Political parties in secret negotiations to cancel election libel suits worth almost €1 million in legal costs and damages – but no talk of reforming the Malta Press Act, or lifting libel suits against independent media
Karl Stagno-Navarra The Nationalist Party and the Labour Party have been engaged in secret talks over the past few weeks in a bid to obtain what has been described to MaltaToday as a “blanket agreement” to cancel pending libel suits filed during the 2008 general elections and the 2009 European Parliament election campaigns.
The libel suits under review are estimated to total almost €1 million in potential legal costs and damages: a figure which both parties cannot afford to pay up with mounting debts forcing them to retrench.
While both PN and PL secretary-generals declined to comment on the secret talks when approached by MaltaToday, senior party sources from both parties revealed that the talks have reached an advanced stage, and presiding magistrates are said to have already been receiving formal notes from MPs’ lawyers that declare the cases were either resolved or in the process of being resolved.
The PN is being represented by secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier and party lawyer Joseph Zammit Maempel, while Labour is represented by acting secretary-general Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, and lawyers Paul Lia and Aaron Mifsud Bonnici.
The notes, many of which were filed before magistrates Silvio Meli, Joseph Apap Bologna and Consuelo Scerri-Herrera, state that an “amicable” agreement has been reached between the sides.
MaltaToday is informed that 58 libel suits filed in the run-up to the 2008 general election, and another 19 filed during the 2009 campaign for the European Parliament elections are under “review” by PN and PL lawyers.
The libel suits are a major financial concern for both political parties, as they struggle to keep up with their structural losses. But they also represent a time-consuming exercise for the politicians and ministers involved, who for months and years will be summoned to court to give evidence and follow up their cases.
In 2008, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi filed a number of libel suits against former Labour leader Alfred Sant for calling him a “liar” during public speeches, while the entire Cabinet sued Sant over “corruption” remarks he had made.
Individual ministers also filed a litany of libel suits against Alfred Sant, Labour MPs and the Labour party media over allegations of wrongdoings while in office, while Labour equally filed a series of libel suits against the PN media and its MPs.
The hypocrisy of the secret talks between the political parties will not go unnoticed: both parties are unwilling to settle libel suits they filed against the independent media. While the parties realise they are unable to meet the financial burden that such time-consuming actions bring, there has been no bona fide attempt to settle frivolous suits against media outlets.
“Filing a libel suit nowadays is intended at making a public statement of umbrage, rather than seeking justified legal redress. That is why so many libel suits against newspapers are vexatious and frivolous: they only serve to create unnecessary financial burdens on media houses and shackle news reporting. Instead of pushing legislators to reform the press laws, once again the political parties are engaged in secret, exclusive horse-trading,” Mediatoday managing editor Saviour Balzan said.
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