Ġustizzja, Verità, Rispett (Justice, Truth, Respect)

The article I had planned to write this week was about the protest march last Sunday, where Occupy Justice, Awturi and politicians together spoke up in Valletta.

Iwas going to write mostly about the speech by Godfrey Farrugia of Partit Demokratiku. His message was one of hope, because he has rightly identified that what Malta needs is to somehow bridge what is a terrible divide between tribes. While this must of course be done with zero tolerance to corruption, the divide that must be bridged is no longer simply a political one or a social one. It is evolving into something far uglier, with emotions running high in the wake of the string of recent scandals, and of course, the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

I wished to focus on last Sunday alone to explain that Godfrey’s speech, along with the message that both Partit Demokratiku’s leader Anthony Buttigieg and I have always tried to make clear, is that politics in Malta needs to change from tribal hatred to politics of policy and respect. Last week, Josanne Cassar pointed out the habit, which many Nationalist supporters have, of saying that Labour voters are a different ‘species’ with a ‘low IQ’ and that they are often ridiculed in this fashion. It is this attitude in particular that I have since wanted to tackle – a tribal divide so profound and so deep, that people not only figuratively, but perhaps literally, forget that we are indeed all Maltese or Gozitan, with nothing to set us apart except on how we view the world. It should perhaps be more shocking to realise that for all the scandals or behaviours which horrify us, we ignore those close to home.

My article must now evolve, as promised. This week, a member of Partit Demokratiku, one of five with access to our Facebook page, made a sexist remark about a Labour MP. Although this was removed within 15 minutes, the damage was done. The tragedy is beyond description from the point of view of public figures whose very goal has been to bridge the tribal divide between the Nationalists and Labour, and change politics in Malta to revolve around issues and policies rather than social or professional pressures brought on by a system of clientelism.

The greater irony is that the founder of Partit Demokratiku is herself a woman, and furthermore comes from a village. Marlene Farrugia spoke with dignity in Parliament on Wednesday regarding the incident, for which Partit Demokratiku accepted responsibility, and issued a full apology. Similarly, my own statement on Worker’s Day, acknowledged the hard work of housewives and single mothers as the foundations of our nation. Partit Demokratiku exists for the sole purpose of breaking a political system which produces hatred, disrespect and injustice. We will continue to be consistent on these issues, notwithstanding the grief caused by one individual putting a post on Facebook using the Party’s page. Lastly, I will ask; should the person responsible for this mess be named and shamed once identified, es-