Former TVHemm producer Norman Vella files political discrimination suit against the government
Published:
October 10, 2013 at 1:34pm
Times of Malta reports:
Mr Vella recalled that when he was production manager for Xarabank, during a meeting with Dr Muscat, then leader of the Opposition, and in the presence of other Labour officials, Dr Muscat had warned him and the presenter that: “For every blow that we feel you are striking the Labour Party, I will strike you twice, with all my strength, under the belt, where it hurts.”
Such a lovely man for prime minister. Never in a million years could you picture Fenech Adami or Gonzi speaking that way. And what sort of man threatens to hit another one below the belt, anyway?
Such scum.
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The sheer violence and anger of such words hardly befit a thug.
And in the right corner, weighing 100 kilos, is Joseph Muscat
Can Norman prove what was said? Does he have any witnesses? Why does this come to the light now, when it is way too late?
When you are bullied, you should always stand up to the bullies there and then. Bullying should not be allowed to reach the point when the bully may carry out his threat and hurt you (and others in the process).
I would honestly have felt more sympathetic towards Norman had he made this information public when it really mattered, and when it could have made a difference.
Osservatore, Norman Vella did right in not reacting to such a cowardly threat.
I remember being accosted by KMB’s thugs inside the court building and threatened to stop what I was doing or else I would end up in a coffin.
You simply stare them out and that makes you strong and them weak. If you react, they know they have you.
Do you honestly believe that revealing this early enough would have made any difference?
I think that WE has been seen to be biased (whether real or imaginary is immaterial – it’s the general perception that counts) for far too long for anything that Norman Vella would have said to be seen as credible by those that mattered.
Even if he were to be believed, something like this would have strengthened the converts’ resolve to put Muscat in government, because they would have seen this as proof that Labour was being dealt blows by WE and not as the abuse of power that it truly is.
You have to think irrationally if you want to understand the irrational. And that’s exactly what put Muscat in power: the irrational vote, the vote that matters.
Only now, with his back to the wall and all hope lost, with absolutely nothing left to lose, does he feel he can reveal the truth.
I hope the witnesses will confirm or deny.
Joking, right? Even a taped recording didn’t stick, so yeah I can see some Silvio or Konrad remembering the event . . please do hold your breath.
Jiena kif fhimt kien hemm il-presentatur li nifem kien qieghed jirreferi ghal Peppi…ghax fuq Xarabank kienu qedin jitkelmu.
Allura insaqsi jekk Peppi kien qieghed hemm imissu johrog stqarrija issa mhux joqghod halqu maghluq.
Troy would you have stood up to Joseph Muscat, leader of the opposition and future PM. U hallina. Not even Peppi dared do that.
Ma nahsibx li kien jaghmel differenza kieku tkellem dak iz-zmien.
Imma issa iva, u differenza kbira. Muscat urina wicc ta’ wiehed li jrid il gid lill poplu malti kollu. Hareg bil frazi Malta Taghna Ilkoll u Tista ma taqbilx maghna imma tista tahdem maghna.
Issa wara 7 xhur Prim Ministru, bdejna naraw il veru wicc ta’ Joseph. Kattiv, pruzuntuz, kiesha u issa anki ahdar b’din il frazi li qal lill Norman.
Qatt ma bzart li ser taqalu daqshekk malajr il maskra li dam is-snien jahdimha.
Prosit Norman ibqa sejjer hekk. Fl’ahhar il verita tohrog dejjem. Hemm hafna u hafna nies warajk.
Osservatore, I don’t think anyone was listening or indeed wanted to hear or believe anything; they just wanted change – of any description.
They so badly wanted to believe the demagogy of the PL that they would have ignored even the most patently obvious evidence. Hence, revealing this earlier would have made no difference whatsoever. We had all the evidence we needed and they still voted in the PL. It was just electoral fatigue combined with gullibility that got them in.
Because most probably he didn’t want to give ‘unfair’ advantage to the Nationalist Party?
Does that not earn him a point or two about being neutral at his position at PBS which the PL conveniently claims the exact opposite?
According to Norman Vella this mafia-style threat was uttered in front of Peppi Azzopardi.
Because as the Italians so beautifully like putting it, “la vendetta e’ un piatto che va mangiato freddo.” Reacting in the heat of the moment is the worst thing one could do.
Even if Norman had said this before the election, the people were so blinded by Muscat that they would have chosen not to believe him.
On the contrary, it is now that it matters. Back then it was a threat without much legal value, but now that the threats materialised, it has become a case.
There we go again – instead of nailing the bully, harassing the victim.
It takes courage and balls for someone to come out against such a dangerous government. Kuragg Norman you are by far the best TV presenter who pokes where it hurts!
Who would you have told?
I’ve been there.
Whoever you tell – whoever, with the exception of Daphne – is too scared and not in a position to take action. This was so even in the run-up to the elections: they were scared because they weren’t sure which way the elections would go, or it turns out that as much as you wouldn’t have believed it was the case, they had vested interests.
They listen up to a point and then even if they had the will, the way is now, in this country, no longer the democratic procedure you can take for granted.
Under another post of this blog it was mentioned that Malta is a safe country. I beg to differ, Malta is no longer a safe country for those individuals who for the reason of the clarity of their thought and their potential to shoot darts into the Labour balloon pose a real or imaginary threat.
Norman is right to take action, wherever it will get him because people there are scared too, let’s say it as it is. But if JM promised him a backlash he will be getting it through “the routes” invisibly managed by the Government and through friends of friends of Malta Taghna.
The mob.
I think it’s actually quite courageous of him.
“Should not” is no longer the same as “is not.”
I think you and I need to have a chat.
It is precisely because of who he was at the time that I expected him to do something about it. For crying out loud! He had his own TV program and could have made the threat public himself – its not like his program did not lend itself to similar revelations!
Would it have made a difference then? Not in terms of electoral votes. But I would feel more sympathetic to a person who had stood up to this bully at a time when he had everything to lose, rather than once he lost it all.
With pleasure. I’ll look forward to it.
Sometimes one thinks that a bully can be contained, that life will not spring such ridiculous results, that the electorate would have more sense, or that the bully will have more honour.
When you are in that position, there is a process to go through, of first overcoming the disbelief that the threat was made in the first place.
When then there is further evidence that the bully knows no honour, the whole picture changes. Not everybody has an innate sense of cunning. Humour is one thing and mob mentality is another.
Osservatore please note: that when you are just a minuscule person sitting in the head of the opposition, you are just that … a non entity even if you represent 49% of the electorate. But once you turn the tables on and become the PM of the country then that’s another thing. And when you discriminate for political reasons just as Joe Muscat did with this person, then that’s obscene and not fit for a PM of a country.
I’d file a double-crossing skunk suit against his former boss too.
Would be a wonderful idea to print these words of wisdom of our Prime Minister and put them on billboards all over Malta.
Another idea would be to send them to the Pope to show him another facet of our Prime Minister.
If only he had a recording of this conversation, we would get rid of this joke of a PM.
The real problem that Norman Vella had is that if he had tried to reciprocate a punch delivered by our lovely Prime Minister “below the belt”, he would have had no effect at all.
A prime minister to shame us.
It’s always been a known fact that we are dealing with a little Mintoff here.
Disgusting!
Veru bastid dak Muscat.
Hopefully the truth will come to light. Nevertheless, Norman can’t expect a pat on the back for giving the nation the most crass and populist programme for the last 2 decades.
If i were to be asked whether I believe Norman or not, I will state without hesitation that I do.
By making this statement I am not alleging that Joseph Muscat is a violent person, but there have been many incidents which have caused me to believe that Dr. Muscat, despite his doctorate, is politically immature, and this is being proven today more than ever through his own statements.
One of those statements was made today: that he never knew that Shiv Nair was blacklisted by the World Bank. A good politician would have checked.
The MOU is back on?
Scum of the earth. That’s what sort of men make those kind of threats.
That is Labour’s only way of doing business. They do not know any other way.
‘Min mhux maghna kontra taghna’ slogan is still the Labour creed. Whoever does not vote for them or who criticises them is perceived as the enemy. And the enemy has to be punished, threatened and subdued into submission.
They never change do they. Actually with this jerk in charge it has become much worse. Even Mintoff did not start this bad in 1971. And it will get worse, much worse.
Can the EU do something about the pimping of the Maltese citizenship.which in reality means pimping of the EU passport. He is getting away with murder. A good reputation so painstakingly built over the years has been obliterated in a few weeks.
Shame on you Joseph.
I think it is a bit late for Norman to make the prime minister’s threat public. He should have said it immediately.
If it is true, the PM’s gym sessions might be turning him into a tough guy.
[Daphne – Tough guys don’t walk like Billy Bunter in a soiled nappy, Evergreen. I think his real problem is that he was at risk of being beaten up in the school playground, and developed girly sarcastic responses to fend it off. The guy will never stop being the fat, lonely kid out for revenge.]
What is wrong with the Maltese people? Why on earth they chose to elect this man as the PM? Why Maltese people are unable to distinguish the good from the bad?
You know what, this statement changes how I view those “switchers”, and it’s very much tied in with a comment someone else made about Muscat’s protection programme.
They weren’t used on billboards or at meetings because they had a job in store for them.
They were probably threatened and, as fervent or prominent Nationalists, told similar things, and they got scared. Some were perhaps threatened with having something exposed.
The result was them right where Muscat needed them: afraid and desperate to please him. Essentially handing all their free will over to him.
At least that’s how I see things. Perhaps we should feel some sort of pity for these cowards.
If you knock on a door expect it open.
What did he expect? Gieh ir-Republika”.
As far as I’m concerned if you hit somebody expect to be hit back where it hurts most.
That’s how life is.
[Daphne – How strange, Mr Loporto. I’d always assumed you didn’t grow up in the gutter.]
I was brought up in a college where I was taught to expect to be rewarded for my good actions and punished for my wrong deeds..
Norman played his cards and lost., now it’s pay time.
That is life.
If Norman can get one witness to testify in court this fact, but if there were only Labour officials… it’s his word against theirs.
Perjury in court, you think they’ll be bothered to say the truth?
“For every blow that we feel you are striking the Labour Party, I will strike you twice, with all my strength, under the belt, where it hurts.”
This is the Malta Labour Party.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131010/world/poll-winnera-day-before-election.489789#.UlbIiNJ9u6s
Democracy we will soon be having imported in Malta Taghna ikoll.
Imma hemm Anglu Farrugia jiehu hsieb…. bil-mod!
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-10-09/news/speaker-anglu-farrugia-monitoring-azerbaijan-presidential-election-2844196864/
This does not surprise me at all – it’s what many of us here have been saying all along about his personality.
What amazes me is how those who elected him into office failed to notice – his evil smirk and body language say it all.
Litteralment ahdar ir-ragel.
I am referring to Joseph Muscat, of course.
How barbaric. This is worse than Sant’s ‘għajn għal għajn, u sinna għal sinna’.
Il-bniedem mafjuz.
Oh, what gravitas and decorum. I would love now to listen to Muscat speak about fundamental rights and freedom of expression. It’s nice to know we have such a gentleman in the driving seat.
Norman Vella says that Joseph’s threats were made in the presence of the programme’s presenter. Was that presenter Peppi Azzopardi?
I do wonder what this presenter’s testimony will be like when it comes to the crunch. It will probably be “I don’t remember”.
Let’s hope he has the balls to say the truth.
Did Joseph give Norman that deceitful smile of his when he passed those threatening remarks?
What do you expect from a pig but a grunt?
I imagine that Joe Azzopardi, defender of the downtrodden, will not be leaving Norman Vella to fight this battle alone.
@Osservatore, if you can doubt what people say under oath, then our level of truthfulness is truly abysmal and we deserve to get the Muscat’s of this world
Minjaf lil min jemmen Robert Musumeci? Lil kuginuh Norman jew lil siehbu Joseph?
So much more bullying is taking place to so many others working in the civil service on a daily basis by this scum.
Not only to those working in the civil service, but also through it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byawbiGAnmk
Note that the PM refers to Shiv Nair as “din il-persuna”, so that he won’t be caught on film mentioning him by name.
Secondly and most importantly “kien hemm ftehim li jithallas sitt elef ewro fis-sena JEKK MINHIX SEJJER ZBALL” (1:25)while he makes the now noticeable furrows on his forehead.That was a blatant lie or at least a half truth.
The interviewer, Dione Borg, should have asked Joseph to be more precise, was it €6,000 for the Qatar visit or for a payment of €6,000 per annum?
If the Qatar visit was fruitful why isn’t the government not paying the now nameless consultant for services rendered?
(0.25)“L-ewwel nett iccekjajna u sibna li m’hemm l-ebda tip ta’ kuntratt bejn din il-persuna u l-gvern Malti”
(1:59)“Qabel ma gie ingaggat saret id-‘due diligence’ fuqu”
Was he given a consultancy “ingaggat” or not “l-ebda tip ta’ kuntratt” ?
Do the Maltese authorities need a go between to establish contacts with foreign governments?
I think we have another Tony Bliar in the making.
How reliable is his “iccekkjar” when we know for example that Chris Cardona didn’t know that Mrs Sai Mizzi Liang was engaged as an envoy to Asia on a pay packet of 3K per week under his portfolio.
We already concluded that the due diligence wasn’t done, so I won’t ask for resignations of the poor guys at MRA and the secret service.
Who did the due diligence on this person and what disciplinary actions are going to be taken against the persons who screened Shiv Nair and lowered Malta’s good reputation in the process?
I think we will be seeing more furrows if these questions are asked in front of a camera.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131010/local/company-to-carry-out-due-dilgence-of-applicants-for-citizenship.489759#.UleTcssaySM
The Prime Minister says this company was selected after a call for expression of interest.
If this process was conducted as it should have been, this plan of selling citizenship would have been on for quite some time. So how come it is only announced now?
And shouldn’t something like this be discussed in Parliament first? I also don’t recall this being mentioned in the PL manifesto either.
And still, people continue to sing their great leader’s song.
Mary Mifsud stopped writing but Eve Axiaq continued, this is just a glimpse at his 1388 comments on the Times commentary board:
QUOTE
Eve Axiaq • 3 months ago
so why dont they take some from Spain,Italy or Greece? Unemployment is at record high. What UK exactly wants?
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Avukat u jaqla inqas mil- minimum wage.
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Il programm ta Jerry Springer ukoll kien wiehed mil aktar programmi segwiti. Ma jfissirx li kien programm tajjeb u ta sugu. Ta lanqas ma kienx fuq stazzjon nazzjonali.
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Eve Axiaq • 3 months ago
L-arroganza fil programmi tieghu kienet evidenti. Prezentatur jiggieled mal mistiednin. Xi professjonalita!
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