One has to give Leo Brincat, in his Opinion Revealed: Gonzi’s new style of doing politics! (TMID, 1 April) points for consistency if for nothing else. The consistency of applying his party’s shortcomings to the Nationalist governments. I stress the plural here.

His recent rant is about the JPO case, the make-up of the new Cabinet, Joe Saliba and his comments about JPO, gate crashing by JPO of Dr Sant’s press conference, and the PfP issue.

The JPO issue is under police investigation on top of an already published Mepa Auditor’s report which did not even associate JPO’s name to any irregularities within Mepa. Even so, the MLP are so anxious to prove themselves right, that they are continuously meddling in the police investigation.

He had some derogatory remarks about the “still existing baggage in the Cabinet”. Here I would like to ask Leo a simple question: If Labour had won, who within its Cabinet would have been without baggage? I will refrain from naming them, because it would be futile anyway since from the opposition benches none has the privilege of serving as minister.

Joe Saliba commented about JPO’s press conference antics and that even if he knew more about JPO’s involvement before the election, he would still have made the same decisions. See, the difference between Joe Saliba and Jason Micallef is simple. Joe can make decisions, Jason cannot. JPO’s antics were brought on by Dr Sant himself. Had he the guts to face JPO on many previous occasions, JPO would not have found it necessary to crash the press conference. With regard to Joe Saliba’s decision not to say much about the case during the election, this was wise. Does Leo expect the PN to put itself into further disadvantage at election time even if the perceived irregularity had nothing to do with the party itself? So by the same token, if in the 2003 election a couple of ex-MLP ministers were found not to have paid their due taxes on time and their case exposed three days prior to voting time, would the MLP have withdrawn them? Would it not have tried to throw a wet blanket over the whole affair?

Gate crashing Dr Sant’s press conference, as already stated, was brought on by Dr Sant himself. All JPO wanted was to ask two questions for which he was granted a grand total of 30 seconds each. So, Dr Sant could not stand the heat for a total of one minute? It is not that JPO did not try to ask the MLP leader on previous occasions including the Mistra conference to which JPO was denied timely access by conniving Labour media personnel! I hope that analysing Labour’s failure, this very incident is given the attention it deserves because when you have a leader who consistently refuses to answer media questions unless from staged friendly journalists of the same ilk, then you must have a wimp.

The gall of raising the PfP issue is unfathomable. The opposition sounds so grievously hurt and so hard done by that they forget that one cannot consult with people who only want to hear what suits them or who practise selective hearing. They forget that Malta was already a partner in PfP and it was Labour who most pompously yanked Malta out of it. I mean, this was not through a diplomatic note, a letter or an email; it was a special trip to Brussels by no less than the then Prime Minister himself! This sore reaction is to an application for which acceptance is yet to come. The issue should not be about partnership; this has been debated and decided upon 10 or so years ago, but about any changes in terms if any different than before. It is a known fact that PfP is about peace not war, assisting in cases of disaster to which our forces could positively contribute and about training our personnel who according to various media reports are looking forward to such a partnership.

What amazes me is Leo’s reluctance to throw his hat in the ring for his party’s leadership.

He always seems to have all the answers – answers which his party has badly needed for the last 20 years. Is it a case that his wisdom is not appreciated by his own fellow members of the party, or is it a case of his solutions being misguided?

Joe Martinelli

London, Ontario

Canada