Antonio Tajani, an Italian militant monarchist in his youth, will be in Malta to attend the funeral of the blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia. The President of The Republic of Malta, her excellency Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, had also expressed her wish to show her condolences personally; but was made to understand that she was not welcome.
Tajani started his political career as a militant within the youth branch of the Monarchist Party of Italy. Later he joined Forza Italia – a political party founded by Marco Dell’Utri: a convicted Mafia criminal, and Silvio Berlusconi: a Mussolini apologist, Mason, with a track record of “alleged” criminal offences so long it would take most of this post to list.
Despite trying his utmost to portray a meek personality and keep a low profile Antonio Tajani himself is not new to controversy. Back in 1996 he made comments questioning the “psychological health” of people opting same-sex relationship. His ultra-conservative stance against non heteronormative families are not supported by his own political grouping – the conservative EPP and his election as President of the European Parliament raised the concerns of Human and LGBTIQ rights group ILGA-Europe.
As European Commissioner for Industry he ignored warnings “widespread concerns that [car] performance has been tailored tightly to compliance with the test cycle in disregard of the dramatic increase in emissions outside that narrow scope”. Fellow European Commissioner (for the Environment) Janez Potocnik had warned him in a letter dated 12 February 2013, which was later leaked. The Volksvagen emissions scandal which broke out in 2015 confirmed the gravity of the previously raised concerns, which Tajani had ignored. In the meantime Antonio Tajani had become President of the European Parliament which, spearheaded by the EPP led by him, responded to this scandal by raising the emissions limit, allowing more pollution, and making Volkswagen’s vehicle emissions perfectly legal.
Antonio Tajani is now in Malta attending a Catholic ceremony in honour of Daphne Caruana Galizia, a self-proclaimed Atheist. He was invited by Matthew Caruana Galizia, Daphne’s son, who in the past was caught selling drugs nearby to a school and had no qualms stealing from his former employer for his family’s financial gain.
The Mass was celebrated by Charles Scicluna (“Archbishop” of the Maltese branch of the Catholic Church) who, before returning to Malta, played a pivotal role in the atrocious way in which the Catholic Church mishandled sexual abuse cases after investigative journalist reports thrust them in the spotlight.
Everyone has the right to mourn their dead, but suffering a loss does not entitle anyone to claim the moral high ground to impose their beliefs on others or dictate everyone’s way forward. I wouldn’t be surprised if Antonio Tajani, Charles Scicluna, Eddie Fenech Adami, and Lawrence Gonzi sincerely believed that Malta becoming a beacon for LGBTIQA equality was a sign of “moral corruption”, but their ignorance is not our sin. Unlike their dogmatic beliefs Corruption is a real thing that results into tangible consequences.
The amount of hypocrisy parading in this charade is astounding, the self-righteous pretentiousness strutting overwhelming. Yet, struggling through, little by little we need to uncover it all; while nurturing freedom of speech by exercising it.
No one deserves to die for what they write or say and I do (sceptically) hope her murderers are brought to justice. However, two wrongs do not make a right; and trying to sanctify a person who was far from being a “beacon of justice” would just be a mockery of the rule of law the perpetrators claim to want to uphold.