Praise the Lord, the Lord Prime Minister, who is all forgiving, all loving, all embracing. Clayton Bartolo has apologised, so all is fine in Castille, in our gilded cage, our golden age under the Labour Party regime.
Robert Abela was going to forgive our errant minister who got his wife employed by another minister under the weirdest circumstances. Wife, or partner or whatever, had been promoted by her then partner, moved to another ministry but still remained working for her husband partner or whatever. What was most important was that she got paid handsomely.
The Labour Party bigwigs have been rapped several times by the Standards Commissioner. And even after apologising, they proceed to attack the Commissioner and declare how mistaken he was in his findings. Their miserly apologies always come with a huge proviso: we apologise but because we are forced to, not because we believe we did anything wrong.
Even Clayton Bartolo went on the offensive after apologising. Poor chap felt offended and blamed it all on spin. These people spin so much they get dizzy and spin us all into mesmerised dullards who accept their shenanigans with just a hint of annoyance. Because after what the ministers did shouldn't we all - this whole nation of duped people - be protesting, demonstrating and hounding the minister with placards calling for him to resign and face proper justice?
The Prime Minister himself seems to have evolved into a master of deceit, increasingly taking on the mantle of a tinpot dictator. After all, when the Standards Commissioner found that Robert Abela had acted unethically and was told to apologise in February 2023, he declined the offer. Because this is how Kings act: they first appoint people to be standard bearers, then when they are reprimanded they disregard them.
Nice party of miscreants we have: Labour Party labouring hard to keep up with everything unethical.
Even the other Labour stalwart, Rosianne Cutajar, did the same. Robert Abela, big man that he is, bully with the powerless but fawningly docile with his lieutenants and loyal supporters, had admonished Cutajar. He had chucked her out, or instructed his party to, of the Labour ranks. But subsequently, with no hint of apology, she was welcomed back into the Labour fold.
That's Labour for you; that's Robert Abela for you. And that is impunity for us all. You can do anything, however wrong. Even if you are found out or admonished by the Standards Commissioner, as long as you are still carrying or waving the Labour torch all will be forgotten.
The Clayton Bartolo and wife saga involved another minister who was told to apologise for unethical behaviour. Yet he just declared he had done nothing wrong and told the commissioner to mind his own business. This is how these crooks, these goons, these predators of our national coffers do business: in their own way, however wrong, corrupt and unethical.
Some time ago there was another horrid story which hardly hit the news. Because this is what happens in this land of ours: we are so bombarded by scandals, corruption, and nepotism, that we are immune to all the horror.
In August 2023, the Commissioner for Standards had investigated the Hon. Dr Michael Farrugia, then Minister for Home Affairs, and concluded that the minister had lied to the media. This did not involve something inconsequential. It was in connection with a meeting Farrugia had held with Yorgen Fenech six years previously, in 2014.
At the time the meeting was held, Farrugia was Parliamentary Secretary for Planning. And shortly after the meeting, Farrugia had given instructions to the Planning Authority CEO to designate Mrieħel as a high-rise development zone for the purposes of a new policy drawn up by the Authority. This led to the construction in Mrieħel of high-rise buildings in which Mr Fenech had an interest. Small matter of course which no one spoke about, or hardly anyone. And now this lie, which covered up a whole load of other cover-ups and wrongdoing, is buried in the sand - or the quicksand which is becoming our country's foundation.
Whether Farrugia apologised, cried, or was left to his own devices, is not clear.
Now I hope - as has been suggested elsewhere - that not too many of us will be making their way to the Central Bank vaults to help themselves to the country's gold reserves. Following the example of the leaders of society - our most honourable leaders, after taking home the loot all we will have to do is say 'oops sorry' and all will be forgiven.
And just as the Honourable Ministers, wives, partners and sundry other oddities do, after apologising we can proceed to enjoy our ill-gotten gains. Hurrah for Labour, always showing us the way to a bright, golden future.
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