Saturday, 17th October 2009 - 09:31CET
Muscat's apology "generic" - Fenech Adami
Former President Eddie Fenech Adami, whose family was attacked at their home in Birkirkara 30 years ago, has described the Labour leader's apology made on Thursday as "generic".
He said no one from the Labour Party had ever offered him an apology for the pain caused to his family on that fateful day on October 15, 1979, when Labour thugs first burned The Times building and then attacked Opposition Leader Dr Fenech Adami's family at their home. No one was ever charged with the attacks.
"Dom Mintoff had even accused me of provoking those incidents. This attitude was utterly unacceptable," he said when contacted yesterday.
Joseph Muscat's apology for the violent events of Black Monday, made during a speech about journalism, may have been the first such declaration by any Labour leader but his statement has left a sweet and sour taste among those who were on the receiving end.
Dr Fenech Adami said he had been waiting for an apology for all these years and while Dr Muscat's statement was not the apology he was expecting, at least it was an acknowledgement that had long been due.
Significantly, on Thursday - 30 years to the day - Dr Muscat admitted that much more could have been done at the time to avoid the events of Black Monday, insisting those acts "should never have happened".
He reiterated the apology he had made on being elected Labour Party leader last year to those who may have been hurt by the actions of those "who used the Labour Party and then threw it away".
Former Nationalist minister Michael Falzon had mixed feelings about Dr Muscat's words.
"It is always positive for the leader of the Labour Party to speak with that conciliatory tone, but what irks me is that he tried to give the impression that the people who perpetrated those events used the Labour Party to their own ends. If anything, in reality, it was the Labour government that used the thugs to its own ends," Mr Falzon said.
On the other hand, Alternattiva Demokratika spokesman and former PN candidate Carmel Cacopardo disputed Dr Muscat's assertion that more could have been done to stop those events.
"Black Monday was a direct consequence of the way the Labour Party governed the country. The police were not there to protect the citizens but to defend the regime. They never did anything to stop violence and this attitude continued throughout the 1980s, until it climaxed at the mass meeting at Tal-Barrani," Mr Cacopardo said.
If there wasn't the political climate to encourage such things, he added, they would never have happened.
"I have no doubt Joseph Muscat and Alfred Sant abhor violence and are convinced it has no place in politics, but I am not convinced this was the attitude of their predecessors," Mr Cacopardo said.
The Nationalist Party accused the Labour leader of distorting the facts relating to the events that took place on Black Monday, 30 years ago.
"Joseph Muscat chose to blame the PN by giving the impression that those guilty of violence were just using Labour as a vehicle for their violence... The truth is, it was Labour supporters who perpetrated physical, emotional and psychological violence," the PN said in a statement yesterday.
Dr Muscat was trying to give the impression of an apology when in truth he was shifting the blame onto Nationalist supporters to appease hardcore Labour supporters.
The PN said it expected Dr Muscat to apologise for this deceitful version of the facts and not attempt to rewrite history.
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Comments
God forbid that I should ever agree with your bizarre, illogical conclusions. Adrianus Koster’s “minutes” “signed by the two parties” could only refer to what Koster identifies as “the six points of Mintoff”. These were trashed out during the secret meeting in Rome with Fr Prosper Grech. Koster could not have been alluding to the "nine" proposals that Mintoff carried in his pocket for that meeting. The MLP agreed with this version of six - not nine – points. You can never distort these jointly agreed minutes into a one-sided “interpretation” – if that were the case the two parties, would never have signed them. Mintoff himself would never have recruited the help of Lino Spiteri and l-Orizzont to explain the “six points” to the party faithful.
I wellcome your decision to “consider this exchange closed” because I hate being forced to continue to belabour someone who has been knocked down and out for such a long time.
You wrote " the “list of points” (on Koster pages 185-186) are only nine proposals UNILATERALLY presented for discussion by Mintoff.”. Which is precisely what I have been saying all along. The proposals put forward by the MLP (which you referred to as "Mintoff’s original nine proposals” where as reproduced (from Koster) in my last post and did not include the point that said that “that “violence, in certain cases to be admissible” “.
It therefore follows that, again as I have been saying all along, this “point” was just an interpretation by the other side.
Now that you have finally admitted what was obvious from the start, I think we can consider this exchange closed.
You are deliberately distorting the facts as clearly given by Koster. What you describe as “list of points” (on Koster pages 185-186) are only nine proposals UNILATERALLY presented for discussion by Mintoff. Evidently they could never have been “signed by BOTH parties”. What was agreed upon, and what was signed by both parties, were the minutes of the deliberations and conclusions that followed during the secret meeting – not Mintoff’s original nine proposals.
On his return to Malta, Mintoff expressed no disagreement with what became known as “the six points of Mintoff” the last of which was that “violence, in certain cases to be admissible” – so much so that Lino Spiteri was commissioned to explain these “six” points to the readers of l-Orizzont. Not only that but, to remove all doubt, during the Mintoff-KMB reign the Maltese nation was given a devastating illustration of what the MLP meant by the admissibility of Mintoff’s political violence, a dismal record that hangs like an albatross round the neck of the MLP/LP to this very day.
The points which were spelled out in the jointly-signed minutes were as follows (Kostner, pp 185/6):
1. Separation of Church and State as in any other modern State.
2. Malta should be a religious neutral State, without giving preference to one religion over any other.
3. Civil marriage should be recognized, and possible also divorce for those who believe in divorce.
4. In State schools, Catholic religious instruction is given only to those who desire to be so instructed.
5. Private schools must agree to State inspection as a condition for being considered on a par with State schools and receiving State subsidies.
6. Social services will be the same for everyone, without favour, particularly as regards illegitimate children, who should not be discriminated against.
7. The Church has to make financial sacrifices and the privilegium fori must be restricted in its applications.
8. State censorship of books and films is to be free from Church intervention.
9. The Church must not meddle in politics.
As you will see, the point yu have been insisting on is nowhere to be seen.
You are again misquoting Kostner, whether deliberately or not I will leave it up to the readers to judge.
The words "signed by both parties" clearly refer to the list of points which precede them, partly on page 185 and partly on page 186, not to the list which follows which Kostrner says clearly was the rendition by Mgr Galea, the then Vicar General. They were no part of the minutes you mention. (contd.)
I do not find anything amusing about your state of denial. You allege that Lino Spiteri Spiteri did not say what I quoted him as saying even when I identify precisely the pages of his book where readers could check them (91 and 94). You introduce Koster as an authority on the MLP’s six points. I quote this same Koster (on page 185) about the “secret” nature of the meeting between Mintoff and Fr Prosper Grech. You label that as “added spice” and a “frisson”. I quote the MLP six points as they appear in the actual “minutes” of those meetings “signed by the two parties” (page 186) but you dispel them as “the Church’s interpretation”. I quote Lino Spiteri’s account how Mintoff accepted that version to the extent of asking Lino Spiteri to explain them to the confused readers of l-Orizzont (page 94) but what is accepted by Mintoff as a true version of the MLP six points is rejected by you. It is you, not I, that needs to obtain a “better idea of what you are talking about”!
Finally, something we can agree on. Well said.
You do not want to understand that in his memoir Lino Spiteri is giving in great detail how it was Dom Mintoff, himself through Attard Kingswell, who commissioned him to write a series of six articles to explain to the readers of L-Orizzont the MLP six points, of which the sixth one was identified by Spiteri himself precisely as “Tkun ammessa l-vjolenza f’certi kazi”. I am saying the same thing as Adrianus Koster, the Vicar General Mons Galea, The Tablet, and Lino Spiteri quoting Attard Kingswell and Dom Mintoff himself (not any version given by his political opponents). You, on the other hand are absolutely unable to provide any vestige of proof that all these people are manipulating the truth! It is you who are in desperate need to acquire some credibility! I do not need to recover any credibility that I have never lost!
You are still missing the point. First of all, the writings of Lino Spiteri, however authoritative, are not the official voice of the (M)LP.
Secondly, since he was asked to write the articles you mentioned, it makes sense that he would quote the version given by the political opponents, in order to rebut it.
I repeat - see if you can find one official document emanating from the MLP which says that it wanted to include the clause in question in the constitution. That is the only way you can recover your credibility.
I think I can safely presume that it is no use waiting any longer for you to prove that the rendering of the “six points” as given by the Vicar General Mons Galea was “a highly biased interpretation of what Labour wanted”. Now, I would like to satisfy your request that I provide you with some documentary proof that “has to be an MLP document”. Here goes. I draw your attention to Lino Spiteri’s book “Jien u Ghaddej fil-Politika” and on page 91 you will discover his Maltese version of the “Sitt Punti” - the sixth being “ 6. Tkun ammessa l-vjolenza f’certi kazi”. On page 94 you will read how Mintoff himself (and Attard Kingswell) wanted Lino Spiteri to write a series of six articles explaining the six points, one by one. Therefore you should find no difficulty in accepting Lino Spiteri’s rendering as “not emanating from the MLP political adversaries of the time".
No matter how often one reads Koster’s book, one will never find any word there, or anywhere else, to support your false allegation that this version of the “six points” was a “ highly biased interpretation of what Labour wanted”. When Koster referred to the "rendering" of the six points as given by the Vicar General Mons. Galea, he was in no way insinuating that it was a false rendering, or a biased interpretation. He confirmed that "rendering" by comparing it with the version given by The Tablet. Consult any good dictionary conscientiously for the correct meaning of the verb “to render”. You are inventing the allegation that the version supplied to Koster was “a highly biased interpretation”. You have acknowledged the principle that the onus of proof rests with the one who makes the accusation. YOU have to prove it!
The trouble is that your quaint oblique "apology in its own way” in 1992 by Dr Sant “getting rid himself of influential figures of the 1971-1987 govt” is definitely being undone by Joseph Muscat's recall of some of those same MLP notables.
I missed no point. You missed my plain and simple point. If you or anybody else has any grounds for doubting that the Vicar General 's "rendering" was anything else but the truth please quote it. If you don't , then the Vicar General's rendering must be assumed to be correct in view of Mintoff's repeated threats to "govern from the streets".
Quoting Adrianus Koster agains, therse are the points which the MLP was proposing:
1. Separation of Church and State as in any other modern State.
2. Malta should be a religious neutral State, without giving preference to one religion over any other.
3. Civil marriage should be recognized, and possible also divorce for those who believe in divorce.
4. In State schools, Catholic religious instruction is given only to those who desire to be so instructed.
5. Private schools must agree to State inspection as a condition for being considered on a par with State schools and receiving State subsidies.
6. Social services will be the same for everyone, without favour, particularly as regards illegitimate children, who should not be discriminated against.
7. The Church has to make financial sacrifices and the privilegium fori must be restricted in its applications.
8. State censorship of books and films is to be free from Church intervention.
9. The Church must not meddle in politics.
The claim that the MLP wanted to include a clause in the constitution that said that violence was acceptable was simply a very biased rendering by the then Vicar General.
You missed the point. The "rendering" was done neither by Koster nor by me. It was done by the Vicar General of the time who gave a highly biased interpretation of what Labour wanted.
There is a principle, of which I thought you would be aware of, that the onus of proof lies on the accuser. If you are saying that Labour wanted to include tolerance of violence in the constitution, it is up to you to prove it. See if you can fond one document that says so. But it has to be an MLP document, not one emanating from its political adversaries of the time.
May I suggest that you read the extract from Koster another couple of times befoe commenting. Hopefully, you will understsnd it this time.
Mr reference to the sixth point that MLP wanted to include in Malta's constitution quoted Lino Spiteri, and therefore your appeal for a bit more faithfulness to the truth, if it has any validity at all in this case, should have been addressed to him. Having said that, I hasten to add that my memory supports what Lino Spiteri wrote, which is in no way contradicted by what you quote from Adrianus Koster.
A bit more faithfulness to the truth is required from those who play about with facts that do not please them.
You have only confirmed that even an independent historian like Adrianus Koster quotes the “rendering” of the “sixth point” as “Violence in certain cases, to be admissible”. Your ploy of typing “rendering” in upper case does not transform Koster’s word “rendering” into a “false rendering” as you seem to imply. The fact that the six points were revealed to the public in 1963 proves nothing one way or another. If you have any evidence in support of a different rendering, please produce it! Adrianus Koster has not produced any – and neither has anybody else and that includes you up to now!
No, I do not expect that Dr Muscat would ever be allowed by the LP bigwigs to make the expected decent and unequivocal apology for the MLP violence – he is no Willy Brandt. I have already given the reason why not in my comment @ Brian Hansford. Irrespective of Muscat’s age at that time he is the present leader of the MLP/LP and it is his responsibility to make the LP an acceptable alternative government.
"i found out what "marmalja" means, when supporters took to the streets after the 1987 election..."
Before 1987 you must have been living under a stone then.
It is not true that "that one of the six points that MLP wanted to include in our constitution was that violence was excusable in certain instances". That was simply the highly biased interpretation given to the MLP's position by certain Church authorities.
A bit more faithfuklness to the truth, please.
In fact, Adrianus Koster ("Prelates and Politicians in Malta" Netherlands,) says (my emphasis) :
It was not until 22 May, 1963 that the Maltese Vicar General Mgr. Galea gave HIS RENDERING of Mintoff's proposals as:
1. Separation of Church and State.
2. The State to be secularist, with equal treatment of religions.
3. Recognition of civil marriage.
4. Privilegium Fori to be limited.
5. Censorship of films and book to be carried out exclusively by the Government without allowance for Church interference.
6. Violence in certain cases, to be admissible.
Ever since, these proposals have been known as "the six points of Mintoff".
"Antoine You wrote we are talking of specific incidents who is we ? "
"We" i.e. the people commenting on this page. Surely that is obvious. The topic of the story is Black Monday, when Labour supporters showed everyone what 'marmalja' means.
Your slip is showing! Please note that after the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals it is no longer an admissible defense that the criminal was only “obeying government orders”. That is one very good reason why I would not jump on to the Mintoff bandwagon and why I did not become an accomplice in any police criminal activity simply to "serve and obey government orders".. God help us if your mentality is fairly representative of the mentality of the new LP. I hope that Joseph Muscat will categorically denounce it, otherwise there would be no stronger argument for rejecting the LP at the next polls!!
@ Francis Saliba sorry to say you are not looking forward at all.
we are a small nation and yet some still think that divide to rule is the best policy. what you are trying very hard to do is re-unite the diehards hoping they will not talk of the current situation in Malta.
I would like to talk about how are we going to unite as a country and get out of this recession.i would like us all here to discuss and bring out ideas how to overcome our current problems to beat the financial crisis.
If our economy recovers we as a nation will celebrate together whatever the political beliefs may be..
lets look forward, think positive, work as one, unite to give our children hope and teach them that united we live divided we fall.
Iz-zerriegha ta' dak li gara' kellu il-gherq minn snin qabel. Meta l-Laburisti kienu jqisuhom 'riff-raff' u l-korp(?) tat-tfal, il-Pijunieri, tant iehor. Kien hemm divizzjoni tal-klassi. Kien hemm minn kien jivvota ghall-PN ghax ma riedx ikollu x'jaqsam mar-'riff-raff'. Nies li riedu joghlew fis-socjeta'. Minghalihom. Snobizmu la Maltija insomma. Ma tnskantax jekk din l-attitudni ghadha tezisti. Idejat politici li lokhom hu l-bitha ta' l-iskola primarja. Ghax Malta qajl qajl tinbidel. Forsi hemm xi haga fl-arja. Jew fl-ilma.
@ Antoine vella et al-You seem to forget what happened after the 1987 election victory. You're pretty much selective
yes I am sure that legalising bird trapping/torture is more important than the near deaths of humans and our Prime Minister
There is only one thing that comes to mind with EFA coming out of his retirement; and that is to give a much-needed helping hand to the beleaguered PM! This Government is as weak as a two-legged chair and the sooner the PM admits this and rectifies the situation, the better for the whole of Malta.
Shape up or ship out.
He should continue to enjoy his retirment and not enter anymore into the political frey.
Two important points for your kind attention:
1. I never headed Xandir Malta
2. When those particular cases occurred I was a DOI employee, i..e. fairly away from Gwardamanga or anything to do with broadcasting.
Now that you have this information, is an apology forthcoming, or do we just do the mud-slinging?
"at least dr muscat offered an apology."
No he didn't. Quote it if you can.
We all agree that Hitler was condemned for the crimes he committed does this mean all the German nationals should be condemned? No they shouldn't .
Its people like you who force me to vote PN every time I'm in doubt.
"...it takes two to tango..."
But it only takes one (side) to break in, ransack, beat up people and burn down a building.
So you think this is about ballroom dancing. No wonder Laburisti haven't got a clue.
I would not presume to apportion responsibility for the crimes in question by police rank. I can only assure you that the fish stank from its head and subordinate ranks had to conform or else …! As the Police Medical Officer many anguished policemen, from Commissioner down to constable, confided in me many with tears in their eyes. I was an eyewitness to some of the abuses myself and I duly reported them to my seniors up to whoever was Commissioner of Police at the time. My reward was the burning of my office door inside the Police GHQ itself and a criminal failed attempt to frame me by perjured evidence. When that failed, I was forced to retire “on grounds of public interest”! That was may own fate at the hands of the Minister responsible for the Police. I held a rank equivalent to that of a Police Superintendent. Do you expect me to sit in judgment over weaker members of the force who regretfully saw nothing, heard nothing and said nothing so as not to lose their job?
"Water and electricity rates may be rising soon"
A very important saying which is easily forgotten is that it takes two to tango. One should keep in mind the significant rift that emerged between the PL and the Curia during the 60s culminating in the deplorable decision by the Curia to treat Labourites as some low class citizens using the Interdett and not even allowing appropriate burial. Many members of the Curia were outright full-blown PN supporters and the PN was more than happy with their following and/or membership of the party.
Turning to the 1981 general election, the result was weird in that the PL won the election with a majority of seats but a minority of votes. The PN was right to start the campaign to reform democracy. However, it was wrong in trying to destabilise the government and acting provocatively for a whole 5 years! After all, the exising legislation stated that a majority of seats was needed to govern. PL was the legitimate winner.
Ma nistax nifhem anqas x inhi r-rilevanza li qed noholqu l-fjask kollu fuq grajjiet li sehhew 30 sena ilu meta llum ghandna bizzejjed problemi ma xiex niddealjaw!
Jew forsi hawn min irid jaljena lill-poplu?
I am not sure whether I understood your comment correctly, are you suggesting that Charles Flores should have been imprisoned? Please explain if I misunderstood.
I don't know if you are the same person who headed Xandir Malta's (we knew it by another name) New Division in 1979. If you are then you are also called upon to apologise for having broadcast the false news that the MLP club in B'Kara had been attacked by Nationalists when you knew that the very opposite had happened. The station also reported that there had been "some incidents and a small fire" in Valletta.
I never agreed with Eddie Fenech Adami's conciliatory attitude towards such people who should have spent many years in prison.
I have answered that question umpteen times. Here is one more time,
"Police tampering with the evidence" is not any personal theory. It is a court finding in the case of the proven frame up of Peter Paul Busuttil. I do not know if Eddie Fenech Adami, before he took office, realized the full extent of the tampering - I was not under any illusion that it would be very extensive indeed. In fact it proved to be so extensive and so thorough that although the identity of culprits was known or seriously suspected no one could prove it up to the standard required in a criminal court of law, i.e. "beyond any reasonable doubt. Not after the state police had deliberately messed it up for months and years.
So now, Joseph Muscat now owes an apology to the faithful socialist thugs for having been used then dumped by their party, and he can blame it on Alfred Sant.
He managed to turn surpluses into deficits , with his predecessors not even having enough funds to refund back illegally procured VAT on car registration tax, increases in utility bills even when cost of oil was at its lowest ebb, and the current situation not being as sound as always professed to be?
@Dr F Saliba- Given your reasoning..how come a prominent politician had promised that upon being elected he would name the criminals who killed Karen Grech and Raymond Caruana...Wasn't he aware of your theory re tampering with evidence??? And how come after 22yrs of PN govt non of the MLP known thugs were ever brought to Justice??
@A. Zahra
What don't you mention names, especially since you are expecting an apology? The person who imposed that sad case of censorship is no longer with us and I feel we should deal with the departed in a respectful manner, no matter how much we may have disagreed with them in life. Few can speak about it with authority. I can, because I was moved from the News Department management post to another for protesting against it and demanding an immediate transfer.
EFA should give us many apologies and never did. So does he expect JM to kneel down and beg him? ....as if!!!
Being a member of a "Nationalist party is supposedly based on Roman Catholic principles" does not mean forfeiting the right to legitimate self defence from state-sponsored violence such as arson, murder and ransacking of the Curia and private residences.
You omitted to say that the Mississippi case was solved eventually with the aid of a criminal, acting on behalf of the FBI, shoving a revolver into the mouth of an accomplice to force him to reveal where the corpses of three murdered civil rights workers had been buried. Those methods are not acceptable to me or to the PN although there is proof that they had been in vogue previously (vide Nardu Debono’s case).
And I am certain that Eddie Fenech Adami will continue to consider that "apology" as too generic until Joseph Muscat will be allowed by the LP bigwigs to offer a more convincing aplogy.
Allow me to demolish your comment:
I do not need your advice to “take my evidence to the police to open up this cold case”. As I have stated already in my comment I did this as soon as it was safe to do so, that is as soon as the MLP gave way to the PN. By that time the MLP police had had ample time to tamper with the evidence as was their wont – vide the proven frame up of Raymond Busuttil. I imagine that, in this respect, the police in Mississipi differ somewhat from the Malta police of the Mintoff-KMB years.
I do not believe for a moment that “the PN want(s) to convict anyone”. It wants the truth to come out according to law but the Mintoff-KMB police had ample time in which to prevent this by “cooking” the evidence! That is the reason why “Cold cases are being solved all over the world” – but not in Malta after the Mintoff & KMB years.
That should stop your “wonder”, but of course it won’t. Try taking off your blinkers first.
@EFA. You put yourself as President of Malta. So you should act as one that is to Unite the Maltese people. There is enough hatred going on. And in here it is showing more than ever. Of course I deplore what happened to you and your family and others. I showed you support in the past. BECAUSE I AM AGAINST ANY KIND OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE. But likewise I deplore the fact that also You and your party for ANY POLITICAL VIOLENCE YOU MAY HAVE COMMITTED. WILL YOU APOLOGISE? no right? I did expect you when you were PM of Malta to take justice against those who killed yes Raymond Caruana (you did mention names publicly) and Karen Grech. I honestly ask you give an APOLOGY also like what J M did.
WITH ALL THIS HATRED GOING ON, WE ARE DOOMED
BTW Stopped voting ages ago. Someone said it:Min hu bla htija jitfa l-ewwel gebla
Those who are writing to justify or somehow play down the systematic violence of the seventies and eighties are the reason why almost everybody agrees that the MLP has not changed.
If PL thugs were to burn down The Times offices again this year, various PL fanatics the writing here would find some reason to justify the arson.
Lets be more open minded and remember those facts simply not to live them once again. It does not make any sense to bring them back alive just to score points!!
Joseph Muscat will solve all the problems as soon as he becomes Prime Minister. He has the solution to everything!!! I am dying to see him in office. Mill-kliem ghal fatti hemm bahar jikkumbatti!!! I am sure that he will swallow half the things that he is saying right now!!!!!
You were one of the first to endorse Joseph Muscat way back in 2004 for MEP and for MLP leader So you tend to be a bit subjective, ain't you?
I thought my first comment was clear enough, but I guess i 'm patient enough to make it clearer, patience, being of course, another Catholic virtue....
LA VERITA OFFENDE say the Italians
Yes, I know about them. I also know that it was not one of them who turned the leader of the opposition into a non person by never mentioning his name or activities. As I wrote he was not victimised and neither was his wife who had a good job with a parastatal institution.
It’s your choice!
JC.
While brushing my political history this afternoon, as you advised me to do, I realised that MAM was involved in the action taken against the government over its disputes. When does an action taken by a union be attributed to a political party trying to destabilize government? But then I kept brushing and I realised from where your hypothesis was derived. Your idea is related to a GWU strike at the drydocks that did its best to destabilize the Borg Olivier government. But again I ask you, which part of history, and not old wife tales, ties the PN to MAM and MAM to this brutal murder?
As for the case of Raymond Caruana one has to ask why those shots were fired in the first place. Everyone knows that the killing was not intentional but it happened through the irresponsibility of political tugs. And while I was brushing history I came over the aftermath of the case involving Pietru Pawl Busuttil and the frame up organized by police tugs with known political affiliation.
If you would like to continue brushing the political history I recommend you to read it well and never try to re-write it.
It was the golden age of MLP that is often being glorified by many stalwarts to this day!
Meditate gente, meditate.
I dont know where u were at the time, unless you were still a TWEINKLE IN DADDY'S EYES. But there are books you can refer to and if one can spare a day I will tell u some truths. If you have a Month you will learn it all maybe.
For those that were sitting pretty or were not yet around it is easy ot twist the facts, but for those that expirienced it it more difficult as they have to forget the facts.
So be realistic and get ur facts
To Date ? 1, 000 Families Suffered Hunger at that Time !! and The P.N In Gov't, is Still seeing these 1, 000 P.T.E's as Mercenaries !!!
This is the same man that told us that we are one family and Maltese. Under his premiership descrimination was galore.
Joseph Mucat repeats apology- The turn the other cheek brigade say they don' t accept it...
Can anyone help me out and explain why they call themselves Demokristjani?
If you look closely at the ranks of the PN, you will get a surprise - for you will find two of the main Xandir Malta stalwarts from the "Run Rabbit Run" days in the forefront..
They seem to have seen the light like St Paul on the road to Damascus.
Kemm meta kien hemm il gvern ta mintoff, u anki meta kien hemm il PN,dawn xorta komplow illaqtu taht iz zewg gvernijiet.
Li huwa fatt hu, illi dik il vjolenza li ghamlu, xorta baqet tkarkar u b hekk s issa qatt ma kienu fil gvern.
Il vjolenza hadd ma jrida wara il bieb tieghu,u dan hu fattur li il PL,biex jirbah l ellezjoni li gejja, irrid b serjeta jaghti garanzija li taht it tmexxija tieghu dan ma jerga jigri qatt..
Jien l appologija li ghamel il kap tal PL,ilqajta b mod possittiv.
Il poplu malti ma jixraqlux vjolenza,u anqas nies ipokriti li jaraw biss kif ikunu minn ta quddiem, biex jahtfu kollox,u dawn ikunu gejjin mi zewg partiti.
Ejjow nibdow pass il quddiem, billi ikollna gurnata wahda biss li il poplu ikun maghqud,bil jum nazzjonali tieghu.
Where did you get the idea that “after the PN took office” no investigation was made. I remember distinctly being called by homicide experts from Scotland Yard to assist in the investigation of the parcel bombs sent through the post to the Grechs and to Chetcuti Caruana. Most significantly, I was never called by the MLP police at the time when the clues were still fresh and when my evidence could have assisted in solving that crime – but not in the way that the MLP propaganda machine was pointing!
I think it's a shame on EFA to talk in this manner. Up to a few months ago he was President of all the Maltese, or he should have been. What about the political injustices he was found guilty, did he ask any pardons? Set an example first. Don't continue to sow division in our society. You are giulty as much as any other.
You need to brush up your political history. The premeditated murder of 15-year old Karin Grech was a political assassination. It happened because her father refused to abandon his patients and participate in the campaing of political sabotage and destabilisation organised by the PN with the aid of the MAM and other entities. Just a few days before the letter-bomb was received, a delegation from the MAM (read PN) visited Prof Edwin Grech to try and persuade him to join them. When he refused, one of them told him to "be careful as he had a wife and family". These are matters of public record.
The case of Raymond Caruana was an act of mindless vandalism which had tragic results. Shots were fired at the closed door of a club and one of them found a mark which was very probably never intended.
You cannot rewrite history to suit your perceptions.
i want to congratulate the Times for reviving stories of 30 years ago and to try and make us forget all the hardships of nowadays. I truly dont care about 30 years ago because i know that it wont happen again,though i am sure that there are people here who might want it to happen,
i care about the rising in cost of living, the exorbitant W&E tariffs,i care of not having a chance to travel on a private jet,of having to pay for the rest of my life just to own a masionette.
the Times hardly ever talks about these hardships and i wonder why. if i accept a gift during Xmas time i might get a warning because a govenmemt employee cant accept choclate boxes.
i am an honest taxpayer but who is not honest is being given an amnesty.
That's a good question. By the time the PN took office, it would have been too late. An independent inquiry had to be held days after these ugly events took place. But after Mintoff and Fenech-Adami had watered down Malta's 1964 constitution in 1974, there was no-one left on the island to hold an independent inquiry. For example, President Anton Buttigieg never made a public statement. Malta became an island ruled by the fittest. Both Mintoff and Fenech-Adami were to blame. Together they threw Malta into this quagmire. Fenech-Adami should not be asking Muscat for an apology. Fenech-Adami, along with Mintoff, should apologise to the Maltese people. They were both in it together.
VJOLENZA U NUQQAS TA' DEMOKRAZIJA JISTA' JKUN HAWN U JISTA' MA JKUNX HAWN. IL-PASSAT MA HUWIEX GARANZIJA TAL-FUTUR.
We are still waiting for an apology from the person who proposed to Xandir Malta and enforced the boycott of the name of then Leader of the Dr. Fenech Adami. The name of that person is very well known yet he was never victimised or ostricised.
It is also clear that, although the first step by Dr Muscat has been done, it hasn't gone far enough!
I think books need to be written on those events from people who are with a sensitive conscience and are ready to admit facts of the reality back then. Also I would also go as far as to say they will be given amnesty and will not be incriminated for their version of facts.
As a floater coming from a nationalist family I agree with you that 1987 was a liberating year, in fact as a young boy i was celebrating victory at floriana.
The truth is that as a person who never went to ministers for favours I suffered and obsereved great injustices at my workplace which made no honour nor improved this nation. This is experienced especially in the last 8 years. We all know how everything is collapsing be it infrastructure and economy. The energies should be spent on solving the multitude of problems we have and not on arguments and apologies which happened 30 years ago.
The whole point is that it does not make sense for parties and Maltese to start arguing on events which happened 30 years ago especially now that everything changes so rapidly.
It is not wise to hinder democracy because of violent events happening 30 years ago. In my opinion things have changed and people have by now learned to be civilised even at election times.
Let Gonzi and Muscat do their job. Both should be given a chance. On election day we decide.
I know I should not be answering your comment but for the sake of history I should.
Your conclusion is typical of a hard liner PL supporter that even he cannot beleive what his party and leaders of the time were capable of. You and many others are still living in a state of denial after all these years.
But the lowest of your assumptions is the one regarding the political assasinations. First off all Karen's assasination had nothing to do with politics. I am sure you are not that blind, altough I have my doubts, that you are not accusing the PN of killing her? On the other hand the case of Raymond Caruana is purily political and set out in a phase in our country were human rights were non-existent. I hope that you are not saying that the PN leaders also ordered the shoot out on their club.
Nowadays I am very irritated with the current goverment's administration but when I see that PL supporters have not yet accepted the horrors commited by their party in those dark days, doubts start coming back as to what I should do when the next election comes.
The labour party rightly owe you an apology for all they have done to you and your family, but all the Maltese owe you a big THANK YOU for their present freedom.The pity is that with all these evidence being exposed there are those who still deny these facts and try to put the blame on the Nationalists. We who had lived those dark days and suffered too under the labour regime surely will never forget these events.
@ Charles Flores. What kind of reply? Does the victim ever apologised to the aggressor? This is rich indeed coming from a labour stalwart .
9 th MAY 1987 !!!!
The political violence from the Labour side was committed spontaneously by known criminals and other thugs. Those people were certainly not knowledgeable enough to manufacture sophisticated letter bombs and the methods used to plant bombs at the Sliema Police Station, on the doorsteps of Dr. L Pullicino, Maj. Grech, Albert Mizzi and other places.
The Labour thugs had no motive to assassinate Wilfred Cardona, Karen Grech and Raymond Caruana and attempt to assassinate RCC. Those dastard acts were being engineered by ‘The professionals’ and executed by the ‘operatives’. And who were the ‘operatives’? According to the PN they were PL supporters sponsored by the state. Now anybody believing that would believe anything.
It is on record that solid, proven and never denied facts show that Guns, ammunition and Molotov cocktails were found at the PN’s HQ. Any denials?
Does the PN want to remain in power forever.
The ideal situation for Malta as a nation is 10 years PN and ten years LP.
@Godfrey Grima. You're sounding to much like the PL adviser that you've become. Independent as you try and sound, it just doesn't wash.
you had one scope in your poltiical carer to achieve EU, which you succeded. The cost for that objective, though good, was an unmanageable country, a low class of politicians which are unable to run the country. A country messed up with speculators and drained from its coutnry side. A country not able to identify itself as a nation. And an ideology that sprawled thorughout all classes of society , whereby who dares wins.
now for that anyone needs an apology? i might not but your children and mine are suffering the consequences directly. Thanks to you they might go and study overseas and in the meantime they might say "wow theres a real breath of fresh air here and even though chaotic it feels that someone is in control and all citizens abide by the rule of law"
There are many intelligent people who do not have the same motivation as the Grimas for a “forgiven past”. They would much prefer a genuine and categorical apology, without reservations, rather than a vague expressions of regret intended to serve as a hypnotic for the masses without ruffling the feathers of the “gerarchi” of the MLP.
Fenech Adami ma gabx unita' f'Malta. L-ghaqda hadd ma jista jgibha f'Malta ghax il-poplu Malti jehda bil-firdiet. Insa l-politika. Il-maggoranza tal-poplu hu Kattoliku - suppost maghqud... imma le biex ikollna l-firdiet hloqna kazini kontra kazini! Hu l-hdura li tohrog f'xi Tazza tad-Dinja tal-Futbol... u dan ma jkun hemm xejn minn taghna. Ahna poplu mifrud u HADD ma jista jghaqqad lil dan il-gens..... hasra kbira eh!
U biex nghidu kollox. Il-poplu xeba jisma fuq interdett u Tnejn l-Iswed... ejjew nsemmu dawn l-affarijiet biss biex la wahda u anqas l-ohra qatt ma jergghu jsiru imma biex nirregettaw il-hdura politika li hawn fl-istonku ta' xi whud! Darba Oliver Friggieri qal ahna poplu ta' zewg tribujiet! Kellek ragun profs! konna hekk qabel u minn dawn il-kummenti tinduna li hekk ghadna: Il-Malrin homor u l-Maltin blu. Vjola ftit hemm!
Hekk imissu jerga joqghod japologizza ghal darb'ohra Muscat. Ghax Muscat kellu l-guts (li tal-PN qatt ma kellhom) li japologizza, hargu jitkellmu qishom il-paladini tal-gustizzja u qishom qatt ma zbaljaw. U halluna. Imbaghad jitkellmu fuq rikonciljazzjoni. Mhux se joqghodu bi kwiethom sakemm idahhlu f'ras il-poplu Malti li tal-PN QATT ma zbaljaw kemm ilhom jezistu.
Mary Fenech Adami's interview this week showed the humility of the wife of a great leader. She who got beaten by Socialist thugs had stated that she does not want any harm for her family neither for those who attacked her!!!
Joseph Muscat, it is not enough stealing catch phrases (Is-Sewwa jirbah zgur) from Eddie Fenech Adami, but be yourself and live your principles.
It is ironic how the PN used individuals like Mintoff and Alex Sciberras Trigona for their gain of power in 1998. I can still remember PN street billboards with their faces prior to the 1998 election, trying to depict the then Labour government as a fragmented one, since these persons defected from the Party. However, now that a person like Alex Sciberras Trigona has returned to the Labour fold, he is now depicted as coming from the 'old crew'. Persons are ok if they can be used for the PN's gain, but then they are not ok if they cannot be used anymore by the PN. Moreover, may I remind you that some of the 'old crew' personalities within the Labour government times of the 1970s/1980s, ended up very much within the PN's fold, some of which also doing TV programme's on NET TV, serving the PN well. Having said this, the most important point here is that such events taught everyone in Malta to do politics in a new way. Now lets focus on making sure that Malta faces the challenges of 2009 and beyond. This is what my vote will depend on in 2013!
Forsi xi darba vera Is-sewwa jirbah zgur.
As one who had a bomb planted on his doorstep and who had his office door burnt I can tell you precisely why these dangerous vandalisms stopped after the PN won the elections in 1987. They stopped because the perpetrators were too cowardly to operate without the protection of a corrupted police force. In both instances I identified the culprits to the police who were taken aback by my temerity and of course took no action. My reward after the arson of my office door, actually inside the Police headquarters, was for the then Acting Commissioner of Police to seek my dismissal from the Police Force relying on trumped up charges of sedition and flouting orders categorically denied by everyone else! That attempt failed miserably but I was still forced to retire compulsorily from the service, illegally, and for good measure, twice within the same week!
It is well known fact that when the PN is against the ropes their spin machine and its allies are at their very best, and they use anything and anyone to divert the public opinion, from the mess they brought this country in.
And we were led to believe that we are ILKOLL AHWA MALTIN, and 30 years later, EFA after retiring, having served Malta as PN leader, Leader of the Opposition, Prime Minister and President , he felt the need to stuck his neck out , and give a helping hand, in these turbulent times to the nationalist party.
The way ahead is forward, and we cannot be stuck in the past for convenience sake only.
Dr Eddie, did you ever apologised when you was found GUILTY, more than once, of political discrimination and even giulty of violating human rights?
Some of those who attacked and gutted the Times and Dr. Eddie Fenech Adami's
home and various PN clubs sre still within the Labour Party and Joseph Muscat's.
When he really get rid of those people, we can say that there is a beginning of
some sort of pardon otherwise when there is the chance I think that there will be
a repetition of those black days. Dr. Fenech Adam is right in his answer.
CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME Dr. MUSCAT
Your media is worsening your party. You have to do a general spring cleaning.
I never watch your one television - and I repeat NEVER-.
"Should Joseph Muscat get on his knees infront of them"
Of Course!
@Johann Zammit
"My father was the editor of Il-Helsien. Priests used to tell people not to go to my fathers barber shop as they are sinful people. DNUB IL-MEJJET."
Terrible - the Church should indeed get down on it's knees and apologise for that - but no one else but the Church! Governments cannot impose mortal sin!
There are many more things LP should formally apologise for on hands and knees including shutting down my PRIVATE (repeat private and not even Church) school to deny me an education. I had to study underground for practically a whole term giving a proud two finger salute to the government of the day!
Remember how we didn't even have toothpaste or pasta in those days? Not quite as bad as allowing by inaction all that violence by labour thugs, but still!
Let's not forget the findings of the Tribunal for Injustices (set up by law and given the force of a court). "Between 1987 and 1995 (up to when the office of the ombudsman was set up) there were over 2260 cases of injustice, classified as PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE."
Moreover, the government led by the same EFA, the father of democracy as some of you call him, failed to honor a huge number of the Tribunal's decisions. Now isn't that a case of double injustice?
At least Joseph Muscat apologised for something he didn't do. Where are EFA's apologies for these events, happening while he was PM?
Izda.. Ghalkemm l-apologija ta' Joe Muscat hija pass ghaqli, frankament tidher half hearted.
(1) Kummenti bhal "more could have been done to avoid" etc.. etc..
Skuzi, kienet cara, li 'nothing was done' apposta. Tal-Labour ridu li jinqalaw stragijiet. Forsi mhux direttament instigawhom, izda indirettament iva u hadu gost bihom.
(2) Li fl-istess nifs ta' l-apologija issemmi li kemm bghatew xi gurnalisti, laburisti etc.. fiz-zmien il-50s/60s.
Bazikament tkun qed turi li l-appologija tieghek mhux 100/100 genuina. Appologija ghanda tkun unconditional, diretta, bla tlaqliq, kundanna tal-Partit Laburista ta l-80s, u bla ma tipprova tim-mellowja l-affari billi tipprova ssemmi grajjiet ohra li graw kontra tal-lejber. There is another time/place for that.
(3) Apologija genwina tinkludi kumpens materjali mil-PL lill partijiet ingurjati ta dak iz-zmien.
Fosthom il-Fenech Adamis u t-Times bhala kumpanija u impjegati li kienu gewwa t-Times dak iz-zmien u gew imwerwra. (Hemm hafna ohra propja, tipo kazini li tkisru).
Apologija GENWINA minimament tinkludi l-punti msemmija, il-bqija, kliem fil-vojt jkun.
Tal-PN ghandhom HAFNA x'jappoliggizaw ukoll, but that is another arguement f'waqt differenti - ma ghandux x'jaqsam ma dan il-kaz, allura huwa frivolu li jigi msemmi hawn.
Is it me, or is it the most Catholic elements on these commenst pages who spew the most hatred?
regime.How can he accuse you of provoking those incidents. I, still remember as if it was yesterday, that you always told us to remain calm,and administer no violence.More than ever we have to tell our younger generation about that sad past, so whoever will be in power will not let that happen again.
Sure I,condemned the mintoff regime for all that happened.
Honest people coming from any party know for sure that you provoked no one, and thanks to you , that today we have all this freedom,because democracy at that time was going to be a thing of the past.
Eddie,as a maltese citizen,I, thank you for bringing again democracy and unity to our country
The state sponsored violence of the MLP during the Mintoff-KMB era is actually the most recent prolonged experience at our disposal hinting at what to expect from the LP if it is elected to power with the same crew that is now being taken aboard by Joseph Muscat. This action speaks much louder than his generic and unconvincing rhetoric.
Dr. Muscat had the courage to apologise for things that he had nothing to do with in the 70's.
I hope the PN will have the same courage to admit their past mistakes.
If there is a justice system in this country and wouldn't been better if he broke his silence and showed his respect to the victims, their families and the society at large.
Let us read the past as HIstory, both good and bad, and move on.
Your comment is irrelevant to the burning of The Times. But since you are so fastidious about ‘environmental destruction’ do we have to wait much longer for your condemnation of the preceding “absulute devistation” caused by a certain Lorry Sant and colleagues at Ghadira, Mellieha in the areas of Tas-Sellum and the horrid shanty town below the Red tower created so as to accomodate a "Danish village" that was "out of bounds" to the locals?
That was the reason I voted PN in 1987... Since then all we've had was promises promises and more promises - sorry but no more... Haven't trusted this person since then.
So, how can one explain to me how during the MLP administration we used to hear that a bomb explded at one place the day after in another place and so forth...
How come these stopped when the PN won the election in 1987....
and how is it that people in the police forse who were heavily accused by the PN were promoted...
so yes we are expecting an apology from the PN as well and hope that all these matters are closed.....if the PN really wishes that....
Many of us not committed to backing one party or the other see all of this as deficient- almost provocative. Surely both Dr Fenech Adami and his party would have bolstered their stature further offering at least a similar ' generic' apology for the government's endless daily transgressions. Would that not have been a wiser way forward than rounding on what seemed to be a heart felt apology for Labour's recriminations committed thrity years ago?.
So is this still the level of politics in Malta? Nothing has changed since the sixties when the threats by a uniquely Maltese Catholic Church were a force to be reckoned with.
I think it is more a case of the pot calling the kettle black. And this applies to both factions. Grow up and learn a bit of humility. Or is that too much to ask of staunch Catholics? Go on, take a risk. Be humble and understand the true meaning of arrogance. And you will never have to confess that sin again. Because insight is everything.
Joseph Muscat does not even have the courage to say,'Yes, our guys did it, with the approval of the LP of the time. We can only try to imagine the hurt and pain they caused and we are sorry and ashamed for all that has happened. But we hope we can put this in the past and look forward and work together in these very different times. The LP of today is not the LP of the 70s bla bla bla.'
Shouldn’t he publicly apologise to those hundreds and hundreds of persons who suffered so many political discriminations and psychological violence when he was in office? Shouldn’t he publicly apologise to Dr A Sant for the deceitful way he attributed deed/s on our public TV, that later were found to be just BIG LIES! Shouldn’t he apologies to us all for giving us publicly that impression the HE KNEW who the murderers of Raymond and Karen were and will bring them to justice as soon as he steps at Castille?
Yes , Dr Eddie /Edward Fenech Adami you should give an example and publicly apologies to all those who suffered all kinds of injustices and psychological violence when you were in office. Thousands are still cry for justice suffered under your reign; justice is still being denied.
Yes EFA we are all still waiting for your many apologies!
Apologies for the unsolved murders of Karen Grech and Raymond Caruana are not due from Eddie Fenech Adami. They are due from the police force under the thumb of MLP Prime Ministers who failed to solve those murders committed when they, not the PN, were in office. But that police force was more interested in providing propaganda material for the MLP, in framing innocent people rather than exposing the real killers. The MLP police force made such a thorough job of tampering with the evidence, and obstructing the subsequent course of justice, that even if the identity of the culprits was suspected or known no one would be able to prove it to the satisfaction of a criminal court of law “without reasonable doubt”.
As for "transfers" ,and speaking for myself, I the MLP was not satisfied with transferring me. They tried unsuccesfully to dismiss me from the service by a frame up and when that failed they illegally compulsorily retired me from my government post as Police Medical Officer.
For the record, the dictionary defines 'apology' as " a verbal or written expression of regret or contrition for a fault or failing".
And how many transfers , and re shuffle of PBS???
With all respect to EFA but hadd ma hu subajgh dritt.
Tell us about Karen Grech please.
When I was being humiliated and grossly discriminated against EFA knew what was going on.
But than again no applogies can undue, the absulute devistation caused to our country sides,and our villages. No applogies can take undue 70,000 empty flats.
workers get demoted, transfered and discriminated during every govt. reign. And I condemn it.
But Black Monday and much more violence only happened during the Old Labour's Regime.
While I acknowledge Joe Muscats' change of attitude unlike his predecessors, he spoiled everything by saying that thugs used MLP and then threw it away! It was the other way round...MLP used thugs and the police....and then threw them away, cause otherwise, the party's image ould have been damaged even more.
And to make things clear, some of the people involved during those sad days, are still around the 2009 PL!!!
Has he ever apologised to the Maltese citizens for when he declared that he knew who killed Raymond Caruana and Karen Grech?
Ghax jekk se nifthu l-kotba, ejja nifthuhom kollha!