The Farrugia earthquake

News that Anġlu Farrugia was stepping down from his deputy leader’s post last Thursday came like a bolt out of the blue for many within the Labour Party – but only because they did not expect their party to be so bold. On the face of it, Dr Farrugia resigned after saying last Sunday that Magistrate Audrey Demicoli (who he did not name) had ruled against him in a corrupt practices case because of political bias. However, even within the party few reject the idea that Dr Farrugia’s poor performance in the Xarabank debate with his PN counterpart Simon Busuttil played a part in his downfall. Dr Farrugia himself suggested as much in his hard-hitting resignation letter, in which he said that Dr Muscat did not appear to have a problem with his Sunday speech (he actually said he had congratulated him on it) before a front page article appeared in The Times the day after reporting his comments on the magistrate. “The truth is that the Xarabank debate provided the context, but I feel that the comment on the magistrate and its ramifications, particularly now, as the judiciary is going through such a delicate moment, made his position untenable,” an MP who wished not to be named told The...