Even Michelle Muscat has a protection officer – what’s going on?

Published: November 22, 2014 at 9:37am
Michelle Muscat has a protection officer who walks in front of her wearing an ear piece while she is out shopping.

Michelle Muscat has a protection officer who walks in front of her wearing an ear piece while she is out shopping.

Benny Bradlee has just posted this comment:

I was walking in Valletta yesterday and noticed that everyone was looking in one direction with a smirk on their faces.

I turned to look at what was so amusing.

There she was walking down Republic Street in a puce coat with her hair done up qisha sejra tieg tal-hamalli: our own Michelle Muscat with her very own protection officer with an ear piece, walking in front of her. Secret Service, hey.

But it makes one wonder. Is this all for show or are the Muscats and their cohorts really in need of protection? Why? And from whom?

We now speak of the current situation in Malta as the Wild West, but when you really think of it, it is not funny.

Sobering thoughts, indeed.




55 Comments Comment

  1. maria debono says:

    U ejja vera? We really have become the mockery of Europe.

  2. ciccio says:

    Why was she accompanied by a protection officer on Republic Street?

    Was she wearing the Alfa’s wing mirrors?

  3. Rokku says:

    Are they now so convinced that their excesses have made them a target and they need protection 24/7.

  4. Mila says:

    It would not be right if we are not also made to pay for someone to open her doors and queue for her besides parting crowds for her ease of passage.

    Remember that we are paying for a prime minister who rented his own car to himself and we were not told if, as the owner, he is paying for wear and tear and the replacement or if we are also footing that bill.

    There is ample evidence to indicate that this government, the spouses and consorts only do it one way, their way: raiding the sweetshop and gorging themselves sick.

  5. Marian says:

    So? She has to be unique ey, not like Mary Fenech Adami or Kate Gonzi.

  6. RF says:

    Vera libsu qalziet u hraw fieh. Gahnijiet kolla kemm huma. X’dardir ta’ nies.

    • Neil says:

      Top comment. The guy is only there in order to clear a way for ‘Malta’s First Lady’, and prevent her from being assailed by the great unwashed all eager to bask in her regal glow.

    • Pippa says:

      In the Golden Years? we used to call Xandir Malta – Dardir Malta. Now we can say Dardir Malta for this island once considered a haven of tranquility (except for the fireworks and the hunters’ gun shots).

      ‘Il-quddiem fl-inkwiet u l-biza’. To this have we come to. What a change!

      • Cikku says:

        Hekku! Il-bidla li riedu l-iswitchers. Bidla mill-qiegħ nett. Kollox fuq ir-rubini miexi jew fuq il-mirja! Issa kuntenti? Jew qed jerġa’ jibdielkom u tixtiequ treġġgħu l-arloġġ lura. Imma issa tard wisq.Kontu kappriċċużi u egoisti. Rajtu biss sa mneħirkom. Imma forsi jkollkom cans turu d-diżappunt tagħkom fl-elezzjoni li jmiss. Ikollna għalissa nitqannew bi gvern inkompetenti li bellajtulna. Nistennew u naraw.

  7. bob-a-job says:

    Well someone has to carry a gun in his pocket to show her he’s happy to see her.

  8. T says:

    “Iss hey, mela Barak u Michelle ghandhom security u jien ma nistax?”

  9. Kevin says:

    Since when has the situation in Malta deteriorated to require a full security detail? Or has it always been like that and we have been lulled into a false sense of security?

    Have there been any threats to the government? Who is making these threats? Have these threats increased over the past year and why? Is it because shady deals bring in shady people who use threats as a matter of course?

    Or is this part of the frivolity typical of the Muscat administration?

    Are we all in danger? What happens if someone makes a mistake and hits a ministerial car? After all, we’re all human and mistakes happen easily when driving even during the most sober of times.

    Are we going to be shot at, arrested and held for 48 hours, publicly humiliated and falsely accused? Are we going to be killed for touching the untouchable? Are we going to be bullied in submission and silenced?

    A good marketing campaign can easily mask a weak product and sell it. The proof is in use. Muscat was packaged as the next best thing after the wheel. However, in use Muscat has shown very weak leadership skills. The situation has degenerated to a free for all very quickly and it will be worse.

    The Maltese are equally weak willed and nonchalant. In normal countries, these are all grounds for impeachment.

    • Tabatha White says:

      Thank you, Kevin.

      Impeachment is the word I was longing to hear.

    • Tom Double Thumb says:

      Remember what happened when the state-controlled media and the thugs spun the story that someone had tried to shoot Mintoff at Castille.

      Are we to expect anything different? Maybe it will not be just a single Black Friday but a whole Black December, in preparation for the Christmas period. Mintoff always preferred that time to give us HIS GOOD NEWS.

    • observer says:

      One should rather say that ‘the next best thing after the wheel’ is the axle which holds two wheels, one on either side,
      in place.

      You can’t really do a lot with a wheel by itself, can you, now.

      Their little joey (pardon me for not saying ‘our’) is certainly nothing of an axle – he can’t hold even one of his ministers in place, let alone all of them together.

  10. edgar says:

    The late Mary Fenech Adami was seen daily walking the streets of Birkirkara and she would not have dreamed of having a protection officer or even a dedicated driver. After all she knew that she did not have enemies ready to get at her.

    • Cikku says:

      Dik kienet mara ta’ veru. Ma kellha l-ebda pretenzjonijiet. Kulħadd kien iħobbha. Mary Fenech Adami itlob għalina minn fejn qiegħda għax ġejjin fuqna żminijiet tal-biża!

    • David J Camilleri says:

      And Mary Fenech Adami actually was under real threat in extremely dangerous times, and was attacked and assaulted in her own home by the thug-army of the political party for which Joseph’s and Michelle’s parents voted.

  11. Plutarch says:

    I concur with Benny that these are indeed sobering thoughts.

    Is it paranoia, and if so why?

    Is it ostentatious attention-seeking, an extension of the siren-blaring, lights-flashing Third World-type outrider circus?

    Or is the Innermost Circle privy to info re potential danger alerts not available to us common mortals?

  12. Red clown says:

    Just after Junior Eurovision last Saturday, Muscat and entourage went for a bite to eat at PepeNero at the Valletta Waterfront. The twins needed to use the bathroom so some four security officers whisked the bathrooms before they got in.

    • Angus Black says:

      Just to ensure there was no sewer back-up. So there, no need to speculate or insinuate.

      Why use one security guard, when four can do the job on a john, so much better? Labour’s job creation scheme. Four of the 2000+ employed in the last 20 months.

  13. Stephen says:

    I would say illusions of grandeur. If they double-cross the scum they deal with, they’ll need more than a a guy with an ear piece.

  14. Ruth says:

    Dik biex thossha ftit bhal Principessa Kate. Ghax taf inti, diga hadet l-opportunita tlaqqa lit tfal mal-Princep, biex forsi ma tafx kif jghaddilhom kelma mal-Princep George u jithajjar. Allura tkun preparata ghal hajja Rjali.

    Ohlom Michelle u gawdi la tista! Pero tinsiex li iktar ma tghola ‘l fuq iktar is-sabta se tkun kbira mal-waqgha.

  15. Johann says:

    Yesterday I saw her in Qawra. She was sitting next to her driver, and a police car was driving behind her car.

  16. il-Ginger says:

    I wonder what her Secret Service code name is.

    [Daphne – The Beard]

  17. L.Gatt says:

    Let them go on like this. This is the sort of pompous pretentious bull that will lose them votes even faster than the scandals they’re all embroiled in.

  18. Guzi says:

    Let’s hope that our PM is not being threatened by the underworld.

    He might have promised things to the wrong people for the sake of votes and these pests came back to haunt him.

  19. Dylan C says:

    One word: Jaqq.

  20. Wenzu says:

    Brings to mind the image of the late Ms Mary Fenech Adami doing her daily shopping in the heart of Birkirkara carrying her famous shopping basket.

  21. Mike says:

    Three days ago I happened to be in Valletta and I did come across a small group of tourists not more than ten (not Chinese) accompanied by security men wearing ear pieces. The first thing I said to myself was,”Are these prospective IIP citizens?”

    We had 25 years of peace of mind, and never did I encounter any security personnel with any Prime Minister or minister’s wife wearing ear pieces in dark shades and giving you bad looks (maybe they watch too many Hollywood movies).

    When security becomes a major issue it can mean that people in control are getting paranoid. This only starts to dig in when you abuse of your position and start dealing with dodgy people, be it governments or people.

    Doesn’t it remind you of Mintoff with his army escort and non-official escort car driven by his goons and henchmen (I bet they used to be armed).

    The incident of the Israeli armed patrol boat underneath his l-Gharix house in Delimara with the excuse of seeking shelter because of bad weather! One can only wonder.

    The second is that these people are so full of it (hamalli li qatt ma kellhom xejn) that they want to impress. They want to feel they’re living the life like their friends the oligarchs, the Aliyevs of Azerbaijan.

    To a certain extent although still at the expense of public money, I hope it is the second.

  22. Options says:

    Mur gib lil Mary Fenech Adami. May she rest in peace

    Only now are we starting to realise what we did when we gladly handed over our country to these people.

  23. Herman says:

    In this picture she is looking like Elena Ceausescu!

  24. Robert Pace Bonello says:

    All these security guards are all jobs for the boys; they also improve the employment stastics.

  25. Banana republic ... again says:

    It’s probably just a jealous husband’s way of making sure his wife doesn’t wander off, since he’s not satisfying her.

    • Drinks With Vince Micallef says:

      Oh I doubt it. Muscat strikes me as being 100% indifferent to his wife. He doesn’t have enough emotion even to be annoyed when she is around. He blanks her like a piece of (useful) furniture. The interesting thing is that it doesn’t seem to bother her at all. She appears equally lacking in emotion towards him. This is a joint career project, I’d say.

  26. Maltri says:

    Knowing Labour, they need protection from each other.

  27. Kevin says:

    In a matter of fact tone the Times reports: http://www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/view/20141122/local/no-weapons-in-parliament-as-from-monday-mps-told.545167

    Since when have weapons been standard issue in attending Parliament?

  28. mandingo says:

    Michelle Muscat comes from the wrong background. She hasn’t a clue. And she hasn’t the good sense to learn, either.

  29. La Redoute says:

    It’s just a show. Genuine security detail walk BEHIND their charges, not ahead of them.

  30. La Redoute says:

    Folks, this is where your taxes are going. You’re propping up a third world dictatorship.

    Viva Eva Peron, I don’t think.

  31. John Higgins says:

    The late Mary Fenech Adami and also Kate Gonzi as well as their husbands were a paragon of correct and exemplary deportment.

    Joseph and Michelle haven’t even got a clue what exemplary deportment means.

  32. Karl Consiglio says:

    Good point, Daphne.

  33. ken il malti says:

    The Muscats need personal protection because they have secretly let in half the current Libyan government, or what passes for it, into Malta as a safe haven.

  34. Marco says:

    A few weeks ago RAI reported that the Italian prime minister’s wife goes about her life as much as possible as she did before her husband became prime minister.

    She kept her job as a teacher and insists on travelling on public transport.

    When using trains she travels second class as always.

  35. Mee shull says:

    Hamalli kienu u aktar baqghu. Vera jaqq. Issa jikkuntenta ruhu bihom dak Peter Apap Bologna.

  36. H.P. Baxxter says:

    What’s going on is it’s not their money. So spend, spend, spend until you drop. Or until you get voted out, heqq.

  37. Caroline says:

    “heqq, jekk ghandu kulhadd jien irrid ukoll ux!”

    Somehow I’m sure this reasoning has something to do with it.

    As for the others, it is either to give the impression of importance (this seems to be the case even with people who have been given an ordinary job at an ordinary level – ‘ghax issa ara kemm jien important!’).

    Alternatively, so that in future they can say, ‘tal-PN kienu qed jghedduni’.

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