Last week, One News’s aired two recording involving the former Sliema mayor and a current candidate for the same council uttering their views in rather unwelcoming manner

In the recording former Sliema mayor Joanna Gonzi is heard expressing herself very harshly against unspecified individuals, stating that: “I really want them dead, all of them“. In the second recording Julian Galea, a former PN councillor on the same council and a local council candidate for the PN, went even further. In fact, his outburst went so far that he could be subject to criminal proceedings.

Julian Galea was heard saying: “I am anti-Labour. I cannot stand Labourites. I have a phobia of Labourites.” He continued boasting that if a girl tells him that she is a Labourite, he would tell her to get lost. So far his outburst expressed a personal view albeit one full with hatred towards fellow Maltese. But Julian Galea did not stop here. He continued to back his views by proudly stating that Labour workers in his employ get “the least pay” while those workers who support the Nationalist Party “get a higher pay”. This amounts to explicitly taking action, highly discriminately one, to back his stated belief.

One of the many questions that need to be asked and answered is how far such language needs to go in order to lead to a society in which individuals are seem not as citizens with full rights but as members of sub-groups. One should also ask how far one can express himself before going beyond political correctness and towards outright discrimination.

Nowadays, one can debate whether language in itself has lost the power to express ideas in a clear and unambiguous manner. At times one is left to wonder about the lengths that we tend to go in terms of political correctness in order not to offend.

A look at the general level of standards expected in countries considered politically more mature than ours highlight the great gap still to be bridged. One example is the reaction to a Liberal Democrat MP in the UK who stated that Israel will not last forever. Her remarks promptly led to heavy calls for the party’s leader, Nick Clegg, to take disciplinary action against her. A similar story which made the rounds on the Web lately is of an Orlando urologist who posted the sign above prominently in his office. It reads “If You Voted for Obama, Seek Urologic Care Elsewhere.” The story created quite a storm, highlighting the sensitivity of issues such as discrimination on the basis of political views.

In Malta, standards concerning political correctness are not as elevated as in most other countries. Nor is our sensitivity to discriminatory remarks. This lack of sensitivity can be attributed to several factors, ranging from vested interests to historical motives. It is common for some to try to justify such behaviour by making appeal to the fact that individuals tend to derive part of their sense of identity from belonging to groups, in this particular case political groups. Discrimination against others can then be used to bolster or protect self-esteem by increasing the (subjective) value of one’s own group membership. However, when such action is so flagrantly in breach of the right not to discriminate on base of political opinion then one is left with little room to talk himself out of trouble.

Going back to Julian Galea accident, one is left to seriously wonder if such an attitude is the prevalent one in the present administration. An attitude where Labourites are considered as second class citizens.

Where known Labourites are practically excluded from occupying any senior post in the present set-up of the civil service and where government board members are all but militant supporters of GonziPN. This perfectly explains the incredibly mild reaction from the top echelons of the PN, where Julian Galea was simply asked to apologise for his comments.

So mild in fact that during last Sunday political activity in Sliema Julian Galea was standing behind Gonzi. One simply is lead to belief that the request for a public apology was made only to placate public opinion.

This accident has to be viewed in a context where we are repeatedly told that Malta’s only resources are human, made up of the entire population whether they support the PN or the LP. Unfortunately, it seems that the current administration says one thing but behaves in a completely different way. It preaches reconciliation and cooperation but in reality it engage in an activity which can only be describe as a form of political apartheid, where people are discriminate against only due to their political beliefs.

Dr Anton Refalo is the Labour Party spokesman on Gozo