Victim or villain?

The efficient labour media, and that includes PBS, have succeeded in taking the wind out of the sails of the shocking and disturbing revelations emanating from our law courts.

COVID-19 and the double murder of Locker Street have also lent a helping hand. Still, shocking and disturbing they remain. There is no doubt that the evidence coming out of the mouths of those in the know is bewildering. One statement after the other speaks volumes.

In 2013, we were being lectured on Labour’s road map by Joseph Muscat and Konrad Mizzi – Keith Schembri had not as yet made an appearance then. I dare say that no one, but no one, ever suspected the criminal intentions behind it.

Labourites, floaters, switchers flocked in their thousands to place their faith in Muscat, rewarding him with a landslide victory. Those who voted Nationalist were not taken in by Muscat’s sweet talk but, nevertheless, it never occurred to them that a politician could stoop so low, and to so brazenly do what he subsequently did. A ‘tal-Lira’ clock, maybe, but not millions upon millions and even an assassination for good measure.

The Maltese were taken for a ride, the whole lot of us – those who voted for and those who voted against.

While those who did not vote for Muscat could now find solace and say, ‘I thought as much’ or ‘I told you so’, those who gave Muscat their trust cannot. The worst off among these are the Labour Party diehards on whose Party ticket Muscat rode the wave.

Muscat cheated both them and their Party. So is this Labourite a victim or a villain?

Is he a villain for aiding and abetting Muscat’s plan or is he a victim because he was taken advantage of?

I would say he is no villain because he had no intent in the crimes that followed. In most instances, Labourites give their whole hearted unconditional support to their leader no matter what he stands for. They take his word for granted and even persist in their loyalty when facts indicate otherwise.

In truth, Malta owes the situation we are in today to this irresponsibility. But still, I would insist that these people are not villains. Gullible, definitely, and even tribal; possibly, a victim too.

The villains are those who in the face of all the evidence before them carry on distracting their listeners with statements that ‘nothing has been proven yet’ or that ‘these are only allegations’ when in their own heart they know all too well where the truth lies. They persist in taking advantage of the people’s loyalty to the Party, distracting them with other issues.

What about the Labour MPs? Are they victims or villains?

I feel putting them in the victim category is stretching the concession. When things were not looking so good for Schembri, Muscat himself had the gall to claim that he had been cheated by his right hand man.

The Labour MPs are no victims. If the right thinking person in the street could then see what is surfacing now, they were in a much better position to come to their own conclusions.

Like, for that matter, the Farrugia couple – in fact, the two labour MPs should have pressed the stop button earlier, at the Café’ Premier stage.

Greed made the rest of the Labour MPs look the other way. We heard this right from the horse’s mouth during Scicluna’s evidence: ‘I couldn’t give up my ministerial post, could I?

The same is to be said of all of them – those who do not fight corruption are themselves corrupt, no matter how high a chord they reach when intonating the Te Deum in Church functions. These include those who have now conveniently exited the present scenario and are in exalted positions through the good services of the master they served unconditionally.