The contribution by the Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms, Citizenship and Simplification, Julia Farrugia Portelli, entitled ‘Monsters, mothers and politicians’ (May 4), made me think and reflect.

The following attracted my attention in particularly: “It is most unfortunate that, in recent years, the rumours and whispers that used to spread through the traditional grapevine are now being vented on the internet, which has an infinite memory. Insults and attacks on the reputation of female politicians are rife on the social media, including blogs.”

She concluded her article thus: “No, politics does not need to be a dirty game.”

I openly condemn all types of personal attack, including those addressed to the parliamentary secretary. As far as I know, even though the last time I spoke to her was several years ago, there is reciprocal respect between us, a respect that bridges all possible differences in our opinions.

There is no doubt that politics does not need to be dirty. However, I dare say there are some people in politics who make it their mission to dirty politics and politicians from the opposite side of the fence.

I pride myself in stating that, throughout my 30 years in Parliament, I have always tried my best to avoid that temptation. Yet I must admit that on several occasions, I fell victim to unfounded, invented and malicious attacks. Years later I was vindicated, yet the damage was done.

It was because of this experience that I remained the only member of Parliament to speak for the removal of the infamous, much-maligned parliamentary privilege. Every so often, this or that member of Parliament is challenged to repeat outside Parliament statements made in it.

There are some people in politics who make it their mission to dirty politics and politicians

I am still of the opinion that the privilege should be abolished.

Ordinary people are mentioned in parliamentary debates without having any opportunity to really defend themselves. People somehow involved in politics but who are not MPs are also abused through malicious declarations intended to taint their image and reputation.

Personal attacks are not only made via the social media.

On two separate occasions, recently, I followed two government MPs inventing stories, totally unfounded, fully exploiting, of course, the parliamentary privilege they enjoy. To add further insult, both parliamentarians happened to be lawyers.

Some MPs use their parliamentary privilege to insult people, and the party they represent repeats their comments as if they were gospel truth.

While I believe politics should not be dirty, it has become much easier to throw mud at those involved in politics, whether male or female. I read all the local newspapers every day. They are often used to create the sense of a ‘reality’ that is far from the truth. Yet the way the articles are written leads readers to believe them. This task is made simpler because many readers go through ‘their’ paper without having a look at what other media are reporting about the same subjects.

It is so much easier nowadays to ‘misinform’ the reader.

That is why I strongly believe that when writing articles expressing one’s opinion, one should do one’s best to inform rather than misinform those reading.

Very often we read articles about freedom of expression, a principle I fought for not in 2018, but way back in 1984, when, for four long years, I took the government to court precisely to secure the right to express myself with the same freedom that those who supported the government of the day were allowed.

I hope we will never again be forced to go through those experiences. However, for that not to happen, it has to be made very clear to one and all that we should never abuse our rights.

Those in politics should ensure they remain consistent, irrespective of whether they are on the receiving end or not.

Principles are there to be applied always.

Ċensu Galea is a former Cabinet minister.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.