By definition, the establishment is all those who have power, in particular, government and so the Prime Minister needs to consult the dictionary use words carefully, Repubblika president Vicki Ann Cremona said Tuesday.
The NGO’s president was asked by The Malta Independent to react to the Prime Minister’s continuous reference to an “establishment” working against the interests of the Labour government and party.
Cremona said that if we are going to begin saying ‘the establishment’ to refer to those who disagree with us, then we need to rewrite the dictionary. The way this word is being used to show lack of faith in the institutions is incorrect and disloyal to all the institutions and people who are trying to do their work properly, she said.
When asked by The Malta Independent if Repubblika believes that the video uploaded online by former Labour Party president Emmanuel Cuschieri is inciting the people against the judiciary, Cremona answered that Cuschieri can say whatever he wants but what is important that the judiciary receives protection. She said she thinks that more worrying than Cuschieri is that former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is pitting the Maltese against each other.
Cuschieri is encouraging Labour supporters to turn up outside the law courts in Valletta when Muscat and others will be charged with offences related to the Vitals inquiry.
Cremona said the court has checks and balances that are not necessarily the Prime Minister’s competence, despite his statement yesterday. She expressed satisfaction, however, that Abela spoke of the three pillars of democracy and feels it is important that he himself keeps them in mind along with their autonomy.
It is also important that we don’t start off with the assumption that the courts are seeking guilt, Cremona said, as opposed to assuming the innocence of the accused. She said that “obviously” everyone who is brought in front of the court is innocent until proven guilty but, as Joseph Muscat used to say, let the institutions do their job.
With regard to the timing of the conclusion of the inquiry, a point which was highlighted by the PM as being against the PL’s interests as it coincided with the European Parliament election, Cremona said that Abela himself had admitted that he had known since January that it would be concluded close to the elections. She thinks that if the judiciary is to be a truly autonomous institution, it is not tied to elections, appointments etc, rather, if it truly autonomous, an inquiry is closed when necessary.
Once the inquiry was concluded, “the people must know that the inquiry is over and the consequences of the inquiry,” she said, insisting on its publication.