Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/829524
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 MAY 2017 33 A game of deception A wolf will shed its coat but not his habit. A predator will never be a lamb. Old adages are only words of wisdom con- densed as to convey funda- mental truths. Youth is sometimes wasted on the young. This is what the wise man opined. And the classical Greek philosopher is on record stating that 'unlike the young, the old have lived long.' These statements are comple- mentary. They may not sound like the abstract of an erudite introduction by a brilliant stu- dent of a class A dissertation. There is a lot of meat on the quotes. The current election cam- paign, albeit nearing its end, deserves light to be thrown on the history of the Nationalist Party and its evolution. It is for the individual to ref lect on past tactics and evaluate how much to believe in their prom- ises and actions built on their track record. History is the great teacher. A barefaced lie is easy to detect. Half-truths are treacherous and deceive. And this brings to mind the famous (or infamous) affidavit by Mr Ettore Bono. His sworn statement over his name and signature as Ettore Bono to discredit Sir Gerald Strick- land, at first glance will look as water-tight evidence. The word of a gentleman. In the annals of the Maltese Courts this is what can be found in black and white. However this is not the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but he truth. The real unadulterated ver- sion is the following: Ettore Bono in real life was none other than the local drunk known to one and all in the streets of Valletta at the time. He also made an extra penny serving as a waiter or bottle washer at some event or other in which Sir Gerald would be present. The baptismal records show the name Ettore Bono. The real man known to all was 'Terinu', the drunk and laughing stock of café society at the time. And this is where the treach- ery is and deception rears its ugly head. Apparent respect- ability on paper. The truth about the man in real life is completely otherwise. It is more than a case of mere perception or a genuine in- nocent slip-up or lapsus. The heart of the matter is that the real Terinu, whether sober or not, albeit signing the affidavit under or over the signature Et- tore Bono, is one and the same person. But on one hand there is apparent respectability and sworn truth and practically in the same breath the real man, the Terinu of the streets, is used to damage the reputation, the political status of Gerald Strickland and his Constitu- tional Party, at the time the nemesis of the Nationalist Party. I thought this true story needed retelling to illuminate the young and all those not re- ally familiar with the tactics of the Nationalist Party of Malta and how very much economi- cal with the truth they have always been. Which brings to mind some- thing even more recent. In the past months the de jure leader of the National- ist Party announced in no uncertain terms that he had commissioned a retired judge of repute to look into certain matters ostensibly of national interest. The real terms of remit were never made public. To date no one, except maybe the judge and the leader, knows whether a report has been drawn up or whether some form of document was written, delivered and then hidden. These facts are eye-openers. Richard Matrenza St Paul's Bay Letters Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. CANDIDATE 9TH & 10TH DISTRICTS Alternattiva Demokratika who is helping the Nationalists in their electoral campaign, (d) a well-written neutral article on education and (e) an article by an election candidate in the Nationalist camp. If one were to ref lect on radio programmes broadcast on Campus FM one will find, more often than not, the same one- sided political bias one finds in the other English language media. What I find interesting is that contributors are invari- ably laureates, not the kind of persons who have not gone through formal education at tertiary level. In other countries, the edu- cated lot would usually have a soft spot for the under-priv- ileged centre-left and would not support the established right. The right-wing believe in a vested right to government come what may, as evidenced from the many years in power locally, their direct and indirect control of every aspect of our life and their level of arrogance and the superiority complex it brings with it. If I listen to a ra- dio programme on Campus FM and find out who the speaker is I know in advance that there is a subtle anti-Labour message being passed to the listener. Anthony Borg St Julian's THIS IS A PAID ADVERT