Farewell Joseph or rather Adieu. You are master of your own downfall.
In 2013 you were elected on the premise that you are going to Govern with a new style of politics, discard what was deemed wrong and introduce a new breath of fresh air. Nearly seven years after this you tendered your resignation after two landslide wins.
You had said that you wanted a new style of politics but when you where with your back to the wall you pointed your fingers to previous administrations. What was perceived to be wrong before was not justifiable then especially because the electorate trusted you and believed you. Alas, with the benefit of hindsight how wrong they were!
Recently Keith Schembri tried to take the merit of giving ten wins to the Labour Party which was unprecedented. This goes to show that either you weren’t totally in control, he the architect and you the orchestrator, or else you trusted him blindly. Hence your error of judgement. Another reason for you to go. Politicians who err in judgment shouldn’t have a place in politics especially when entrusted to lead the country.
You tried to downplay your acts by trying to play the victim. The king! As deemed by the blind labourite followers now is the sheep of sacrifice. Poor thing!
You said that you are now going to start dialogue on abortion. Trying to steal the limelight once again? You are famous for U-turns. The most famous one was that on EU accession, you were against and yet you were one of the first to put your name forward to be a candidate for the MEP elections. History, as they say, repeats itself. He had previously said that he wouldn’t contest general elections because he is not a thief, nor a missionary and neither a madman. Well, another U-turn? For sure he wasn’t a missionary paying 21,000 euros on flight tickets for a three-day holiday. A thief? Nothing is proven as yet however he resigned for a reason. Perhaps he felt a sting in his conscience as he couldn’t stand up any more for people who were close to him. Everyone knows how the stories unfolded.
Adieu Joseph. You will be a backbencher. You will try to rebuild what you lost, your credibility. Alas you cannot be trusted. You had said that you will leave at the appropriate moment after approximately 10 years in office. Little did you know that you left disgraced. The worst thing is that you disgraced Malta’s name and reputation along with yours.
Adieu because you don’t deserve to hold on to your parliamentary seat albeit given to you be the electorate. I say this because people occupying the seat are called Honourable. Are you? Its up to the general public to decide.
You said you were to leave 5 weeks ago but stayed on in a caretaker role. This because you know no shame. This is because you put your interests before Malta’s. You didn’t care!
As your trusted colleague and ally famously uttered, ‘Shame on you!’ to his adversaries truly applies to you.
Adieu Joseph!
Ivan Bartolo is a Nationalist MP