As Libya sadly finds itself fighting a second civil war in barely three years, Malta’s concerns should, first and foremost, be humanitarian. Guido Demarco was so right when he once said that civil wars tend to be the least civil of the lot. The dead, the injured, the wanton destruction, the foreign workers desperate to get out of harm’s way – our country has a moral obligation to offer whatever help its resources permit.

The national interest: three years ago and now

But there are also national interests to be taken care of. Commercial interests, environmental concerns, immigration, a failed state at our doorstep – you name it. Those interests were there in 2011 and they are there now and it is the duty of the Maltese government to safeguard them. There is, however, a sea of difference in the way the situation was handled then and the way it is being handled now.

Three years ago, the government’s performance was universally praised. “Not for the first time in our history”, David Cameron announced in the House of Commons, “we should pay tribute to Malta and its people for the role they are playing”. Don’t expect anything of the sort this time around, when we’re bungling the rescue of our own nationals. And nothing in this respect compares to the way the government dealt with the abduction of Martin Galea.

The public interest: mhux fl-interess tal-poplu

While Joseph Muscat was in London telling his audience that the Commonwealth is a moribund organisation that will regain its bounce thanks to him, and another of his Ministers was signing another worthless MoU with whoever was Libyan Prime Minister for that week, news came out that Martin Galea, a Maltese national, had been abducted.

Actually, he had been held for a week and the government must have thought that, in the circumstances, nothing would have been more appropriate than a cover up. Perhaps it had another MoU lined up for signing and it did not want to rock the boat. So while other countries were thinking of closing their embassies and evacuating their nationals, the Maltese government, was not even ready to bring itself to talk about the “abduction” of one of its own.

This is not only reminiscent of the Old Labour of the 1980s philosophy and methodology but pretty much in line with New Labour’s way of handling replies to parliamentary questions coming from the Opposition benches and requests for information coming from the independent media.

In spite of all the talk of transparency when in Opposition, The Malta Independent’s requests for the publishing of public contracts via the Freedom of Information Act  have been met with the timeworn mhux fl-interess tal-poplu (not in the public interest) attitude.

The political interest: tal-qalba rules OK

There have been claims that the Nationalist Party tried to make a “political football” out of this, situation. Really? The first pictures of Mr Galea were not of an emotional reuniting with his family, as happens in all cases where people who have been detained arrive home. No, what we saw was the Prime Minister standing at the centre expecting all the attention, a Minister on each side and – ah, yes, almost forgot – Martin Galea standing to the side.

Speaking to the press (after Joseph Muscat, of course), Mr Galea thanked Marisa Farrugia, the Maltese Consul in Tripoli “for saving my life”. Marisa who? Ah, she’s the person standing somewhere at the back, one of those seasoned career civil servants who were elbowed aside to make way for hapless political appointees to diplomatic posts who disappear when the going gets tough.

The elevation of the incompetent on the basis of ‘who they know’ rather than ability is becoming the order of the day – and so is the consequent mess being made of serious matters. In Malta Taghna Lkoll, tankers disappear from our sea ports and children under strict government surveillance vanish from our airports without anybody noticing.

The truth about big brother: nothing to see here, keep moving

What did you think? That Joseph Muscat negotiated Galea's release? The last Maltese Prime Minister who tried to negotiate the release of hostages was Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici during the hijack of the EgyptAir aeroplane in 1985 and the result was an unmitigated disaster. This technical and specialised work is best left to experts and, like anyone else, they deserve credit for a job well done.

That's what Martin Galea did. And for that L-Orizzont was set upon him like a rottweiler. His ordeal was trivialised, the contents of his medical examination were leaked and even the paper’s editorial felt it had to weigh in. All fair game.

After all, Mr Galea had not followed the official Party line that he had been detained, not abducted, and that the civil servant’s role in getting him out of there had been insignificant. Nobody expects five-star treatment in the circumstances. Mr Galea’s interview given to The Malta Independent simply contradicted the sacrosanct official version. Like the rest of us these days, however, he is expected to be grateful to Big Brother and keep mum.

Mr Puli is the Shadow Minister for the Family & Social Solidarity