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AFTER the election when the prime minister was forming his Cabinet, Malcolm Paul Agius Galea emerged from Castille telling journalists "I have a challenge ahead of me". Few understood what he was on about at that point. It be- came clearer when it emerged that he had been offered the cultural portfolio, something the doctor appeared alien to. However, those words took on greater meaning last Mon- day when Times of Malta exposed a recording of the minister telling the Malta Festival of Ideas that his time in office has been "traumatic". And it seems the trauma has affected his concept of what art should be. In the recording, the minister dishes out several pearls of wisdom: Artistic expression should be guided by norms, art- ists should remain aware of the distinction between right and wrong, creativity should not exist without boundaries, artistic expression could have a negative influence on audiences when ideas being communicated were skewed. The cherry on the cake was the art minister's brutal claim that creatives think they are "God's gift to the world". Agius Galea's tirade would be a perfect satirical skit out of the pantomime had it not been so tragic coming from the person, who is expected to champion artists and creatives. He confirmed that he has absolutely no clue about the sector he has been tasked to oversee. Agius Galea is out of touch, out of his depth and evidently does not believe in the arts as a force to challenge norms, in- vite people to think, provoke debate and ridicule authority. He should be immediately released from his duties by the prime minister. The minister is not fit for purpose and can never fight for a sector he feels is a personal burden. It's time for him to resign his role or be pushed out. But there is something more worrying about Agius Galea's words that make us question where the Labour Party is head- ing. A few choice comments from the minister's speech illus- trate the shocking transformation the party has made from the progressive force that supported artistic freedom, reformed censorship laws and removed religious vilification as a crime when it came to power in 2013, to a party of conservative reactionaries uncomfortable with free speech and all it entails. The following are verbatim comments made by Agius Galea in his speech: • "To me, being creative means that you're being presump- tuous and basically that means you're going to be dangerous." • "You've got responsibility, as much as I do as a doctor. So, being creative carries responsibility." • "We cannot forget the norm under the realm of creativity." • "And today, sometimes I feel, that we have to be very care- ful, even with our own ideas, not to drift so much from the norm." These comments not only display the minister's lack of appreciation for the arts and creativity, but convey a sinister message that artists should not go astray from "the norm". We shudder to think what 'norm' the minister has in mind. This attitude contrasts with the mantra the Labour Party championed more than a decade ago that the state cannot play moral custodian and that artistic freedom should not be shackled. It is worth travelling back to January 2012, when the PL was in Opposition. The Nationalist government of the time had appealed a court judgment that acquitted Mark Camilleri and Alex Vella Gera of obscenity following the publication of a novel in a pamphlet called Realtà. In his appeal, the attorney general on behalf of the gov- ernment had argued that Vella Gera was free to write what he wanted without self-censorship but insisted: "The author must realise there are others living with him, whose ideas, preferences and tastes are unlike his; a society that must be protected, and its morality preserved. And there's God above everything and above everyone, and God is certainly bigger than the biggest of egos of even more famous writers." The attorney general's words at the time could easily be attributable to today's culture minister, who seems to have a fetish for control. At the same time, we recall the words of Owen Bonnici, then an up-and-coming Labour MP in 2012, who declared: "We believe in a society that is not scared of books but em- braces and celebrates literature. Freedom of expression and arts should prevail over censorship concerns. In a new Malta, the artist has an important role." Whatever happened to that Labour Party, which cham- pioned openness, progressive change and freedom of ex- pression? Do artists still have an important role? Quo vadis Labour? A culture minister not fit for purpose. Quo vadis Labour? maltatoday MaltaToday, MediaToday Co. Ltd, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR: KURT SANSONE DEPUTY PRINT EDITOR: LAURA CALLEJA Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt 11 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 11 NOVEMBER 2026 EDITORIAL Whatever happened to that Labour Party, which championed openness, progressive change and freedom of expression? Do artists still have an important role? Quo vadis Labour?

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