Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1491153
maltatoday | SUNDAY •29 JANUARY 2023 9 INTERVIEW is over cise; and we need more than just aesthetics, at this point in time. We also need to give back to the Police Force the dignity – that every police officer used to feel – which goes with actually wearing that uniform. That dignity, today, has been lost. And this, too, is a factor that can be traced back to the minis- ter's failure to deliver… Coming back to an earlier point: there is certainly a growing per- ception that Malta is becoming more 'violent' and 'dangerous'; but then, criminologist Prof. Saviour Formosa regularly pub- lishes crime statistics, which do not always support that view. Last August, for instance, there was a reported increase in theft and money-laundering; but an overall decrease in homicide and assault-and-battery cases. Could it be, then, that our per- ceptions of violent crime are skewed? That's a very good question. The problem, however, is that we are not really talking about 'crime rates', as such. It's not a question that certain types of crime are going up, and others down. Here, we are talking about a change in the TYPE of violent crimes that are being committed. There has been a surge in violence that is completely 'unprovoked', and… 'senseless', really. Does it make sense to you, for instance, that a young woman walking back home from her birthday party – and it could have been anyone: your daugh- ter, your sister; anyone – gets smashed by a speeding car, like that… and the driver of that car comes out afterwards, and hurls stones at her? Is this not a reflec- tion, that something is deeply wrong? With all due respect, however: it is dangerous to base nation- al perceptions only on isolated incidents. The Pelin Kaya case was 'unusual', by any stand- ard… But it happened, and it hap- pened now. But I'll give you another example: does it make sense, that we now have gangs of people roaming around the streets of our capital city, and beating people up? For no reason whatsoever? And does it make sense, that people get shot in the head – once, twice – cold-bloodedly? I'm talking about the most recent case: Bernice Cassar. But there have been so many of these cases, that… well, that's the problem, right there. It's happening alto- gether too often, now… Hang on, wait: there is certainly nothing 'new', or 'unprecedent- ed', about the case of Bernice Cassar. Long before that mur- der, there was Silvia King (and many more victims of femicide, beside). Are you seriously sug- gesting that 'femicide' is a com- pletely new phenomenon, for Malta? No, what I'm saying is that: nev- er before now have we had such a surge in numbers; and never be- fore now have we had such a situ- ation, of so many violent, unpro- voked incidents, taking place so frequently. This is the difference. Where, in the past, cases such as Silvia King were (thankfully) isolated incidents: now, the same sort of violence is becoming a lot more pronounced. And this is why each and every one of us – including our own Prime Minis- ter – is feeling that the island is no longer safe and secure. At the same time, however, the Nationalist Party has a history of using individual incidents, to generalise about the entire coun- try. At the time of the Hamrun street-brawl, for example – which involved mostly Syrian nationals – you called for the 'immediate deportation of all foreigners who commit serious crimes'. Wasn't that a case of 'scapegoating the foreigner'? No, no: you are misquoting what I actually said, at the time. First of all, we did not only speak about that one incident: we have been speaking about each and individual case of violence; and there have been many more than one. Secondly: when it comes to the deportation of foreigners, there is already a law which stipulates this: even if, sometimes, it is more of a 'dead letter', than not. So my actual appeal, at the time, was that: we already have laws in place, that permit the deporta- tion of foreigners who commit violent crimes – provided, of course, that we are not talking about persons who have been granted political asylum; or refu- gee status; or where there are in- ternational treaties, that prevent it from taking place, etc., etc.. But when this is not the case: we already have laws, which require that [deportation] happens, in certain circumstances. And yet, when those circumstances DO arise… deportation doesn't hap- pen, as required by law. This is another flaw in the sys- tem: which, once again, can be traced back directly to Byron Camilleri. Who else, if not the Home Affairs Minister, was sup- posed to implement this? And how did he implement it, in prac- tice? One of the steps the govern- ment did take, was to create an entity called 'Identity Malta' – which also falls under the 'Secu- rity' portfolio – where the struc- tures within it, have all more or less completely collapsed. Meanwhile, Byron Camilleri's own response to all this, on his various social media pages, was to inform us that 'raids have been carried out, in various localities'; and that – for example – 'on this day, 25 immigrants have been caught staying here without a permit'; and 'on that day, it was 10.. or 15… or whatever…' Now: at the time, I reacted by describing those raids – and the minister got offended, when I used the phrase - as 'theatrics'. These are theatrics; and I also added that: 'the time for theatrics is over'. What we need today, is con- crete action. Identity Malta needs to be restructured, to clarify the precise chain of responsibility. Who is it, for example, who actu- ally has the remit [to enforce de- portation orders]? Is it the Princi- pal Immigration Officer? Identity Malta itself? There don't seem to be any an- swers to these questions, right now. We have a situation where 'the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing': and that is how systems collapse, at the end of the day. But to return to your question: I have to stress that 'violence', in itself, doesn't know any creed or colour. This is not a question of 'us against them'. So much so, that all the incidents we have been talking about, in this inter- view, were all 'homegrown'. And this can only mean that the gen- eral sense of insecurity, that we are all feeling right now, stems from the actions of both locals, and foreigners. One last question: recently, our newspaper reported that PN leader Bernard Grech found himself under pressure from his own party (your own name was mentioned in the article), over his perceived 'weak lead- ership'. Would you say that the PN's response to the security issue is part of this? That – at a time when the Labour gov- ernment appears to losing its grip – Bernard Grech should be more 'centre-stage'? First of all, it has nothing to do with it whatsoever. The PN's con- cern with security is something I have been harping on, for a very long time. Secondly, the article you are referring to is not com- pletely correct; and I might add that – in my opinion, at least – it is not ethically correct, either, to divulge what has been discussed behind closed doors. Contrary to what was reported, however: the debate was actually a very constructive one, in which we brought forward ideas as to how we can strengthen ourselves; how we can be more in line, with people's aspirations… In that case, I'll rephrase the question. Do you feel that – giv- en the widespread complaints about Labour's performance – the PN should really be making more inroads, than it actually is? Well… THAT's a lot more like the discussion we actually had. As for how I 'feel', though: I think the Nationalist Party is doing as much as it can; but I understand that we also have to reinforce ourselves, and reorganise our- selves, a lot more. And this is what we are all collectively doing; because we believe that the Nationalist Party IS an alternative govern- ment-in-waiting; and we also feel that – now, more than ever - this country deserves a credible alter- native, to the government it has today.