Young PN Councillor Stands Up For PL Counterpart After ‘Immature And Untrue’ Personal Attacks
Teenage PN St Julian’s councillor Sean Gauci has urged people to stop personally attacking 19-year-old PL St Paul’s Bay councillor Carlos Zarb over his new controversial FinanceMalta job.
“Just because a youth made it somewhere, he got attacked for being young and inexperienced,” Gauci said. “Are we going to encourage youths to enter politics by attacking them for being young and inexperienced?”
He specifically referred to a blogpost by Manuel Delia, who claimed Zarb studied at the Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School because he failed his ‘O’ Levels and didn’t make it to Junior College.
“Mr Delia, just because someone went to GCHSS doesn’t mean they’ve failed their ‘O’ Levels and cannot make it in life. [Carlos] didn’t fail his O Levels so at least investigate a bit before you wake up one fine day and blast your cannons at someone with incorrect personal information,” Gauci said.
“Carlos is my friend, and from my experience with him at the GCHSS student council, I could see what a hard worker he was.”
The PN councillor later clarified that he wasn’t referring to whether Zarb was qualified enough for his new FinanceMalta job, but was speaking in favour of a “mature” perspective to politics where subjects are discussed without resorting to personal attacks.
Zarb was appointed to FinanceMalta’s board of governors last year when he was only 18 years old. His appointment flew under the radar back then but it was brought up last night by PN MP David Thake, who decried it as a non-meritocratic appointment.
The Labour Party then took a dig at Thake, saying the “PN establishment” doesn’t believe 19-year-olds should serve in public institutions.
PN teenage activist Eve Borg Bonello responded by praising Zarb as a “bright young guy” but saying his appointment to FinanceMalta’s board reeks of “nepotism and cronyism”
“There are hundreds of immensely qualified graduates in specialised sectors who struggle to find employment with a dignified pay-check,” she said. “This is a huge slap in the face to these professionals. This is not an elected position, it’s appointed.”
“We can’t accept our supposedly progressive Partit Laburista government giving out high positions to unqualified men; think of all the qualified young women this appointment flew over.”
What do you make of Sean Gauci’s statement?
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