Clint Camilleri: ‘They call us ħamalli because we’re not born with a silver spoon in our mouth’

Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri hit out against the “Nationalist elite who look down” on Labourites, in his political speech on Sunday.

“They call us 'hamalli' (chavs) because we were not born with a silver spoon in our mouth, and we had to work to get where we are today. What they don’t know is that is our strength,” he told party supporters.

Camilleri was addressing a political event in Mqabba on Sunday, before Prime Minister Robert Abela’s weekly Sunday speech.

He said the Labour Party (PL) and its supporters were ridiculed and teased when the party was in Opposition. “You remember the injustices.”

Camilleri said the “elite few” in the PN still think they have the divine right to “rule the country.”

“These are the same people who dictated with arrogance when in government. The same people who look at us as commoners, as if we are second class citizens,” he said. “These PN elite look down at a section of their own supporters, let alone what they think of us. Who knows how many times they called us hamalli.”

“What they don’t know is that this is our strength. We come from the streets, we come from families who helped us get where we are today. I am the son of a working-class family.”

Camilleri, a hunter himself, said government will continue to defend Malta’s traditions from “foreigners”.

“This government not only chose to not put traditions on the backburner, not only did it not look down on certain sectors of society, it chose to protect them,” he said. “We cannot forget the false promises made by Nationalist leaders in the past.”

He said government has the credentials to continue protecting traditions like hunting.

“Others lost faith as soon as the first directive was issued by the EU, because the PN establishment still has a colonial mentality. In contrast. this government negotiated when it needed to negotiate, convinced when it needed to convince, and when it did not agree, it made its position clear. That is why we will continue to find solutions even in this sector,” he said.

He also assured hunters and trappers, that “they will continue enjoying their hobbies.”

“We opened the research trapping season, and that is what we will do again. We respected the people’s vote on the Spring Hunting season, and that is what we will do again,” he told supporters. “What is ours, will remains ours.”

Camilleri also praised government reforms in a number of sectors.

“The difference between the two parties is clear in the reforms we carried out. When people’s marriages unfortunately failed, and others told them there was nothing they could do, this party chose love over sadness to give them a second chance. When people of the same sex wanted to get married, this government chose love. When people wanted IVF, this government chose love and science,” he said.