Updated | PN decry ‘double standards’ as Muscat blasts sharing of sex video

The sharing of a sex video of a couple involved in a sexual act is a form of abuse and society must not shun the woman as she is a victim and should not be made to feel guilty, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today.

Speaking in Mosta, Muscat, who said it was his “duty” to speak on such issues, urged society, particularly men, to show that Malta “is not a chauvinistic society that preyed on women or sanctioned snooping on women.”

The sharing of the video, which shows a clearly-identifiable female postal worker engage in a sexual act, was met with uproar after it was widely shared on social media platforms. The sharing of the explicit video – which is punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment and a €3,000 fine – is currently being investigated by police.

“The dissemination of the video must not be condoned, but rather it must be condemned because it is a form of abuse. This person is a victim of the circumstances and is not a culprit. The only person who is the wrong is the coward who shared the footage, and such person should be prosecuted to the full extent allow by law,” he said. 

“This woman could have been our daughter, our sister or our wife … As Christians, we are not only called to attend Sunday mass, but to refrain from judging people,” he said.

However, in a reaction, the Nationalist Party condemned the Prime Minister’s “double standards”, observing that even though a criminal court had convicted Cyrus Engerer of distributing porn footage, Engerer, a one-time deputy mayor in Sliema for the Nationalist Party and a former Labour MEP candidate, was subsequently described as a soldier of steel and given a job in Brussels on a salary of €85,000.

“Muscat is now condemning a case which is identical to the [Cyrus Engerer] case. This is a clear case of double standards, and highlights the prime minister’s populist tactics of saying those things which only suit him,” the PN said.

Earlier, Muscat said the government would soon start drawing up the forthcoming Budget, and pledged that the Budget – which is due to take place just months before the general election – will focus on ensuring a just redistribution of income.

On Sunday, MaltaToday reported that the government is gearing up for a November election, with ministers advised to set their sights on their constituents in what is likely to be a long summer company that will serve as a build-up to an early Budget.

Lauding the government’s achievements, Muscat said a number of major projects had pivoted to an enviable status amongst other nations and the country was not an example to follow. Similarly, Muscat hailed the country’s budget surplus – the country’s first balanced budget in 35 years - was a momentous occasion.

“For the first time in a generation, this country managed to live within its means, resulting in a budget surplus,” Muscat said. “This is what all Maltese families do every month, as they try and balance their expenses against their income.”

Refuting the Opposition’s claims that the government had achieved a surplus by slashing capital expenditure, Muscat said the government had not resorted to any austerity measures and said capital expenditures had been brought down to normal levels after an increase in the previous year when EU programmes were coming to an end.

“If that is the case, then why is it that in 2012, when the Nationalist government spent on capital expenditure as much as we did in 2016, the country still registered a record budget deficit?” Muscat asked.

“Simon Busuttil had already demonstrated his lack of credibility and he is now showing us that he cannot even read the numbers correctly. Even a first-year economy students could have told Busuttil that his deductions were wrong,”he said.

Moreover, Muscat explained that the government’s income did not include 70% of the money the government earned through the IIP citizenship scheme, which money was directly diverted to a special social fund being held in reserve at the Central Bank.

Taking a swipe at Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, the prime minister said any votes which the PN might have won were instantly lost after it emerged that the PN issued “fake invoices”to circumvent party financing legislation.

“People have an important choice ahead; either continue pursuing the current success of this government or lose everything under the PN. While others continued to talk, this government has repeatedly delivered,” Muscat said while taking a dig at the PN.

 “I admit we have made mistakes, including some big ones, and I know that some people had been starting to believe the opposition was right and that the government should be doing more to guarantee good governance. However, any people won over by Busuttil have since turned their back on him after he ordered that his party’s companies issue false invoices to be able too circumvent party financing legislation,” Muscat said.