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The general public and our readers have voiced their support for MaltaToday as MaltaToday increases its print run this weekend. And more importantly in defiance of their direct employer Joe Saliba, a number of PN employees have shown solidarity with MaltaToday expressing their hope that this newspaper may bring some form of normality back to Pietà.
Fuelled by Joe Saliba’s insistence, the whole Administrative Council, headed by Lawrence Gonzi, has instituted libel proceedings on a number of news reports related to the leak - of the story that condemned John Dalli - by PN senior officials to the Labour party. The report was precise in referring to senior officials and never mentioned the Administrative Council in the reportage. MaltaToday stands by its story and plans to prove its case in a court of law.
Joe Saliba normally leaves his office door wide open. It is his way of showing that he has an open door policy. Yet since his first days at Pietà, the PN secretary general has created a sense of unease within the building.
For the last three weeks on Monday mornings, surrounded by his two immediate aides Gordon Pisani and Angelito Scibberras he attentively reads every word printed in MaltaToday. And in a scurry discusses every point over the phone.
Insiders at Pietà have talked about a siege mentality with paranoia reigning high and scared to talk over mobile phones. Two weeks ago Joe Saliba was livid at a MaltaToday story referring to the choice of Godfrey Grima, the same man who compiled a report for Alfred Sant, who is a member on the Commission to look into the PN’s worst electoral disaster since 1953.
Staff members at Pietà told MaltaToday that Mr Saliba was unusually fidgety and angry.
Last Monday, Pietà insiders informed that Joe Saliba contacted Joe Zammit Maempel to institute proceedings against MaltaToday.
On the same Monday MaltaToday was also informed that an administrative meeting had been called for Tuesday and that MaltaToday would be discussed as the main item on the agenda.
It did not stop a senior official from telling MaltaToday that Joe Saliba was probably planning to ask the members to libel the newspaper and there was no way they could object to their name being added to the writ.
Administrative council members who talked to MaltaToday before the meeting said that refusing to put their name to the libel suit was tantamount to being ostracised, given the state of affairs at Pieta.
Super One has reported that not all members on the Administrative Council were in favour of legal action against MaltaToday.
In a statement to the media, Managing Director of MaltaToday, Roger Degiorgio a former Chief Executive of Net TV and editorial director at In-Nazzjon declared that MaltaToday would fight the case and in a reference to the PN’s historical slogan he said that truth would prevail – Is-Sewwa jirbah zgur.
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