Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/773562
TIM DIACONO "LIKE him," Salvu Mallia pointed at the statue of that great hater of ignorance and anti-establish- mentarian Manuel Dimech, "like Christ who had a mission, St John who had a mission, like Che Guevara, and Gandhi who had a mission, I feel I have a mission," Salvu Mallia loftily proclaimed yesterday morning. The outspoken broadcaster, now PN candidate, yesterday en- gaged in a public argument with Labour supporters as he staged a one-man protest against govern- ment corruption outside Castille, the Office of the Prime Minister. Mallia stood with his dog by his side, holding a placard bearing a message to EU delegates in Malta as part of the country's ongoing presidency: "Dear EU delegates, your presence in my country is being used by the government to give respectability to a corrupt regime". As he spoke to the press, Mal- lia was interrupted by a group of passers-by who took the PN can- didate to task for his colourful language and vocal atheism. "You should be ashamed of yourself," one of them said. "You dragged the PN to its lowest level ever." One of the supporters refused Mallia's handshake, saying: "I don't want to dirty my hands by shaking yours." Mallia later told the press that the presence of the Labour sup- porters only went to prove his point that Malta "suffered from a problem of ignorance." "There is a lack of education in Malta, people don't know how to think critically," he said. "I'm sure that the people didn't even bother to read my sign and ques- tion the logic behind it, but just followed whatever One News and Glenn Bedingfield told them." Mallia said the first step in cur- ing a sickness, which he said was the country's ignorance, was the acknowledging its existence. "Many Maltese in the street tell me that there's too much igno- rance in this country, but some people don't want to admit it. Of course it's not nice to be told you have a sickness, but I'm not call- ing them ignorant because I hate them but for their own good." Mallia said he was proud of hav- ing dropped out at school at 13. "I continued to take an interest in everything after leaving school and have spent my lifetime stud- ying life." Few people could be seen ap- proaching Salvu Mallia to show support, but the PN candidate bullishly claimed the low public interest in his protest betrayed the problem of indifference in Malta. "People will probably try to mock me because nobody at- tended the protest, but my inter- est wasn't to draw crowds. Some people are scared to show their faces, but there is also a huge problem of indifference in Malta. We haven't got rid of our colonial mentality, and when people steal money from the public purse, don't realize that they are steal- ing our own money and not the Queen's. Calling an asshole for what it is Mallia defended his gratuitous use of vulgar language against his critics, with which he targeted both Nationalist and Labour pol- itician who dislike his no-holds- barred style. In one example, he even called former MP Philip Mifsud "an ignorant asshole". "He said I was a liability to the party, because I had said that I will vote according to my con- science if I get elected as an MP. What else could I have called him? A fool? Ignorant? I'm not the sort of person who uses buz- zwords… like 'roadmap' in the days of Alfred Sant and 'fake news' nowadays. I am a man of the people and the people tend to be vulgar, so I will speak vul- garly." "Those who take offence at be- ing called assholes are Pharisees. We hear such language all the time, from Vittorio Sgarbi, in US politics, in films, on the street. I have a right to call someone who considers me a liability to the PN, an asshole, because he isn't talk- ing, but farting out of his ass." tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt 17 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 JANUARY 2017 'Dropout who studied life' takes his protest to the street This is no longer just a Sliema or a St Julian's issue. It is a NATIONAL issue. Because the physical and aesthetic impact of TOWNSQUARE SKYSCRAPER in Sliema and MRIEĦEL SKYSCRAPERS will impact on the beauty of Valletta and Mdina. It is a NATIONAL issue because if we've reached this point, tomorrow this can also happen next door to you. Would you be ok with it, then? These over-sized developments do not serve any public interest. They are just speculative ventures to maximize profits for the few. Our responsibility is to our children and future generations. Din l-Art Helwa has appealed these permits at the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal. The final decision is still pending. No one can be OK with this. No one should allow this to happen. Images by Daniel Cilia based on professionally commissioned 3D studies View from Valletta to Sliema Salvu at large. Photo: James Bianchi