Portrait of the Corrupt

The current Maltese prime minister must be the only head of government in the free world to employ a communications aide specifically to slander and denigrate journalists and newspapers, and attempt to set them up as objects of ridicule with supporters of the government, rather than to maintain good or at least civil relations with the press and ensure that the government’s message and information gets through and that press questions are answered.

Employing communications aides specifically to slander and mock journalists and the newspapers for which they work is the preserve of fascist and communist regimes and of other forms of totalitarian dictatorship or quasi-dictatorship, like Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s.

Portrait of the corrupt, from left to right: The Prime Minister’s communications aide, Glenn Bedingfield, who is paid to denigrate and mock members of the Opposition, and journalists and newspapers perceived to be hostile to the government; the corrupt dentist Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, who was appointed executive chairman of the state science council by incoming prime minister Muscat; and Luke Dalli, who was given a plum position on the state payroll through the good offices of his mother, the Minister for Civil Liberties.