“I’ll sue him for libel,” Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) president John Bencini fumed in reference to his erstwhile friend Anthony Micallef Debono, who is now challenging his presidential seat at MUT.
Some weeks ago a local newspaper quoted Micallef Debono as saying: "Mr Bencini used to say that he contested because nobody else was interested and I was very surprised that, when I told him I was contesting, his reply was that I should not and that I did not stand a chance against him since he was well established.”
On the 16 May edition of TV programme Reporter, when Bencini was asked for his reactions to Micallef Debono’s comment, he denied saying anything of the sort, dismissing the statements as a misunderstanding.
But when, at a press conference held outside the MUT headquarters Friday, this newspaper asked Micallef Debono whether he had really misunderstood Bencini, he said: “Whoever knows me personally will tell you that I always tell the truth.”
Irked by this reiteration, Bencini told this newspaper: “I categorically deny I’ve ever said anything of the sort. He has been attacking my personal integrity for the past one and a half months. Other officials have also been attacked, and this is not acceptable. We have so far been silent to contain the damage but if he says this again I’ll sue him for libel.”
Some MUT officials Friday were already irritated by the fact that Micallef Debono chose to hold his campaign-related press conference right outside the union’s doors, especially as he revealed that the union general secretary declined his request to hold the event within the premises walls.
“I’m sure members have seen through all this, and they will decide accordingly,” Bencini added. “He’s accused us of all sorts of things. He also said that we are bureaucrats and that out only interest within the union is travel. I would like to clarify that yes, we do travel on union business at times, but that is because we are EUTC members and we travel seldom, when we really need to. This mudslinging is only causing the union damage, and I can’t understand why he’s resorting to this below-the-belt approach.”
Over the past weeks, Micallef Debono spoke to this newspaper on different occasions, complaining of an non-level playing field and unfairness throughout the campaign.
“I don’t have the same opportunities as John Bencini to communicate with MUT members,” Micallef Debono had told MaltaToday in a telephone call. “John is gathering teachers every three months, he is touring all of the schools one by one and is now on a three-day stay in Gozo to speak to teachers at schools there. I’m a school headmaster and that is where my professional duty lies. I cannot just leave the school to campaign for presidency of the MUT.”
Clarifying that his Gozo trip was strictly on union business, Bencini said: “Of course I have incumbency, but what can I do about it? Resign?
“This union has been established for 90 years. Why all these attacks? He also said that our general secretary is a glorified clerk, while he knows well enough that the general secretary has executive powers – why is he making these insinuations? What is he trying to achieve?”