A strange vacuum in the media
“It is more a question that Labourites cannot for one moment contemplate the possibility that their party will not win this time round. Were that to happen, the Labour party as we know it today would be all but finished. Change would definitely come about then. Starting from the leadership, there would be the clearance to end all clearances, notwithstanding that many of the current guard will be sitting in the House of Representatives. There would also be a fundamental philosophical and practical review of what exactly it is that the party should stand for, and how best to hammer it into a coherent strategy that would make sense once again for the existence of a party of the left, be it centre-left or a bit further out.”
– Lino Spiteri, The Sunday Times, 27 January 2008
Is it just me thinking this, or have the media gone strangely quiet after the electoral hullabaloo? It’s as though after the electoral rush, the tense campaigning and the announcement of the end result, there is not much more to be said. We’ll wait until the Labour Party holds its general conference, and then we’ll report it faithfully.
I’ve scanned all the newspapers and glued myself to the television and radio over the last few days, in the hope that my desire for news might be satisfied. No joy. There has been no attempt at analysis, either – not of what the result means to the Nationalists (apart from government, that is), and certainly not about what might be going on at Mile End. It’s as though a discreet curtain has been drawn over what must be long knives and pandemonium at Labour HQ. I have yet to read a single newspaper report or watch a television news spot – no, not even on Net – that seeks to wrest information from Labour about what in heaven’s name might be going on there. Are reporters going to wait until they are summoned and told the doctored version in one of those Josef Stalin press conferences?
I can understand the excitable speculation about the new government – we got the names last night – but I can’t for the life of me understand the indifference to what is happening in the Labour Party, which is considerably more interesting and of more profound significance for our future. This government is this government is this government. There are no big stories. The big stories, the secrets and lies, the jostling for position are all happening in the Labour Party. It is in complete disarray and having to come to terms with the fact that when the next general election arrives, it will not have won an electoral majority of votes in almost four decades – except for that brief Sant hiatus. And yet, there is silence.
And nobody has seen fit to point this out yet: but when Sant resigned, his two deputies should have resigned with him. They call themselves ‘the leadership’, and so their responsibility for this defeat is collective. Why are they still there, creating a ridiculous situation of a party with no leader but with two deputies? You cannot have deputies unless there is somebody to deputise for. That person has gone, and they should go too.
As for that prancing peacock….out, out and out again.
After the meltdown
An attempt at analysing the electoral fall-out gets Jason into another fight at Labour HQ. See the footage filmed secretly on a mobile phone.
Jason breaks down under the pressure
Charlon’s favourite kind of stress relief is not for him, so he tries something else.
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Lino Debono, ex-Labour MP has commented on the fact that it should not have just be AS to resign … http://www.l-orizzont.com/news.asp?newsitemid=42766
And Dominic Fenech wrote in yesterday’s l-orizzont that the party must ensure that the leadership contest needs to be conducted differently from the ‘xenati u xeneggjati’ (his words) of the 1992 and 2003 contests.
http://www.l-orizzont.com/news.asp?newsitemid=42768
I think we cannot have new faces in the cabinett, they should have experience and the know how too. I think Gonzi chose the best of the best for his cabinet!! well done!!
Why dont MLP do the same and get rid of the black sheep, like Jason, Mangion & Co!! Chuck out Evarist too I think he is Sant’s clone!!Someone who is in favour of EU and with a commitment to work with “Dawk In-Nazzjonalisti” ghax we are not part of their family (as per Justine speech)!!
What about Michael Frendo if he gets elected?
He too should be in this cabinet, just becasue he did get elected straight away does not mean that he is not one of the best people in the party.
Very apt video clips. Hilarious.
To M F
Problem with MLP is that, once the ‘black sheep’ are removed, there would not be much left – Sant’s long years at the helm have seen to that; those with any potential were made to walk the plank, the rest voluntarily jumped overboard. There is a complete absence of any remotely useful talent. MLP today is a rudderless ship manned by a clueless crew. Since it is now ‘back to begonias’ for Jason, he could well consider taking over the Mile End GlassHouse and put it to some good use.
To Kieli,
Listen I think it is very positive to have a healthy opposition. Well have you got any suggestion? I do, Lino Spiteri is the one, but the age says it all. Maybe George Abela!! The MLP has to realize it is not a matter who will win next election but is a matter of checking out the gov’t on our behalf and working hand in hand with the gov’t for a better Malta. We are already doing a good job and together with MLP we can even do better! But having someone who care for the Maltese not for the laburisti biss b’imgieba ta gwerra kontra PN!!
– Lino Spiteri, The Sunday Times, 27 January 2008
Re article above, it does not appear until now that the prophesied :
Starting from the leadership, there would be the clearance to end all clearances,
is going to happen. Hurrah ! !
There is no way that Jason is going to let go.
This will meanwhile enable the Nationalists enough time to address the return to the fold off all those haemorrhaged voters. They have now five more years time to do it.
And with Labour only cosmetically reinvented a bigger defeat will await them as things can only get better now. Disgruntled Nationalits will never vote Labour and Gonzi will have all the time in the world to appease them now.
The writing on the wall is there for Labour to see, it has been there for the last twenty years. Is it really going to let someone hijack it again and wait until the Labour party as we know it today would be really all but finished ?
This is the result of a coalition:
Il-President tas-Serbja Boris Tadic xolja l-parlament. Hu sejjaħ elezzjoni bikrija għall-11 ta’ Mejju. Dan ġara wara li spiċċat fix-xejn il-koalizzjoni mmexxija mill-Prim Ministru Kostunica (ritratt). Il-Ministri ma laħqux qbil dwar jekk jissospendux it-taħdidiet ma’ l-Unjoni Ewropea wara li l-pajjiżi membri ta’ l-Unjoni Ewropea rrikonoxxew lill-Kosovo bħala stat indipendenti. Uffiċjali ta’ l-Unjoni Ewropea qalu li jittamaw li l-partiti favur l-Unjoni Ewropea jirbħu l-elezzjonijiet ta’ Mejju li ġej.
Any1 can tell me if Manuel Micallef (ex GWU) would make a good secretary for MLP?
I’m no political expert but I think the MLP is due to implode and that it’s time for something new to rise from the ashes. It is time that the old, tired MLP regime is laid to rest! If there are any valid people still existing within the MLP after AS’s various purges, it is time to rise up, take stock and give birth to a new party free from the baggage that the MLP has carried for the past 30 years or so. Because let’s face it, the MLP has so much baggage from the late 70’s, 80’s and the Sant years that it simply cannot move forward. It is always bogged down in its endless class struggle (which is irrelevant in today’s world anyway) with class jealousy and hatred that should have been thrown out with the Iron Curtain. And its various policies from its anti-Eu stance to its Big Brother tendencies make it a terrible thing to behold. As to its record on corruption, the MLP is a shining example of how NOT to handle corruption. During the PN years, there was admittedly some corruption going on. Some was more like conflicting interests rather than corruption but what’s in a name? In spite of this however, the economy grew and the standard of living improved. In the MLP years the economy shrank and standards of living decreased to the level where we were buying cat-food disguised as tuna that was imported by the mlp government. The few within the inner circle became richer whilst everyone else struggled to survive. As to the constant eating away of our rights and freedoms…….well I’ll never stop if I start on this subject. All this baggage is still on the MLP’s back and unless they start afresh with new people having new ideas and a new vision, then Malta will never have a decent opposition.
Keep Jason Get Gonzi…but they won’t keep Jason…will they? Surely? Ho hum……
PN:
New Stock now in!!!
MLP:
Clearance Sale!!!
AN:
Closing-down sale!
AD:
Never opened actually!
To MF:
Manuel Micallef would even be valid for something more than Secretary General unfortunately he probably won’t be considered.
Don’t be too sure about the clearance sale.
It will need divine intervention to happen.
Can anyone please tell me what has happened to people like Jo Said?!?!?
You mean like Eddy Privitera.
To Mario,
How about Karl Chircop? Is he one of Sant’s Company? I heard him couple of times and he seems quite a down to earth person!!
You know whom I think would make a good politician, Reno Bugeja, the only decent journalist that made serious questions about politics during the elect camp., I dont know whom he side with!!
I noticed the orizzont website still uses non-standard maltese fonts! shame on them.. in 2008!
Maybe I have become a sceptic but my view is that nothing substantial will change in the MLP. They will retain the same negative, mud slinging, class hatred, envious and paranoid traits simply becasue they reflect their supporters (i know I am being rather generic here but I believe this to be substantially true). They will just appoint someone who will promise another “new” approach, but we forget that he will be chosen by the same delegates that reappointed Sant 5 years ago. Real change can only happen if the party splits up.
And if PM Gonzi ends up losing the next election he can then concentrate on his business activity in the caribbean.
http://www.gonzislimo.com/
I must say that PN is to ask for a recount on all 13 districts. Suddenly as from Sunday at 21.30 hrs seems that everyone the day before had voted PN.
Hypocrasy at best as even those who refused to collect voting document enjoyed the stroll along the Sliema front waving the PN or Euro flag…..
I also suggest all of you to peep in the Kaccaturi u Nassaba online forum……meditate gente meditate
CeCe
To giggs11 et al,
It is understandable that the vast majority of Maltese people (be they Nats or Labs) want a complete overhaul of the Labour party. I’m tired of winning by default!!
Unfortunately, since politics is draconian by nature, such changes cannot and will not happen overnight. Suffice to have a look at the Labour MP’s voted into office. A good number are either downright old school or else base their credo in old-school Labour – vide that doctor guy who did the Sant’s Op, vide Justyne, with the pretty face and the snarl of a pitbull in heat, vide Varist, Anglu Bellu, Helena and Ms. Preca. These millstones will stay with Labour surely for another 5 years.
Ideally, Labour should have a Secretary General who lives up to his name (taking good care of party admin), and a forward-looking leadership that can keep the snarling dogs on leash.
As to actual name-calling, I don’t know who could be a good Labour leader – having a look (again) at who was elected in Parliament, there are a couple who could maybe do the grade, but as I said above, Labour needs a moderate with an iron fist, to keep the old-school at bay and change the people’s concept of what Labour stands for… is there such a person out there?
To CeCe Camenzuli,
You are so bloody right!! Look at the Fosos crowd on Tuesday… it was like re-living the Ta’ Qali gathering of ’96, when everyone was saying PN will win for sure… and we all know what happened.
I am morally convinced (now, where did I hear that phrase?…) that a lot of non-voters and grumblers were shamelessly partying with us on Tuesday… but don’t worry my friend.. hopefully now they have come to their senses and aprecaite how close they were to f…ing Malta up!!!
Gonzi will be the PM of all the Maltese be they PN, MLP, AD, AN (yes, both of them!), cowards, hypocrites, grumblers, attention-seekers, and ‘approffitaturi’
Couldn’t agree with you more giggs 11
In its history since Independence, the MLP gave us Mintoff 1 & 2, that put in important social reforms, but to detriment of everything else – halting Malta’s economic boom of the 60s and virtually bankrupting the nation.
Then came the undemocratic and shameful government of 1981 – Malta, a police-state, no freedom of speech, the country run to the gound in every way.
Ater which the 22 months of Alfred Sant.
What, that’s it? Is that all that the MLP did since Independence.
By how many points did our economy grow in real and/or nominal terms. And what about health, education in those MLP years. What about infrastructure – airports, telephones, power, etc.
Malta, always a shambles under the MLP.
They do not ever deserve to govern.
MLP has been in dire straits for a long time..but now each one of the MLP delegates should be in a position to read the writing on the wall. The choice is simple: It’s either a root and branch overhaul of the party to rid it of all its negative traits or being doomed to permanent irrelevance.
Now is the time for them to finally take the bull by the horns: they need a figure who would manage to make the party more appealing and unthreatening to the middle class – a person who exudes common sense, centre-left sensibilities, moderation, and incisive,dispassionate thinking – and who is not linked to the old MLP inner circles. One such figure who has become more conspicous of late is Prof. Edward Scicluna.
Few have his brains, charm and good manners in the party. Malta needs a decent party other than PN – and MLP owes it to the country to finally get its act together after all this time outside the mainstream (i.e since Boffa).
agreed Hamruniz
Malta needs a strong second party, a genuinely NEW labour, that sheds its hard-line roots for modern centre (slightly to the left) policies.
The same way that Labour in the UK made fundamental changes with Blair
Edward Scicluna, not another mathematician! Better have Marlene Mizzi then.Haven’t we said more women?
Talking about women , how about Ms Helen D’amato for the post of Speaker of the house?
Thank you Daphne for this website, which I read everyday. I agree with most of your comments and I suggest to you that you keep it going.
I would like you to comment on the Naxxar tragedy and your thoughts about these irresponsible morons that are a danger to everyone. Personally I think that the only way to control this is to abolish fireworks altogether, it was bad enough when accidents occured and they ended up dead themselves, but now they are killing innocent people and that is unacceptable.
For all those that say that Feasts are not the same without fireworks, I say then abolish feasts as well, after all they are just paganism and an excuse for rowdiness and drunkeness.
[Moderator – I think the last person to enforce similar policies was Oliver Cromwell, and he didn’t go down too well in the popularity stakes. The problem is not that fireworks exist at all, but rather that they are produced by people who can’t read the time, let alone the periodic table. Pharmaceutical companies use what is effectively dynamite (nitroglycerin) to produce many heart medications. And it hasn’t been raining pills recently because the chemicals are handled by people who have studied chemistry or pharmacy at graduate level.]
Daphne is right. It-tmexxija should have resigned en bloc.
Anybody saw vice versa? They all lokked like angels now. And i pitied profs scicluna. The man amazes me how able he is to talk differently and subtely according on what t.v.station he is speaking from. Miskin he fared so badly under the Nats that he was talking about how the prime minister should appoint people not according to their political allegiance. You may be a profs but people are not dumb either.
And now, the end is near;
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, Ill say it clear,
Ill state my case, of which Im certain.
Ive lived a life thats full.
Ive traveled each and evry highway;
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.
Regrets, Ive had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.
I planned each charted course;
Each careful step along the byway,
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.
Yes, there were times, Im sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall;
And did it my way.
Ive loved, Ive laughed and cried.
Ive had my fill; my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.
To think I did all that;
And may I say – not in a shy way,
No, oh no not me,
I did it my way.
For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows –
And did it my way!
No, Albert. Look rather to France.
You see, the British Labour Party never deviated from its historical trade union roots. In Malta, when Paul Boffa was deposed, the MLP completely flipped its ideological foundations. Mintoff effectively turned it into a Liberation From The Yoke Of Imperialism / Philo-Communist party, with a huge chip on its shoulder – akin to the Italian/French left, only third-world this time round.
Want my suggestion? Disband the MLP, and create a new Liberal/Centre-Left/ What you will party. but disband the MLP. No one gives a toss about its supposed achievements (1979? tsk! il-pensjonijiet? It’s not as if Mintoff was alone in this).
And by the way, make no mistake: The MLP’s position against EU membership was the LOGICAL continuation of its Mintoffian, Europe-hating ideology, and not, as some would have it, Sant’s personal whim.
To M F
Look, Joe. That what the country really needs is a serious political party that could form a credible and efficient alternative goverment is understood by all – except perhaps the 43% odd of the electorate that persists in giving thie oonu to MLP, and more so the administrative and executive structures of the MLP itself. MLP policy has constantly and progressively been to immerse its voter support in ignorance – The pre-election BLA AGENDA televoting question ” X’tippreferixxi taqta’ nofs is-surcharge, jew tinaghta bozza? Says it all. MLP has painted itself into a corner and is now quite beyond redemption. Maybe the play-writer who authored this situation which is a loss to all can now generate some sort of Deus ex Macchina – but I do not advise you to hold your breath.
This moderator is fun (see reply to Chris B). He’s even making up for Victor Laiviera’s absence.
Chris B: Abolition of fireworks would probably lead to more of what we saw in Naxxar, rather than less. The Naxxar incident didn’t happen because fireworks are legal. It happened because whoever stored the material in a garage in a residential area did so illegally.
The moderator is right in saying that it is the people involved who are the problem, rather than the chemicals they use. Banning fireworks would not frighten reckless people into submission. If fireworks factories are closed down, more garages will blow up, rather than fewer.
The ultimate penalty – death by explosion – has never been enough to dissuade reckless behaviour while the production of fireworks is legal. Why would it dissuade anyone if fireworks are made illegal?
I heard that the fireworks stored in Naxxar were ready to be used in the case of a Labour victory. Did anyone hear these rumours?
[Moderator – I don’t really think that it’s relevant.]
I need to get this out of my system guys.
1.What a shame, to quote Norman Hamilton, that he cannot address Alfred Sant as Prime Minister in this week’s Bla Agenda. (That’s a joke and not just a misnomer)
2. What a shame that Marie Benoit has to keep her champers on ice for the next 10 years !!
Well, her close friend Mrs D should comfort her over tea and cakes now.
3. What a shame that Jo Said(is he related to dearest Marie) has had such a short-lived notoriety.
4. George Vella’s rants mis-fired and the University students told him what to do with his opinions.
5. and dearest Grace Borg no longer the darling of labour. Must have been those nails…
etc etc etc…can anyone jog my memory cause I am still punch drunk with joy.
Seriously lejber get a life, the country seriously needs a valid opposition, and it ain’t happening.
The laws re fireworks should be enforced, and in fact changed to reflect the lessons learnt.
Life is too precious and these monkeys should not get away it. They are destroying our loved ones.
Dear Daphne,
Can you do the MLP a favour and choose a decent leader for them? Probably, they won’t take your advice, but I’m dying to know your opinion!!!
I’d like to hear your views on Alfred Mifsud. He always came across to me as a sensible person and would be a decent leader if given the chance.
The only good person that they have in their administration is Zrinzo Azzopardi , and i think he should keep his place or even become one of the two assistent leaders. In the position of leader they have no one good and they have a real big problem. Maybe they appoint Manuel “tajjeb li tkun taf” Cushcieri or else try to convince Daphne to become their leader.
If DCG were to recommend a leader for the MLP she would surely kill that person’s chances. So some advice to her (if I may) propose the one you DON’T want to be leader.
Where is Emmanuel Cuschieri? Last week he was urging people to go to Castille on Monday to greet “il-Prim Ministru ta’ Malta kollha(?) DOKKTOR ALFRED SANT u nehilsu darba ghal dejjem min dan il-gvern CARETAKER”
who ever the new leader will be .. unfortunately, the labour supporters want a leader who instead of producing policies for better economic growth and better life style is minded on negative, mud slinging, and insulting attitude – i.e. a mintoff and sant stereotype.
You chaps are missing the wood for the trees. Leader of what, Mark? Leader of the same party with the same policies, or the same ideology? Its not the leader who has to change, but the MLP’s political paradigm.
Yes the moderator is right, but do you think that anyone with a degree in chemistry is going to produce fireworks in Malta? If you believe that then you will probably believe in Sant`s Pjan ghall bidu gdid. And dear Corinne, do you think that the people that produce these fireworks here are going to abide by rules and regulations? As if, they`ll just keep doing things like they always did, thinking that it cannot happen to them because most of them think that they are experts and that nobody can tell them what and how to do things.
My suggestion was not to close the factories, but to impose a ban on all fireworks, that means that the ones in store will be destroyed and that it will be illegal to shoot fireworks anywhere in Malta and Gozo. Unfortunately with these kind of people if you make tough regulations they will go underground and we will have more tragedies like yesterday`s.
And, by the way do you know why all of a sudden we are having so many accidents like these? Someone told me that they are using a cheaper version of some chemical, which is banned in Europe because it`s is much more dangerous.
[Moderator – Banning fireworks completely is far too authoritarian and irrational. Cars are are dangerous too, but the solution was to regulate them and not to ban them.]
On hearing 6.00pm Net news today 13 March …an expert from the courts…pleaded “that anyone who has fireworks stored illegally should inform the authorities who would remove them to safe places…with what I understood to be the turning of an Nelson’s eye….
These passed days I didn’t hear other than Whistle Blowers, Presidential Pardons and wink… winks
The Island is fast becoming one huge secular confessional with absolutions galore. At least let’s seriously mete out an obligatory penance:
A huge chunk of solid hard cash.
That bites!
Tony Pace – It’s Ms. D. And I suspect it will be chips, not cakes :)
CeCe – I know exactly what you mean. The same had happened after the referendum in 2003, when people who were very openly against it were out mingling with the celebrating crowds at Ghar id-Dud/Fond Ghadir.
Can anyone imagine an explosion just at the back of the counting hall in Naxxar at around 11.00 , last Sunday? The Times reported that more fireworks were found in the vicinity of the tradefair grounds , today.
@ moderator ; cars maybe dangerous , but they are a necessity ,we can live without fireworks ,or at least without noisy petards.I used to like watching fireworks , but now I see that it is costing too many lives, they are a danger to everyone on these islands , from a rambler , to a farmer tilling his fields , to an adventourous 14 year old who finds an unexploded petard after a feast.Let us stop this Russian roulette.
[Moderator – Necessity or not, the point remains that an outright ban will not solve anything that regulation can’t.]
Suggested celebration food:
PN – chicken
Sant – PRofiteroles
Harry & Co – pasti hodor
The tragedy at Naxxar is the result of ignorance, egoism and irresponsibility. Whoever manufactured and stored the fireworks did not give much of a hoot about his own safety, let alone other innocent people living in the nearby buildings. What this person, or more likely these persons, were interested in was their own interest, whatever that was. The production of fireworks could not have been the act of a single man. He would need others to buy these petards from him, or at least pass them on to them for firing. He would also need to buy the chemicals from someone else. These other people knew about these illegal activities. The storage of the fireworks could not have been a complete secret, known only to just one person.
The people who knew about all this are accomplices to murder and destruction. Lives have been lost, homes rendered uninhabitable and ugly memories and shock will haunt many people in the area for years to come. Is it possible that no neighbours ever suspected anything fishy going on? Or were they too apathetic to report, or maybe too afraid? These people share the responsibility to what happened. But I suppose they just murmured “miskina, jahasra, kif mietet..” and just fail to admit to themselves that they could have done something about the monster of egoism that brought all this about. There’s hypocrisy and cowardice as well in all this. Not just in this episode though.
Hypocrisy, ignorance and egoism are some of the plagues of this country. We see these traits everywhere. Let’s not kid ourselves, we find them across all society, be it on the PN side, the Labour side or whatever. Have they not affected the way people have voted (or not voted) last weekend? Look at the people inside churches. Do not many of them have such traits? Yet they profess their belief in the love and mercy for man and then at times fail to raise a finger to help someone else who at times is in serious danger. Look at the way some church goers drive. Are they not a threat to other people’s lives? A death is the same, be it through an explosion next door or through the crumpling of a car body around you. Is not this egoism, hypocrisy and lack of consideration for others?
The Naxxar tragedy is shocking indeed. But other dangerous and shocking experiences are met each day and left unchecked. Then one day tragedy hits. And then we say Miskin/a jahasra….
Top Lejber X1
1. Manwel Cuschieri
2. Jason Micallef
3. Charlon Gouder
4. Norman Hamilton
5. Alfred Zammit
6. Grace Borg
7. Michael Woods
8. Joe Said
9. Ray Azzopardi
10. Joe Debono Grech
11. Charles Mangion
(Alfred Sant does not figure out in standard formation as he resulted positive following dope testing)
Team Manager : Dr.Anthony Zammit – he solves any internal problem !!
Time for a break now… I heard that a brand new pastizzi shop opened at Birkirkara. Specialises in qassati, the best there are, they say… The shopowner looks familiar, but they say that if you write in English he may call you qtates…
I am hungry, but something keeps me back from that shop. Now,now where have I seen that bloke before….?
Discussing the Naxxar tragedy is not really relevant here. However, I’d like to add a brief comment since some have mentioned it here.
There is an aspect many are overlooking in this tragedy …and this is the market economy. Fireworks sell! People earn money from its manufacturing. The mad man storing them in his garage at Naxxar (who is a notorious fellow in the Mosta/Naxxar area) intended to use them and sell them for immediate celebrations. I don’t care if these were political celebrations or not (a strong possibility because the confiscated “murtali” had already the “tir” and “nicca” wrapped up).
My point is this, underestimating this factor (fireworks sell and good money is earned from them) will not help in curbing abuse by these mad men.
Is it true that tal-Lejber are already working on their next electoral manifesto to replace the defunct Bidu Gdid? Heard it is going to be called Bla Agenda!!! Hope there willl be less misprints.
They already have the new anthem ready:
Spicca l-lejber, spicca l-lejber Hej, Hej!
Come on, Victor and Eddy and elfs/elves, we want to party!! This is not fun, three days have passed and we miss you on this blog.
Just yanking your chain. Seriously let me give you a piece of advice (free). If the MLP wants to become electable sometime in future, the leader has to put country before party, the entire leadership and media frontmen and women have to cahnge and above all we are still waiting for an honest sincere apology for all the excesses carried out between 1981-1987.
This eerie silence has multiple causes. I’m listing them keeping in order of importance:
1. Political fatigue – we need a break!
2. The focus now on Naxxar tragedy & the missed opportunity for Labour victory celebrations …Oooppps!!!
3. Focus on Gonzi’s moves which hint more & more that he really means business.
4. A wait & see approach of the Nationalists.
Well this is enough news for you:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080314/local/alfred-mifsud-wants-back-in-as-labour-leadership-race-looms
Labour needs a leader who encourages open dialogue on matters of policy and strategy. The party has been led by the nose by its former leaders (AS included) for too long. It needs to realise that policies are discussed and agreed in party conferences by delegates and by the whims and fancies of the leader.
While it is entirely up to the party to choose its rudder, I am sure that there are quite a few good man (and woman) in the party to choose from. One fellow who comes to mind out of the shadows is Jose Herrera. He is moderate, intelligent and respectful.
Xarabank this week was such an eye-opener.
Jason Micallef showed that he had NO idea what he was talking about. Shame that he’ll probably be responsible that this country will remain with the same lousy opposition party for some time to come.
Tony Pace: Oh yes he does. Jason Micallef is concerned about Jason Micallef’s appearance and position. That’s all he talks about. He just phrases it in a different way.