There’s a very specific historical and deeply-rooted reason why Robert Abela holds a degree of contempt towards me that he has never shown for anyone else.
When Robert Abela became leader of the Labour Party he expected his critics and opponents to drop their criticism of him, show absolute loyalty, and accept anything that he did unquestionably. Robert Abela expected to have a degree of absolute power over Labour Party delegates that previous leader Joseph Muscat didn’t have. Instead of reaching out to us, he expected us to reach out to him showering praises to him with unquestionable assertions of absolute loyalty – there were those like Clifton Grima and Owen Bonnici who actually did this. When Robert Abela was asked about his critics after he became Party leader on national television by Reno Bugeja, Robert Abela said that I should go and have a coffee with him. Of course, I never accepted such an invitation to solicit him for a coffee and I never did it. It was only an invitation to accept in friendly terms his power unquestionably. Robert Abela was never interested in discussing politics with his delegates because what he was about to do was already prescribed by his personal motivations.
It is safe to say at this point, after certain events, that Chris Fearne and I were some of the only few people in Labour who had made it clear that we weren’t going to be moved or pushed around at will by the Party leader as if we were useful tools. Of course, given his power and position in the Party and government, Chris Fearne eluded dismissal successfully for much longer than I did. Other high-profile names are still refusing to be pushed around but these are getting rarer. Robert Abela expects people in the Labour Party and the government to do what he orders and accumulates contempt for anyone who says “no” to him.
In 2019 I had the opportunity to scuttle myself out of the island as an ambassador to wherever I wanted to. Under Robert Abela I received offers for another government job: a meaningless title that was meant to clearly, imply that I was demoted. Taking this decision would have meant I kept my salary while also marking a public show of submission. I rather die of hunger than accept my own Party and country being run by an organised criminal group.
Today I can proudly say that I have some dignity left. Many of my Labour colleagues and friends chose the path of submission to this criminal, and some of them, today, are very ashamed of what they have been forced to be part of. Then there are the corrupt and criminal types like Justyne Caruana and Rosianne Cutajar who are even blatantly proud of being used as useful tools. Corruption and criminality are now being normalised and even officially rewarded because Robert Abela thinks this will serve him electorally. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself, and now, after having expelled many of them, he intends to bring back Joseph Muscat’s allies into the fold of the Labour Party and the government because he fears the numbers, apart from being compelled to defend Joseph Muscat on his fraudulent Vitals deal that may very well result in his imprisonment.
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