When writing his recent column criticising Labour’s relations with Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya (Questions That Need An Answer, August 31), Simon Busuttil showed he still has a long way to go to mature in politics. His unwarranted criticism has shown that for purely partisan politics, he is ready to give a very distorted picture of the truth.
In the past, especially when Dr Busuttil was leading the Malta-EU Information Centre (MIC), I used to criticise him quite often, both in newspaper articles and letters as well as on radio and TV.
One day, while I was present at a Xarabank programme about Malta’s bid for EU membership, Dr Busuttil came up to me and asked me: “Eddy, why do you always pick on me and criticise me?” My prompt reply was: “Simon, I criticise you mostly not for what you say but for what you do not mention!”
How right I was then was confirmed to me by what Dr Busuttil left out of his article condemning Labour’s past relations with Libya. He must know how Libya had helped financially the then Labour government in 1971, when Labour found out that there was no money left in Malta’s coffers to pay government employees. Just as I am sure that he knows that due to the “close” relations Malta had with Libya, we used to get crude oil from Libya at a very discounted price. Should Labour be criticised for that Dr Busuttil?
But it was also Col. Gaddafi who had sent Libyan gunboats to stop Malta from continuing to drill for oil in an area which the Maltese Labour government considered as belonging to Malta. What did the PN opposition do about that affair? Instead of siding with the Maltese government, Eddie Fenech Adami expressed pro-Libya sentiments for having “stood up to Mintoff”. As if Malta was drilling for oil in “Mintoff’s” interest and not the interest of the Maltese people! Not a word was written by Dr Busuttil about all this.
He must have forgotten that his party has been in government for nearly a quarter of a century. Through all these years the PN in government never uttered one word of criticism or condemnation towards Col Gaddafi or his ministers. Indeed, PN leaders have done all in their power to keep and possibly strengthen relations with Col Gaddafi’s Libya.
This was in Malta’s interest and I am not criticising the PN for this. Just as I am not criticising the fact that the PN government had bestowed an honour on Col Gaddafi in 2005. While Dr Fenech Adami had similarly received an honour from the Libyan government. I see nothing wrong in that.
What I certainly condemn in Dr Busuttil’s article is that he tried to dupe readers into believing that “close” and “friendly” relations with Col Gaddafi’s Libya were only instituted by Labour governments. Relations from which Malta, many businesses and thousands of Maltese and Gozitan workers and entrepreneurs benefited, thanks to both Labour and PN governments who realised that it was in Malta’s interest to foster such friendly and close relations with a neighbouring country.