Hiding the obvious will not work, especially when it can easily be seen elsewhere. Today’s technology, as well as means of communication, seems to have taken over our life completely, and it is hard to miss something if you know where to look for it. So it is downright foolhardy to try to give a wrong impression.

This is unfortunately what Foreign Minister Carmelo Abela tried to do a few days ago when he prepared a video message for the thousands of Maltese who live abroad.

In his three-minute address, he wrongly chose not to say anything about the current political and social crisis the country is going through, one that has been acknowledged by outgoing Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and other government members, including the two candidates now vying for his job as Labour leader and head of government, Chris Fearne and Robert Abela.

Even the President of the Republic, who normally stays away from any controversy to remain politically impartial, thought it fit to issue two messages to the people of Malta, one on the day Muscat resigned and the other a few days later, to try to give assurances to the public that the country will overcome the current impasse. He also chose to dedicate most of his Republic Day speech to speak about the rough times.

But Carmelo Abela preferred not to say anything at a time when protests are being held almost daily in the streets, the Prime Minister has resigned after his office was linked to the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and the country is passing through one of its darkest chapters in recent history.

Abela’s message, which was posted on youtube, just speaks about the importance of remaining connected and highlighting preparations for the convention for Maltese living abroad that will take place in 2020.

There was no word of comfort from Abela to the thousands of Maltese who reside all over the globe but who still have relatives and friends who live here.

When some kind of incident takes place abroad, the Foreign Ministry’s first job is to ascertain that no Maltese were involved or hurt and, if they were, to provide assistance via the embassies or honorary consuls. This is because it is the ministry’s duty to safeguard the interests of the Maltese who encounter hard moments when abroad.

It is also equally important for the Foreign Ministry to be honest with the Maltese who live abroad, and present to them an honest picture of what is taking place in the country they still consider to be theirs.

We all know that most of the Maltese who are living abroad like to keep in touch with what is happening here. Over the past weeks, The Malta Independent has registered a strong surge of interest from countries like the United States, Canada, Australia and a host of European nations where Maltese people took up residence. It is likely that most of those connections to our website came from Maltese citizens who live abroad and who wanted to learn more about the developments that were taking place.

Knowing that Malta’s situation has been given extensive coverage, not only locally, but also internationally, it would not have taken much for our Foreign Minister to just make a small reference to the prevailing difficult situation before moving on to speak about “achievements” and a brighter future.