Never in my life have I ever heard that a question can be dishonest. On the contrary, coming from a communications background, I have heard time and again that ‘there’s no such thing as a stupid question’. I still remember vividly Prof. Saviour Chircop insisting with us Communications students during that dreaded ‘methods of inquiry’ study unit of the Communications under grad course that we should ask and ask and ask. This is the only way we as ‘budding journalists’ should approach our job, he would say.
“Il-mistoqsija oħt il-għerf”. Translated literally, it means “the question is the sister of knowledge”. An idiom that I find so faithful to truth and which I treasure so much that it has shaped my outlook and increased my appetite for knowledge.
Here we had a man who was not only an academic but also a Catholic priest and yet he was telling us to question even the most basic of assumptions of our society which are largely built on christian beliefs. This is what I have done since and what I will continue doing.
Except that now as a Member of Parliament, this inquisitive approach took on a different meaning. It became part and parcel of my job as an MP on the opposition side of the bench. What was before just an inquisitive attitude helping me whet by appetite for curiosity, now it is part and parcel of my duties to hold the government to account.
So when I first heard Finance Minister Edward Scicluna dismissing his counterpart’s questions as deplorable and dishonest in Parliament, my alarm bells started ringing. “How is it possible?” I said to myself.
“I deplore the Times’ article penned by Honourable Member Mario De Marco today and I feel it was really dishonest. The questions asked there and the way he tried to undermine the Finance Minister’s integrity with those comments he passed.…Well, I’m really disappointed with that article.” This is what Finance Minister declared (verbatim) in Parliament last Tuesday during question time.
Apart from the fact that I subscribe fully to De Marco’s article, I don’t think for a second that the criticism expressed in that article was in any way unjustified. On the contrary I really think that the Finance Minister can’t stand the proverbial heat. How is it possible that Minister Scicluna objects to such benign criticism with such a civilised tone?
I do have a few more questions Scicluna may not want to answer. The Opposition spokesperson on Finance Mario De Marco wrote that Scicluna is doing a Nero, “Playing the fiddle while three of our public hospitals burn.” Just a few weeks ago I wrote in the weekly Il-Mument that Scicluna is doing a Pilatus i.e. washing his hands. I asked him then “How on earth was Pilatus bank given a licence to operate by MFSA of which you were politically responsible at the time?
Scicluna’s silence on a number of pressing issues is defeaning. It’s disquieting. He has to understand that he’s not a Central Bank Governor or a University Professor. He is a senior Minister for god’s sake. He has got political responsibilities and many of them also. He’s conspicuous by his absence. When was it last that he gave a press conference? Isn’t it his political responsibility to speak out when things go horribly wrong like the Vitals’ and Pilatus’ scandals.
Now, let me spell it out to you Scicluna; We won’t let you off the hook because yours is a dereliction of duty. What do you think that winning an election with such a wide margin gives a carte blanche to run roughshod over everyone and every thing? There you go! Yet another question and many others will follow.
MP David Stellini is the Opposition spokesperson on European Affairs and Brexit. He is also President of the Nationalist Party Administrative Council