The Education Minister has made a statement to parliament

Evarist Bartolo has made a statement to parliament, without first informing the Opposition as correct practice demands.

He waffled about the timing of who first reported his vote-canvasser, Edward Caruana, to the police. This followed a morning in which he bitchily – and highly inappropriately, given his position and the nature of the controversy – took to Facebook to insult Philip Rizzo, calling him “a capricious prima donna”, prima donna being the older generation’s term for drama queen.

Bartolo here reveals his contempt for women, once more, by comparing a man who is getting on his nerves and upsetting him to a hysterical, attention-seeking woman making a fuss about nothing as such women are wont to do (besides, of course, also being capricious as is women’s nature).

The Education Minister, in his lengthy statement to parliament, failed to explain the most crucial point at issue: why did he make his vote-canvasser head of procurement at the government organisation which manages a budget of many millions to equip, refurbish and create the infrastructure for schools?

That is what we need to know. Bartolo can waffle until the cows come home, but the bottom line here is that he put his vote-canvasser in charge of a budget of millions, signing off on direct orders, purchase orders and tender requirements. So the natural, legitimate suspicion is that he may have been in on it too. Why else would be handpick the head of procurement, put his personal vote-canvasser in that job, and not leave it to a seasoned career civil servant who is beyond reproach?

The Education Minister is fighting the wrong fight right now. He’s trying to convince us that he wanted to report Edward Caruana to the police. What he should be doing is trying to convince us that he wasn’t in on Edward Caruana’s act and splitting the kickbacks with him, and that nor was his permanent secretary, Caruana’s brother.