Making partial explanations later does not cut it.

How can forgiveness be given for crimes that the perpetrator not only refuses to acknowledge , but worse still,condones openly?

U dan ghadu Prattikament-PrimMinistru!

Mur arah de facto Prim Ministru.

Never mind Lucky Luciano.

The infamous Giorgio Napolitano now struts the European stage, the paragon of euro-democracy.

A dyed-in-the-wool Marxist, he vociferously supported the Soviet interventions in Hungary and in Czechoslovakia in 1958 and 1968.

Later on, he was all in favour of Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s exile from his homeland.

Forty years later, sitting comfortably in his unique ‘ studio alla vetrata’, he was asked to give an explanation for his previous political stands.

“In politica ho maturato tardi” was his reply.

For him the prime minister always happens to be on the wrong side of the fence and all the decisions he takes are grossly wrong.

True, lately he seems to be thumbing a lift in the Joseph Bulky Refuse direction.

The only thing that changed is the government. Since 1987 Lino Spiteri feels safe to express his opinion. He was afraid to do it, or thought it was not worth it, during the Mintoff years and therefore he lumped it all.

He seems to forget that he was a government minister during those terrible years. But we do not.

Does this mean that expanding political relationship with North Korea would be fine, provided one does so secretly?

Ask forgiveness for what? For ‘some bad’ things that happened during Mintoff’s time?

AE, they won’t ever own up to what they did and how much they made us suffer. Lino Spiteri will increase his dose of trying to revisit history because he’s sensing a Labour victory.

He has over the years been writing as a moderate impartial columnist, but recently the Lino of old has come to the fore. Perhaps because he is sensing that the new government may be a Labour one?

Let us not forget that he was part of the government of the 1970s and 1980s. That is his legacy too and at a certain age, this is all one is keen to protect or defend, the legacy they are to leave behind.

Even if it is indefensible. So writing prolificly is what he seems intent on doing to contort that history has much as he can so that he is seen in the light that he wants to be seen.

Anyone connected to the Labour Government of the 80s should go and hang their head in shame and keep quiet unless they can do the decent thing and ask for forgiveness. All this grandstanding when they were part of Malta’s most shameful period of history and personally significantly benefitted from it, only adds to their shame.

As somebody commented on timesofmalta.com, they would do well to follow the example of Adolf Eichmann who, when accused of Nazi crimes, said in his defence:
‘I was one of the many horses pulling the wagon and couldn’t escape left or right because of the will of the driver.’