azzopardi had failed to say that there were other plainclothes women acting as detention services officers both at Ħal Far and Safi. Moreover, the director at Ħal Far was a woman.
It seemed that although Dr Azzopardi was the Opposition spokesman on Home Affairs, he had not understood the basics. Commissioned military officers serve where they were needed irrespective of their gender.
Dr Azzopardi had also claimed the Ombudsman had not been given the information required to carry out an investigation on seven complaints of discrimination.
Dr Mallia pointed out that when a similar case occurred in 2004, the official who felt he had been passed over for promotion was told by the Ombudsman that he could not act on this case.
An official of the Armed Forces was bound by law to take any complaint to the minister, who then referred it to the President of the Republic. Was this a case of two weights and two measures?
Dr Azzopardi had also asked whether all those who were promoted were college trained, but the minister said he knew that in the past there was one person who used to decide who should go to the staff college, and then those who were not chosen for the college never had a chance of promotion.
The Labour government had removed this injustice, which had been taking place for years, and Dr Azzopardi knew this, as he was aware there was someone “very high up in Castille” who used to control the army.
The minister reiterated he wanted to give equal opportunities to everyone, saying he always abided by the law, just as the PN used to have the same powers under law.