Valletta mayor Alexei Dingli has disassociated himself from the V18 Foundation, the entity responsible for the European Capital of Culture programme in Malta, and has decided not to attend any more of its board meetings.

In a hard-hitting letter addressed to V18 chairman Jason Micallef and board members, which was leaked to this newspaper, Prof. Dingli made his discomfort clear with the way Mr Micallef had managed the Foundation.

Accusing him directly of “systematically” excluding the Valletta council from its activities, Prof. Dingli wrote that Mr Micallef was showing disrespect towards the capital city and its elected representatives.

“What’s worse is that on some occasions, invites were distributed to different entities in Valletta and those entities were even stopped from inviting the council themselves,” Prof. Dingli wrote.

Jason Micallef is showing no respect towards Valletta

Referring also to an incident when the V18 decided to organise a football tournament while excluding the capital’s football club, Prof. Dingli said that even on this occasion, Mr Micallef – who is also the chairman of Labour’s TV station – could not resist playing partisan politics.

Prof. Dingli told Mr Micallef that while for his council, “Valletta comes before our political affiliations,” he scolded Mr Micallef for “wanting to sow partisan divide in this matter as well, especially after preaching national unity.”

Slamming Mr Micallef for his insensitive comments about murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galiza, the Valletta mayor wrote that he wanted to “completely disassociate myself from your comments” and declared that in the circumstances he had decided to distance himself from the V18 Foundation.

Contacted by this newspaper, Prof. Dingli confirmed that he had sent the letter and that he decided not attend any V18 meetings “until things change”.

Asked whether this meant that Mr Micallef should step down, Prof. Dingli did not want to comment. “It has become quite clear by now what the problem is,” the Valletta mayor said.

Mr Micallef did not return calls from this newspaper.

The chairman of V18 – also a former general secretary of the Labour Party – has been hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons in the past months as Malta’s capital is currently under the international spotlight as the EU’s Capital of Culture.

Calls for his resignation, following comments on social media deemed offensive to the relatives of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, have been ignored despite criticism from MEPs, artists and even the chairman of the selection committee which chose Malta to be the European Capital of Culture.

Mr Micallef’s actions have also forced the Dutch city of Leeuwarden – which is the joint European Capital of Culture this year – to declare a boycott of V18 activities.

Both Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Culture Minister Owen Bonnici defended Mr Micallef’s right to his opinion saying they believed in “freedom of expression”.

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