The man who has spent the past 15 years fighting discrimination against disabled people yesterday criticised those he said were "blowing out of proportion" a remark made by Labour MP Leo Brincat.
"When things are taken to an extreme it reflects badly on us. It makes us look like we can't take a joke or that we're always looking out to trip people," the chairman of the National Commission for Persons with Disability, Joe Camilleri said, when contacted.
"I think we need to keep things in perspective. He made a thoughtless and insensitive remark but the important thing is that he realised it. I say, in a case like this, the person must accept responsibility but then let's move on."
Mr Brincat's remark was made on Friday, during a national conference about the reform of the Malta Planning and Environmental Authority.
When Mr Brincat was introducing himself, Fr Joe Borg, who was chairing the conference, asked him whether it was a problem for him to stand up to speak. Mr Brincat obliged and said: "No, not at all. I am not disabled".
His comments were immediately posted onto the video-sharing site Youtube and a number of young Nationalist Party exponents joined a Facebook group set up to "condemn" his comments.
Mr Brincat did not hesitate to apologise. On Saturday he posted an online message on Facebook to say sorry. "Although my tongue-in-cheek comment... was not meant to hurt anyone, I understand fully that it could have hurt the sentiments of people with special needs as well as their closest relatives".
Mr Camilleri came to his defence yesterday and questioned whether the fuss being made was in the interest of disabled people or simply a tactic to stir a non-issue and to "politicise disability". "Some people are trying to capitalise on this and that's where I get very worried. Things like this paint us as embittered people ready to spoil the fun of everyone."
He said the important thing was to see what lay behind such comments. Had this been a clearly thought-out comment aimed at making some sort of point, Mr Camilleri said he would have probably condemned it.
Mr Brincat's apology was welcomed by his friends, namely another Labour MP Owen Bonnici, who vouched for his keen interest in disability issues. Dr Bonnici said he admired Mr Brincat for being man enough to apologise immediately for the "unfortunate comment".
Mr Brincat phoned Mr Camilleri on Saturday to apologise personally but was told there was no need for any written apology on the matter.
"I think this is a non-issue and I was glad to know he thought so too. My comments were a bit off-colour but I don't think they should have hurt anyone," Mr Brincat said.
When asked whether he felt political correctness was being taken to an extreme he said politicians needed to be politically correct. "When I was spokesman for IT I had attended all activities regarding disabled people... I mean, people with special needs," he said, making it a point to pick the right term.