Letters • February 29 2004

The coward should come forward
Michael Micovic
San Gwann

My mother was a shareholder of B Tagliaferro & Sons and The National Bank of Malta. She was a quiet unassuming gentle soul, devoutly Christian, and always willing to help those in need. She did not deserve to be woken at two in the morning by a couple of thugs representing the Maltese Government demanding she sign over her shares in the Family Bank. I remember her moving what she could of treasured possessions to trusted friends in case the threats of the Prime Minister turned into a reality and a bunch of thugs courtesy of our Government broke into our house and helped themselves to our property.
Let us remember the Curia, the law courts, the Pace brothers, the Times of Malta, the attack on the leader of the Opposition’s house, the attack on demonstrators, tal-Barrani, the list of the atrocities of the time goes on ad nauseum! Those who lived through those times, who were not supporters of the ruling party, lived in a state of fear of what would happen next.
Along comes an former Nationalist MP and calls my mother a coward. I want to know the man’s name who won’t be named, he must be lower then a coward since he has not got the courage to be named - after all, according to him we are the cowards!
For a member of a spineless Opposition whose party lost an election through inertia and complacency and was epitomized by the standing joke “Shhh! Don’t shout or you may wake the government,” his comments lack credibility.
My mother was no coward, neither was the Marquis Patrick Scicluna, Mr Austin Cassar Torregiani, Mr A Miceli Farrugia, Mr O Golcher, their respective families and the numerous shareholders who never expected to be left without the protection of the law.
Personally I feel this unnamed gentleman is a spineless liar whose party never lived up to their promise of justice, and while in opposition during the Mintoff years did nothing to protect the rights of the people.
People worthy of respect from those days are: Dr Guido De Marco, Dr Eddie Fenech Adami, Louis Galea, Ninu Zammit. But the past has often been described as a different country, and the world has moved leaving us waiting for justice 31 years on.