A few days ago Dr Joseph Muscat made an apology for any acts of violence committed by presumed Labour supporters in past years with special reference to the so called Black Monday, the case of the burning of the Times’ Printing Press. Dr Muscat said that he made this apology as a sign of good will and asked the Nationalist leaders to do likewise. Although this was a most noble gesture, the Nationalists criticised it. Perhaps Dr Muscat is not aware of who the Nationalists really are. Maybe he is not conscious that they uphold that whatever they do is always right, whereas, so they think, all acts committed by the Labourites are always wrong.
Violence, wherever it comes from and by whoever it is committed should always be condemned without any reservation or excuse. This should be the case insofar as it is committed either by Labour supporters or by those of the other political party.
The Labour Party has a glorious past because it raised the Maltese population from misery and poverty and created certain stability in the economy and finance of the country, and although at those times Malta was considered to be an underdeveloped country, the relative standard of living of the Maltese was better than that it is today. During those years one could not only live quite decently with the National Minimum Wage, but one also had the option of saving some money for future use.
But now, who is going to make an apology for the stones thrown at the Labour supporters during the sixties?
Who is going to make an apology for the attack on Mintoff at his office in Castille? Who is going to make an apology for throwing down balusters on Labour supporters at Zebbug? Who is going to make an apology for the paint thrown at the doors of houses of Labour Parliamentarians? Who is going to make an apology to the Maltese people for instigation and trying to destabilize the democratically elected government led by Mr Mintoff, as happened following the removal of Dr Borg Olivier from the leadership of the Nationalist Party?
Who is going to apologise for all the terrorists acts committed including letter bombs which killed Karen Grech? Who is going to make an apology for all vindications committed and transfers given by the various Nationalist administrations? Who is going to make an apology to those Labourites who were left with the decisions of Commissions, Tribunals and the Ombudsman on paper and without receiving any compensation even to this day?
Apologies should have been made simultaneously by the leaders of all political parties and not just by the leader of the Labour Party. Moreover, any injustice committed should be compensated without any further delay.
When the Nationalists came to power in 1987, Nationalist partisans were given promotions backdated to 17 years. Others were given hundreds of thousands of Maltese liri in compensation simply because they said that they suffered injustices. Still others who had sentences pronounced against them by the Public Service Commission, were given the right to request the same Public Service Commission to revise its decisions.
When the Labour Party came to office in 1996, during those 22 months, it did not only refrain from doing any vindications to the Nationalists, but also had no will to correct the injustices committed by the preceding two Nationalist administrations. Whoever managed to grasp any benefits, retained them, and whoever was suffering under the burden of the cross he was made to carry, remained in his wretched position.
For this reason, when the Nationalists found themselves in government again in 1998, the new Nationalist administration had nothing to correct. It only corrected the position of those persons who were boarded out and were therefore reinstated in the former grades. Even persons who were past the 61 years age limit were reinstated and given promotions, and this for no other reason except to afford them a better pension.
Now how is the Labour party when in government going to deal with those Labourites who suffered injustices and sustained disadvantages as a consequence even to this day? What could be done even from today to give assurance to those who are presently in distress? Let me be clear. Any injustices should be rectified without causing any other injustice to third persons. This should be a chief priority for a new Labour government, even before embarking any other project.
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