The Nationalist mayor of the now dissolved Sliema council, Joanna Gonzi, claims recordings of her making disparaging comments about other councillors were taken out of context but she refused to say how.
Recordings taken out of context
Labour’s One news channel last week aired recordings in which Dr Gonzi was heard saying: “I want them dead. All of them...” and “He can go f*** himself.”
The station claimed she was referring to Labour councillors who were not present at the meeting where her comments were recorded.
Asked to explain herself, Dr Gonzi simply said: “The recordings were conveniently taken out of context. I would not like to comment further.”
The Times pressed her to say who she was referring to and explain how the comments were taken out of context, but she refused to respond. Dr Gonzi will not be contesting the election this time round.
Meanwhile, Sliema Nationalist councillor Julian Galea – who is a candidate for Saturday’s election – was also exposed as having a “phobia” for Labourites in the same recordings.
He was heard saying, among other things, that he pays his Labour employees less than Nationalists.
PN had said his comments were unacceptable and Mr Galea apologised on his party’s insistence.
The Times asked the PN whether it felt comfortable with Mr Galea’s candidature. It also asked PN for a reaction to Dr Gonzi’s comments.
However, the PN said it had already made its comments public on the matter and had nothing to add: “Rest assured, the PN condemns any divisive comments because it was the PN, and only the PN, which, together with the people, struggled to make sure the right to freedom of association with a political party becomes a basic right which was, for years on end, denied by Labour and its well-known anti-democratic track record.”
The PN spokesman said the party hoped Labourites who made similar comments in the past would have the courage to apologise for their “incitement”.
The spokesman named Labour MPs Joe Debono Grech, Charles Mangion, Justyne Caruana, Joseph Muscat, Jason Micallef and George Vella as Labour exponents who have spoken “divisively” over the past years.
On Sunday, Labour leader Joseph Muscat dedicated a speech to the “hate” comments and appealed for supporters to respond with love. Dr Muscat said Labour would be a government for everyone.