Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday evening condemned the sexist remarks by former GWU boss Tony Zarb, which led to uproar, but extended his condemnation to comments made by blogger Manuel Delia and former PN leader Simon Busuttil.

Muscat only condemned Zarb's comments after being asked by The Malta Independent, after having remained silent about the issue for almost 24 hours. 

Zarb's Facebook rant was directed at an all-female group calling themselves Occupy Justice, who are camping on Castille Square in protest at the current situation and are calling for the resignation of the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General.

In his Facebook post on Thursday evening Zarb said that the women should not have gone to Castille but instead should have camped in Strait Street "and go back to the 1960s". At the time, Strait Street was a place where prostitutes used to gather. Zarb then went on to label the women as traitors and who form part of "a gang of assassins" who want to gain power at all costs.

His post was shared thousands of times, with many expressing their disgust at the former union boss' attitude towards women. Zarb later removed the post and posted a very poor apology, saying that he was sorry if he had offended 'genuine' women.

He was chastised by the union he formerly led, the General Workers Union, which condemned all comments and insults that divide the people. "There should be no comments, written or verbal, that lead to discrimination on the basis of sex, gender, religion or belief," GWU wrote in a statement.

PM Muscat did not react at all and was approached about the subject by this newspaper in the evening, during a BOV event. Asked if he condemned Tony Zarb's comments, Muscat said: "I totally disagree and I condemn such statements in the same manner that I condemn Simon Busuttil's attitude in Parliament this week when Rosianne Cutajar was speaking. I also condemn the fact that, simply because one of our employees at OPM was exiting our offices yesterday, and had to go through the crowd that had gathered around Castille, he was labelled a terrorist. In all three cases that was not the type of language that I subscribe to."

Earlier this week the PL accused Simon Busuttil of passing disparaging remarks against MP Cutajar. He allegedly passed comments about her intelligence as she rose to speak. In the second case OPM official Matthew Carbone was described as a 'terrorist' by blogger and former PN ministry official Manuel Delia. 

In the meantime it was yesterday pointed out that Zarb, who was given a part-time consultancy with Konrad Mizzi's ministry in 2016, could face up to 18 months in prison, if prosecuted and convicted over his sexist remarks.

One of those who pointed out that abuse based on gender is a crime was lawyer Roberta Lepre, the former director of Victim Support Malta.

Paragraph 82 A of the Criminal Code clearly states that whoever uses insulting or abusive language or behaviours, written or printed, 'to stir hatred against another person' based on gender (among other things), will be liable for imprisonment for a term of 6 to 18 months.

This was not the first time that Zarb's Facebook comments brought condemnation. Back in June, when the EU's eyes were on Malta because of the Panama Papers scandal and Muscat had appeared before the PANA Committee, Zarb had attacked the Maltese PN MEPs and Committee Chairman Werner Langen. In his post, Zarb had said that the Maltese government should declare Langen a 'persona non grata' while at the same passing sexist and homophobic remarks against David Casa and Roberta Metsola. When contacted by this newspaper, Zarb was clearly unrepentant. He had then explained that only those with a 'dirty mind' misunderstood his message.

The Nationalist Party yesterday said Zarb's comments reflected the mentality introduced by Joseph Muscat after he became Prime Minister - the mentality of "do not speak up because, if you do, you will be insulted and provoked".

The PL accused the PN of being hypocritical, insisting that it should also condemn Busuttil and Delia.

The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) said it was concerned with comments that appeared on social media containing sexist and disparaging language.

"The NCPE states that language should be respectful at all times to uphold and sustain equality in a democratic society. Everyone has the right to express his/her opinion without fear of being denigrated because of personal characteristics such as gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, religion and race/ethnic origin. It should be everybody's role to work for an equal society, free from discrimination."

Equality Minister Helena Dalli also condemned Zarb's comments.