Manuel Delia Tells Socially-Distanced Protest: ‘Waves May Be In The Sea But The Octopus Is On The Ground’
Activist and blogger Manuel Delia took a jibe at Robert Abela’s infamous ‘waves in the sea’ remark as he addressed a protest in front of Parliament this evening.
“Waves may be in the sea but the octopus is on the ground,” Delia told the protest, which involved people sitting down on socially distanced and sanitised chairs outside Parliament as MPs convened inside.
“We’ve all had to sacrifice a lot this past year – at home, at work, and as citizens. It was a sacrifice to hold back from reminding the country’s leaders what bothers us… if some thought we’d forget our responsibilities, then this is our response.”
The protest, organised by Delia, Repubblika, and Occupy Justice, was held following a breakthrough in the Daphne Caruana Galiza assassination case, which saw two suspects charged with providing the bomb that killed the journalist.
Photo: Repubblika
However, the protestors sought to counter Prime Minister Robert Abela’s argument that the prosecutions show the country’s institutions are working properly.
There was plenty of octopus references, with the cephalopod also making its way to placards to symbolise how criminal elements have infiltrated the nation.
“We’re not protesting because we believe the waves are in the sea but because we must cut off all the tentacles of the octopus which has emerged from the sea and has gripped this country,” Repubblika’s Robert Aquilina said. “Octopuses are hard to spot because they camouflage themselves and spit out ink to conceal themselves.”
Photo: Repubblika
“The octopus which has gripped our country wants to hide and convince us it doesn’t exist. It has tentacles in the government, the police, the economy, the Planning Authority, professionals, the media, and the political parties.”
Occupy Justice activist Louiselle Vassallo ripped into Abela’s statement that the institutions are working.
“If the institutions were working, the people who supplied the bomb which killed Daphne Caruana Galizia wouldn’t have spent three and a half years out and about and their arrest wouldn’t have hinged on the guilty plea of one of the suspects [Vince Muscat].”
“If the institutions were working, the people who interfered in the investigation and who used their position to hinder justice would get what they deserved. If the institutions were working, journalists and activists wouldn’t be vilified as though no lessons were learned from Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination.”
What do you make of this protest?
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