V18 Chairman Jason Micallef has refused to comment on the current state of the relationship between himself, the V18 Board, and Valletta Mayor Alexei Dingli, who disassociated himself from the foundation after accusing Micallef of playing partisan politics and systematically excluding the local council.
"I do not think that a Board of Governors needs to make public what happened between the absolute majority of board members and the mayor," Micallef said. "The board will remain open for the moment should the Mayor want to come back and sit on the regular meetings of V18." he continued.
On the other hand, Culture Minister Owen Bonnici insisted that they "have a very good relationship" with Dingli, highlighting the work done in v18 and the civic office for the local council. "I look forward to continue working together," he said.
Last May, Dingli wrote a letter to Micallef, as well as board members, expressing discomfort at Micallef's management of the foundation.
The letter accused Micallef of systematically excluding the local council from its activities. It was reported that some invites were even sent to some entities in Valletta, and that those entities were prohibited from inviting the council. The V18 Chairman was also accused of playing partisan politics.
Speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday in last week's edition, Dingli said that he was still boycotting the foundation, saying that "nothing has changed, so I don't see why I have to change my position."
Micallef has been at centre of a public storm, receiving a tirade of condemnation from local and foreign artists, politicians and those linked with the EU's capital of culture both internationally and locally after he ridiculed the last words of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia amid ongoing calls from anti-corruption protestors and members of civil society for government to be held accountable.
As the criticism and anger mounted against Micallef for making such comments, he, along with PM Joseph Muscat and, continuously pointed to freedom of expression to defend his language.
The newsroom previously reported how local and international artists, and famous writers such as Ewan McGregor hailing from PEN International condemned Micallef for his commentary, criticising him for failing to champion European values, calling for his removal.
They had specifically called out his harsh opposition of banners hung around Valletta calling for justice for the murder of Caruana Galizia, where Micallef repeatedly ordered their removal; along with his repeated offensive remarks against Caruana Galizia and her supporters on social media.
Most recently, eight past and future representatives of the European Capital of Culture have called out Micallef for ridiculing European Values. Ulrich Fuchs, the Chairman of the committee that monitored Valletta as European Capital for Culture in 2018, saying that he would not attend any V18 event "as long as people representing the project destroy European values."
from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2lN77NI
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