Perceptions, like events, are always at work. The week’s major event was the sudden resignation of Chris Said from his position as parliamentary secretary on Thursday. A wide perception spread like wild fire since then is that he is guilty of perjury.

The Gozo politician was politically correct to resign to face a criminal charge, once the court has decided that it should be made. But what the court did was to order the police to take action so that guilt, or the absence of it, could be established by a competent court.

The police will be taking action. The case is still to be heard. The court will decide whether Dr Said’s imperfect memory, a mistake of fact, constitutes perjury, or false testimony. Although the issue does not appear to be of a serious nature, Dr Said was right to resign so that, one, it would not be a dark cloud hovering on his official responsibilities until it was resolved, one way or the other; and, two, he could focus on tackling the case.

He was also right to direct his lawyers to ask the court to treat the case with urgency. The issue should be cleared up, again one way or the other, in the interest of all concerned. Of Dr Said, certainly, but surely of justice itself. It is always wrong, not just in this affair because a politician is involved, to leave an accusation hanging in the air for long months, even years.

On his part Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was less than right in declaring that he would hold the position which Dr Said had occupied unfilled, until the court case was decided. I do not know whether that constitutes prejudice of the matter, as the Labour side charged. It simply does not make sense. Dr Gonzi might believe that his colleague is not guilty of perjury, a view which I, too, share. But it is up to the court to decide.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister, rather than speaking out as he did and taking over Dr Said’s former duties himself, could have allocated them to other Cabinet colleagues, or spread them out among the other parliamentary secretaries. He did not really help Dr Said by speaking out and acting as he did.

It was just Dr Gonzi’s bad luck that the court decision regarding Chris Said coincided with another decision, one related to John Dalli’s resignation from foreign minister in 2004 when the PM felt he could not have ministers who were under investigation. It was confirmed on appeal that the man who had blackened Mr Dalli, with a report commissioned for a huge sum of money, had fabricated accusations against the former minister.

That affair led to Mr Dalli being approached by the weekend press. He made his feelings amply unambiguous – his name has been more than cleared but he expects and demands fuller justice. There was more to that affair than the fabrication of charges.

Mr Dalli remains convinced that a vicious political plot had been hatched against him. He also expressed to yesterday’s papers in hugely unflattering terms the very strong opinion that Dr Gonzi’s leadership was not what it ought to be, particularly when it came to free discussion within the party. He contrasted Dr Gonzi’s style with that of Eddie Fenech Adami and does not see it coming out in brilliant colours, suggesting that the PN needs new direction.

To top it all there was a further event which the PM and Nationalist leader could have done without. The PN general secretary, Paul Borg Olivier, is to be charged by the police under the VAT regulations with failing to file a return in time. That affair had occurred before Dr Borg Olivier became PN general secretary and, moreover, the VAT due had been settled.

But a criminal charge is a criminal charge. It will be surprising if sibilant voices within the Nationalist Party will not whisper in Dr Gonzi’s ear that there cannot be two weights, two measures, particularly given what took place regarding Mr Dalli and Dr Said, and never mind what’s going on the local councils’ scene.

It will not be seen to be enough for the PM to say he did not intervene with the VAT commissioner to stop proceedings against Dr Borg Olivier. It is unthinkable that he would do that.

Events are conspiring that the Prime Minister has too many affairs to remember.