Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s “irrefutable” evidence that Richard Cachia Caruana had committed such enormous political crimes that he should have been expelled from the Nationalist Party turned out to be nothing.

As expected, perhaps I should say, because it was clear from day one that personal issues between the two men had pushed JPO to do what he did: vote with the Opposition on a motion to oust Malta’s permanent representative to the EU, and later embark on a crusade to have him kicked out of the PN.

Now we even know that JPO had aspirations to become a minister too – now, where have I heard that before? Ah yes, Franco Debono had the same ambition. Two of a kind, I would say.

Perhaps JPO blames Mr Cachia Caruana for not being given a ministerial position and found a way of paying him back.

If anything, the facts that have emerged this week continue to expose JPO for what he really is. We all remember him crying at Mosta before the election, which earned him many sympathy votes before the truth about the development at Mistra came out.

Now we have learnt that when Gordon Pisani, then PN information director, called JPO about the Mistra case two days before the election – to tell him that the PN had been kept in the dark regarding crucial facts – all JPO could muster was a claim that he was not feeling well.

He acted like the employee who takes sick leave after being reprimanded for wrongful behaviour.

But there will not be too much sympathy for JPO this time. His credibility rapidly plummeted and suffered the final blow when he accused PN icon Eddie Fenech Adami of not toeing the party line on the constitutional amendments way back in 1974, when actually Dr Fenech Adami had voted according to the decision taken by the parliamentary group of the time. To hit out at Dr Fenech Adami in this way – and without having the correct facts to hand – was despicable. But I did not hear JPO apologising for this.

That his way of doing politics is personal was again confirmed when he said he wants to sit as far away as possible from Austin Gatt. But perhaps JPO is ashamed of sitting next to a man credited with so many successes for the party and who always sought the party’s interests first before his own. Just look at what Austin Gatt has achieved and compare them to what JPO has caused.

JPO’s failure to substantiate his claims regarding Richard Cachia Caruana at the PN executive meeting last Tuesday left him with no other alternative but to resign from the party two days later.

He should go a step further and resign from Parliament as well. He says that he will respect the 5,100 constituents who elected him on the PN ticket and support the PN’s electoral programme. May I remind him that many – if not all – of those 5,100 voters who gave him the number one preference did so without knowing the whole truth about the Mistra development?

The 5,100 voters who elected JPO did not vote for him to create this internal strife within his own party (not to mention the embarrassment he caused to the PN on the divorce issue). They voted for him as a PN candidate. Now that he is no longer part of the Nationalist Party, the honourable course of action for him is to resign his seat as well.

* * *

The Labour Party should have allowed the PN to deal with its internal strife without lifting a finger. They could only gain from a situation in which a rival political party was struggling to deal with inside issues.

But it chose to interfere, and this is not helping its cause. Jumping on the bandwagon to try to inflict further blows to its adversary for many years – Richard Cachia Caruana – is pushing Labour to make mistakes.

The biggest one is offending the memory of the late Guido de Marco.

* * *

On the other hand, the Nationalist Party is doing the wrong thing when it blames the Labour Party for its internal problems.

True, the Labour Party is taking advantage of the situation, and the motions it presented in Parliament were all opportunistically based on what government MPs were saying.

But the Labour Party is only doing what every political party would do in the circumstances. The PN did the same thing in 1998.

* * *

Pink Floyd fans were entertained to an enjoyable concert by the Aussie tribute band at the Granaries in Floriana yesterday week.

The music was top notch and the light show was fantastic, with the sizeable crowd singing Pink Floyd’s most famous songs with the band to create a great atmosphere.

Most of the attendees were of my generation or slightly older, but there were quite a few in their teens or 20s, an indication that the Pink Floyd legacy is still strong. Or perhaps they know the difference between what is music and what is just noise, which is what most of today’s bands produce.

Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Franco Debono will be disappointed to know that the song Wish you were here was not dedicated to them.

* * *

I was a witness to this when I went to buy some books.

There was another customer waiting in the line just in front of me and I heard her ask the salesgirl whether they had any books by Edgar Allen Poe.

“Edgar who?” the salesgirl replied.

“Edgar Allen Poe,” the customer replied.

The salesgirl turned to her computer. “So… Edgar… did you say Pole?”

* * *

Andy Gibb was not a member of the Bee Gees.

The Bee Gees was a trio made up of Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, while Andy, the youngest of the brothers, had a career as a solo singer.

But the way part of my column last week was touched up indicated that Andy was a member of the Bee Gees. He was not, and the mistake was not mine.

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