I would like to thank you for advising members of the Akkademja tal-Malti to “elect those who truly have (the Maltese language) at heart.” (TMIS, 18 September).

I think they did. In fact they voted overwhelmingly in favour of people who had nothing to do with the pre-2004 council you tried to defend.

As for your attack on Prof. Manwel Mifsud, perhaps you would have been wiser had you checked your facts with anyone who knows him well, besides your anonymous informant/s. As you printed it, your article was nothing more than an attempt to discredit someone who has been and still is a point of reference for most people who work within the Akkademja, the National Council for the Maltese Language and for hundreds of students who have studied Maltese at university.

As for interfering with the running of a democratic election, I’m sure you can be excused, as you could not have known that the election to form a new council was going to take place just six days after you published your article and therefore no-one could have challenged your opinion before it was too late.

Marco Galea

MOSTA