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Give the devil his due

Published:Wednesday | July 1, 2020 | 12:21 AM

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I read Daryl Vaz’s response to Dr Peter Phillips, where he has labelled Dr Phillips the “chief hypocrite” in his comments against alleged corruption by Minister Vaz.

Vaz seems to base his comments on the fact that Phillips, in his view, is less than ‘pure’, hence his conclusion about Dr Phillips being “unfit to lead this country”.

Minister Vaz ought to be reminded that my defence against being issued a speeding ticket, when I was in fact speeding, cannot be that someone else was speeding as well. In labelling Dr Phillips a hypocrite, he failed to show where what Dr Phillips said about him is inaccurate.

It is the worst-kept secret that the prime minister sees Minister Vaz as critical to his election success, based largely on his fundraising ability and his electioneering capabilities. Vaz is good at that, so let us give the devil his due.

In this day and age, though, it is most unfortunate for the PM not to see it fit to sanction Minister Vaz and thereby send a strong message to this country of where he stands on corruption or alleged corruption, as Vaz’s name has been mentioned far too often in relation to certain deals which are alleged to be ‘shady’. What’s that they say about perception being as important as reality?

As for Vaz, he certainly subscribes to the adage that the best form of defence is offence. Lesser men than he would have kept quiet, at least for a while after the Holywell deal came to public light.

J. LAMBERT