In the first of a two-part feature, Anthony Manduca lists some of the comments and controversial statements made to The Sunday Times of Malta in 2018.
"The harm done by the Prime Minister, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri is so big other Member States are getting the impression Malta is rotten to the core, which is not the case"
- Nationalist MEP David Casa, January 21.
"God didn’t listen, or He wasn’t there, so I decided that there cannot be a God"
- Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, January 21.
"You have this attitude that everything in art has to educate. Calm down, let’s give them their money’s worth"
- Valletta 2018 artistic director for special events Mario Philip Azzopardi, January 28.
"When it comes to foreigners, public service delivery is seen not as an entitlement but rather as a burden on the system, even though these people are contributing economically to the system"
- Foundation for Shelter and Support to Migrants head Ahmed Bugre, February 18.
"At present it seems as though EU members are no longer kept in check once they become part of the bloc. There is a gap between the values enshrined in the EU Treaty and their effective safeguarding in real life"
- Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola, March 4.
"Only Air Malta is dedicated to Malta"
- Air Malta chairman Charles Mangion, March 18.
"If it were me, I would have liked it [the Vitals health deal] to be more transparent"
- Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, March 25.
"Yes, I was invited and attended the wedding [of Pilatus chairman Sayed Ali Sadr Hasheminejad] together with many other Maltese and foreigners."
- PM’s chief of staff Keith Schembri, March 25.
"In a society advocating pluralism and democracy, some are being publicly lynched for expressing contrasting views"
- Gozo Bishop Mario Grech, April 1.
"Daphne’s story, the way she was killed and the reason why she was killed are things that have a meaning for all of us, as journalists and as European citizens. It’s something that goes far beyond the small island of Malta. Daphne is a European issue"
- La Republica journalist Carlo Bonini, who produced a documentary about Daphne Caruana Galizia’s life and work, April 8.
"It’s not my job to defend the directors of that bank [Pilatus]; they can do that themselves"
- Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne, April 22.
"All financial regulators globally have at some point confronted difficulties and supervisory problems"
- Newly-appointed MFSA CEO Joseph Cuschieri, April 29.
"I don’t know who owns 17 Black"
- Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, replying to a question about who owns the Dubai-based company, which according to leaked documents, was a “target client” for his secret Panama company, May 6.
"The immigration crisis may spell the end of the European dream"
- European Parliament president Antonio Tajani, June 24.
"Europe is yet again facing uncertain times not because of too much Europe but because of too little of it"
- Prime Minister Joseph Muscat speaking on the eve of an EU summit dominated by migration, June 24.
"If she really believes what she says, she should have resigned. There would have been no constitutional crisis"
- University lecturer and Times of Malta columnist Ranier Fsadni commenting on the fact that President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said she signed the new IVF law solely out of respect to the Constitution, June 24.