Moviment Graffitti facing eviction from University
University report ranks Graffitti ‘most active’ group on campus but KSU to go ahead with eviction
James Debono
Vilified by the right-wing extremists for their anti-racist and left-wing militancy, Moviment Graffitti is now facing eviction from its University campus office, despite an official report stating that they are the most active organisation on campus.
Contacted by MaltaToday, students’ union (KSU) president Carl Grech, elected on the Studenti Demokristjani Maltin (SDM) platform, confirmed that a decision has been taken to evict Graffitti and that the office will be allocated to SDM.
But Grech is insisting it is “still premature to comment on this case because it is still not concluded.”
Asked how he justified the eviction of Graffitti, which has been active since the mid-1990s, Grech acknowledged that “Graffitti is an active organisation” but insisted that “all organisations are duty bound to respect regulations.”
The official reason for the eviction is that Graffitti failed to attend three consecutive meetings of the KSU’s Social Policy Commission, which includes all the recognised organisations on campus.
Perversely, Graffitti’s eviction comes in the wake of a report by the Rooms Allocation Board, showing that Graffitti was the most active organisation on campus. The report gave points to each organisation and ranked Moviment Graffitti first, with nearly 100 points separating it from the organisation which came second.
Normally organisations who rank first on the list have precedence over the rest in choosing a room at the University Students’ House.
But since Graffitti was absent during the meeting in which the report was discussed with the other organisations, it was relegated to the last position and was asked to share an office with three other organisations.
Graffitti activist Andre Callus claims his organisation was not even informed about the meeting.
But matters got worse when Graffitti were asked to justify their absence in three consecutive KPS meetings by KPS Commissioner Andrea Pace. Citing a standing order, the commissioner warned Graffitti that organisations which fail to attend for three consecutive meeting could lose their place on the commission.
Subsequently, the same official decided that Graffitti should be granted observer status on the commission, which lost them their voting rights and the right to have an office during the next year.
“We can only conclude this was nothing but a result of a political agenda from the side of KSU,” Callus said.
He also alleged that during the last meeting, SDM representatives were very keen to see Graffitti out of the KPS. “They started calling us communists and invited us to to chain ourselves to somewhere.”
Callus made it clear that Graffitti will not be moving out of the office.
When asked to comment on these facts, the KSU President insisted that “this is not the whole story,” but refused to elaborate.
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