Bernard Greek? PN Leader Hopeful’s ‘Malta Shame’ Remark Comes Back To Haunt Him
With a few days to go before the PN leadership election, a pretty strange comment has come back to haunt Bernard Grech.
On ONE TV’s Pjazza tonight, Karl Stagno Navarra dug up a remark Grech passed during a NET TV debate last December in the wake of the political crisis.
https://www.facebook.com/ksnavarra/videos/10158438979349870
“I want Malta to become a normal country and I want us to regain the honour of calling ourselves Maltese and to stop being afraid of telling people where we’re from when we’re overseas,” he said.
“In all honesty, I’ve gone abroad and told people I’m from Greece because my surname is Grech which makes it easily believable.”
“I’m not joking, I really do that because I’m ashamed to tell them I’m Maltese because I’m afraid of what they’ll tell me. I can’t defend the Prime Minister, his clique and all this dirt.”
After airing this clip, Stagno Navarra pulled his Maltese passport out of his shirt pocket and flashed it to the camera.
“Look at this passport. I’m proud to form part of this beautiful country when others would rather be Greek,” he said, before taking a dig at Greece for requiring EU bailouts in the past and for the extent of tax evasion in the country.
Parliamentary secretary Alex Muscat expressed shock at Grech’s comment, questioning how a Prime Minister in waiting could be ashamed of his nationality.
“I used to travel before 2013 but I was never ashamed to be Maltese,” he said. “I’d talk about things I disagreed with but I’d defend my country because I’m proud to be Maltese irrespective of which party is in government.”
“This is an elitist style of politics, which is why I said [Grech] has been chosen by that famous clique which took control over the PN for years.”
Hundreds of people criticised Grech on social media, including Bormla mayor Alison Zerafa Civelli, who said she thought she was dreaming when she heard his comments.
https://www.facebook.com/MartGrech/videos/356862965512648
“Although we have the same surname, I never say I’m from Greece during my travels but I proudly tell people I’m from Malta,” young PL Qormi councillor Martina Grech said.
“In every moment and in every circumstance, I believe that Malta and the Maltese should come first and foremost.”
What do you make of Bernard Grech’s comment?
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