When you strip away the private details of a relationship gone wrong which led to intimate photos being allegedly circulated to third parties (the kind of behaviour, which if true can only be described as appalling), what should really concern us the most is that infamous Edgar Galea Curmi phone call to the Police Commissioner.
Of course, we cannot overlook the fact that the Labour Party now has a dilemma on its hands when it comes to Cyrus Engerer’s suitability as a candidate – but that, frankly, is their problem. Up to a few months ago, it would have been the Nationalist Party’s problem if Cyrus had not switched sides and the sequence of the other events remained as they did. At this point, should Labour still decide to put Cyrus on its ticket it will then be up to the electorate to decide whether he deserves their vote or not. That he has suffered damage to his image is a fact – only recently he was being hailed as the next bright young thing and it seemed that the PL had scored another victory by persuading him to cross over. Now… who knows? Public opinion, as usual in this country, seems to be split into two camps over this one, depending on one’s politics. Time will tell if Cyrus can pull off a Bill Clinton and survive a tarnished reputation purely because he is well-liked.
But back to Edgar. I have racked my brains trying to figure out why someone in Galea Curmi’s position (Chief of Staff in Gonzi’s administration) would find it so easy peasy to simply pick up the phone and call John Rizzo, the Police Commissioner, over what is, let’s face it, a minor charge. The answers I keep getting only make the whole thing appear more wrong.
Answer number one: Edgar is Cyrus’ godfather, so it was a personal favour.
Answer number two: Edgar wanted to officially reassure Cyrus that the arrest of his father, Chris Engerer, because he was smoking a joint had nothing to do with Cyrus’ defection to Labour and that there had been no political pressure on the police.
Answer number three: Edgar was obliged to call the Police Commissioner because of the potential political fallout for the government which he wanted to nip in the bud
Answer number four: This is not the first time that the Chief of Staff has called the Police Commissioner… so what’s the big deal?
We all know that in Malta everybody has some kind of connection with someone else, no matter how tenuous. As the song in the hit Maltese show Porn the Musical tells us, Everyone’s Related, and when you know someone who knows someone whose fifth cousin twice removed is in a position of influence, heck you’d be silly not to try and use that connection, right?
Well, actually no. It’s not right.
This is where the separation of powers has always faltered in this country, precisely because of the wide network of people who are somehow intertwined either because they are actually related or have become related through marriage, and these days, through second relationships (in which case the intricate web becomes even more complicated).
Once you have waded through all the blood relatives, then you have the second tier of “good friends”, followed by the Old Boys network, and by then you’ve pretty much covered the entire population. Or, at least, the population that “counts” in this country; the movers and shakers who are, in effect, in charge.
Should Cyrus have used his ‘connections’ with Edgar to enquire about his father’s arrest and the suspicion that it was politically motivated? Well, let’s just say not all of us happen to have a godfather in such a position of influence on whom we can count to make the Right Kind of Phone Call. But given that this culture of ‘who you know’ is so prevalent in this country, nine people out of 10 would have probably done the same thing.
It’s the ingrained mindset of ‘nirranggalek’ (I will fix it), whether it’s a parking ticket or a more serious matter. This attitude is so commonplace that whenever I tell people that I waited in a queue for something bureaucratic they are genuinely surprised: “Didn’t you know anyone who could take care of it for you?”
Well, yes, in fact I know quite a lot of people – the only thing is that I would never dream of asking them for that kind of a favour and putting them in an awkward position. Call me foolish, naïve or downright stupid, but that’s just me. In fact, even if someone offers to “take care of it” I refuse – no thanks. I don’t want that kind of obligation. I guess that part of my Maltese DNA somehow never evolved and now it’s atrophied through lack of use.
Here, of course, we are not talking about a traffic violation – this is the arrest of a member of one’s family, so yes, I can understand how Cyrus would have done everything he could to get to the bottom of it.
Which brings us back to good old Edgar. Here he was, faced by his godson admittedly, but also a godson who had just defected over to The Enemy. What to do? What to do? We now know that he simply picked up the phone and called John Rizzo without hesitation. He also suggested to the Police Commissioner that he should confirm with Chris Engerer’s lawyer that his arrest had nothing to do with Cyrus’ defection, a request which John Rizzo (after mulling it over) did not agree to. Well, I should hope not!
The entire episode just spells out the word W-R-O-N-G.
It implies a relationship that is rather too casual and familiar between top ranking politicians and the head of the police corps. There was a crossing of the line, even if it was only of a few inches, which inevitably makes you wonder how often this line has been crossed. No matter how well-intentioned Edgar’s actions were because of his personal relationship with Cyrus, his better judgment should have made him turn around and tell his godson, “I’m sorry, no, I cannot interfere.”
The most interesting aspect of this whole story is how there are concerted attempts to make the whole issue about the abysmal way Cyrus treated his ex-boyfriend and the fact that Labour has not dropped him like a hot potato. When what we should really be talking about is that phone call.
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