Labour’s Parties – Rachel Borg
Like the parent of a baby left abandoned on the steps of an orphanage, the identity of the Egrant account of Panama fame remains unknown. There was one instance when it was mentioned that the account belonged to the Labour party. No confirmation of this could be made.
What we hear more and more of these days are the many gettogethers that have been at the source of Melvin Theuma’s revelations in court as he gives his evidence, as he knows it. From one “fenkata” to the next “spaghettata”, the sport of entertaining buddies Italian style and hogging a plate of pasta is a recurring theme for this merry band of brothers. It is odd when one thinks of the weight loss that Joseph Muscat had displayed in the months leading up to his resignation.
As we proceed from one mens’ night to another, the world of criminals and influencers begins to collide. Nobody is who they seem anymore. Whether senior police officer, politician, business tycoon, taxi-driver or person-oftrust, the casual ease with which they intermingled in the underworld and dark world is one that only Malta can conceive.
This is the Malta that has been remade in the image of the Labour Party, its sponsors, its managers, its leaders, its deputyleaders, its supporters, its Ministers and delegates, its TV station and all the super journalists that now fill the Ministries and top postings. Malta that now belongs only to the gin palace party goers mixing their cocktail of the day.
At this stage, with so many responsible for playing a part in the downfall of our once respected nation who are still running free and easy, assured as they seem of protection, away from scrutiny, the case of murder becomes an act of despair by a bored and nervous cast on an Isola dei Famosi episode.
The world of money, notoriety and all the servicing that goes with it needed a focal point to expel the fears and narcissism, involving not just one or two persons but the whole structural mass. They targeted their victim and went about the killing with a plan and a game.
The number of names that keep on being sloshed about the court and the media are like a cast of extras. This one, that one. Him, the Minister, the secretary, the Prime Minister, his Chief-ofstaff, the investigators, the Attorney General and his lawyer, sitting on top of the lackeys and the soldiers of steel. The photohungry millennials, pushing their agenda of labour ‘Malta Tagħna llkoll’ and finding ways to laugh at Simon Busuttil, Adrian Delia and Manuel Delia, Repubblika, Jason Azzopardi and Karol Aquilina. And sometimes not just ways to laugh but ways to incriminate and get back at anyone who dares to criticise or hold them to account. To throw hate onto the Caruana Galizia family and anyone associated with them including a protesting civil society.
Where do we go from here? It would seem that Labour cannot sink any further. They are the mulch trying to make the garden look good. They try to keep on growing and fertilizing, to keep continuity and act like they can rise above all the crap.
The problem is that they are in it up to their eyeballs and COVID was a lucky break for them. But now the spaghettatas are back and the run to the hospital for a fainting fit or an overdose is a bit of shredded salad on the side. Its business as usual for Labour and what does it matter if their Deputy Party Leader has been implicated in more ways than one in the life and death of a journalist? Nothing to do with politics, justice or the job of running the country, they seem to think. It’s amazing how 25 years in the opposition and 7 years with a majority in Government can make them lose sight of what a political party is and only grasp the kind of parties that come with a good laugh and a selfie.
As usual the Prime Minister will give us the wishy-washy version of “let’s all be calm and serene about this” and keep on swimming. Something like, after all, we don’t want to stir up the waters again now that we are back at the sea-side do we? We love Malta too much. And we are in the process of selecting a new Commissioner of Police and what would it mean for the new candidate if they had to deal with the scum that washed up on the shore? We do not yet know the extent to which the new Commissioner would play by the Labour rules so how can we do anything with this new information? The web of collaborators has been carefully set-up and this is not the time to tear it apart, is it? Come on, let’s be reasonable, forget all about it and go back to partying and trying to get the cash register clinking again.
Which brings us back to Egrant. If that piece of information has not yet left Karl Cini’s lips, how much more do we expect to see anything being done about this latest piece of evidence on Chris Cardona’s alleged role in the affair of Daphne’s assassination? Where does Cardona finish and the Labour party begin? Or any of the earlier mentioned embroilers like Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat?
The Malta we cherished, the islands we loved and returned to from far away, the home of our children and grand-parents is gone. What remains is just an illusion. People believe in the version that suits them. The job of the master-minds behind the party is to make people choose the one they want them to believe. Then slap a few euros in their hand and head off to the boat and the next toast and icebucket challenge.