Nickie Vella de Fremeaux has publicly chided her husband, Opposition leader Adrian Delia, for a Facebook post linking the abandonment of a newborn baby in Buġibba to the regression of Malta into a “soulless state”.

Delia had used the recent case of the abandoned baby, along with reported street fights in St Julian’s, Marsa, Ħamrun and Tarxien, to warn that Malta is losing the fight against criminality and is turning into a soulless state.

However, Vella de Fremeaux – a family lawyer by profession – responded publicly that the delicate case should not be put on par with the street fights.

“Adrian Delia, whilst I agree with you in toto regarding the increase in violence etc, pardon me in flatly disagreeing with putting this on par with the fact that a child was abandoned,” she said. “This very sad and heartbreaking case does not render the mother reflective of a soulless society.”

“As a family lawyer and a person who has been dealing with social cases for over two decades, I wish to remind everyone that every person has his or her own story and one can never know the very circumstances that led a mother to act in this manner – which is per se an act against our very nature. Cristiano’s mother needs help and assistance and ought not to be judged. My heart goes out to her.”

Vella de Fremeaux’s comment must have had some impact on her husband as he edited his status shortly afterwards to remove reference to the abandoned baby.

The baby was found wrapped in a blanket with his umbilical cord still attached to him on the porch of a block of apartments in Buġibba last Friday. After speaking to the police, the baby’s mother – identified as a 22 year-old Maltese woman – got to visit her son at Mater Dei Hospital. He will now be sent to the Ursuline Sisters Créche in Sliema but will reportedly not be put up for adoption.

The Times of Malta reported today that the woman had given birth at home and had left the baby on a nearby porch because she wanted to keep her pregnancy secret from everyone, including her partner.

What do you make of Nickie Vella de Fremeaux’s comments?

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]