Evarist Bartolo Says He Regrets ‘Believing Everything I Was Being Told’ In 2016
Education Minister Evarist Bartolo has warned about living in a society where people do not truly know what is going on behind the scenes, with one government for the people to see, and another group running the country from behind the scenes.
He also said he regrets not taking a stronger stand when the Panama Papers scandal, which had shown Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri to be holders of offshore companies over three years ago, broke.
“In May 2016… I had spoken in Parliament about ‘forces in society’ that had more of an influence than they should, and that if they aren’t curtailed or scrutinised, become a danger to democracy… there are entire networks of people that become close to political parties just to try to infiltrate them for personal gain,” Bartolo said.
He warned that “it’s important to see what’s going on behind the curtains, and not what’s going on the stage. Citizens do not always know what’s going on behind the scenes”.
Over the past few weeks, Bartolo has become vocal about the ongoing political crisis that has engulfed Malta since some of the government’s highest officials were implicated in the planned assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
While he had spoken out back in 2016, his tone has amped up recently.
“This is why it is so important to take all the necessary steps to have institutions in our country that scrutinise how decisions are made, otherwise we’ll end up in danger of having parallel governments, with a government on stage and another behind the curtains,” he said.
He then said he regretted not speaking up louder three years ago.
“I am so sorry that back in 2016 I didn’t take a stronger stand on what had happened. Today, I consider it as one of the mistakes in my political life.”
“I shouldn’t have just believed the words that were being said: what we can learn from that experience and not allow ourselves to have a government that is stronger behind the curtains than on the stage,” he ended.
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