After the last general election in 2008, Anġlu Farrugia, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, claimed that the Nationalist Party had won because “hundreds” of votes had been bought. He was very sure of this and held a press conference at the police headquarters, making a show of presenting the police with a large dossier with all the details including names and prices of votes.
Considering the small number of votes by which the PN had won, Dr Farrugia’s claims obviously inflamed Labour supporters and exacerbated the already deep divisions in our society. It certainly provoked a lot of hatred towards Nationalists.
Four years have now passed and Dr Farrugia must be hoping that everyone has forgotten his wild claims. There was only one court case, which proved to be based on false accusations, and it involved two votes anyway, not hundreds.
Can Dr Farrugia please give the country an update or was he bluffing when he made his very serious allegations? Who is going to bear the political responsibility for his rashness?