Both President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat appealed for unity after the gruelling, intense electoral campaign.
“I would like to see the people returning to reason and dialogue as soon as possible since these are the elements which constitute the basis of a real and strong democracy,” the President said.
Dr Muscat, who insisted he harboured no hatred in his heart, said: “Whoever thought that people would choose negativity does not know the people of Malta and Gozo. The people choose positivity, optimism, energy, goodwill, unity and equality.”
Their appeals do not seem to have reached the leader writer of the daily pro-Labour L-Orizzont, owned by the General Workers’ Union. On Wednesday and again yesterday it ran editorials aimed at eliminating all forms of criticism perceived as dissent. Indeed, the same theme was raised on and off over the past weeks and months.
The leaders could not have been written by professional journalists who are usually careful what words to use in the knowledge that the pen is mightier than the sword. Neither would they have been drafted by genuine Labour supporters who would immediately realise that such talk can only damage the Labour Party and the country.
It can only be the work of a has-been extremist element who still refuses to accept that the political ‘dark ages’ of the 1970s and early 1980s have, thankfully, been dumped in the dustbin of history. Unless, that is, the leader writer is allowed to have it his way.
In Wednesday’s editorial, the writer says that the “establishment… which, for long years, has exploited our people… must disappear from the scene”.
Included in the “establishment” were the Curia, the Archbishop, the Times of Malta and The Malta Independent.
The leader writer also refers to the “fake media” and “devious journalists” and then mentions individual journalists by name saying it is “right and proper” they and others should disappear from the profession. The writer even has the cheek to invoke Dr Muscat’s appeal for national unity, noting that could not be achieved if “millstones like traitors and a diabolic establishment” remain.
The Sunday Times of Malta and the Times of Malta always spoke their mind without fear and favour... This will not change
In yesterday’s editorial, the leader writer noted that, in the last election, the people said a clear no to “devious, manipulated, dirty, fake and deceitful journalism”. Again mentioning journalists by name, the writer insisted “they should respect the verdict and disappear from journalism”. The Sunday Times of Malta and the Times of Malta always spoke their mind without fear and favour. They paid handsomely for it and their editors and journalists have been accused by political parties and governments of all shades and hues of bias and hidden agendas. That only served to make Allied Newspapers stronger and bolder.
That will not change.
This newspaper is certain the statements and appeals made by the leader writer of L-Orizzont are not shared by the President, the Prime Minister and all genuine Labourites, which is not to say they agree with the stand taken by this newspaper on different issues.
We appeal to both the President and the Prime Minister to use their influence and ensure that common sense prevails. Dr Muscat already said yesterday he disagreed with the language used.
What L-Orizzont has been saying editorially amounts to hate speech.