Our Prime Minister might never win a Nobel prize. But he should definitely be on the way to being hailed as our national saint. Move over San Gorg Preca.
Now that we have a cardinal in Rome – a possible pope according to some luminaries – we should brace ourselves to anoint Robert Abela as our protector, our guide, our own fount of infinite compassion.
Let me make it immediately and irrefutably clear. I’m not suggesting that the authorities in Rome and heaven should wait till after our premier’s passing away. I don’t wish harm on him in any way. Far from it, in fact, as I think the man fully deserves to be canonised immediately while he, in Castille, is still lording it over us miserable Maltese and other mortals in this country.
Robert Abela deserves to have our total acclamation as saint for all time without waiting for the due process of canon law.
If our beloved Prime Minister hasn’t done anything much after taking over from his predecessor he has, to his wonderful credit, added more mirth, clowning and unending care.
He has shown empathy beyond belief, staggering understanding, and love beyond the mythical martyrs’ sacrifice.
Who cares more than Abela about the underprivileged, the downtrodden, the criminals?
If you are a criminal, and obviously toe the Labour Party line, you get absolved of all sins, ills, petty and not so petty crimes. Because Robert Abela the merciful forgives, forgets and gives lots of chances to the forsaken. Abela, the good shepherd, feels the stress of the suffering and saves them from further harm.
Even if you have committed fraud knowingly and accepted regular payments for a fictitious disability, you – not the state, not the people who are denied a benefit – are the one who has suffered. This is how our sainted prime minister feels: “Let’s not play down the trauma these people have gone through.” And you read it right. Abela is here referring to the ones who committed fraud.
Criminals, politicians and the common folk all suffer trauma when they commit a crime and are caught. They all wish one thing: not to have been caught, to have got away with the crime and bagged the money they were not supposed to have been given. Few are the criminals or fraudsters who don’t feel they regret what they did when they face jail time or losing their lucrative positions.
In the case of these fake disability fraudsters, they were all under the illusion that all was fine. All of them or nearly all were Labour Party supporters; some were diehard ones, some were wavering. So they needed persuasion to remain supporting and in awe of the Labour organisation.
They believed they enjoyed total impunity and were above and beyond the reach of the police. Labour seems to offer impunity to all who break the law and are Labour-leaning, or potential Labour Party supporters.
In this case, the surprise element was that the authorities acted. We are now used to seeing people, primarily Labour-leaning folk, commit perjury and fraud; evade tax; accept bribes; cover up crimes; be involved in all kinds of scams; help and abet criminals and murderers.
That the police somehow caught the perpetrators and the beneficiaries and proceeded against them took the fraudsters totally by surprise. They were sure of being shielded by the long arm of the criminal elements hovering around the governing clique. At least the amnesty was not afforded to the masterminds behind the whole sickening affair and to benefit from the amnesty they do have to abide by some conditions. Hopefully the conditions will be adhered to.
Once the fraud was uncovered and the beneficiaries were facing justice, the joker in the pack unleashed his love for the poor petty criminals. A crime so petty in fact that it was costing the government – that is me and you from our taxes not from Robert Abela’s pocket – close to five million euro a year.
This had been going on for some years and, had it not been stopped, could have gone on forever. And the number of beneficiaries, which when uncovered was 800, could have gone on growing. After all the Labour camp, as one of their erstwhile members had claimed, love pigging out. ‘The more we pig out the more we want’ is another Labour mantra.
It was magnanimous of the Prime Minister that he, together with Cabinet and the newly minted president, offered this wonderful piece of love to the fraudsters. Otherwise, all the fraudsters and their extended family could have decided not to vote Labour.
Robert Abela, the great empathiser, finds it humane to forgive people who commit fraud. Now in a situation where his mentor and predecessor might be facing jail time, Abela has unleashed a totally unhinged assault on the judiciary.
Abela represents a party in power which was elected back in 2013 by promising us all a heaven on earth, so it is apt that we announce his sainthood as of today.
The Labour Party delivered their kind of heaven on earth to all those mired in crime. Labour, a sad story of a blessed kleptocracy.
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