I am not speaking to the press, says Alfred Mifsud

By Kurt Sansone
The Labour Party’s vigilance board decision on Saturday to publicly warn Alfred Mifsud not to continue "harming the Labour Party" in his articles came as a bolt from the blue after the good publicity the party enjoyed from the visit of the European socialists.
Ill-timed and ill-conceived, the statement did not say what type of damage Alfred Mifsud was causing the Labour Party. Silence from the party leadership has characterised the whole affair. The public chiding of Mr Mifsud contrasts heavily with what Dr Alfred Sant told the media on Friday about the importance of divergent opinions, in relation to the behaviour of Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici.
Contacted yesterday by The Malta Financial and Business Times, Alfred Mifsud would not comment on the issue.
"I am not speaking to the press on the issue," was the Labour candidate’s curt reply.
The vigilance board’s warning had already been delivered to Mr Mifsud privately two weeks ago. No explanation was given why the board decided to go public with its statement, even though Mr Mifsud had replied to the accusations levelled against him.
Close aides to Mr Mifsud said that he is weighing the possibility of publishing the reply he had sent the vigilance board.
The pro-active action adopted by the vigilance board in Mr Mifsud’s case jars with previous far more serious cases involving Labour candidates and in which the board decided not to take action. Two such cases involved MPs Prof. Louis Buhagiar and notary Joe Cilia, the former attributed with allegations of overcharging and the latter with accusations of alleged sexual harassment. In either case the vigilance board was no where to be seen.
The Malta Financial and Business Times yesterday tried contacting the chairman of the vigilance board Tommy Roberts at his home. However, the newspaper was informed that Mr Roberts was out and was not returning home before late at night.