Election result out 6/9/98. Ministers sworn in 8/9/98. Kenneth Zammit Tabona writes to minister demanding job in ministry 9/9/98.

A few people who know Kenneth Zammit Tabona are busy expressing their dismay at his behaviour. But some of us are not surprised at all.

Kenneth is the King of Egocentricity. His emotional and intellectual development froze at some point in childhood and he literally does not have the imagination, the intelligence, the education or the maturity to see things in their proper context, or to factor others into the equation.

He does not know when others are bored, tired, fed-up, exhausted, worried, sad, happy, distracted, when they have other priorities, because he is incapable of picking up the signals and should he inadvertently do so, he doesn’t care. The conversation turns immediately back to him.

He is also unable to place himself in the proper scheme of things because his judgement is impaired by a lifetime of being encouraged to believe that the world revolves around his navel. Consequently, he has no self-awareness.

In any room in which he sits or stands, he must be the full focus of attention. The super-camp drama and oft-repeated stories are engaging for a while, entertaining in an otherwise dull social environment, but then they wear one out.

The sight and sound of a man in his late 50s talking and behaving like a nine-year-old boy, as though the only thing that has changed in 50 years is that one’s body has aged and one has more expensive tastes, is deeply dispiriting. The fact that somebody can remain frozen in time for a lifetime is disturbing.

Kenneth Zammit Tabona will always do whatever it suits him to do, and he will not be upset by problems, difficulties, criticism, opprobrium, the difficulties and agonies of others, or any other external factors. He has the single-minded focus of self-absorbed child. And this is a near-pensioner we are talking about, so don’t expect miracles.

Don’t expect him to do the decent thing if doing the indecent thing will get him what he wants. Do not expect him to feel even the slightest shred of embarrassment. Do not for a moment imagine that he will give a damn if you cut him dead.

He doesn’t care what you think as long as he gets what he wants and doesn’t have to put himself out.

Above all, do not expect him to ‘see the light’. Those who believe that he actually held political views over-estimate him. Political views demand an adult engagement with life and society, and above all, a civic conscience.

A tendency to vote for party X or Y is not a political view. This man has no understanding at all of politics or issues, and his regular column in The Times is proof of that. The tragedy is that he was commissioned to write it, and has used it to earn himself perks and privileges.

Kenneth Zammit Tabona did not ‘switch’ for ideology or because of his political beliefs. He switched because he knew that the source of his perks and privileges stood no chance of being returned to government, so he pretended to straddle the fence for a while to keep the outgoing power guessing and giving. When he got all that he could, he nailed his flag irrevocably to Labour’s mast and thereby ensured a continuing supply of favours and connections.

This is a man driven entirely by the self, and if you don’t believe me, read the two letters in the PDF below. They are self-explanatory, but you need to put the date of those two letters – 9th September 1998 – into context. The general election was held on 5th September. The result was out on the 6th. The prime minister was sworn in on the 7th. His ministers were sworn in on the 8th.

And on the 9th, Kenneth Zammit Tabona wrote to the Education Minister, who had been appointed just a few hours before, to demand that he be given a job in his ministry, even spelling out what that job should entail. What sort of person does something like that?

On the same day, he fired off a list of demands to the Commission for the Investigation of Injustices, copied to the just-elected prime minister, the just-elected finance minister, and the new chairman of Mid Med Bank, because he wasn’t promoted to senior manager. Look at the language: “I’m so wonderful – me, myself and I. My career is in serious jeopardy!”

Alfred Sant’s government had just been booted out in the most unexpected turn of events. We were en route to join the European Union again. People were going wild with delight. Three days later they were still in the streets. But all Kitten from Malta could think of was what he could get – for himself.

And he wanted his demands to be first in: the minister is sworn in on the 8th, and before he can even find his desk, there’s a letter from Kenneth on it, thinking only of himself. You can only imagine where that must have come in a list of priorities for a government besieged with the chaos which Alfred Sant and Labour left behind.

And no, he wasn’t given the job and he stayed on at Mid Med until it was sold to HSBC, when he took early retirement and a sum of money.

Both of these letters came to me from the same person, and no, I don’t know who the person is. The letter to Louis Galea is the original, signed letter. That to the Commission for the Investigation of Injustices is the kept copy, unsigned. I have no idea how the same person would have had both letters, given that the copy is generally kept only by the sender (copies sent to others are initialled or signed).

Kenneth Zammit Tabona demands a promotion to senior manager or a job in a minister’s office