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Joseph M Sammut is hardly known out of the outskirts of his town. And beyond the boundaries of his constituency he could be the man next door. This week in parliament, he said in so many other words that there should be separate buses for African black migrants, and buses for Maltese folk.
In just one nanosecond, Sammut dragged us all back to the dark times of apartheid.
Sammut is an established lawyer, but at university one does not necessarily become wiser or more appreciative of a multicultural society. And being an advocate certainly does not make one more balanced, or tolerant.
Anyone listening to Sammut’s speech last week would have concluded that this MP’s political leanings were somewhere out there on the far right.
But no, Sammut is not a member of Josie Muscat’s angry far-right party, but an elected parliamentarian with the Labour party and a politician who we would have expected to prefer to battle against xenophobic discourse with a vengeance.
And yet Sammut is neither an idealist, nor a socialist. The only time I have seen him was in restaurants, surrounded with biggish and ugly canvassers eating away like a band of warriors from Genghis Khan’s army of marauders. Indeed, he has never impressed me much for his political palate and ideas.
Dr Sammut’s foolish statement in parliament suggested a plan for a separate transport system for people with a different skin colour, when talking about the southbound route no. 13 which happens to be used by residents at the nearby open centre.
Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Luther King would have been very proud of Dr Sammut.
When contacted by this newsroom, Sammut argued he could understand the Labour party’s denunciation of his comments, but that “constituency matters have nothing to do with the party.”
The man from the south must be unbelievably dumb or else we are missing something in the way the great mind of Joe works. Since when does the party distance itself from what parliamentarians elected in its name do and say about their constituency?
Dr Sammut is either a very muddled man or someone with a lack of understanding of political ideology and his obligations as a Labour parliamentarian. To ask Dr Sammut to call it a day with the Labour party would be tantamount to asking most of the hardcore to abandon the party. Indeed, many hardcore Labourites share Dr Sammut’s views.
And Dr Sammut is not the only individual to express ideas which are anathema to a social democratic party. There are other in senior positions who have repeated his comments in private and find nothing surprising in his point of view.
Perhaps it is time to rename the Labour party.
And expecting Sammut to resign is simply asking for too much. Resignations are not part of the Maltese culture; if it was the case, the PM would have accpeted Jesmond Muglett’s resignation at once.
No-one or hardly anyone resigns in politics and even the Nationalist party has not called for Sammut’s resignation. They wouldn’t, would they? As I read it, it appears to be the obsession at Pietà that they should do nothing to encourage the ‘racist mob’ embedded in both parties to move from one party to another.
In other words, expressing one’s views about Sammut would irritate those Nationalists who share Sammut’s ideas.
Indeed on Friday, I received a telephone inquiring whether I would treat Sammut the same way I treated Kurt Guillaumier, a former Nationalist mayor who had participated in anti-immigration rally led by Martin Degiorgio of Mondial Travel, where journalists were verbally attacked and the threat of Africans travelling to Malta emphasised in rather discourteous terms.
It appears that even NET had no time for Dr J.M Sammut and his stupid remarks. I believe they were taken up reporting the dozens of EPP members (another word for stuffy politicians in dull ties and dark suits) holidaying in Malta along with Nationalist party officials.
The problem with the Labour party seems to be that it has forgotten where it came from and where it is going. The principles of the Labour party seem to have evaporated altogether and now the only reason to carry on in politics is to kick out the Nationalists and take over the administration of the country. But is that a good enough reason to remove the Nationalists from their comfortable throne?
If Sammut is a deviant Labourite who fails to comprehend how dangerous he is to his own self, his party and the whole planet, nothing seems to beat the commercial actions of some of the top guns at the General Workers’ Union.
Now… I do not believe that all the Sammuts in this world are xenophobes, but the GWU’s president Salvu Sammut has also said things that other Western societies would label him as such: in 2005 he was heard ranting, right in the middle of his address to GWU delegates, about foreign prostitutes that earn more than Maltese workers, and – the cherry on the cake – that immigrants will bring disease to the country.
Sammut obviously has no understanding what political correctness is all about. As a left-wing union leader he should have more compassion and sense. Sometimes I ask myself and wonder why GWU leaders cover all those air miles attending international conferences and seminars, to meet comrades in arms and then come back none the wiser. I would have hoped that they do not only go abroad for the benefit of the comfortable hotels, the gastronomy and the ‘good time’.
Yet, Sammut’s unyielding concern for the plight of the worker surfaces with the following revelation: the GWU’s application, together with the co-owners of Mellieha’s Danish Village, for a private beach concession at Ghadira bay. I guess this is the one and true exemplary, and honourable way of proving your credentials at upholding the interests of the long-suffering proletariat.
The word private beach concession denotes in itself an elitist project, one which keeps out those who do not form part of a particular group of people.
Unlike Salvu Sammut, I have had my fair share of saying ‘no’ to beach concessions. I was even arrested for exercising my right to swim in these beach concessions as a citizen. And guess what, not under a Labour administration but under the ‘great’ and ‘unassuming’ political dynasty of Eddie Fenech Adami. Ghar Fekruna, Comino Bay, Jerma and so many others were all taken to task, and so Tony Zarb, please do not even dare to question where we were or what we have written about. At the time, Mr Sammut, Mr Zarb and Mr Gejtu Mercieca probably believed that we were doing the right thing.
Or perhaps they didn’t. The argument against beach concessions is based on the legal principle that access to the foreshore is a basic right of the citizen. Perhaps every Maltese citizen should remember this whenever they come across anyone who tells them that the shore is private.
To make matters worse for Salvu Sammut, Ghadira Bay is the Maltese bay which attracts droves of Maltese workers and their families who for some unknown reason, enjoy flocking to this overcrowded sandy beach because it is free of charge and the one and only place where they can get away from that horrible thing unionists call, capitalism!
Now Salvu and his pals want to make the bay even smaller, and out of bounds to us non-paying Maltese. It is already a problem trying to find an empty corner away from the private umbrellas and deck chairs.
And guess what, Salvu Sammut, wants to partition part of Ghadira Bay for the sole and private use of Danish blondes and bimbos.
Perhaps he should take his ideas and his idea of trade unionism to his comrades in Europe and beyond. But I would not be surprised if they too are as skewed as our union leaders.
Prosit Salvu. If you do not mind me asking you: what exactly are you doing in a trade union?
It is not MaltaToday that’s reporting the contradictory statements of Jesmond Mugliett, but The Times. True to its form, most of these stories have been tucked away next to some cut-and-paste story from Reuters about the bubbly sex drive of the hippopotamus.
The Prime Minister’s office has of course tried very hard to give the impression that all is well when it comes to Mr Mugliett. Since his election as PM, Dr Lawrence Gonzi has exhibited unique leniency with his ministers, apart from one minister.
But then, so long as a Nationalist minister does not carry the surname Dalli, I cannot imagine it to be a problem if one government member actually misbehaves.
Mugliett has sued Labour leader Alfred Sant for libel, but the libel suit has nothing to do with the abuses at the transport authority (ADT), or the published comments of the ADT chairman and former CEO Gianfranco Selvaggi which somehow contradicted what Jesmond said about the two corrupt ADT officials who should have been sacked, but were not.
Not to be forgotten is the role of Jason Azzopardi, the Nationalist MP hailing from the same constituency as Mugliett. The man who expected to become minister before being completely side-tracked by Lawrence Gonzi has called on the President of the Republic, former prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami, to give the two officials found guilty of corruption (one of them a canvasser to Mugliett), a presidential pardon.
The latest news is that Jesmond Mugliett offered his resignation to Dr Gonzi, and guess what the PM refused to accept it! Any further comments are superflous.
I did say last week, that I would not run away to Siracusa for a sumptuous meal on election day and vote after all, but I seem to be suffering from the Prime Ministerial syndrome and I could well change my mind and decide to take up the Siracusa escapade once again.
You see I simply cannot decide what is best. Should I stay or should I go, now? Stay or go? Gosh, I feel just like the PM!
This is the 400th issue of MaltaToday. 400 weeks ago everyone thought a new Sunday newspaper was just a crazy idea.
During the last 2,800 days, there have been offerings to the Gods in the hope that this newspaper disappears from planet earth. I guess the Gods were either deaf or not in listening mode.
sbalzan@mediatoday.com.mt
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