Presenter Peppi Azzopardi was targeted by Labour diehards after he slammed former Labour PM Dom Mintoff’s slogan ‘Malta l-Ewwel u Qabel Kollox’ (Malta First and Foremost), saying that we should look at people as human beings before labelling them according to their nationality.

Mr Azzopardi was commenting on a Facebook post about the current situation relating to Greece’s financial situation.

In his comment he wrote “The best thing about the European Union is that one can feel he is a European citizen. I wish it was a world, rather than a European union, one in which no one is Chinese, Italian, Greek, Arab or Dutch. One where flags and national anthems will no longer make sense and where the slogan Malta L-Ewwel u Qabel Kollox will be perceived as shameful, as it in fact is,” he said.

In reaction to this, a number of individuals started hitting back at him posting comments which included ‘Peppi is a traitor’, ‘he should be exiled’, ‘he has always been rubbish and that’s what he’ll remain’. One even commented ‘we will continue striving for migrants to be sent back and we will ensure you leave with them Pepp.'

Presenter explains his position

Contacted by The Malta Independent, Mr Azzopardi said that such comments only strengthen his principle that he should always voice his opinion.

He explained that what he meant is that Europe should show solidarity with human beings, irrelevant of their nationality. “We should not look at a person as being Greek but as a human being. If we had to perceive individuals as Greeks, we would look at their unsuccessful politics, but if we had to shift our perception to a humane one, we would notice the old woman without her much needed medicine, the young man who has been unemployed for over five years, and the mother who has no food to feed her children,” he said.

The presenter said that a person needing support should come first and foremost, irrelevant of whether he or she is Chinese, Italian, Libyan or from any other country, as opposed to the slogan, Malta First and Foremost.
“I do not have to agree with the slogan simply because Dom Mintoff said it. I can understand that some people were insulted because I criticised the slogan.”

“However I can never agree with those who insisted that I should have never have voiced out my opinion. I can’t understand the lack of understanding of freedom of expression in a democratic country,” he said.