Engerer’s withdrawal from MEP race ‘baptises him as soldier of steel’ – PM

Labour candidate Cyrus Engerer, who today withdrew his MEP candidature after an Appeals Court overturned his acquittal on the defamation of a former boyfriend through the dissemination of pornographic images, was greeted by rapturous applause at a Labour political activity in Mqabba with the Prime Minister.

Engerer, who received a two-year conviction suspended for two years, thanked voters and used the occasion to hit out at the former Nationalist administration he said had “clung on to power after losing its majority”.

“Who doesn’t make mistakes?” he said, emotionally. “The difference, though, is that this party leads by example. They [the PN] clung on to power for two years but I took my decision in one day.”

Engerer was a former PN deputy mayor for the Sliema local council, before leaving the party in 2011 to join Labour, after a disagreement over the party’s opposition to divorce. In the week of his ‘defection’, police filed charges against him in a report filed by his former boyfriend back in 2009.

Engerer today said that Muscat, now being accused by the Opposition of fielding a candidate with pending criminal charges, did not force his decision.

Engerer will still be canvassing for Labour, telling voters that he will be knocking on people’s doors “to convince them to vote Labour.”

“You showed me that this truly is the people’s party,” he said, referring to Joseph Muscat. “I became a member of this party because the country needed a change and I sincerely believed in Joseph Muscat’s vision. I always believed that one should play a part in change if one sincerely believed it was needed. You must always say what you believe in, even if you get mocked and criticised for it.”

Engerer lambasted the PN for its “shameful” attack on him and his family, in the aftermath of his departure from the party: his father had also been arrested by the police, after being caught in possession of a small amount of cannabis and a spent cannabis joint.

“I was not scared when they arrested my father three days after I joined this movement,” he said. “I was not scared when they attacked my mother in the days before and after the general election. But they should be ashamed for hurting my family for and others over 25 years,” he said. “And now they are showing more arrogance than ever before.”

Muscat called Engerer his “friend” and said his words would prove to be an “inspiration to thousands” of persons.

“The politics of yesteryear has come to an end. Today we saw, heard and felt in our hearts that his (Engerer’s) ideals are the same as those who form part of this movement. Cyrus put the interests of the movement before his own. That decision is what truly baptises him as a soldier of steel,” Muscat said, using the same moniker he gave to Labour grassroots at the 1 May rally.

Muscat turned Engerer’s conviction into another occasion to hit out at the Opposition. “Without its knowing, the Opposition has united us. We are brothers that stick together, stand up for each other, and love each other.”

He credited Engerer in ridding him of some of his inherent prejudice to gay adoption. “I would go to gay prides, but then have reservations on adoption. Cyrus helped me abandon these prejudices. He made me realise that I have no right to discriminate against one person and another. He made me realise that I cannot tell persons how to live their life, thereby classifying people as first-class or second class citizens.”