Opinion: And now she’s back

Rosianne Cutajar is back – not with a bang but with a whimper.  There was no announcement, no welcome party, no victory parade.

Only a quiet media announcement that Rosianne had rejoined Labour.  “She has to be willing to apologise for what happened,” Robert Abela declared in March. “I believe that when a person expresses genuine regret and gives a genuine apology, they should be given a second chance.”

“Without an apology, no real interest in reintegration is being shown – so I believe an apology should be given,” he insisted.

There was no apology.  There was no expression of regret.  But barely five months after his tough talk, Robert Abela had to swallow his words and let her in.

Everything has been forgiven despite Cutajar’s lack of admission, apology, acknowledgement, or act of contrition. No wonder Labour kept it quiet.

All is forgiven.  The thousands of euro in gifts from Yorgen Fenech, her staunch and devious defence of Fenech’s 17-Black at the Council of Europe and her subsequent sanctioning are forgotten.

Her failure to declare her income from the sale of an Mdina property to the same Yorgen Fenech was absolved. Her phantom job and the tens of thousands of euro she stole from the taxpayer have been excused.

Abela has been made to grovel to Cutajar and let her back in – on her own terms. Yet he told Jason Micallef, “When your time is up, don’t come back”.

He made Jason Micallef special delegate for the implementation of the electoral manifesto in return for withdrawing his nomination for deputy leader of the Labour Party.

Claudette Agius Baldacchino withdrew her name too but got no such reward.  Maybe it’s still on the way.

So, if Abela was willing to reintegrate Cutajar without an apology, why did he keep her waiting for so long? If that apology wasn’t required after all and he believed that “enough time has passed” why did he keep her out?

Abela lacks certain qualities that make a prime minister respectable. He has no credibility, wisdom, subtlety, sensitivity, self-awareness, humility, honour, grace, or shame.

Abela is a dark, chaotic comedy. He never once says anything funny, witty or faintly amusing. His idea of a joke is some crass comment or an illiterate insult.

He accused a magistrate of “political terrorism”.  He called Roberta Metsola “a warmonger” who wants to send our children to war.  He called Bernard Grech “a puppet of the establishment”. He told Jean Paul Sofia’s grieving mother she let others use her.

He accused the bereaved family of Daphne Caruana Galizia of being “more interested in their repugnance for the country than finding those who are criminally responsible for the assassination of the journalist”.

His mind is an algorithm of petty prejudices, harboured grudges and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any underlayer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth – it’s all surface, no inner world, no soul.

He had no qualms walking past Jean Paul Sofia’s mother after voting with his party against a public inquiry into her son’s death. He had no second thoughts about vilifying Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family.

He openly denigrated Magistrate Marse-ann Farrugia for taking time to conclude the Sofia inquiry and openly lied about her.

He viciously attacked Magistrate Gabriella Vella claiming she had political motivations for timing the conclusion of her report on the hospitals scandal. He knew neither magistrate could defend themselves.  He hit below the belt like a true bully.

But facing Joseph Muscat, he turns into a wimp.  He’s too scared to withdraw Muscat’s diplomatic passport or to terminate his use of government offices in Sa Maison.  He’s too timid to take away Michelle’s car.

The fact that a significant minority of Maltese, perhaps a third, look at what Abela does, listen to what he says and think, yes, this seems like my kind of guy, is a matter of distress to the rest. You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

His faults seem pretty hard to miss.  It’s almost impossible to hear him speak without staring deep into the abyss. He makes Joseph Muscat look trustworthy and Alfred Sant coherent.

His closest people are deserting him.  Randolph de Battista is gone.  Chris Fearne stepped down.  So did Daniel Micallef. Abela’s Chief of Staff, Glenn Micallef, called it a day.

Labour’s head of communications, Ronald Vassallo, has given up. Aleander Balzan, his policy advisor, disappeared. Nigel Vella is seething, having been cheated by Abela of the Labour CEO post.

They know the game is over.