[WATCH] Joseph Muscat lets his hair down at Girgenti in leaked WhatsApp vid
A leaked video showed the Prime Minister chanting party songs at a party at his summer residence in Girgenti
So Joseph Muscat can have fun...
A leaked WhatsApp video of Malta's prime minister has emerged, showing him chanting an old favourite of Labour partisans.
In a party held at the PM's summer residence in Girgenti, Muscat and his wife Michelle can be seen doing the honours with a bottle of champagne and singing “Ma Taghmlu Xejn...”, together with friends.
The video has been making the rounds on social media all day on Saturday.
Muscat can be seen waving his hands, joining in what seems to be an ironic take on the song that used to laud Labour patriarch Dom Mintoff, with guests singing “Ma Taghmlu Xejn... ma' Joseph taghna”.
The video attracted instant opprobrium from Muscat's usual critics: the blogger Manuel Delia dubbed the party a ‘debauched circle jerk’, ostensibly taking issue with the venue – the chapel of the Girgenti Palace – being intended for formal state occasions.
The leaked video has also sparked a reaction from Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, with him sharing the video on his social media profile and captioning the post, “the former Chapel of Girgenti Palace... such a suitable setting indeed.”
And in a letter to the Electoral Commissioner and the Standards Commissioner, independent MEP candidate Arnold Cassola warned that the video constitutes unethical behaviour. He said the video indicates that a state property, the Prime Minister's official residence, was used by a political party, in breach of the law regulating party financing. However, it is unclear whether the function was indeed a Labour Party event, or a personal one convened by the Prime Minister.