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Karl Schembri
It is supposed to be a personalised message wishing a happy birthday to the “friends” of the Nationalist Party, but the request just under the recipient’s date of birth is infuriating some people.
“On the occasion of your birthday, we invite you to participate in a lottery especially for you associated with your date of birth,” says the letter signed by PN Treasurer Peter Darmanin, calling for donations to the party for the building of the new headquarters in need of thousands of liri to be completed.
According to the letter, for every Lm1, donors will receive a number for a grand lottery to be held in January next year, and they may also win unspecified weekly and monthly prizes.
The treasurer announces that over Lm27,500 were collected in this way last year.
“Give your share as well,” Darmanin implores.
But some disgruntled Nationalists who received the letter were not impressed.
“They’ve inundated us with taxes, and now they have the cheek to ask me for money on my birthday,” a clearly irate Nationalist said. “Why don’t they collect money from government consultants?”
Darmanin’s assistant at the PN central office, Lino Briffa, said the letters were being sent to “a group of friends of the party” a week before their birthdays.
Asked whether it made sense requesting money instead of sending them a gift for birthday, Briffa said: “Well if you look at it that way, one can get a bit incensed, but we usually send these letters to those who cooperate and the response is quite good.”
He said that among the prizes, there are kitchen sinks, bathrooms, cruise trips and gas heaters and shipping vouchers.
The cherry on the cake, however, is in the application attached to the letter which donors have to send with their cheques.
“Yes, I want to send a donation to the Nationalist Party for all that the party has done and is doing for our Malta, and as a sign of gratitude towards our beloved leader, Dr Lawrence Gonzi,” the letter says, in terminology echoing North Korean acclamations for ‘dear leader’ Kim Il Sung.
“What kind of language is this?” one Nationalist “friend” said. “Do they think they are going to convince me? I’m not grateful for anything because the prime minister is elected to do his job, and that’s what he should be doing.”
karl@newsworksltd.com
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