The NGO Moviment Graffitti on Monday declared Prime Minister Robert Abela as the winner of their own “Prime Puppet Award”, going to Parliament’s steps in order to hand the award directly to Abela.
“It is our great pleasure to announce that the Prime Minister has been selected to receive this prestigious prize in recognition of his loyal service to developers in our country,” the NGO said in a statement.
“The Prime Minister’s absolute devotion to the interests of developers in Malta is undeniable. He has always done his best to meet developers’ every need, an effort for which he deserves to be recognised and celebrated,” it continued.
“Of all the candidates nominated in the first edition of this prestigious award, the Prime Minister stands out as the prime servant of developers. Among the many distinctive qualities that make him the indubitable winner, the way he bends over backwards to appease those pulling his strings and employs mental gymnastics to justify his decisions are among the most obvious,” it added.
The NGO said that one example is how the Prime Minister has still not introduced the promised reform in development appeals, allowing developers to continue building while an appeal is ongoing. “A certain Joseph Portelli, who sent in a testimonial endorsing the Prime Minister, said he is very satisfied and remains indebted to him for the delay in the reform,” the NGO said.
The NGO said that the Prime Minister also won points in the competition for Prime Puppet for allowing the Planning Authority to ignore the Court’s decisions and issue permits for illegal buildings. “The same Portelli, in his submission, admitted that while he could hardly believe the Prime Minister was ready to go so far in service of developers, he is eternally grateful for his bold actions,” the NGO said, sarcastically.
The Prime Minister cemented his status as the Prime Puppet and made his award a foregone conclusion with his decision to change the Local Plans to appease the developer of Villa Rosa. “A certain “Tal-Franċiż” said that the Prime Minister jumped at his request to change the Local Plans to allow him to build a larger project, promising that he would do his utmost to make it happen,” it continued, sarcastically.
“Such service, bearing witness to the Prime Minister’s absolute loyalty to developers, cannot go unacknowledged. It was therefore a great honour for us to have had the opportunity today to confer this Award to the Prime Puppet of Developers, and we hope that the Prime Minister is just as enthusiastic and proud to receive it.”