The Fall

“You are a father and a family man, what is your message for the Caruana Galizia family?” the disgraced former prime-minister was asked. The interviewer was appealing to Joseph Muscat’s human side. 

Muscat’s answer was as cold as it was brutal. “I hope that just as I accepted the outcome of the inquiry, they will accept the outcome of the Egrant inquiry”.

He tightened the screw. “If they want an apology, I will make one – even though I’m the prime-minister under whose leadership her alleged killers were caught”.

The interviewer was speechless.  So are we, watching in disbelief the detached insensitive schemer still unable to accept responsibility – remorseless and unrepentant. Faced with a tragedy of unbearable magnitude, Muscat retains a psychopathic detachment from the pain he inflicts.

Camus’ novel, The Fall, was hailed as his most beautiful and least understood work. In it Jean Baptiste confesses his sin.  Walking along one night he saw a woman fall into the river, he heard her screams as she floated downstream but did nothing to save her life. He is filled with remorse and seeks absolution, knowing he could have saved her life – and didn’t.

Joseph Muscat too could have saved the life of a woman – but didn’t. Unlike Jean Baptiste however he seeks no absolution, remorseless till the end.

Yet Muscat spent more than half his Times of Malta interview deploying his “compassion” for his seriously ill former chief-of-staff as justification for refusing to answer legitimate questions. Muscat refused to “judge” Keith Schembri, refused to condemn him, stands by him.

His repeated references to “the situation he’s going through” relays the subtle message that Muscat refuses to condemn Schembri out of decency – it’s all Keith’s fault, but because he’s ill I “will never ditch him”.

Muscat cannot put the blame on Schembri. When Muscat attempted it, Schembri was categorical in his sworn testimony:  “Muscat knew everything, I hid nothing from him”.

Which is why Joseph Muscat refused to answer direct questions.  Slithering and squirming, the artful dodger evaded every question, using silence, denials, deflection and  lies, so blatant that watching was painful.

You took Schembri to security briefings?. No, he answered, forgetting that Schembri’s attendance  is common knowledge. Incredulous, the interviewer insisted, No?  Muscat desperately back-peddled. “I mean I didn’t push him to attend”.

“Do you believe Schembri was passing on information?” Muscat dodged the question: “I’m not the jury in all this, if he did or did not, I paid the price”.  Muscat knew everything.

“So you don’t believe there was collusion?”. Again Muscat squirmed. “If he did it or not, I paid the price”.

“Why did you keep him in charge of everything?”. More evasion as he deployed the classic tactic – answer a question with another question “What do you mean in charge of everything?”.

Muscat claimed he told the security services about “myself and Yorgen Fenech”.  “When?” ”Muscat’s convoluted answer gave no clue: “When… if I give you a date and it turns out to be wrong, you’ll say I was trying to mislead you”. 

The interviewer’s task was impossible. Not one straight answer. Muscat simply created a dense fog to conceal the truth.  “Did you tell the security services about your chats?” “They were informed” he answered vaguely.  

“You told them you had the chat group?” Muscat cut him off: “I’m not going to discuss what I told the security service”. Only seconds earlier he had done just that – “I told the security services about myself and Yorgen Fenech”.

More stonewalling, denials and lies followed. “Schembri says he always followed your instructions?”.  “That’s not quite what he said”, he lied. 

“What did you and Schembri discuss when he came to your house before he resigned (and before being arrested) until 3am?”.  “He didn’t stay till 3am” was his devious reply.

The interviewer was thrown off track. Instead of insisting the time was irrelevant and pressing him to answer what they had discussed, the interviewer dropped the juicy bone and ran after the stick Muscat had thrown.

With his knack for self-preservation, Muscat dodged every bullet. Shamelessly he lied and lied. “It’s not even clear in my mind, to be honest” when he got to know of Schembri’s 17-Black link.

He didn’t understand the issue of the deeply corrupt Mozura wind farm. He “honestly” didn’t know how Melvin Theuma’s pardon reached Yorgen Fenech. He doesn’t know who Egrant belongs to.

His disgraced chosen ones Adrian Hillman, Keith Schembri, Brian Tonna, Joseph Cuschieri, were only discredited because of “the contents of a mobile phone” according to him. And so Muscat “won’t judge them on a text message”.

He didn’t smell a whiff of corruption on 17-Black and the hospitals deal.  When he questioned them, “I was always given an explanation”.  Only a psychopathic liar or an utter incompetent could say that. And Muscat’s not the latter.

“Did Keith Schembri tell him the truth?” – “Time will tell”

“Did Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi tell the truth?” – “As if I’m going to go there”.

“Did they fool you?” –  “I’m not going to play the jury”.

“They were your friends” – Muscat went off on a tangent, employing self-pity. “I know what my wife and I went through, people made things up, falsified signatures – and you don’t want to talk about this issue, a massive frame-up, fabrications”.

The interviewer persevered, “I’m asking about Keith Schembri”.  Muscat’s defiant response: “Whatever happened, happened”.

Muscat still had work to do – discrediting the inquiry. He fired accusations – the state attorney didn’t take part in the inquiry, the state was kept in the dark, the report may prejudge the criminal case, his two chosen judges were ruled out, it was just a “political exercise”, Joseph Said Pullicino “headed the judiciary when three members were found guilty of corruption and he told Fenech Adami he didn’t know about it”.

He completely lost it. He accused the opposition leader of receiving a leaked copy of the report. “I have no doubt” he insisted. He was so certain because the opposition leader stated two days before publication that the recommendations of the board should be implemented. How did Bernard Grech know there would be recommendations if he hadn’t seen the report, was Muscat’s daft logic.

Now that his precarious situation drew him out of his foxhole, his warped and devious character is exposed for all to see – secretive, evasive, obscure, untruthful. The kindest thing one can say is that the man needs help.

                           

Sign up to our newsletter

Stay in the know

Get special updates directly in your inbox
Don't worry we do not spam
                           
                               
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

22 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Eduard Azzopardi
Eduard Azzopardi
2 years ago

Muscat’s answer was as cold as it was brutal. “I hope that just as I accepted the outcome of the inquiry, they will accept the outcome of the Egrant inquiry”.
:
Still any doubts about him, that he is the masterbrain behind the assassination, I don’t think so.

Cikku Poplu
Cikku Poplu
2 years ago

That interview is a great cure for constipation!

Paul Vella
Paul Vella
2 years ago

‘Needs help?’
Lock him up and throw away the key…lock them all up, I’m sure that will refresh their memory!

James
James
2 years ago

True colours being exposed yet again and he has the gall to complain that he may not get a fair trial as his 2 chosen judges were ruled out…

Of course the rule of law was in safe hands!

John
John
2 years ago

Why did Robert Abela upon being sworn as Prime Minister keep disgraced Joseph Cuschieri at MFSA? Why did he defend Cuschieri when his ties with Yorgen Fenech were revealed?

Why is Robert Abela still keeping FIAU Deputy Direcror Alfred Zammit and MFSA s Edwina Licari?

Joseph Tabone Adami
Joseph Tabone Adami
2 years ago

A clinical dissection of living events – exposing the roots of the whole nation’s malaise, perhaps?

Jesmond Saliba
Jesmond Saliba
2 years ago

Last paragraph needs editing. Replace foxhole with rathole, man with interviewee, help with preventive custody.

Henry s Pace
Henry s Pace
2 years ago

 ‘ I paid the price ‘
As Hitler rose to the pinicle of the The Third Reich – Third Realm” Hitler had the great downfall of his realm .
So did the disgraced joseph muscat reached his pinicle by winng two elections with great majority that neither mintoff nor Fenech Adami had ever achieved.
This muscat saw his realm gone in tatters due to all the corruption and murder that happened during his realm.
SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI.

Last edited 2 years ago by Henry s Pace
Mandy Mallia
Mandy Mallia
2 years ago

“Perhaps it’s because I grew up in a different social milieu, a different culture, or even just a parallel universe, but where I come from an apology involves three essential elements: an expression of regret, an admission of error or guilt, and the words ‘sorry’ and ‘forgiveness’. Sometimes, it even involves the words ‘deeply’ and ‘sincerely’.” – Daphne, October 18, 2009

https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2009/10/define-‘apology’/

Godfrey Leone Ganado
Godfrey Leone Ganado
2 years ago

Excellent analysis.
The only help Joseph Muscat needs, is a big push into a solitary prison cell for life, surrounded by pictures of the heinous assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
I hope that his psychopathic behaviour, will not lead to ‘imprisonment’ in a Hilton de luxe style suite, at SVDP.
In the meantime, he should be stripped of all awards which he gave himself, and all plaques with his name, commemorating some event, should be removed.
This should be the legacy to his family, including descendents, hopefully not with his psychopathic character.

Catherine Desira
Catherine Desira
2 years ago

I agree.

saviour mamo
saviour mamo
2 years ago

The most disgusting statement that Joseph Muscat made, was when he said ” If they want an apology, I will make it.”

Travis Brannon
Travis Brannon
2 years ago

Muscat is most definitely a psychopath, as are so many around him. A certain segment of Maltese culture breeds psychopathology, actually selects for it. Amoral familism is the crucible of antisocial personality disorder. And the scary part is, most Maltese refuse to accept that many aspects of the culture are psychopathic. All while the higher order psychopaths in power look down on the bottom feeding psychopaths in the PL bars and call them Gahan’s. But psychopaths they all are.

Lomax
Lomax
2 years ago
Reply to  Travis Brannon

I seriously believe Joseph Muscat is a textbook narcissist suffering from narcissistic personality disorder. No empathy. For anybody bar himself. Not even for Keith Schembri.

He employs heavy gaslighting in all his public interventions and he is a compulsive liar. And yes, so many people here display traces or worse of Personality Disorders.

I’m quite sure JM suffers from Narcissistuc Personality Disorder.

Godfrey Leone Ganado
Godfrey Leone Ganado
2 years ago

Two main questions I will keep haunting Joseph Muscat with, are:
1. Why are you still obsessed with wanting the Caruana Galizia Family, and the Opposition, to accept the inconclusive conclusions of the Bugeja Egrant Inquiry?
2. Why did you refuse a presidential pardon for Maria Efimova and Jonathan Ferris, regarding Egrant?
Another question, this time addressed to his spouse is:
Why did Mossack Fonseca refuse to issue to Nexia BT, a declaration stating that you were never the registered owner of the 2 shares in Egrant, as stated in the Declarations of Trust?

No beating about the bush please, Lord and Lady Egrant.

Zhuhsi
Zhuhsi
2 years ago

I find this extended interview an utter waste of time. Giving a platform to a politician who is passé and who, if he had any amour propre, would have exited the scene rather than seeking to hang on and play the dalang in the sad wayang that is today’s Malta Government!

As it is, Malta is being held to ransom by Government’s refusal to accept that our international reputation will remain in the mud, as will our greylisting, until there is a cleanup of those associated with the dubious deals of the last eight years. Anyone who thinks that the results of any election to wipe the slate clean lives in a different universe.

Albert Bonnici
Albert Bonnici
2 years ago

Now we have Joe Brincat taking up Joseph Muscat’s interview answers to court poor chap. Oh hiow the great fall. One other point when asked about if he pushed for Robert Abela, mister continuity, Joseph Muscat said that his wife pushed for Abela. He does like to blame his wife does he. So he is not just a lier. The most corrupt prime minister. Nothing fits he better.

Lomax
Lomax
2 years ago
Reply to  Albert Bonnici

This is interesting. Somebody else is always to blame. Typical narcissistic approach to life and relationships.

Catherine Desira
Catherine Desira
2 years ago

Was this interview a prelude to Muscat’s next target? The Presidency? Just a narcissist and a psychopath.

Kevin Attard
Kevin Attard
2 years ago

Kevin, well said ?

Lorna Farrugia
Lorna Farrugia
2 years ago

I have asked this question and maybe someone can give me a good reply. Why did TOM decide to hold the interview now?

Toni Borg
Toni Borg
2 years ago

Apologies dear Kevin.

For once I did not read through your article.

to me, Joseph Muscat is trash and his only place is in Kordin.
until he’s placed there, repentful or otherwise, I refuse to read anything concerning trash!

Related Stories

Opinion: Apology, no apology
It must have been during those philosophy or English
Opinion: Labour’s escape route for criminals
Just before Christmas, the government rushed through parliament a

Our Awards and Media Partners

Award logo Award logo Award logo