Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/546399
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 JULY 2015 Opinion 22 I t sounds like the perfect beginning to a joke, doesn't it? Shame there isn't any punchline… But in any case: it was reported on a gossip blog, and repeated in Parliament by no less than the Shadow Home Affairs Minister and deputy Opposition leader… so I guess it must be true. An Economy Minister really did walk into a bar: the minister was Chris Cardona, and the bar a place called The Stable Pub in Sappers Street, Valletta. So far, so good. But that's the thing about starting jokes. People sort of expect them to continue, once started. So what happened next? Why was this entirely unremarkable occurrence – someone walking into a bar… as all people have a right to do, at least in any country that isn't actually an Islamic fundamentalist state – deemed important enough to be raised in parliament… and just left hanging there, for all the world as if it actually signified something? Well, let's have a look at the reasons Beppe Fenech Adami supplied for raising it in Parliament. This is how his intervention was reported in the press: "Quoting blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, he said that the minister and members of his staff, including his chief of staff Mario Azzopardi, had been spotted at 'The Stable Pub', a bar in Valletta. Shady people of a dubious and perhaps criminal nature visit this bar, and drugs are allegedly used there too,' he said." Hmm. There's an awful lot of 'perhapses' and 'allegedlies' in there, don't you think? And bear in mind that Fenech Adami was quoting that blog in Parliament, where roughly the same rules apply as in a court of law. MPs are automatically under oath when speaking in Parliament... and what they say carries such weight that (just as with court testimony) any newspaper or other medium can safely quote verbatim without fear of civil or criminal libel. This is called 'privilegg' in local legal parlance… and it's same use of the word that also gives us the notion of 'Parliamentary privilege': in other words, immunity from legal consequences when besmirching other people with unsubstantiated allegations. As the Stable Pub owner found out to his cost this week, 'parliamentary privilege' means that all 73 of our MPs can simply libel anyone at any time they like… and there is no legal remedy of any kind you can resort to. OK, so now the joke starts taking shape. Beppe Fenech Adami thought good to raise Cardona's movements – and those of his entire team – in parliament, because the bar he was 'spotted in' (i.e., spied upon) has a reputation for 'drugs' and 'criminality' (according to Daphne Caruana Galizia, who obviously didn't substantiate the allegations either). And we all know how the game works in this country: if you can somehow connect the name of political opponent with things like 'drugs' and 'crime' in a single sentence, it translates into automatic 'points' for your party in a never-ending, tit-for-tat exchange of 'scandals'. There is, however, a small snag with Fenech Adami's strategy in this game. Let's stick to the drugs part of the story for now. As Fenech Adami should know (being a lawyer, and all) 'guilt by association' doesn't work in court… and shouldn't work in parliament, either. Even if we accept the claim that 'drugs are allegedly used there' – just like that, with no details whatsoever – it does not follow that Chris Cardona, or indeed any other person who walks into that bar, would even be aware of this detail, still less partake in the alleged drug-taking himself. A simple analogy should illustrate this fairly obvious point. Each summer you read about drug busts occurring in private parties or at nightclubs. There will occasionally be arrests associated with these busts. Whom do the police arrest? The people caught with drugs on their person? Or everyone who just happened to be at the same party? Apply Fenech Adami's logic to that sort of scenario, and your mere presence alone, in a venue where other people are breaking the law, would suffice to automatically convict you of law-breaking in a court of public opinion. You were 'spotted' in a place where drugs are taken… An Economy Minister Raphael Vassallo Approved and issued by HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c. 116, Archbishop Street, Valletta VLT1444 which is regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority. Successful businesses aren't satisfied by the here and now. They prefer to ask 'Where next?' With nearly 150 years of global trade experience HSBC has long believed in businesses willing to push the boundaries and cross borders. That is why HSBC has introduced a €75 million Malta Trade for Growth Fund to help Maltese businesses to trade internationally. As your business seeks growth opportunities the Malta Trade for Growth Fund can help you make it possible. See how we can help your business grow. www.business.hsbc.com.mt/75million FOR SOME, THE NEED TO GROW JUST KEEPS GROWING. €75,000,000 MALTA TRADE FOR GROWTH FUND