In the process of discovering that Libyans were rapidly losing their central government, many Maltese in Libya discovered that their own Taghna Lkoll government may have somehow mislaid itself – possibly among the piles of iced buns, social soiree invitations and travel tickets.
Last week this paper carried an exclusive interview with Martin Galea about the truth of his ordeal in Libya. We could only get the truth from him, as the Muscat Government either had no idea what happened or, for some reason, wanted to keep it from us.
As things developed after the interview’s publication, it became very clear that the Government was lost. Official statements and briefings abounded in contradictions. The Government seems to be such a stranger to truth that it has no idea how to handle it.
Mario Cutajar continued with his regular media briefings, as though his real role is that of Government Spokesman rather than head of the civil service. The Government declared another man as lost, only for a family member to say immediately that he no longer was.
Then there was the other gentleman who had been asking for help to come to Malta from the Libyan desert. He said he got none.
One mess after another the saga went on. No coordination or up-to-the-minute communication within the Government itself. Nor with many Maltese in Libya, to go by the complaints.
The Government keeps repeating that it is working round the clock to provide an “assisted departure” for the Maltese in Libya. What kind of assistance has it been, though?
Has it been financial or is it true that people have had to pay for their own way? The expense involved in securing private transportation out of a war zone can be prohibitive for an individual. It can greatly influence the decision to leave.
If the Government has been working, as it says, round the clock, how does this square with the complaints received? Could it be that, despite the hard work by civil servants, the ineptness of the decision-makers let the hard work go to waste?
Breaking the Law
The Muscat Government has often projected itself as a government that empathises with what people want. It must certainly be able to empathise with lawbreakers. It has several times been itself found to be complicit in the violation of the law.
One of the latest incidents concerns Government interviews of women candidates for teaching jobs. The interviewing board was appointed by Government. Yet it proceeded by asking illegal questions about childbearing plans.
Government is there to ensure rule of law. Not for the first time, however, the rule book seems to have been lost by the Government itself.
The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality has done its duty and condemned the episode. There is, however, just one potential hitch.
The NCPE has been without an Executive Director since the beginning of the year. There is no information about the imminence or otherwise of a possible appointment, in spite of my repeated questions.
Therefore, suppose any of the interviewees decide to take action against the Government through the NCPE: Who should they revert to if there is no full-time executive director?
Hopefully, such interviewees might still be able to take their case to the Ombudsman, assuming that that Office survives the Taghna Lkoll government’s systemic attempts to undermine it.
Illegalities at Bahar ic-Caghaq
On behalf of all the residents of Bahar Ic-Caghaq, and the many people who like to frequent the small sandy beach there, I would like to express my utter indignation for the way a good chunk of this beach has, contrary to the law, been taken from them.
Public land has become private property. This is not a hidden, illegal development. It’s an in-your-face, might-is-right attitude. A restaurant owner has just simply taken over a good part of the beach to set up an extra 50 places.
He has no permission from MEPA whatsoever. He does, poor man, have to pay a fine of €20 per day. Luckily for him, he can cover that fine by filling up just one of those illegal tables.
Where is the Government in all this? Lost, of course.
Lost to law-abiding citizens and entrepreneurs, naturally. The lawless have every right to think that they have truly found their ideal government.
Claudette Buttigieg MP
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twitter: @ButClaudette