Vince Farrugia: what a ruddy mess
I can’t get over the mess the GRTU’s Vince Farrugia has made over what should have been a straightforward assault case.
Sandro Chetcuti of Labour’s Business Forum assaulted him (I won’t say allegedly because the only alternative explanation is that Farrugia beat himself up, cracked his own ribs and bloodied his own face).
So why in God’s name did Farrugia try to engineer and coordinate the testimony of witnesses and go wild with all those text messages and irresponsible statements?
I was shocked when I read the report that’s just gone up on timesofmalta.com.
Shocked not just at Farrugia’s stupidity in muddying the case so badly that Chetcuti will now probably get away with what he did, which isn’t at all right.
No. I was shocked mainly that somebody would actually feel the need and drive to do this, when the law was clearly on his side. What on earth for?
And for a brief moment there, I was also shocked at the level of vicious vengeance and collusion displayed in those text messages read out in court this morning, but only until I remembered how Farrugia behaved similarly towards me for years because I was so critical of him and the major role he played in bringing Alfred Sant to power in 1996.
I remember one particularly difficult evening at the birthday supper of a former work colleague, where our entire table was held hostage to embarrassment as he yelled at me over something I’d written about him, years after I’d written it.
Whenever we encountered each other after that, he’d slam about glaring at me and shooting sarcastic comments in my direction, while his very pleasant and lovely wife would try to calm the waters and smooth things over by talking to me normally, while I reciprocated in a civilised fashion (also, I like her).
We spoke for the first time in years only after he was assaulted, when I rang somebody at the GRTU for proper details of the attack so as to report them here, and also said that I was sorry Farrugia had been attacked so violently. He passed on the message.
It was Vince Farrugia who led the crusade for the removal of VAT and mobilised retailers and shopkeepers to vote en masse for Labour. The consequences were catastrophic – even he sees that now – and I’m not just talking about the changeover to CET which derailed the economy, but about the withdrawal (they called it ‘freezing’) of Malta’s application to join the European Union.
Now that he’s totally disillusioned with Labour and understood, rather too late after years of being a complete and utter Mintoffian, that the Nationalist Party was right all along, he has forgotten one thing, which is the most important thing of all: the Nationalist Party is not the Labour Party. Its communication style is different. Its supporters are different. There are no positive reactions to Joe Grima-style talk and behaviour, but quite the reverse. That is why the reaction to Sandro Chetcuti’s assault was so negative.
It’s time Vince Farrugia bowed out gracefully, with a proper apology for the embarrassment he has caused, and for compromising the case so badly that his attacker will now probably go free.
There’s another moral to the story, besides the unfortunate one that leopards never change their spots. This is: if you must put certain things on the record in a text message, at least have the good sense to delete it immediately. But it’s best not to put it in a text message at all, because you have no guarantee that the recipient will delete it too.
37 Comments Comment
Reply to Charlot Click here to cancel reply
My thoughts exactly.
I’m dumbstruck by this write up.
Firstly, I have a totally different reading of the situation. Yes Vince Farrugia was a diehard Labourite (or perhaps Mintoffian).
His “conversion” was not in my view underpinned by “seeing the light”, or “finally comprehending that the Nationalists were right all along” and all that.
It simply boils down to being an “opportunista”. There are many of the sort around, and its neither seeing the light, not losing one’s marbles, as you would probably like to describe it, depending on which direction one goes.
In most cases its a question of “how will this benefit me?”!
But what really struck me in your article is the concluding paragraph. Are you sure you wrote what you meant, or do you want to put it differently, as its coming across really really badly.
[Daphne – How so? I don’t see how it comes across badly, even bearing in mind that English is not one of your first languages. Certain things are best not put down in writing, because writing gives permanence to what might be fleeting emotions. General Petraeus has just discovered that.]
I fail to understand why you have to be offensive at every opportunity. Its ok though, won’t be provoked into anything untoward.
[Daphne – Ah, the delicious irony of being called offensive by somebody who has chosen ‘mandango’ as his special name.]
What comes across badly is not the grammer of course but the advice not to put in writing what could come back to haunt you, rather than just condemn the person for manipulating the evidence. You were shocked at the “stupidity”; I was shocked at the deviousness.
[Daphne – Au contraire, Mandango. I was shocked at both. Perhaps I should pull up some of the barbarous things you have put in writing and sent in to this blog (anonymously, of course) as a way of pointing out that what you have written here is cant.]
But then, why am I surprised? Its all perfectly aligned with the Nationalists’ way of doing things. As long as you can beat the system, then its ok.
[Daphne – Indeed. You vote Labour and use the cover of complete anonymity to criticise people and (in unpublished comments) slander them. I vote PN and use my own name to say what I think, without fear or favour. I rest my case.]
You say that it’s time Vince Farrugia bowed out.
If you think that this would be enough, I don’t.
I expect him to be charged for making a false report, and I am sure that this carries a prison sentence.
[Daphne – He did not make a false report. That is the tragic stupidity of this matter.]
I never had any doubts about Vince’s character, and I’ve known him long enough, but I never thought he would stoop so low, especially when he had his opponent down on the floor. The wiser one is the more stupid are his mistakes.
[Daphne – Silvio, it was Farrugia who was down on the floor. But all right, I understand what you meant.]
A word of advice to Vince Farrugia:
“Next time you land yourself in a similar situation, use the Sicilian pizzini to communicate with your allie. Don’t, I stress, don’t even think of mobile phones, emails or whatever”. DCG
[Daphne – That’s not what I said, and don’t try to pretend you don’t know it. I’ll give you a graphic example you might understand. What’s the difference between telling your wife/girlfriend exactly what you like to do to her tonight, and writing it down where somebody else might find it – like your children, for instance? ]
I cannot understand why he was accepted as a PN candidate for the EU parliamentary elections.
I really hope the PN starts to screen their candidates at all levels, beginning from local councils better and set standards and minimum levels of education.
Once a charlatan, always a charlatan. Once a Mintoffian, always a Mintoffian.
“Ghax taf kemm jahdem!”
“Ghax taf kemm jaf jitkellem!”
“Ghax taf kemm hu mahbub!”
That’s why. That’s Malta.
I wonder how they got the messages, and if they can use them in court if not obtained legally?
[Daphne – The phone was sequestered, wasn’t it.]
No. They got the messages from the mobile operators’ archives. All telecom operators are obliged to keep copies of all messages sent for a number of years. This is a clear example of why….
[Daphne – I distinctly recall reports saying that Vince Farrugia was ordered by the court to relinquish his phone for examination. The first few messages in earlier hearings definitely came off his phone. The newspaper reports say nothing about these.]
It makes sense that his phone was sequestered. We were told that the assault was the result of an SMS meant for Joseph Muscat but mistakenly sent to Vince Farrugia. You would expect the court to demand tangible proof of that message existing in the first place.
The reports say “taken from his SIM”. In reality (especially given that the prosecution is being caught totally off-guard) they refer to “SIM” as being the account details and logs held at the mobile operator.
[Daphne – The prosecution was almost certainly not briefed by the victim. ]
All SMSes you send and receive, all phone calls you make, are recorded and stored by the mobile operator.
The police after, obtaining a judicial mandate, can request all the comms you made. At least that’s how I know it is. So I stand to be corrected.
I fully agree. I’d forgotten he’d been so active in the VAT/CET debacle back in ’96 until you brought it up here.
All I felt at the time of his attack was sympathy and pity for him, along with shock and contempt at Sandro Chetcuti.
What was Vince Farrugia thinking?
He wasn’t, or he was impaired.
It seems Chetcuti exceeded something Farrugia expected to control.
Gaining Labour’s trust perhaps?
Now we have two who lied under oath. :)
[Daphne – Just two? From my own direct experience alone, I can cite Magistrate Consuelo Herrera (“it was Michael Cassar”), former MLP sec-gen and current Super One chief Jason Micallef (“I had no idea Mrs Caruana Galizia writes a newspaper column or a blog”), and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, on matters he told the court I said to him.]
I’m referring to this case only. Lying under oath is a very common thing in our courts. Just sit for a couple of hours in a courtroom.
[Daphne – Yes, I heard a policeman lie about an elderly couple, and even though it was obvious he was lying about them, the magistrate didn’t even reprimand him.]
Vince Farrugia should have resigned that same day he betrayed the fundamental principle of Unionization and aligned himself to a political party, in a desperate attempt to secure a healthy pension as an MEP. He did not even bother to resign from his post then, hedging his bets in case he did not get elected, which quite obviously he did not.
He failed because he hoped his members would vote for him. He failed because he was the man who was meant to defend the interests of his members, the self-employed against heavy handed Government decisions. His interests were never mediation between his members and the Government, but a selfish and hungry motive for power.
This same man, who in collusion with the GWU brought out the self-employed in a one-day strike against VAT back in 1994, a man who indirectly assisted Alfred Sant’s rise to Glory on the promise of removing VAT.
This is a traitor, and an embarrassment to the self-employed and I am surprised the GRTU has retained its membership.
Why not ask GonziPN to get rid of him too ?
Bow out gracefully? You must be joking.
Can you imagine this happening anywhere else in the civilised world and the press not taking him and the GRTU to the cleaners?
The guy would have been booted out ages ago, as soon as this story started to develop some months ago.
It is shameful of all GRTU members that he has been occupying the GRTU position for so long and of the PN for allowing him to be a candidate on the party ticket.
What has the PN come to?
Daphne , we seem to agree on something. When he had announced his candidature for the MEP election, he had started saying and writing all kind of anti-labour rants. One such rant was that under labour governments, the Maltese people had lived ” in the darkness ” or words to that effect !
I had replied reminding Vince Farrugia that under Labour he had done very welll financially. In reply, Vince came out with all guns blazing, so to speak , accusing me of wanting to “inkissirlu l-familja” and that I was vindictive etc.. !
Vince Farrugia is still the same self-centred individual who believes he is superior to all. Alas the PN embraced him and has given him some position which enables him to travel frequently to Brussels. And is expected to be a GonziPN candidate for the MEPs election ! Will GonziPN accept him this time round ?
Did the PL ever embrace anyone. One that comes to mind is the RTK reporter Sabrina Agius who broke her employer’s code of ethics with the approval of Joseph Muscat.
By the way is she not also running for election? And if elected made some kind of minister? Eddy, do not find any excuses as you usually do.
Can you name any PL candidate who did what Vince Farrugia has done in this case, ? Name them if you can !
[Daphne – How long do you have, Eddy. I can name Labour cabinet ministers, not failed EP candidates.]
I am worried, Eddy! I agree with you on this one.
Why didn’t you Daphne ?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121106/local/lawyer-acquitted-of-hit-and-run-charges.444253
Labour did not make any fuss about this. I wonder why? Maybe because the Magistrate was ConsueloHerrera? Who knows.
That Vince Farrugia was a staunch Labourite, and that it was that party that launched him in a prominent public role, is a fact.
As you have rightly pointed out, his loyalty to Labour persisted well beyond its move into Opposition.
I wish that political leaders would not be taken in so easily with convenient, so-called conversions.
Malta’s political history is replete with examples which show that such persons often prove to be an embarrassment.
@ Evarist Saliba
Was he carrying a Labour Party card in his pocket when he declared that the PN would elect, “not one, not two, not three but four MEP in his hilarious speech at the PN HQ when he ran for the MEP election as a Nationalist candidate?
How low can the PN keep on sinkink?
[Daphne – Try not to spell as you speak.]
Actually Vince Farrugia had said “HAMES DEPUTATI, KOLLHA B’SAHHITHOM ” ! U minflok jidher li SEHITHOM !
What a ruddy mess? What a cunt, I say. I think the expletive is quite justified here.
Bow out gracefully?
How does multiple counts of conspiracy to commit perjury leave anyone any grace to bow out with?
Just when the PN’s credibility is at an all-time low, this is exactly what we all need to be lumbered with.
Fuck off shamefully is the proper term.
Vince Farrugia seems to be an older version of Franco Debono . Whoever vets PN members etc deserves a bloody boot up their arse .
Well, we all know who’s responsible for party matters don’t we?
And it’s not Lawrence Gonzi. Getting a bit monotonous now.
Daphne, reading your article I either misunderstood you or else you seem to have misunderstood the write up, as far as I can tell the offending text messages were sent BEFORE he got beaten up and were apparently one “reason” for that outcome.
[Daphne – I can’t see where the misunderstanding might be.]
And now look who’s talking!
Is it true that Vince Farrugia owned the VF textile factory or it’s just a rumour?
[Daphne – Oh Malta, Malta and Chinese whispers. That’s another Farrugia entirely.]