Village escort slur was ‘impulsive and poorly thought-out behaviour’, PD inquiry finds

PD publishes findings of independent inquiry into Facebook incident but does not publish name of person responsible • Party to offer training to team members

14 May 2018, 4:08pm
by Yannick Pace

2 min read

An inquiry into the PD's village escort post has led the PD to carry out internal restructuring and to offer its members training

TWEET SHARE

Partit Demokratiku (PD) has said that it will be introducing new structures as well as providing its team with appropriate training in order to avoid a repeat of an incident last month where the party’s official Facebook page referred to parliamentary secretary Julia Farrugia Portelli as a village escort.

The party had apologised for the post adding that it took full responsibility for its actions and those of its members. Following the incident, an independent inquiry was launched.

In a statement issued this afternoon, the PD said the board of inquiry consisted of authors Jo Caruana and Lizzie Eldridge and lawyer Michael Zammit Maempel.

It said that the post was uploaded by “one person from within PD’s social media team”, and that it was taken down as soon as the content became known to others.

“The findings of the inquiry show that the post itself was the result of impulsive and poorly thought-out behavior,” the PD said. “As a result, the inquiry believes PD needs to make changes to its internal structure and to put clear processes in place to ensure this kind of activity cannot be allowed to take place again. In addition, training activities have also been recommended.”

PD MP and secretary general Godfrey Farrugia said that while the PD did have a “firm and organised” structure in place, the party acknowledged the need to further develop its “written policies, code of practice and other similar guidelines” in order to provide “clearer direction” to the party’s management and members.

“The Board notes that, not only did the executive immediately remove the Facebook post forwarded by an administrator, but issued a public apology, both online and through the Party’s two elected MPs in Parliament.

“We now take on board the Inquiry’s recommendation for training sessions and a robust public relations plan to reflect the work being done by PD to help develop the party, its messages and its policies.

“PD unequivocally condemns the language in question. It accepts that its publication was a grave error of judgement and shares a collective responsibility for it."

Yannick Pace was a MaltaToday reporter between 2016-2020