Hating Muscat Pays Eddie’s Bills

The ex‑PN court photographer who thrived on fat direct orders — now recycling old lies in The Times to attack Joseph Muscat.

Over the past few days, The Times of Malta has been dripping with a series of articles penned by a certain Eddie Aquilina. Three parts published, one still to come. Articles that supposedly “expose” Joseph Muscat — yet in reality are nothing more than cut‑and‑paste rants recycled from Aquilina’s own scribbles seven years ago.

The question is simple: Who is Eddie Aquilina, and why does he burn with such hatred for Joseph Muscat?

The Man Behind the Camera, Bitter From Defeat
For decades, Aquilina was not a journalist, nor a watchdog, nor a crusader for truth. He was the personal photographer of Eddie Fenech Adami — the PN shrine boy who shadowed power corridors for years. For two decades, he nestled close to Richard Cachia Caruana, one of the men who ran the Nationalist Party like a personal fiefdom.

Joseph Muscat

But when Labour swept into power in 2013 with Muscat’s historic landslide, Aquilina went into hiding. His political patrons were gone, the direct orders and cosy arrangements had dried up, and his bitterness began to brew. By 2017, he crawled back into the spotlight at “Occupy Justice” protests, lashing out at ONE News journalists, puffed up with arrogance, declaring his “finger is straight” and that he had nothing to hide. Really? Nothing to hide? Let’s check.

A Business Built on Nationalist Handouts

Eddie Aquilina is not just a political hanger‑on. He is also a director and shareholder of Promotion Services Ltd, which owns Miranda Publishers. And this company fattened itself nicely under PN governments. Between 2000 and 2013, Miranda/Promotion Services pocketed over €675,000 from ministries and public entities.

More than half of this money — €343,460.03 — came directly from Ministries for Tourism under PN’s Michael Refalo, Francis Zammit Dimech and Mario de Marco.
From the Office of the Prime Minister under Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi, Eddie’s old bosses, Miranda pulled in another €69,500 through direct orders for books, adverts and photos.

The list goes on:

– €80,000 from Transport ministries,

– €52,000 from Education,

– €44,000 from Foreign Affairs,

– €40,000 from Health,

– €29,000 from Economy.

A neat little network of book sales and photo deals, greased through direct orders under PN’s watch. For over a decade, Eddie Aquilina lived comfortably off the system.

Then 2013 came along. Muscat’s Labour swept the PN relics out of Castille. And with it, Eddie’s gravy train screeched to a halt.

The Source of the Hatred

This is why Eddie Aquilina has a vendetta against Joseph Muscat. Not because of “justice” or “truth” or “integrity.” His fury is personal. Labour’s victory ended the cushy business pipeline that nourished his company. His anger is not moral outrage, but financial resentment.

Now, reduced to scribbling bitter hit‑pieces in The Times of Malta, Eddie Aquilina tries to portray himself as a fearless crusader. In reality, he is a man recycling old insults, clinging to relevance, and hoping that by spitting venom at Muscat, the establishment that once enriched him will let him back in the fold.

Hypocrisy Laid Bare

He calls Muscat’s legacy “short‑lived.” Yet Muscat won two resounding elections, redefined Labour, and reshaped Malta — achievements no recycled column can erase. Meanwhile, Eddie Aquilina’s own legacy is one of arrogance, bitterness and hypocrisy:

– A PN court photographer passed off as a “journalist.”

– A businessman who pocketed hundreds of thousands through political friends, now moaning about “sleaze.”

– A man whose words are empty, because his motives are rotten.

Joseph Muscat

The Verdict

Eddie Aquilina’s anti‑Muscat crusade is not about protecting democracy or fighting corruption. It is about one thing only: revenge for the end of his cushy PN‑fuelled empire.

His hatred of Joseph Muscat is the hatred of a man who lost power, privilege and paychecks in 2013 — and has never gotten over it.

So when Aquilina writes his tired, reheated sermons in The Times of Malta, let’s call them what they are: the bitter diaries of a failed court photographer turned failed propagandist.

His hatred for Muscat is the only thing keeping him in print.