Last week, Joseph Muscat added to his vast array of formidable mexxej powers. He officially baptised Cyrus Engerer. Before the enthusiastic crowds, his strong voice, full of progressive conviction, soared above the music and standing ovations. He declared Cyrus the son in whom he was well pleased.
Cyrus arrived at the meeting still stained with the original sin of having once been a Nationalist. After the embrace with Muscat, full of cleansing, flooding warmth, he emerged a knight in shining armour, a soldier of steel.
Let it never be said that Labour does not believe in the separation of Church and State. The Church’s ethics are old-fashioned and Labour’s are progressive. The Church believes that forgiveness of sins follows repentance, remorse and reparation. Cyrus, may Muscat bless him, was self-righteous. He declared the court sentence unjust.
Judge Michael Mallia sternly found him guilty on three counts: theft, a deliberate sustained attempt to ruin a man’s reputation, and blackmail. The judge said that the nature of the crimes deserves a two-year jail sentence. Cyrus’ offhand response is that everyone makes mistakes.
We can’t really be sure whether Cyrus thinks his mistake was to try to ruin a man or whether it was to get caught. After all, he still claims the police prosecution was unjust and politically motivated. Without such political prejudice, he would have got away with it.
The judge made it a point to say the police were right to prosecute.
For the rest of us, though, it was a great week for education in progressive politics. The benighted among us may have thought that theft, blackmail and ruining a man’s reputation were matters which could disqualify a man from public life. In the UK they certainly think so. The Minister of Civil Liberties, however, was quick to put us right: the Cyrus case was a purely personal matter. Which is why she’s retaining him as her front man on LGBTI issues.
I must confess to being a bit slow. Does this mean that wife-beating is also a personal matter? I must have got things mixed up: I’m sure I read somewhere that it was progressive feminists who argue that such personal matters have a public dimension.
I’m not alone, though. The opinion polls, the columnists, the editorials, all show that others share my intellectual darkness. Outside Castille, word has it that Muscat was heard shouting furiously, demanding a quick fix for this mess.
It cannot be easy to govern such an unprogressive country. Take the Marsaxlokk gas tanker case. Muscat and his ministers have driven themselves hoarse explaining that a huger tanker in the bay was by far safer than one out at sea. Our obstinacy, alas, knows no bounds. The new story is that Muscat is considering putting the LNG storage outside the harbour.
Who knows what we might end up getting at this rate? Perhaps the publication of the power purchase contract he signed? The one he signed secretively without any pompous press conference because he would rather leave press conferences to announce a two-cent reduction in petrol.
If Malta continues to slide into mayhem, we might even see the publication of the contract with Henley and Partners, which is so sensitive that not even Parliament is deemed fit to see it.
Amending the Constitution
Tomorrow we commemorate the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. The main event has been IDAHO 2014, a three-day forum organized by the governments of Malta and Sweden. Even though I’m shadow minister for this sector, I was not formally or personally invited to attend.
Nonetheless, I made sure I was there and was glad to have the opportunity to meet with Michael Cashman, the Eastenders actor turned politician, now a prominent gay-rights activist. In his speech, he praised the Maltese Government for working in favour of LGBTI issues. He further praised the Opposition’s initiative to present a Private Member’s bill to amend the constitution to remove discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
After his speech I introduced myself and we joked about how we both turned from performing artists to politicians. As for the constitutional amendment he told me, “You should be proud. You have set an example to larger states. Not many have taken change as far as the constitution. This is positively, a courageous step forward against discrimination.”
Cashman is right. The Opposition’s decision to amend the constitution is a huge step forward, not just for our country, and we all should feel proud.
Claudette Buttigieg is a PN MP
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twitter: @ButClaudette