Accusing the media for taking a stand on a particular subject is unbecoming of a Prime Minister – unless his intentions are to gag newspapers, TV stations and online portals.
Joseph Muscat did just that last Sunday in his post-referendum press conference.
Visibly relieved that the way he voted in the spring hunting referendum was supported by the majority of the people who bothered to turn up at the polling booths last Saturday, Joseph Muscat lashed out at the English-speaking independent media for taking a position against spring hunting – and against him, on this particular subject.
To those listening, it seemed like a warning. It was an attack on free speech, and to us journalists it appeared like an attempt to stifle us.
What makes the Prime Minister’s statement even worse – in terms of democracy – is that, not too long ago, he was one of our group. And we all remember what his questions and articles used to be like. We all remember how he used to stamp his feet when he did not get the answers he wanted, or when someone walked by without answering while he held a microphone. We all remember – because the PN was in power at the time – that he used to openly criticise the government as a collective body and ministers as individuals.
It was his right as a citizen to speak up, and his duty as a journalist to carry out his work. There’s no doubt about that.
But now that he is on the other side of the fence, he is seeing matters differently. Of course, he loves praise and wouldn’t dream of shutting us up when we say that he is doing the right thing. Four years ago, for example, when some media including The Malta Independent had spoken out in favour of the introduction of divorce, Joseph Muscat did not say there was anything wrong with the media taking a stand. At the time, he held the same opinion.
But now that he took one line and the independent media took another, he chose to point his shotgun at us, metaphorically speaking.
He said that we should be careful on how we take editorial stands. Is he saying that we are not allowed to express our opinion and say what we believe is right? Is he saying that we are only allowed to speak up if we agree with him?
That’s anti-democratic, Mr Prime Minister, close to being dictatorial too.