Josie Muscat is the man who leads a band of men, and perhaps a woman or two, to this new political paradise founded on the fears and warped passions of an island people. Yet Josie has a problem; not only because of the story pasted on the front page of this edition, but also because his politics is one of convenience and which takes us back to the Middle Ages.The story reveals the track record of some of the candidates standing with Josie. Some who face charges of theft, other charges on money laundering, others still accused of illegally taking over public land, or possession of illegal drugs, or incitement to racial hatred. Yet this does not seem to worry Josie Muscat. Nothing seems to worry Josie. He argues that these are charges, not court sentences. Though, really and truly Josie Muscat’s law and order crusade has failed the litmus test.How are we to take any of his exhortations for a clean and moral Malta seriously, if his team spends most of their time defending themselves in the court of law. The fact that many of his candidates continue to remind the electorate that they are Roman Catholics and baptised has no bearing on their credibility. Spanish fascist Franco said he was a Roman Catholic but typically found few problems asking the Nazis, Fascists and Falangists to bomb the peaceful and very Roman Catholic town of Guernica in the heart of the Basque country. You see, as in all things in life, there are Catholics and Catholics.Josie should not only be judged by the quality of his candidates but by his political agenda which is based on a political thinking process which is dodgy. He definitely reflects the emotions of many of those Maltese and Gozitan who want us to remain troglodytes.An AN candidate who is facing money laundering charges told MaltaToday: “I think you should watch your back, you’re only going to screw up (‘se tahraha’) and let me inform you that there is a court order on the mention of the case.”He obviously forgot to note that the information about the charges was published in the Government Gazette, for all to see and for public consumption.He later called MaltaToday to inform the newspaper of the advertisements he takes out with this newspaper.
On the Labour side, the feeling is completely different. They are shocked to see that the PN is overtaking them in the surveys. Instead of reading the writing on the wall – especially with voters who remain silent about their voting intentions – they fret over the news that the PN is gaining and surpassing them by a statistic that is well within the margin of error. They will accuse us of being PN stooges… which is fine by me, considering that others accuse us of being MLP “galoppini”.There is one thing that is certain, we will publish our surveys as we have always done, and to hell with what all the parties think.
And more importantly: we do not take order from anyone to keep our surveys under wraps!
Gonzi parachutes in Gozo It is a bloody shame to see a sea terminal completed, or rather semi-completed, days before an election. I still cannot understand why we need such a grand arrivals and departure lounge in the first place. The cuteness of Gozo is being destroyed by this big-headeness and the belief that Gozo is Calais.Gozo, or rather Giovanna, has always had this notion that Gozo should appear bigger than it is. She still dreams of having her own customs office in Mgarr.But what was far more worse than the megalomania was the inauguration of an unfinished terminal, and by unfinished I mean the quays. People who go to Gozo do not hang around Mgarr. And more pathetic were the PM’s answer that the quays would be finalised or completed when EU funds were confirmed.
Pull my other leg, Lonz. The quays were not completed because of crass incompetence. Stop.
When Sant is right and where Sant is wrong
Sant is right when he says that in corruption, there is such a thing as political responsibility. I agree totally with this viewpoint. In my opinion, politicians cannot take all the glory and refuse to take all the responsibility. These are Sant’s words.How much will Sant himself follow this ethos? Only time will tell.but history is on his side on this one.And yes, I agree with him the Permanent Commission Against Corruption is a joke.But then Sant is completely wrong when he shoots from the hip, such as his allegation that Francis Zammit Dimech’s campaign is being funded by Where’s Everybody because that is what everyone is saying.Politics is all about reaching the mountain peak.Sant has this habit of reaching Everest and then letting go at the very last moment.
And remember: in elections, the winner takes all, and the loser…
Herrera and Herrera
I have yet to see such a farcical scene. Everyone seems to remember the scene at University this week, it is of course dominated by the “Fuck off, dude” comment. But more importantly the KSU president comes by the name of David Herrera. So this week, Herrera – I mean Jose Herrera, the Labour MP and candidate - saw fit to declare that this KSU David Herrera was no relation, and that his son was Miguel, not David, and that anyone who doubted this should ask his mother who was present in the crowd. I do not know what difference it should have made.But to more important stuff.After this intro, Jose went on to complain about the Permanent Commission Against Corruption which investigated his complaint about conflicts of interest at the Malta Maritime Authority. Herrera explained that he had complained about conflicts of interest, not corruption and that the Commission did not have a remit or a mechanism to assess this particular sphere of political responsibility.I think he is right. More so, he is perfectly justified in asking pertinent questions about people who are politically appointed to run the MMA and then have indirect or direct commercial interests in tenders linked to projects issued by the MMA.
So there you go, Jose is not such a dull politician after all.
Sonny Portelli’s wisdom
“The decision not to cover the elections through di-ve.com was taken in the context of the severely limited resources available at di-ve.com and our opinion that it is better not to do a job than to do it in a shoddy and incomplete manner. It is clear that this approach to professionalism is not shared by everyone.” Words of wisdom from Sonny Portelli. Well, what he is trying to say that Malta’s best- staffed portal was not able to do what it did in all previous elections. Sonny must either take us for fools or else really thinks that we are numbskulls.In another country, the press would have hounded Sonny and asked him to realise that this is the Western world. If Arab-owned Go is to operate in an EU country it should start to appreciate that in the west the power of the media is not something that depends on the moods and swings of the Emir. In divesting itself of its obligation to continue offering a news service it has damaged its own reputation.
Sonny understands what I am talking about. Perhaps he should have the courage to do some explaining to the majority shareholders of this foreign owned company and tell them that this EU territory not the Middle East.
Corruption, conflict of interest and all that Jazz
Can someone start defining the basic difference between corruption, abuse of power, unethical behaviour and conflict of interest?Jesmond Mugliett donates a cheque from the funds collected from the speed cameras to the Hibs football club to instil awareness of safe driving.Really, Jesmond is asking for it. Is this man really aware of what he is doing?
How can he take public funds from a public agency and, days before an election donate the money to a football club in his own district?
Shameful, just absolutely shameful.So where do we pigeon hole Jesmond Mugliett’s donation?(1) Corruption(2) Bad practise(3) Conflict of interest(4) Stupidity(5) Waste of money(6) Winning votes(7) Abuse(8) UnethicalAll answers are to be sent to sbalzan@mediatoday.com.mt by not later than 8 March. The Prime Minister and ministers should refrain from participating in this competition. The winner of this competition will be sent to a course organised by the ADT on how to dispose of public funds.
The Psychology of hunters This is going to be a short one. I meant to go into a long treatise of why most hunters would like to skin all the members of BirdLife alive. But then I just remembered that really all they want to is continue doing what they have done all their lives.Ignore the law, shoot at anything that flies and continue to believe that Lino Farrugia single-handedly can make the European Union change its position on Malta.Wow, that was difficult,
Daphne is not a PN groupie. Then what is she?
“Groupies are women who follow rock-groups about for the express purpose of having sex with them. Because I subscribe to your newspaper’s position on Malta’s libel laws, I will not sue this time, but if Mrs Hansen or another one of your journalists makes a similar suggestion, I will do so immediately.”That is what Daphne Caruana Galizia writes in this newspaper.DCG takes umbrage at the fact that Pamela Hansen accuses her of being a PN groupie, because she insists groupies are women who hang around bands just to have sex with them.No Daphne dear – groupies are in fact followers, supporters and fans. And though DCG has impeccable English, she does not have the right to change the meaning of words. I am sure Pamela Hansen doesn’t need me to defend her, but there you go.But DCG does worse – she threatens to sue for libel if we repeat the accusation that she is associated with the Nationalists. Well here we go: DCG is a PN supporter, and if she thinks that is libellous, than she can take me to the cleaners.There is no one in this country who thinks that DCG is not a supporter of the Nationalist party. And she has every right to be a fan of the PN. But she should not expect us to sit back and agree with all she scribbles for the newspaper which she says pays her to write about her choice and preferences.I too disagree with many things in politics, but unlike her I don’t have an obsession with Alfred Sant, and I do not prefer Sant to Gonzi or Gonzi to Sant. Is that strange? I also think she has done more harm to the Nationalist campaign with her persistent emails and comments in blogs. I have met many people who are sickened by her persistent interference in people’s personal choices.I will be the first one to defend DCG’s right of speech, the first one to defend her right to make a fool of herself and attend a university gathering of hysterical students (who according to Joe Saliba are revolutionaries and anti-establishment groupies) and I will also defend the right of her son to turn to a One News cameraman and ask him to “fuck off, dude!”That right is her undeniable right. But political stations also abuse their right to film each other, censor and edit their footage and take clips and turn them upside down and make news sound like the Gospel. This confusion on the air waves is the fruit of our acceptance of the two political parties to own audiovisual media and our insistence that the Broadcasting Authority oversees public broadcasting, but not private stations.And I will also defend the right of columnists to express their opinion even though I may not agree with them.But DCG has in this electoral campaign, misunderstood the general mood. People want to decide about their voting intentions without being told what to do. People vote for various reasons. Only a small percentage do so altruistically: for the love of their nation. So DCG should really be asked to stop lecturing to voters and return to her pet subjects of foetuses, pro-lifers and rude dudes.Even I am criticised for being too heavy-handed and abrasive. But then I should not overreact if someone calls me names or even hints that they would like to send a platoon of suicide bombers into my home.This election campaign is so devoid of content and substance, so boring, that the only campaign strategy seems to be based on the errors and untruths originating from either side. In her latest tirade in emails she sent to editors, she also hit at journalists – some of whom work at MaltaToday – hinting that they are cahoots with the MLP and AD.In the last days, the news team at MediaToday have been awarded their most touching of medals: accusations from both sides of the political divide. Karl Schembri interviewing Sant at university was accused by One News of being “an agent of the Nationalists”. Julia Farrugia who fired questions at Lawrence Gonzi about co-habitation and MEPA was constantly filmed by NET TV crew in an apparent attempt to pigeonhole her as a Labour stooge.There is no end to the hysteria and paranoia.This is a taxing time for all of us. So I am sure DCG is under great stress. Like her I am often offended and hurt by personal criticism. I can fully understand her nervousness in such gruelling times, but unlike her I do not see the next election as a question of life or death. Life goes on. We all have our preferences, but my first choice is to defend everyone’s right to express his or her opinion. Like the vast majority of this country I respect the right of the electorate to choose whoever they wish as their Prime Minister.Like DCG I reserve the right to call them names after their decision… even though I am not a fully-fledged PN groupie!
COMMENTS
02/26/08 11:44 PM, John
Dear Arnold , I try to find all the good things in everyone.To be frank I do not like to be pigeon-holed.
Dr Sant is not convinced with the EU , it is an unnecessary burden for him.Can you spot an EU flag in an MLP club?
Last Sunday I think I saw one on the granaries in that ocean of red flags .
I want someone to be convinced and believes in what he says ,I don't want politicians of convenience.
Is helping 30.000 families in need,from not paying thesurcharge , right wing?
Is "no surcharge on all households in 5 years " ,a socialist measure ,for me it is populist.
Isn't a drainage tax on each household ,from Margaret Thatcher's Book?Would you call it left?
Wouldn't you call it GALBU if someone helps you to reduce power consumption?Isn't it something from the book of the Greens and the PES ? Why isn't AD supporting it ?Why is MLP shooting it down, is this left wing PES policy?
Time has come for a real centre left political movement which believes in social justice not change its policies according to the weekly surveys it conducts.
I yearned and hoped for the likes of George Abela and Lino Spiteri
in the MLP .
Arnold , keep searching . I am scared of Dr Sant's whimsical ways of doing things , he NEVER bows to public opinion.
Alternattiva , and Allejanza , together with the MLP are constantly hitting at the PN.
AD, especially for these last months was pointing its guns at the PN ,
and avoids even looking at the hare-brained ideas coming from Dr Sant which are approved without discussion at the general conference.
Yesterday I saw Dr Sant in Maghtab QUESTIONING where the trucks were going, I would have told him "you do not need to take a helicopter we already know , it is called ,an Engineered Landfill at il-Maghtab ta' Gewwa.
And if there are bad smells ,how come he is proposing a golf coarse for tourists , on a hill?
02/26/08 11:03 AM, Phillip Micallef
Dear Mr Galea are you suggesting that the Nationalist Party is a right wing party? Maybe you should have a look at Azzjoni Nazzjonali and their policies to see what right wing really means. Malta Today 26 February gives ample examples of their policies and no amount of "scaremongering" on your part will convince anyone that PN is a right wing party. Nowadays both Nationalists and Labour are converging on the centre. It's just a matter of who the people think can better run the country. At the end of the day it boils down to Gonzi vs Sant and their respective track records.
02/26/08 10:18 AM, Arnold.Galea
Dear John
I did not really get your point here. Are you in favour of AD or PN?
Personally, I disagree with people that hold on as leaders for many years as Dr. Sant did even if they were very successful politically such as Eddie or Mintoff.
However, although the MLP is not perfect they have now accepted with the free market concept, the EU membership. local council etc and all these changes in policy conveniently or not re-assures me that a labour government will not disrupt all the above developments.
From an economic point of view having a right wing party for so many years meant that the laissez faire policy has been applied to much in our economy.
Time has come for a left wing political movement to manage in Free market environment but with good intervention in the economy in order to make for the various market failures associated with a free market economy.
Therefore, in my opinion the best choice in this election is change either with a Labour Government or else a coalition of Labour & Greens.
No scaremongering & other rubbish will change my conviction.
02/25/08 10:53 PM, John
Dear Arnold,
I find the AD electoral program well studied with no "misprints" and no wild ideas. I find the surcharge proposal very well thought. It is by far better than that of Labour .
Now, with our vote we can only have two real options for PM ; Gonzi who has been PM for 4 years or Sant who has been PM for nearly 2 years and 14 years as Leader of the opposition .
From what we know AD need around 7000 votes from ONE district to elect a seat.Surely it will not be of a PM and it takes a lot of effort to garner those votes for AD , let alone for one single candidate , the probability is that the votes will be wasted in favour of the MLP (District boundaries are in their favour)
This is not fair, BUT it is the probable reality we are facing now, it is up to the voters to think of ALL the options and consequences.The chances are that these idealists will get a PM who never had a change of heart on his weird ideas.And the rest of us will have to suffer the consequences .
If we want a dinosaur in our Parliament it is up to us to vote for him, but if we want a PM we have to vote for candidates from his party to get him elected, no one else can do it for us.
02/25/08 3:01 PM, Phillip Micallef
Yes Mr Galea, change is good for the country and for democracy, but when the opposition is so abmisal one shouldn't advocate change for the sake of change. I'm not telling anyone how to vote but just to think of about the consequences of their actions. Too many people support their party blindly. I am not one of them. I don't consider myself a Nationalist, I only feel they are the best equiped to run the country at present, and their track record of successes prove it. Malta is unlike other democratic countries like Britain or Australia where people have a different opinion of society and democracy. Malta is a unique case. Most people here live in a vaccum thinking the world revolves around Malta, but there are greater issues to consider here, such as our reputation in international community and the EU, as well as migration.
02/25/08 2:32 PM, Arnold Galea
In my opinion people with similar opinions of Mr. Phillip Micallef are not understanding that with a change in government both the country & the PN will benefit. Obviously, they will not admit this and some people will do their best to hang on to the seat of power.
The majority of the citizens who are not part of any inner circles will definitely benefit from this change.
Unlike others, I will never try to tell others how to vote that is a thing of the past that a good number of "genuine" PN supporters still believe in.
02/25/08 1:19 PM, Phillip Micallef
Ms. Borg,dare I quote Daphne and remind you that a vote for AD will be a vote for Labour! And she's right. You will be wasting your vote and helping to elect Sant. Is this the future you want for your children? It's commendable to support AD, I also believe in their ideals but they have no chance of getting elected and if they do manage to get someone elected they may form a coalition with Sant. Vote AD = Vote MLP.
I on the other hand won't be wasting my vote on a lost cause to satisfy my idealogy. I prefare to be realistic and vote for PN no matter how arrogant they are they are still our best bet for the future. Think about it and think hard.
02/25/08 12:03 PM, Dion Borg
Mr. Micallef, rest assured that I will be voting for my children's long term interests.....and thus opting for AD to break the overdue MLPN duopoly.
Having EU standards factually followed and implemented rather than twisted when it suits the party!
02/25/08 4:25 AM, john
Yes, dear Matthew let us forget the 60's, 70's and 80's after all THAT is history , but then I do not want the same people who were the protagonists in making that bad part of history in my parliament in 2008.
I do not care much if some hotheads throw some paint on a billboard,but I do not want a prime minister who 4 years ago fought tooth and nail against Malta's membership in the EU. Remember, in a matter of weeks he FROZE our application for the EU , and sent a message of uncertainty to the economy and investors, not to mention the VAT-CET saga.
He still is the potential PM and considers the EU as an unnecessary burden.He even declared that he wants to re-open the negotiations package.
I sincerely wish AD idealists see their vote electing a seat , but we stand a bigger chance of having a whimsical Dr Sant as a PM.
02/25/08 3:23 AM, Ralph
Saviour, ignore Daphne..the hired-pen... who CARES what Daphne says or is paid to say anyway? A conservative in liberral clothing pining for PN PN PN PN PN PN PN...yawn! fu*$ off dude!! :)
02/24/08 6:11 PM, Matthew
Mr. Micallef can we stop mentioning the 70s and 80s of the Labour Party. Do you want me to mention the 60s and what Labourites went through cause of an archbishop who happens to be a relative of Dr. Gonzi. Please, stop mentioning the past since it is getting old and boring. I didn't see the MLP supporters doing any harm once they did win in 1996 as they used to do in the times you mentioned. (PN has been involved in violence just the same in the past if you omit this from your brain). Times change and also the people mature. Let people decide on the present. Everyone is free to have an opinion, which means no propoganda should be used. (Typical of our country where we mention all the good of the political party we support and forget all the bad things it was involved in.) So much for the promise of a 'New way of doing politics' which Dr. Gonzi wanted when he was sworn as Prime Minister.
02/24/08 3:05 PM, Phillip Micallef
Ms. Borg, since you've criticised all the political parties in Malta I take it you won't be voting on March 8?
Sometimes for the good of the country and our children we have to make tough decisions and vote for the best of the worst.
Come March 8, only one party will be leading the country one way or the other and it is every citizen's duty to choose the party they believe will do the best job.
Yes, the Nationalists are guilty of many things including corruption, but not on the scale of Labour in the 70's and 80's, if you are old enough to remember those times. But don't forget that many advantages the country enjoys today including free speech and the EU are because of them. Shouldn't this be enough to convince you who to vote for?
02/24/08 2:01 PM, Phillip Micallef
Why doesn't everybody get off Mr. Balzan's back just because he has the guts to speak out against what he believes to be wrong. I don't agree with everything he says but he has more balls than all of you because he doesn't hide behind false names, and puts himself in the front line by writing his opinion pieces. It's a shame this country doesn't have more politicians like him or people who speak the truth. He is able to write logical,honest,current opinion pieces.The MLPN media can never be called true journalism and to my mind the paper that comes closest to it is Maltatoday. I buy all English language papers and the first one I read is Maltatoday, and the first page I read is Mr. Balzan's opinion piece. By the way I don't know Mr. Balzan personally, and he isn't paying me to write this.
02/24/08 10:42 AM, james
Too negative, pessimistic, & reactive ( without giving any plausible alternative )... yeah, this career is right for you Mr.Balzan. Good choice.
02/23/08 5:28 PM, sam
tal pn kolla hamalli
02/23/08 2:29 PM,
02/23/08 12:19 PM, Dion Borg
PN – pissed me off with : the scare mongering about AD; Gonzi fix-all fiction; & ‘no matter what, the others are worse’ claims; propaganda financed from public funds.
MLP – No hot issue (VAT-EU) to gamble on; thus utter non-commitment on practically everything, and in the few cases that they do…their proposals are regrettably half-baked.
AD – too vulnerable against the PN’s onslaught; so near but yet so far…after the amendments to the electoral law; any support from EU Greens personalities?
AN – the blokes picked from the anti-immigration lobby are a crucial liability
NL – possibly gauges Malta racism index
