A day in court
Casual observers outside the Law Courts in Valletta yesterday must have had a field day.
On one side there is the shrine dedicated to Daphne Caruana Galizia, lovingly tended to by many devotees who light candles and lay flowers. The shrine is still there, despite a negative motion by a Labour Party Valletta local councillor, and despite the intrusion of two pictures of victims of terror – Karen Grech and Raymond Caruana – and also despite the mischievous placement of a picture of Dom Mintoff, perhaps put there to remind onlookers of Daphne’s rebellious anger at him and his memory. Or, perhaps, put there to remind one and all of Daphne’s battles against civil and criminal libel suits instituted by Mintoff, which she won. On the other hand, the flow of people entering and exiting from the Law Courts
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must have been quite interesting to the casual onlooker. First came MEP David Casa who entered free and exited free (some might have had visions of Casa in handcuffs after former Minister Manwel Mallia’s speech on Sunday.) David Casa had a relatively long audience with Magistrate Bugeja, during which he exhibited the notorious FIAU file allegedly proving corruption.
In the afternoon, Leader of the Opposition Adrian Delia exited supported by many of the Opposition MPs after lodging yet another protest regarding the VGH deal and three of Malta’s hospitals.
There are, in this double image, some reflections that come to mind. What is immediately evident is the double approach: David Casa in the morning, Adrian Delia in the afternoon.
Then, on digging further, one finds that David Casa has been speaking about FIAU and Konrad Mizzi for weeks if not months. But Adrian Delia has been speaking about VGH. It also seems that the two do not step over the boundaries or speak about the other’s subject.
Both subjects are, of course, important, but we would welcome any official assurance that, for instance, Adrian Delia’s insistence on VGH does not mean he is running away from tackling FIAU, Konrad Mizzi and allegations of money laundering. Or whittling down the campaign waged by the previous leader Simon Busuttil and carried on by the sub-group that goes by the name of Civil Society Network.
The Italians have a phrase for it – separate in casa. One would wish this is not an exact portrayal of the state of the Opposition.