Former orizzont editor Josef Caruana, who left the newspaper industry last year to join the Prime Minister’s team in Castille, said that he will be contesting the next election for the European Parliament.

Caruana confirmed his intentions to the newspaper he used to lead, saying that if elected he will work to see that Malta’s image is not dented abroad. He said that too many times Nationalist MEPs worked against Malta’s interests and against the Labour government and, if elected, he will be working to counter them.

Caruana lately was at the centre of a controversy for attacking Archbishop Charles Scicluna, and is known for his hard-line views. When he was editor of l-orizzont, the editorials published under his name were often billed as being full of despise to the “other side of the political fence”.

His new boss, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, was one of those who disagreed with the hardline editorials penned by Caruana. The controversial editor had called on independent journalists who were “stifling progress” by writing against corruption to “disappear.” Journalists and editors from The Malta Independent and Times of Malta were frequently targeted by Caruana

The editorials, described by this and other newspapers as hate speech, were condemned by the General Workers Union, which owns l-Orizzont. 

His position at the OPM does not seem to have changed his radical views, as his comments given to l-orizzont today clearly show. “Those who are thirsty for power to take advantage of the people’s misery without ever feeling sorry for their actions, should never be given the benefit of the doubt,” he told the newspaper.