Dr. Frank Portelli, and his position on minorities

The P.N. has always stood for people's rights and dignity, whoever they may be. Compassion and social justice have always been part of the ethos of the P.N., and with it a good dose of tolerance towards people of different views, coming from different backgrounds and cultures. It is for this reason that I cannot fathom the fact that nothing is being said by the party to stop or disassociate itself from Dr. Frank Portelli's spewing of venom at the minorities of our country. Dr. Portelli happens to be a candidate for the leadership of the P.N., and for this reason must fall within the acceptable boundaries of what is acceptable for the party, a party that has cherished and stands for tolerance and inclusion in our society. Islamophobic rhetoric has never been accepted by the P.N., and should never be. So, why should we accept this kind of language from a candidate who hopes to lead our party? Why isn't anything being said or done to stop Dr. Portelli from saying things that our party is politically and morally against? Isn't there a red line that makes certain kinds of positions unacceptable for our party? Could anyone say what he or she pleases in any kind of contest to occupy a position in the P.N.? I believe that there should be a red line on this. Language that attacks the dignity of fellow humans should not be accepted by anyone who hopes to occupy a position in our party, and Dr. Portelli is no different.

There might be some disagreement between the more conservative and more liberal elements of our party. The reason for this is that our intentions are good, we debate, even sometimes vehemently, because we believe in our values, and put fellow humans at the center of what we say. We all believe in one important aspect in politics, which is defending what we consider as human dignity. We might have disagreements with regards to what human dignity entails. Yet, none of us will say anything bad about the immigrants of our country, use Islamophobic language, or even treat people of different sexual orientations as some kind of abnormal object. The P.N. was the party that opened our country to the rest of the world, by introducing the internet, liberalizing the media, and campaigned and negotiated tirelessly for our country to join the E.U. So, how are we now accepting a kind of language that goes against what our party really and truly stands for, by allowing one of our own to spew hatred against minorities? 

It is right to point out that the kind of politics that Dr. Portelli stands for is similar to that condemned by E.U. institutions (not by the far right) in Victor Orban of Hungary, who has many times  gone against the political group that he and we also belong to i.e. the E.P.P.