Call centres and think-tanks
Joseph Muscat plans to set up a call centre at Labour HQ
We all know by now that the Labour Party has suffered three consecutive electoral defeats. What we forget is that they come hot on the heels of another three consecutive defeats – 1981, 1987 and 1992 – separated only by Alfred Sant’s brief legislature. It is necessary to take in that full picture when considering the extent of the mess that the party is in right now.
The strange thing is that one is left with the distinct impression that the party’s movers and shakers are unaware of this, and imagine that once a new leader is installed, things can go on pretty much as they were. I listen to what they say and read what they write, and the common thread is that the March 8 result was so close that the Labour Party didn’t lose. No. It almost won.
It is a crucial distinction. The ‘almost won’ mindset imagines that no fundamental change is required to secure the seat of government in 2013. This is dangerous thinking. Those big Labour cheeses should be waking up every day to chant the mantra ‘we lost’ until the truth sinks in. Only then will there truly be the drive for change. As things stand, there barely seems to be the will to understand what went wrong, though the answers are staring them in the face and are obvious even to me. For the Nationalist Party, on the other hand, the drive to change comes from repeating the phrase ‘we almost lost’ and not ‘we won’.
I don’t belong to the ranks of those who are astonished at the victory, who are amazed that it could be done and that it was done. Rather the opposite – I am shocked that such a rubbish party, with such ridiculous and risky policies, with such dreadful politicians and so disorganized, and above all, led by a serial loser who disparaged democracy and who even claimed to have won the referendum on Europe, almost got into government. It’s disgraceful. It says so much about Malta that I would prefer not to hear.
I know that around 47% of the population will vote for the Labour Party even if it is swimming in a slew of ineptitude, violence and corruption. They will vote for the party if it is led by a one-eyed talking monkey wearing a suit. But this really was too much. When I heard that the majority was of just 1,500, my reaction was of disbelief, disillusionment and utter cynicism that, despite the changes of the last 21 years, roughly half the Maltese population continues to think as it did before those changes had taken place. Malta has opened up, but our minds are still closed. People who acknowledged that Gonzi would make a far better prime minister than Sant still went ahead and voted to make Sant prime minister, out of some absurd tribal loyalty.
Now we sit and watch the Labour leadership soap opera and wonder where it will take us. There is just one contender who can become leader, and there is just one contender who can lift the party out of the trough of hapless misery in which it now wallows. The dilemma the party faces is that they are not the same person. Joseph Muscat will become leader, and George Abela will, for the second time, become the boat that Labour missed. It is George Abela, and not Joseph Muscat, who appeals to those who haven’t voted Labour recently or who have never voted Labour. It is George Abela who can help rein them in by removing the fright factor from the Labour Party. But that’s not going to happen.
Joseph Muscat is already disturbing floaters and people like me, and that’s just after a couple of weeks of his leadership campaign. He does not disturb us because we think he will be a good party leader who will ‘steal’ the election from ‘our’ party. Oh no. He is disturbing in the same way that Alfred Sant, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici and Dom Mintoff were disturbing, but for different reasons. We know that there’s something wrong there, but we just can’t put our finger on it yet. The other contenders are not disturbing in this way; they are simply hopeless and inept. They are not driven in that frightening way that convinces one they have some personal project in mind and are going to claw their way to the top to implement it at whatever cost to the country. They just come across as chancers who are trying their luck but who have no real hope of getting anywhere.
Muscat seems to think that if Sant swung it, then he can too. Oh, how wrong he is. When Sant came along in 1992, lots of moderates and floaters and pale-blue Nationalists had never noticed him before. They didn’t know his history in the party. They were so relieved to see a Labour leader who seemed smart and who wore a suit and came across as normal – though the least said about that, the better – that all he needed to do was promise to get rid of VAT and he was on to a winner. But Sant wrote his own political death-warrant, and no Labour leader in the same mould is going to be trusted again within this time-span of living memory. The factor working most strongly against Muscat is that he is cloned on Sant. He reminds us of him, and we don’t like that.
This sentiment is going to pick up force as Muscat’s campaign goes on a roll and we begin to see more of him and hear more of what he has to say. His two most recent and prominent appearances on television, on TVM’s Bondiplus and Dissett, were nerve-wracking. He gave an off-putting account of himself, but at the same time, it was clear that he is precisely the sort to impress unsophisticated party delegates. The attributes we class as repellent they would probably see as desirable.
Now Muscat has announced that he will be holding public meetings, and also gathering delegates together. I have heard through the political grapevine that he has used the system which pays for MEPs to organize familiarization trips to Brussels, for associates from their home countries, to host Labour Party delegates and show them around there. What do they call it? Oh, yes – the power of incumbency.
He has just given a press conference in which he ‘outlined his vision for the party’. Like his predecessors, he is taken up with making the mistake of differentiating between the party and the country. The Nationalist Party’s success is rooted in the fact that its visions inevitably encompass the entire country, and not just the party. Political parties are about organization. They do not need an internal vision to work properly and efficiently. Any vision that a party builds must be a vision for the country, one that draws in the country and gets the country to vote for it.
Yet there was Muscat, telling reporters that the Labour Party’s structures need to be updated, and that the party needs to be more responsive to current needs (tell us something we don’t know). The party needs to be more ‘open and inclusive’ he said, bringing together the moderate and progressive people of Malta. But to do that, he must first work out why the moderates and the progressives have beaten a path to the doors of the Nationalist Party in droves over the last couple of decades. Labour is now a very curious political creature: a right-wing, ultra-conservative and xenophobic animal that doesn’t understand business, mistrusts the making of money, and is beset by paranoia and class hatred.
I was waiting for it, and there I found it, in a newspaper report of his press conference: “Dr Muscat said he was proposing the creation of public fora and think tanks which would review and propose party policy.” Oh dear god in heaven. I wondered when those ‘tink-tanks’ were going to appear. They are so typically pseudo-intellectual-outdated-Labour, and it doesn’t take much to work out where the idea came from if you know who’s helping run Muscat’s campaign. The idea that policies are developed by intellectuals in think-tanks is about as appealingly fresh and modern as a live reading of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance or Jonathan Livingston Seagull. But that’s what happens when your advisers are stuck in their heyday, which coincided with the first appearance of flares and platform shoes. In the contemporary world, policies are developed by people who know about life, and more importantly, who have experience of what they are talking about. Alfred Sant inhabited a fictionalized world in which theory, divorced from reality, shaped his ‘narrative’. I hope this isn’t going to become a habit with Labour.
Joseph Muscat does seem to realise that new policies ‘in accordance with European norms’ are called for, but how he is going to drag the party across the political spectrum from a strange variant of right-wing conservatism to something more liberal is quite beyond me. His great plans for reforming the Labour Party include a call centre. Yes, really – would you credit it? People call a party number and complain or suggest something. This is so unbelievably crass that I just want to flop down and weep in despair. Meanwhile, a bank of telephone operators sits there and takes complaints and suggestions about the party (“Silvio Parnis should wear less gel.”). This won’t achieve anything and it will run up even greater debts for the financially crippled party.
He also places too much faith in the Internet, and is one of the several Labour exponents who imagine that the Labour Party was damaged in this last election by its failure to be present in cyberspace. Ah, but what came first, the chicken or the egg? There were lots of pro-Nationalist views on the Internet during the electoral campaign because the kinds of people who are comfortable on the Internet tend to be the kinds of people who vote Nationalist, and not because the Nationalist Party placed them there. There was nothing to stop Labour supporters posting comments on blogs and on-line newspapers, but few of them did so. It’s not a presence on the Internet that the Labour Party needs, but more supporters who belong to the Internet generation. That it doesn’t have them is entirely its own fault.
Muscat also plans to review the party media. This inevitably means the production of a newspaper in the kind of English that those who prefer to read English never write or speak, as with the Labour Party’s ridiculous news website, Maltastar.com, which seems to exist solely to get a thrill out of publishing semi-pornographic stories and images.
I can see the picture forming before my eyes already: a party reform project that will get bogged down in the nitty-gritty of newspapers, Internet, call-centres, think-tanks and ‘openness’, while the Nationalist Party puts its nose to the grindstone and sees to the business of winning the next election.
This article is published in The Malta Independent on Sunday today.
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Ah Daph, but you’re missing the whole point of this call centre thingamaging…
It will provide fodder to the Bord tal-Vigilanza… Anonymous letters are so 90s.
Political Think-tanks almost invariably produce tonnes of ‘papers’, ‘studies’ and ‘thesis’ which contain nothing more than hot air which no one understands… Imma basta nidhru li hsibna fuqha.
And a Call-Centre? I can’t wait to get hold of the (hopefully Freephone) number! “Hello hemmhekk Alamango? Hawnhekk Ala…..” LOL!!! Or else I can always book a highly-paid place in a forthcoming Gvern tal-Lejber biss.
Mr. Joe has a guestbook for well-wishers on his website:
http://www.josephmuscat.com/pages/lc/iseGuestBook.asp
Who is Joseph?
“Huwa kien wiehed mill-ftit nies fil-mezzi tax-xandir li kellu bazi soda ta’ ekonomija, billi huwa primarjament ekonomista u manager.”
Ah OK , now we know… so being an economist makes you a good journalist? You see, Daph, that is where you fail, you are not an economist like Joseph…. ;)
The efficacy of call centres..
http://www.jokesduniya.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/police-call-centre.jpg
@DCG (and Meerkat as well)
You never fail to astonish me with the pictures that accompany your blogs. They are always spot-on. I wonder from where you get them!
From 40 pledges 10 involve the setting up of committees, think tanks, policy units and other pseudo names to do management by talking rather than acting.
Joesph’s manifesto is perfectly suitable if he were seeking the post of Secretary General as it is totally inward looking. A Secretary General is expected to remain Secretary General even if his party wins government. Joe Muscat does not realise he is bidding for leading Labour with the prospect of bidding for the post of Prime Minsiter. How then is his manifesto totally devoid of any vision for the country?
Unfortunately Joseph Muscat is just another one who fails to distinguish between the role of a leader and the role of an administrator. He may be a good administrator but as a Leader he just does not start.
Indeed Joseph’s manfisesto is a perfect condemnation for Jason as a perfectly incompetent secretary general, call centres assistenza ciuttadin and all.
have you guys noticed that the titles in JM’s site are in English and the text is in Maltese?
… so this guy wants to lead his party and obviously this country, and he doesn’t even have enough common sense to (at least) have the titles translated into Maltese (if he doesn’t want to go through the hassle to get two versions created; one in Maltese and one in English)!!!
If he’s going to treat the think-tanks, and newspapers, etc. in the same manner he’s treating his website which is there to drive him to the top-job, then I bet they going to fail miserably!
try commenting on Joe’s writings so that he takes you to court if u write something he doesnt like. Like he did to me.
J.M’s call centre.
“Allo, Partit tal-lejber, bongu, Cettina spiiking, kif nista naghqdik?”…………..Don’t answer that guys ! !
“Ghax ha nghidlek hemm xi cans ta xi bicca post ta’ watchman ghat-tifel?
Ghax miskin jkun jista jorqod, mbad iqum biex miskin imur ghall kacca?
Dr. Muscat pleeeeeeeeeeease get your act together or maybe, just get a life !!!
He’s got a life already. That’s the problem. Just like Alfred Sant hanging around with “Central European” crumpet in his “heydey”, and then wanting to bar me from entering Europe.
It Goes something like this:
Eloo, Il Kol Senter ta Joe Muscat hawn, F’xiex nistghu inkunu ta servizz ghalik?
Iva, jekk joghgbok, jista Joe Muscat jghini. Irrid Jobb mal-Gvern u Plot tal-Gvern ukol ghax ha nibda familja.
MEla le sir, ma joe kollox possibbli. Fejn tridu l-jobb u fejn tid tmur toqghod?
Ara, irid jobb ta wacman halli nkun nista norqod qabel ma mmur ghal partajm, u l-plott irrida Pembroke.
Mela le sinjur, taht Joe kollox huwa possibbli. Poblema wahda hemm, ghad mhux Prim Ministru. Int Delegat tal -Lejber?
Le.
Int Teserat?
Le.
Mela dabbar rasek l’hemm man, xi l-membru cempilt taghmel? Ahna biex nghinu lil Jowie hi, tahlilniex hin!
Bum. Line cut off
OMG this guy is a real visionary. His 40 points are one big laugh, please Daph confirm you hacked his website, it cant be for real !
Pt 10, for academics ro researh Labour’s history …biex tigi ippublikkata u mxandra . Oh yes and Godfrey Grima will be expected to contribute his bit about the 30 odd times he was arrested under the regime (and he is endorsing the guy !!)
and this publication is to be commissionned by Eddie Aquilina of Malta 360 degrees with full colouf
with full colour pics of the glorious MLP years of terror of 1971 – 1987.
Now thats a real election winner !
@dcg
I believe that you are absoltely correct in your analysis regarding your main points, that are my focus:
(1) “For the Nationalist Party, on the other hand, the drive to change comes from repeating the phrase ‘we almost lost’ and not ‘we won’.” And that dynamic for constructive change within the PN is likely to continue; and even more so, if the MLP get serious about why they lost.
(2) “I am shocked that such a rubbish party [MLP], with such ridiculous and risky policies, with such dreadful politicians and so disorganized, and above all, led by a serial loser who disparaged democracy and who even claimed to have won the referendum on Europe, almost got into government.” This has been a frightening reality, and the responsibility for the remedy lies with the maturity of the MLP for correcting themselves, and with the voting public who may continue to recognize this problem as an MLP problem by voting PN.
(3) “Joseph Muscat will become leader, and George Abela will, for the second time, become the boat that Labour missed.” This also seems most likely to me. However, I still hope in rational persuasion and freedom of choice, for an event yet to be cast in stone by delegates. [Yet, my idealism is tempered by my knowledge of human nature and by the realities of institutional politics.] The time frame for George to convince the delegates is very short–but it may be a surprising test of his leadership abilities. Institutional change can be very, very slow. This is where leadership is a critical factor. I would be happy to be surprised. A real constructive dynamic would create a lot of positive interest in Maltese politics.
(4) “The factor working most strongly against Muscat is that he is cloned on Sant.” This is a hopeless flaw for JM. Only a very long time and maturity would render a significant cross-party appeal for JM. I do not see evidence of leadership potential in JM, for now.
(5) “Labour is now a very curious political creature: a right-wing, ultra-conservative and xenophobic animal that doesn’t understand business, mistrusts the making of money, and is beset by paranoia and class hatred.” The MLP appears to be a left-wing authoritarian party with right-wing values. The MLP need to come to terms with the PN truly left-of-center progressive implementation of its values. In my view, regarding individual rights, the PN is not enough to the left. But, the MLP seems to be far-right regarding its limiting of freedom of expression and in its lack of recognition of grass-roots democracy. Of course, democracy needs to be well-formed, versus recourse to mobocracy and class hatreds. This is a task, for government and for those who appeal to government, that requires genuine development of the Maltese standard of living for the disadvantaged and defense of the middle-class. And for the MLP, it requires a change of attitudes, in its role in opposition and by its constructive leadership, regarding its traditional base, one pillar. Then it must garner support from traditional PN voters, and/or floaters.
(6)”Alfred Sant inhabited a fictionalized world in which theory, divorced from reality, shaped his ‘narrative’. I hope this isn’t going to become a habit with Labour.” This had been such a serious problem. The solution may require significant “reprogramming” of MLP member mind-set. The party also needs to deal with its baggage. It is OK to dream, and to wish, and to pursue ideals. But there must be a marriage between capable political policy and reality. If policy or skills are not credible [fictions or incompetence], then no incapable leader should be trusted–especially, if simply as an article of faith in the leader’s unfounded self-confidence. Restoring trust and credibility in the MLP seems to me to be the biggest immediate and long-term problem for the MLP–and it begins with the leadership.
(7) “Muscat also plans to review the party media.” The tools are not the issue in themselves, as much as a handy scapegoat, although the media as a tool certainly may be problematic [as it was for the MLP campaign]. The underlying platform and leadership of the MLP, after decades in the wilderness, is the issue. And if this is not appropriately addressed by the MLP, then the renewal and vigor of Maltese politics in general stands to suffer. That is why I am an interested observer of the MLP leadership contest.
If the MLP fail this opportunity, then I (like others, probably)will likely snooze until the next general elections, when my vote would already be determined years in advance. But if the MLP correctly read the signs of the times, then no one can fall asleep: not government, not opposition, nor the electorate.
Who knows, with the proper dynamic between government and opposition, maybe the public perception and evaluation of politics and of politicians will rise to new levels of social esteem, and to a new and healthy national political dynamic? It also seems to me that within the MLP only George Abela offers the greatest potential for MLP reconstruction, and for a healthy competitive dynamic in the national interest for all political parties. A lazy PN would be just as bad as an incompetent MLP.
I’m not sure I agree with your comments about think-tanks being passé. I think, quite the opposite, they are often what is missing from both parties. For example, once the Nats got their way and got us into the EU, there was a period when the party no longer knew what it stood for. So much so that I believe they could have lost the 2003 election if Alfred Sant did the gentlemanly thing and admitted defeat on the EU referendum he may have actually won those elections. perverse perhaps but quite a strong possibility.
Luckily for the PN this did not happen either that time or this. But the time will come when policies will once more be as important as personalities and then, yes, I think think-tanks, or organizations which produce policy papers for the party to discuss will become an essential tool for the renovation of a party. Ironically both parties already have the organizations which would support such a function AZAD and Fondazzjoni Guze Ellul Mercer. The big advantage of these institutions is that they can be allowed to try some blue sky thinking and also fly a few kites to check which way the wind is blowing. They are also an excellent breeding ground for would-be politicians who in the first place can help to create what a party stands for and its policies and then roll up their sleeves and fight for their ideals. Most other parties in the West have similar models. I am sure that the Maltese parties also have similar mechanisms. However instead of having an open, more transparent system which allows a greater amount of thinkers to percolate into the respective parties , the machine is clogged up with old timers such as Frans Sammut and PSI . As I said just a thought.
@ SB
I have elves in my computer…
Daphne, you said “We know that there’s something wrong there, but we just can’t put our finger on it yet.”
Well, as the saying goes, “the eyes are the mirror of the soul”. If you take a close look at the photo which appeared along with his article/interview in The Times (or The Independent?) today, you will understand what I mean. That expressionless, glassy-eyed, half-smirking look just doesn’t click. He just doesn’t look convincing.
Amrio – You said “Huwa kien wiehed mill-ftit nies fil-mezzi tax-xandir li kellu bazi soda ta’ ekonomija, billi huwa primarjament ekonomista u manager.”
I don’t know where you got that from, but I sure am glad that that wasn’t spelt “mEnIger”, as seems to be the trend with such words in junior school text books nowadays…
David S – It would actually be quite interesting (and an eye-opener to the younger generation who would find it hard to visualize such things) to have some such photos printed in the local media, or as a booklet.
One of my favorite electoral campaign adverts was the which went something along the lines of “This is how they shut the students up”, accompanying a photo of police in the ’70s breaking up a student protest or similar.
For international callers
Translations for: Poodle
Dansk (Danish)
n. – puddelhund, lakaj
v. intr. – puddelklippe, bevæge sig langsomt
Nederlands (Dutch)
poedel
Français (French)
n. – caniche
v. intr. – faire le larbin
Deutsch (German)
n. – Pudel
v. – im Pudelschnitt scheren
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. – (σκυλί ράτσας) κανίς
Italiano (Italian)
barboncino, puzzone
Português (Portuguese)
n. – poodle (raça de cães)
Русский (Russian)
пудель
Español (Spanish)
n. – caniche, perro de lanas
v. intr. – mover o desplazase de manera lenta
Svenska (Swedish)
n. – pudel
中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
狮子狗, 悠闲地走动
中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. – 獅子狗
v. intr. – 悠閒地走動
한국어 (Korean)
n. – 푸들(작고 영리한 복슬개)
v. intr. – (개의) 털을 짧게 깎다
日本語 (Japanese)
n. – プードル
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) البودل : كلب كثيف الشعر أحعد
עברית (Hebrew)
n. – פודל, צמרון (כלב)
v. intr. –
Hi Daph
off topic but have a look at this gem of English language writing by our good friend Nestor Laiviera :-)
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsID=50892&newscategory=31
about Labour’s despicable terror years which the prospective leaders have NOT denounced.
It is quite amazing that people under 30 are completely unaware of the police state Malta had become, or even that private hospitals and schools were shut down by the regime. While of course we have to move on, I for one , can never consider voting labour ,even if they are a deserving alternative govt, without an unconditional full apology to the people.
(I happened to be inside the St Julians PN club when that bomb exploded, and had it not been thrown out onto the foreshore by Mr Paul Cremona , all 50 or so of us inside the club at the time would probably have got killed. And to insult to injury Mr Cremona was arrested for a number of days, and the police tried their very best to frame him for planting the bomb. By sheer coincidence the police officer guarding Albert Mizzi’s house next door to the club disappeared that fateful evening….lest we forget )
And for MLCP , Labour never ran adverts to recruit thugs to plant bombs or ransack the Curia, but she was very much part of the establishment .
Yes JM please do a full colour publication about the years of terror of MLP’s glorious history , starting off with Manoel Dimech , the murderer / counterfeiter
@Amanda Mallia
The quote “Huwa kien wiehed mill-ftit nies fil-mezzi tax-xandir li kellu bazi soda ta’ ekonomija, billi huwa primarjament ekonomista u manager.” was taken directly from JM’s website!!
@Daphne
You wrote :
“I don’t belong to the ranks of those who are astonished at the victory, who are amazed that it could be done and that it was done. Rather the opposite – I am shocked that such a rubbish party, with such ridiculous and risky policies, with such dreadful politicians and so disorganized, and above all, led by a serial loser who disparaged democracy and who even claimed to have won the referendum on Europe, almost got into government. It’s disgraceful. It says so much about Malta that I would prefer not to hear.”
Like you I am shocked but not really surprised that labour got close. When I think that in 1987 almost half the population voted for 5 more years of that nightmare. That is something that I cannot yet stomach!
@Sack Jason Micallef
OMG! I had to read those couple of lines thrice to try and understand!
Anyway, I think he meant some French-speaking guys were heard at Mater Dei, and someone concocted a whole story out of it.
Could have been Alfred Sant himself! After all, we know how partial he is to Carla Bruni…
@David Buttigieg
In fact it is often said that were it not for the Raymond Caruana murder and the grave incidents towards the end of 1986 beginning of 1987 that election would have been a close affair with KMB possible edging out EFA by a couple of votes.
In those times the PN was often perceived as putting too many spokes in the wheels of the MLP govt (although it may have had the moral right to do so). In fact many people viewed the boycotts, EFA’s visits abroad to tell German companies not to invest in Malta and the alleged discovery of arms at the PN HQ and at the Vella Bros garage in very negative light. Lets say they didn’t have universal approval.
And anyway the aspirations of the maltese were very different in those days….
Sack Jason Micallef – Ironic, especially after Alfred Sant’s comment in his Sunday Times pre-election interview with Ariadne Massa. (About his last thoughts before going under the anaesthetic at Mater Dei last December being something along the lines of “Here I am, whilst Sarkozy is having fun with Carla Bruni.”) Watch out, Sarkozy – You’ve got competition, if she likes men in wigs, that is! :)
David S – It was not just “private schools and private hospitals” that were taken over/shut down/whatever; it was privately-owned banks too, and at a very great loss to the various shareholders, who have not, to date, received any compensation.
David S – I recall that bomb incident at the St Julian’s PN club, but have no idea when it was. I am assuming that it was in the early ’80s. I recall rushing there on hearing about it, and remember the commotion outside.
Sack Jason Micallef – Alfred Sant might have to wait a little while longer to get a glimpse of Carla Bruni in the flesh … Read this extract from The Time online (I have not idea how to attach a link):
“Monday, 21st April 2008
French PM to visit Malta
French Prime Minister François Fillon
French Prime Minister François Fillon will be making an official visit to Malta early next month, The Times has learnt.
A French delegation was here last week to check out the island’s medical facilities in preparation for the trip.
Sources close to Mater Dei Hospital said Mr Fillon’s doctor had asked to see the medical facilities just in case the 54-year-old French premier falls ill while here. This is not an unusual procedure for visits by important figures.
Mr Fillon’s planned trip was confirmed by a high-level Maltese government official after The Times sought to confirm a front-page report in a Maltese-language Sunday newspaper that the delegation had been sent because French President Nicholas Sarkozy will be receiving “urgent medical treatment” at Mater Dei.
However, a spokesman for the French Embassy in Malta said the delegation’s visit had nothing to do with the French President and that the report was “completely wrong”.
Asked specifically whether the delegation had been in Malta in relation to an impending visit by the French Prime Minister, she replied: “You will see in due time.” ”
Sorry to have got your – ahem – hopes up, Fredu!
[Moderator – It seems that It-Torca and Nestor Laiviera haven’t yet learnt the difference between the French prime minister and the French president.]
What is the Times trying to do today, give a leg-up to JM?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080421/cartoon-of-the-day/cartoon-of-the-day
The article below the cartoon on the printed newspaper is by JM.
[Moderator – Maybe the cartoon contains a subtle reference to flatulence.]
@Sack Jason Micallef
I was write. The Times paper reports it’s the French PM who’s coming to Malta on a state visit, and checking health facilities is something normal they do.
@Sack Jason Micallef: ‘expected to be recovered in Malta’s very own Mater Dei Hospital’ – a literal translation from Maltese.
hehe… Now I am starting to understand why the top management of Go and Di-ve decided not to cover the general elections.
It is due to the quality of some of their journalists, who on earth would ever refer factual news from it-torca?????
@Daphne and all
Care to coin a term for this new offshoot of Queen’s English?
Although it has been around for quite sometime, Minglish still seems the most appropriate :)
Sack Jason Micallef – Look on the bright side – at least you’re past junior school age. I have to put up with my 5- & 7-year-old children’s Maltese schoolbooks containing words such as:
hiter (heater)
kuxin
televixin
fajl
fojl
blEkbord (yes, with an “e”)
gerzi (pullover)
and too many other “gems” to be listed here.
I’m reaching the end of my tether, because the few times I help them out with their Maltese HW, I end up having to explain that despite these being English words, they are (incorrectly) spelt in Maltese, very often with an incorrect accent to boot. I end up writing the English word for them to visualize it, so that that would be the spelling that would stick.
Frustrating, to say the very least, apart from the fact that nobody else seems bothered enough to do something about it.
Boy, oh boy – Watch our for l-iljuni tal-bidla and the rest of the “Labour United team” on the 1st of May …
(Extract from The Times online, just now)
“Monday, 21st April 2008 – 14:34CET
MLP plans mass celebration of Workers’ Day
The Labour Party will mark May 1, Workers’ Day with its first large public activity since the general election.
“The Labour Party wants to show that despite losing the general election, it remained a powerful, dynamic and forward looking party,” Michael Falzon, deputy leader for party affairs, told a press conference earlier today.
The May Day celebration will feature the usual demonstration along Republic Street, with the leadership contestants taking part “as one team”.
“The party has to be the real winner after the election of June 5,” Dr Falzon, himself a leadership contender, said.
The May Day activities in Valletta will include a march by the Labour Party’s band at 5 p.m. Concerts will be held opposite the law courts and at Freedom Square. The demonstration starts from Palace Square at 6 p.m. and Acting Leader Charles Mangion will deliver a speech at Freedom Square.”
No further comment (for the time being, at least…)
@Amanda Mallia
Hmmm, I wonder who will hijack it this time round as the good Doktorrrrr did in 2003.
As for posting links, here’s how. Copy the contents of the address line of the site/article you wish to link and paste it in the comment box. Hope it helps :)
@Sack jason Micallef
I suspect it will be Falzon who will try this time – if they let him speak to the crowd that is.
“forward looking party ” dear Michael has not yet realised that 1sy May demonstrations of soviet times are so passe. Again does new lejber expect to start picking up floaters from these 1st May demonstrations complete with band? At least AS had disbanded the brigata for 8 – 15 year olds (and they had the cheek to call Nats fascists)
[Moderator – What a charade. I wonder if any of the members of that sad troupe have ever even heard of the Haymarket Riots.]
Sack Jason Micallef – Thanks
@David Zammit
Stop trying to rewrite history. It’s not acceptable and exceedingly insulting to those of us who went through it and remember it as if it was yesterday. I don’t care what they wrote in the orizzont at the time but if that’s the source of your suggestion then it should be enough to qualify it as a lie. We used to refer to it as the Beano (and still do).
When I referred to the torture of the disabled at police HQ in a previous post I was referring to one of the Vella brothers. (and that particular frameup).
Referring to something as the ‘alleged discovery of arms’ is negative spin of the worst kind. You accuse someone of something negative and then qualify it with the word ‘alleged’ to show some kind of ‘alleged’ objectivity.
The correct description would be:
The planting of arms at PN HQ by the police who conducted a ‘search’, on their own, after evicting all the staff, (before threatening them with an assault cannon), in violation of all human rights, and smashing up substantial parts of the HQ, then conducting another one and ‘finding’ 4, yes, FOUR damaged old shotguns, clearly more than enough weaponry for at least 6 revolutions.
The details are a bit hazy now but the gist of it is as described.
As to the other comments, the Xandir Malta boycott was a perfectly legitimate tool to counter an illegitimate government making illegitimate use of state broadcasting.
The ‘telling german companies not to invest in Malta’ dig is also not correct, although there were those who would have argued that calling for sanctions ala South Africa would have been a good idea. The thing is that the MLP did a good enough job of scaring away any foreign investment (and has retained that skill to this day) and needed no assistance in that regard, so what good would sanctions have been?
If you want to retain any credibility you need to make sure you don’t cross the same kind of line Norman Lowell crosses repeatedly.
I suggest you refer to the following link. You will find that most of the steps have bearing on your situation and that of other apologists for the totalitarian labour regime of Mintoff and his muppet KMB.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-step_program#The_Twelve_Steps
@ David S
Mayday demonstrations are far from passe. ALL centre left parties around Europe hold Mayday demonstrations. In Italy most of the unions organise mega concerts and at the end the union chairman will adress the crowds. There will be a large attendance, people often travelling for hours from far away cities.
I advise you to watch foreign news bulletins to see if I am right….
Elementary, my dear DavidSon. These chaps have yet to grasp the difference between “floaters” and “floats”, hence their addiction to 1st May “jaghjtu x-xjuh u jghajtu t-tfal, viva l-jum tal-KMBval”. After all, they’re the ones who compose Maltastar’s eternal prose.
@David Zammit
“In fact it is often said that were it not for the Raymond Caruana murder and the grave incidents towards the end of 1986 beginning of 1987 that election would have been a close affair with KMB possible edging out EFA by a couple of votes.”
“KMB possible edging out EFA by a couple of votes” is an exaggeration. The 92 elections were proof of that.
My shock is that after the extreme incompetence and intimidation of the MLP government of the eighties, after they closed the schools and attacked students, after they kept us a 3rd world country not even allowing us a decent piece of chocolate to cover up their incompetence, the still got a seizable amount of votes whereas with a less ignorant population they should have lost by at least 100,000 votes!
Just as a reminder about the ‘alleged discovery of arms’ .This is the mantra the labour supporters used to repeat :”XOGHOL ,GUSTIZZJA U LIBERTA . L-ARMI NSTABU TAL-PIETA”
The witty reply of the Nationalist supporters was “JIEN GHAL PACI U L-PROGRESS L-ARMI QEGHDTHOM JIENA STESS”
I look forward to see Jayson on the Karru with the red qronfol addressing the ljuni! Will he wear a red tie (with a big knot)? Will he wear his famous brown shoes? Or will go for a casual “worker” look? The fashion paparazzis will be on edge! It will also be interesting to see the reaction of those laburisti that on the eve of the election bet some heavy money on the MLP winning by a margin of 15,000 votes on the strength of the “tips” they got from “someone” in the glass palace. Will they be waving the red flag or seeing red? Will Jayson make an appearance after all or will he do what he did on vote-counting day? So many questions! I can’t wait!
Hi guys and gals! The following are some fine specimens of Grace Muscat’s handiwork. (Grace Muscat being Joseph Muscat’s mother, and ‘one of the finest dressmakers on the Island until her retirement some years ago’ – according to her son’s website)
http://www.clusterflock.org/poodle.jpg
http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/…/davis_poodle.jpg
http://www.collectif.co.uk/…/poodle%20stella%20tn.jpg
http://www.petpalspetsupplies.com/…/DDPoodle.jpg
ENJOY!!
@Adrian Borg
I doubt that Jayson will actually have the guts to face the crowd after assuring people MLP would win…gullible people gambled money and lost :) Jason could walk for a couple of days…but he still smiled hehe
My memory fails me on this one but can someone remind me how Jason Micallef made it to Secretary General of the Labour Party? He seems like a nice regular guy of average intelligence but not a conniving strategist for a major political party? See Saliba, Gatt or Cachia Caruana for the type of person needed to successfully scheme and strategize – i.e. someone you wouldn’t trust as far as you could throw them. Who was really pulling the strings strategy wise within the Labour Party prior to the last election? Anybody out there have a clue?
@MikeC and David Zammit
If you have enough patience, watch the last(I think) debate before the 87 election between KMB and Eddie Fenech Adami.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmrV4po6mzM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOEtitJWDic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PijX_PMXfZ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ub6n1d7gsY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWw9qfbB23c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bp7I7_Olxo
The arms cache find is mentioned in the links outlined above.
David Zammit by now you should have realised that everything Labour does here in Malta is rubbished by the far right, neo liberal posters on this blog.
[Moderator – There isn’t a single far-right blogger here. Please define ‘neo liberal’.]
David Zammit – By “the grave incidents towards the end of 1986 and the beginning of 1987”, where you by any chance referring to various incidents where tourists were taken to be the enemy, and hence, tourist coaches shot at, etc? Many seem to have forgotten such incidents, too.
David Buttigieg – Well said. Daphne’s comment when the result was finally out on the 9th of March just about sums up many people’s thoughts, mine included:
“Here’s one to all the petty ditherers, the whiners, the whingers, the I-want-a-changers, the I’m-not-going-to-vote-because-of-the-carpark koccuti, the vote-for-coalition-waste-of-spacers: WE DID IT WITHOUT YOU. It’s thanks to us that you’ve escaped the punishment of having Alfred Sant as prime minister for the next five years. I hope the events of today focus your minds and put all your petty thoughts into perspective. How would you be feeling now if you had that Cowardly Custard as prime minister – a man who doesn’t even have the guts to concede defeat when it’s staring him in the face?”
Unfortunately too many people were willing to forego all that was gained in the past 20 years (albeit with a 22-month interruption) – peace and prosperity at the very least – because they could not see further than the tip of their nose.
What hair style will Silvio choose ?
The leader candidates will apparently walk together to show that they are one big happy family.
I met a couple of people from Zejtun and they told me that a number of their neighbours had prepared outfits similar to the old `brigata` ones all ready for the celebrations.
Although it`s hard to understand how the PN didn`t have a huge majority in the 80`s, even in countries with despots and a miserable standard of living so many people still vote for the ruling party.
Instead of “THE BATTLE of FLOWERS” ,the MLP May Day ‘procession’ will start “THE BATTLE for POWER” inside the MLP.If the old one wins ,he will stay around for ten years , if the young one wins we will have more of the same for THIRTY years.
Anglu Farrugia is on Realta’ making some rather mind boggling stmts abt vote rigging. He’s even posting photographs of votes. What else now?
@Tupelo – do you mean crypto-liberals? If so, say so, don’t use buzz-words you don’t understand. Or go write for di-ve.
You don’t win Silver, You lose Gold!! and that is what the MLP did!!
@amrio
Thanks for the link. It’s a good reminder of the times we lived, of the debt of gratitude this country owes EFA and the absolute contempt and revulsion one feels for KMB. Like his master, he may be a harmless crazy old man today, but was far from harmless with an army of thugs and criminals at his beck and call.
I’d forgotten that the gun that killed Raymond Caruana had been fired at the Tarxien PN club, at the nationalists at tal-barrani and eventually placed at Pietru Paul Busuttil’s farmhouse when he was framed by the police, the logical conclusion being that elements in KMB’s police force knew and collaborated with the murderer.
I’d also forgotten that the freeport, a good bit of which was constructed with sub-standard concrete and had to be redone, had been estimated to cost 40 million and had already cost 120 million by the election. (Overruns? Tberbiq?)
Other interesting links:
The tal-barrani incidents:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC2egtVhtbA
Miscellaneous MLP Violence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1otlyWTajY
Pietru Pawl Busuttil frame-up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piaXExUzKnM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqFKN8Y_JZo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUibkHd-aZo
This happened when Alfred Sant was MLP president and Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was MLP secretary general – no irrevocable resignations then!!
KMB’s presence at the depot when Busuttil was arrested and framed is also interesting
Pietru Pawl’s description about when the police were about to simulate his suicide by throwing him out of the hospital window is very interesting too.
What did Anglu Bellu “reveal” in Realta on Smash TV last night, can anyone tell us the juicy bits? I heard he also mentioned DCG, she must be getting under his skin!
Did anyone here the story that Jaysin is doing the rounds of the Kazini Laburisti on Sundays? I wonder what wisdom he is dispensing? He surely can’t be campaigning can he!
And finally…the irrevocably resigned finally got his chance to walk up the stairs of Castille, with Charlie DNA Mangion in tow. Front page scoop on today’s L-Orizzont. DCG was right again, he is the albatross round their necks.
@MikeC
You can list a million incidents if you like the fact remains that the ’87 election was won with a rather small majority of 4,000 votes because people just don’t give the weighting you give to such incidents. I know its difficult for you to understand but the same way that you acccuse others of being close minded, you fail to acknowledge that that period was not all violence and tear gas – the election result proves my point. The ’92 result also confirms this – the large majority of that election shows that people wanted economic turnaround and peace of mind. And in the 81-87 period the conflict was on both sides otherwise the PN would have won by a landslide unless you are saying that the people suffered from mass MLP hypnosis.
[Moderator – What a ridiculous non sequitor. David, when the state is the perpetrator and sponsor of violence against its own citizens, it is a shame on the entire nation. The fact that just under half the population seems to not realise that only shows how uncivilised they really are.]
Mike C if i understood you well you seem to have wanted AS amd MLCP to resign back then right???? Had they resigned would they have made the situation any better??? Guess not. Such things shouldn’t have happened in the first place but why are they being held responsible for things they did not commit.
I am sure that none of you here practice the two ways two measures slogan right??? So why didn’t you all ask for EFA resignation when he gave a “proklama” to a certain person who went barefooted who was more than once seen in his presence??? oh no!!!! what am i saying!! he was doing all this to protect all of us. very funny!
[Moderator – ‘I was just following orders’ is simply not an excuse. You are failing to acknowledge that the argument you are putting forward has been tried and tested since the Nuremberg Trials, and consistently found to be false. Another thing: it’s funny how the elves never mention anyone by name, it’s as though they’re still stuck in the days when Lorry Pullicino’s band of state-sponsored terrorists would knock down your door and beat you to death. Just say it: Joseph Fenech.]
Anyone notice how yesterday Bondi continuosly brought the picture of Raymond Caruana in a pool of blood while MLCP was talking. If Raymond Caruana was a relative of mine I would have found it appaling that a loved one would be used for such utter spin. When I remember that such ‘independent’ media was being paid out of my taxes I get more and more annoyed. I mean even last Friday in a supposedly apolitical Xarabank program discussing drug abbuse they had to drag in an incident where a junkie said he was kicked while in prison in the 80s. Well Peppi didn’t mention that a drug trafficker was released from prison and deported because he had a very contagious form of hepatitis in the 90s. It would be interesting to see if there are any drug abusers in prison today who have contagious illnesses and if it is being considered that they be isolated for this reason…..
The whole issue boils down to balance in the media. This whole tit-for-tat bickering that in the 80s there was no balance in the media so it serves MLP right must stop. 20+ years on we should finally start acting with some maturity….
[Moderator – How on earth is that spin? There’s no denying that the murder was politically motivated, and that the Labour Party, for which MLCP worked, did nothing to discourage that motivation, and even encouraged it. People don’t become secretary general of the Malta Labour Party by accident: the fact that she actively sought to work for a party that sponsored terrorism says a lot about her.]
david Zammit conveniently forgets that KMB (who will definitely be forever enshrined as Malta’s worst prime minister) employed 8000 people in govt entities in the 6 months up to the 1987 election. These same people were told that should PN get elected they would be sacked. Its a fact that getting a job is a great vote winner (however illegal), and this most definitely affected the majority. In 1992 , 1998 and 2003 elections the PN majority was always 12000 – 13,000 votes.
With Gonzi and JM leading their respective parties this same majority may well be achieved in 2013, if the PN manages to attract the disillusioned voters who decided to vote by not voting !
[Moderator – And in the 1987 PBS debate, Eddie Fenech Adami brought out an article written by Alfred Sant a few years earlier, where he argues that it would be ‘madness’ for the government to employ all those who are out of a job.]
@David Zammit,
The reason that in 1987 PN won by a small majority is the same reason AS got close this time around.
Even if for just 1 second one had to ignore the the violence, intimidation and murder by labour thugs and police commissioners, the state the country was in was a disaster.
1. Water in the pipes, especially in Sliema (my home town) was a luxury.
2. On picking up the phone, more often than not one joined a telephone party of crossed lines.
3. One could not find a decent bit of chocolate, toothpaste, pasta or other basic commodities.
4. One could not go abroad with more than lM140 (I believe) and this included the hotel!
5. How many years after other countries did we get colour TVs?
6. Even radio controlled toys were banned for heaven’s sake!! I remember my father having to smuggle one in for me. As for computers – ha ha good joke
The list goes on you know.
Almost half the population voted for more of the same.
Those people would vote for anyone as long as he was lejber!
Says a lot about the intelligence of the average labour voter!
[Moderator – It took two years and plenty of bribery to get a telephone line, as every pupil who had to study It-Telefon from Qawsalla knows.]
@Moderator and ABC:
Definition of neo-liberal:
Neoliberalism is a political movement that espouses economic liberalism as a means of promoting economic development and securing political liberty. The movement is sometimes described as an effort to revert to the economic policies of the 18th and 19th centuries classical liberalism.[1]
In many respects, the term is used to denote a group of neoclassical-influenced economic theories and right-wing (PLEASE NOTE MODERATOR) libertarian political philosophies which believe that government control over the economy is inefficient, corrupt or otherwise undesirable.
Broadly speaking, neoliberalism seeks to transfer control of the economy from the public to private sector.
Will you deny that you hold the same opinion?
[Moderator – Why don’t you pick up a real history book? That definition doesn’t make any sense. The right-wing were those who literally sat on the right side of the throne in France’s Estates General. They were the ones who supported the monarchy and the command economy that drove France into bankruptcy, which is why ‘right-wing libertarian’ is a contradiction in terms. As a rule you should avoid loaded terms like right-wing and liberalism, and simply state what you mean in plain language.]
Looks like Pietru Pawl Busuttil has come a long way since his frame up. Instead of using his pig farm to allegedly store arms, he’s now managed to get a fantastic ODZ permit to build a few bungalows on pristine agricultural land. The PM’s move to MEPA has worked wonders after all.
This argument about the lack of computers in the 1980’s has become pretty laughable. Admittedly the Labour administration led by Dom Mintoff was against the introduction of the computer as it feared job losses in Malta’s traditionally labour intensive industries.
But what the new generation (or recycled computer geeks)tends to forget is that computers in those days were either slightly more powerful than calculators (the ZX Spectrum with a grand 48k of memory) or else were large beasts (ATI, IBM etc) costing thousands of liri, definitely way beyond average earnings in those days. It’s like saying we didn’t have enough cars in the 1920’s when the car was a relatively expensive and rare toy for the rich or moderately well off.
For a party in government which talks about Smart Malta, the 2015 Vision, 10,000 high end jobs in finance and other ambitious economic targets, this 1980’s argument brought up ad nauseum by its neo liberal supporters about computers does seem to be ever so slightly dated.
[Moderator – ‘…toy for the rich or moderately well off.’ That’s exactly the point. The Labour government did everything in its power to keep people poor and backwards.]
@David Buttigieg
This continuos harping on intelligence is nauseating. Jesus if you are so intelligent then I shouldn’t even bother answering you – you see all and know all!
This is why I always feel so uncomfortable when dark blue nationalists start bragging about how forward looking they are and how foolish and stupid everyone else is. This is why I cannot stomach listening to good friends of mine who are nationalists and who are normally excellent comany, brag about how politically open minded they are and how dumb anyone who has a different opinion is.
If I were in their shoes I would never be so presumptious as to say that all those who voted labour are below average intelligence (keeping in mind that the PN lost by a mere 1500 votes) and secondly I wouldn’t be so foolish as to think that next time round PN will get back all its lost sheep. Anyone who followed the scene knows that the PN did everything in its power to get all these people back but still didn’t manage! So what makes you think it will do so next time round – time will tell anyway, if anyone wants to do a Jason and say he will win for sure then he/she is more than welcome.
@David S
In the apocalyptical scenario you described a job or a favour prior to an election would not have turned around so many voters unless you are saying that someone would rather have a job and live a life of terror…. That still does not account for the low margin between the two…
Sorry but i don’t think you followed what mlcp said on tv yesterday. She never said she was just following orders. What i heard her say is that she disassociates herself from the violence that happened.
I am not afraid to mention anyone by names. YOu as a moderator are using two ways two measures over here as in other articles on this site people referred to a “thug” by his nickname “IL-F……” (to which i had to go and look up information as i personally did not know who they were referring too and not because i prefer not to know but because i was only a toddler in those times). You did not pass any comments there right.
as i said in another entry of mine i again say that the atrocities that happened can never be justified. However i have a question which hasn’t been answered yet: when nationalists gained government in 1987 why did they prosecute these “thugs” as though it seems everyone knew them. what you are saying is that mlp never brought them to justice because they were working for him but when the nationalists had the chance they did the same thing.
[Moderator – Mary, when someone wants to disassociate themselves from an organisation, they normally resign the position they hold within it. If you don’t resign, you are associated by definition.]
another thing. NO ONE ever said that both Karen Grech and Raymond Caruana’s murders were not politically motivated but i do remember a Dr. Fenech Adami saying that he knew who was responsible for both murders.
May I ask: Who was convicted for these crimes?????
you seem to answer what you want to answer and that shows you for your true colours. a person who holds one sided opinions.
[Moderator – Do opinions have sides?]
@moderator
‘keep people poor and backwards’ !!!!! First of all why the hell would it do that? (Wait wait its because ‘backwards’ people by default vote mlp right – David Buttigieg’s superior intelligence is contagious!!)
Second of all I know many people who under the MLP were far from poor and actually became quite wealthy. Ask most of the workers at ST Microelectronics (SGS at the time) in the 80s and if they were poor in the 80s! Ask the people at De La rue if they were poor.. Then ask the large majority of the maltese (and those that emigrated to Australia, Canada and the like) and they will tell if they were poor in the 60s….
The jist of your argument that anything MLP is dark and negative is not only laughable but hardly credible unless you really believe that 48%+ of the voting population is below average intelligence….
[Moderator – David, to ban or to hinder the importation of new goods and technology is to keep people poor and backwards by definition, whichever party is doing it. The airport tax is wrong for the same reason, because something like 50 per cent of the population have never left the country.]
To those talking about computers during the Mintoff rule be informed that the Computerisation of the Civil Service in Malta started in the late 70’s and beginning of the 80’s at the Government Computer Centre in Swatar, limits of Dingli. That computer centre continued to be of service to the Maltese Government till the year 2000 with continuous upgrades implemented by both Labour and Nationalist governments. The rest is history.
[Moderator – Too bad the computers were good enough for Swatar, but not for the rest of the country.]
I find Tupelo’s comment about Pietru Pawl Busutill “instead of using his pig farm to allegedly store arms” despicable. I am surprised the moderator did not comment on this. That was the most awful frame up in the history of Malta’s Police Force (sponsored by the Labour govt of MLCP). An innocent man hijacked from his house in the middle of the night , beaten up at Police HQ and accused of murder. Tupelo you should apologise for that nasty comment.
Whether its right or wrong for Mepa to issue that permit is a completely different issue. Was Mepa right in issuing a permit for Tumas Fenech in Mellieha granting him a height of 4 levels bang adjacent to bungalows in Santa Maria Estate ? (besides hundreds of other scandalous permits irrespective whether the recipients are PN or MLP sympathisers)
@David S
First of all PP Busuttil was never beaten in the depot – he has stated this many times in the many interviews he has given to the nationalist media whilst giving a tour of his pig farm.
Second, yes David S I agree with you that the permission given by MEPA should not conflict with PP’s own personal past events, but neither should anyone contemplate it as an excuse not to talk about the alleged blatant favouritism given in his regard by MEPA. The thing to keep in mind here is the current state of events in that yes he is a PN official and a PN councillor and yes it is alleged that rules were bent to favour his application….. the rest is history and has nothing to do with the case.
@David Zammit- in 1987, thousands of people were illiterate, ignorant, and had no exposure AT ALL to the outside world, not even through RAI because they knew no Italian. They were literally raised in a box and continued to live in that box – no contact with the outside world through media, reading or travel. Cutting Malta off was the government’s deliberate policy, and you had to be really determined (and a speaker of fluent English from a certain kind of background) to keep up with the outside world, if only through reading the London newspapers and British/US magazines. When I had my first child at St Luke’s in 1986, we had to take our own provisions with us. The first morning, I brought out a packet of cereal and then realised that I was surrounded by whispering groups of women who were gradually drawing closer. I felt I had landed in some kind of native village in Borneo with a piece of sophisticated equipment. Finally, one of them plucked up the courage to ask a question: “What is it? Dak xi haga biex tipporga bih?” No, I told them – it’s a breakfast food, eaten throughout the western world in 2000 varieties. You add milk to it. That one incident was a shocking revelation of how great swathes of society had no understanding of normality, or of how the rest of the world lived. The remoter areas of Albania are in a similar situation now.
So David, in 1987 the Nationalist Party won by just a few thousand votes because the Maltese did not realise that they were living in an abnormal situation. They did not realise they were deprived and abused. They had no experience of anything else. As you said yourself, by 1992, people had experience of a different way of life and the win was greater. But still – we have to bear in mind that at least 47% of the electorate voted to have things go back to the way they were. And education is not the key, either. Lots of a people with a decent education supported the Labour Party in those days, most famously Alfred Sant.
Actually contrary to what you claim computers were available to the general public. It is true however that they had a massive levy but in any case personal computers in those days where inherently expensive anywhere you went….
The other issue was the huge amount of paperwork involved where if I remember correctly you had to have an affidavit stating that you were not going to use it for commercial use – if it was a home computer.
So yes the barriers were there but insinuating that no one in the general public could have one is far from true. In fact I know a couple of people who are what you call working class and who owned one at the time (and no these weren’t ta gewwa)
[Moderator – Let’s just say that the government deliberately made it difficult for people to acquire a computer.]
@ David Zammit Mary Agius and all other apologists of the era when Labour and its thugs reduced this country to a shambles.
I have this to say to you and I’m sure many here who are 30+ and who LIVED those times will agree.
The violence, near-anarchy and general chaos of the 80’s will remain an issue until Labour issues a SINCERE AND UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGY for all the suffering they inflicted on this country and on the people on an individual level.
MLCP disassociating herself just doesn’t cut it.
I come from a so-called working class family and they were laburisti until the MLP government made life intolerable for ALL maltese. The last straw for them was the Church school dispute, another dark chapter in recent Maltese history.
They struggled to make ends meet like most common families but to wanted to give my siblings and myself a decent education to get on in life and church schools, after Agatha Barbara made a hog’s breakfast of government schools, were the only option. KMB’s government briefly took that away too, from us and thousands of others.
My first exposure to the colourful Maltese vernacular and other ‘international gestures’, came as an 8 year old on my way to my church school on a schoolbus courtesy of the anointed ‘aristocrats’ and Malta’s ‘8th Army’ stationed at the Dockyard.
Another nice experience was finding our car smashed. Punishment meted out by the above-the-law thugs for the ‘crime’ of forgetting a copy of ‘In-Nazzjon’ inside it.
We were SHOT AT in Rabat by the boys in blue (green at the time).
I’m sure many others have anecdotes of their own.
To all those apologists: Don’t you even DARE to justify or even belittle those times. This chapter, in mine, and in many others’ lives will not close until a FULL UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGY will be forthcoming from Labour.
@David Zammit
Please refer to my post earlier on – I notice you could not deny a single point I made.
Could you then give me a reason why people would vote for more of the same? No? Didn’t think so.
@Tupelo
You are using the same twisted thinking Mintoff & KMB used. You justify the ban because 1. People could not afford them or 2. They were little more then a calculator.
No matter what they were the labour government took a decision for me that I couldn’t have them.
@ Moderator
Tupelo’s contribution reminds me of when KMB said that the airport was too pretentious for the likes of us Maltese, or am I wrong?
[Moderator – Did he really say that?]
I know that Daphne is routing for George Abela – and I agree he is by far the best candidate for Labour and for the country. However, the man is now 60 and in five years will be 65. Assuming the MLP wins power in 2013 and serves a full term we are talking of someone who will be 70 by the time he is running for re-election. Isin’t the age issue an issue?
@DCG
They may have been real Albanians since I distinctly remember eating Cornflakes whilst listening to Norman Hamilton on Bongu Malta – fuq Radju Malta Nazzjonali :-)
Joking apart as I said in the beginning of this blog – the aspirations and values of the Maltese have changed. What I can say is that even in this day and age there are many so called Maltese middle and lower class people who still view the Nationalist goverment as being ‘tas-sinjuri u tal barunijiet’ and yes the sleaze still bothered many even in this election. That may have also been the perception back then when the Nationalists hadn’t been in govt for 16 years and many still associated them in that manner.
So it may not have been ignorance rather it may have been misstrust for the nats.
@Sack Jason Micallef
The 80s is as much an issue to the general public as the massive pothole I have up my street. The few that continue to harp on this are blue bred nationalists who are once in a while tempted not to vote because of the general inefficiency of this goverment and the so called favours they may or may not have a right to have…
The nat spinners just love to remind them (as we saw yest on B+) of the 80s – heaven forbid they might become estranged one day and not vote PN
[Moderator – David, I’m guessing you grew up under a Nationalist government, which is probably why you have no concept of what it means to be subject to systematic oppression and terror. You take your fundamental freedoms for granted, and that is as it should be, because no one should have to struggle for them. But don’t mock the people who fought for our democracy and don’t trivialise their struggle.]
George Abela talks about his vision for Labour
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080422/local/george-abela-sets-out-his-vision-for-the-mlp
Some choice quotes:
“The party media’s role should be to inform, educate, and entertain and it should also reflect truth, quality, decency and individual dignity even in the case of those who opposed the party. ” This means that they have not been doing this till now!
“Dr Abela said he viewed his candidacy for the leadership as a new beginning and he hoped it would lead to a new way how the MLP conducted politics. Certainly, the MLP could no longer labour under a siege mentality. He was all for consensus politics, as far as possible. Confrontational politics was not helpful to the people.” Finally! Someone starts taking sense.
Dr Abela steered away from commenting on the MLP past, wisely so in my view as any comments in this area may be used against him by the other contestants. I am sure that he will tackle this if elected leader.
My fear remains that the laburisti will say that he sounds too much like Gonzi!!!
[Moderator – Anyone who’s watched Goodnight and Good Luck will recognise that first line. It is also the mission statement of the BBC.]
Has the George Abela for next MLP leader brigade thought about the fact that the man will be 65 in 2013 and 70 by the time he runs for reelection in 2018. Labour needs to choose somebody younger than Abela if they intend governing for more than one term. Anyone on this blog have an opinion on the age issue?
[Moderator – Give me one reason why age is an issue. If it is, then you should be more worried that Joseph Muscat might develop a mid-life crisis.]
@moderator
I grew up under both….
[Moderator – In that case, you should know better.]
@Adrian Borg
The Laburisti’s concern is not whether he sounds too much like Gonzi but that each time he says that they were wrong about this and they were wrong about that in the last 10 years he is giving all those who voted labour a proverbial slap in the face. He should be more subtle and more understanding and realise that whilst the country did not need a complete overhaul or bidu gdid neither does labour need a total complete head over heels overhaul. If he doesn’t admit this he will be indirectly saying that all that these people believed in and voted for during the last 10 years was wrong… and no one likes being told prima facie that they were wrong….
[Moderator – Now you’re being patronising. Intelligent people appreciate being told the truth, even when it hurts.]
@The Abbott
I’m not pushing for Abela as leader but I don’t think his age is an issue. But that applies to both sides of the spectrum although I think Muscat’s age would be of a greater disadvantage. I don’t think he should be dismissed because of that though.
Many comments have been written since my last post but it is obvious that many Labour apologists cannot come to terms with history (again – try the twelve step process) because coming to terms with the facts would mean their having to feel disgust and revulsion for the party they support, as those of us who know the facts feel. One can make interesting comparisons with the World War II (the Germans – abject apologies, the Italians – we were all in the resistance!, the Japanese – denial)
Just a few remarks in response to random comments here and there:
Someone keeps harping on about the size of the PN majority in 1987. One of the reasons why the PN victory in 1987 (apart from the intimidation at the polls, last minute employment and unjustified removal from the electoral register) was the fact that we were already living in a quasi-police state with restricted freedom of expression and freedom of information. Most labourites (and for that matter many nationalists) had no idea what was going in inside the depot, for instance, and its not surprising. Just look at any list of dictatorships and you will see what I mean. Zimbabwe is a great analogy. Germany in WWII is another. The list is endless. Just pick a totalitarian state and you have an example available. Most common labourites were no less intelligent than most common nationalists but were more inclined to believe government propaganda as is normal in these circumstances.
Someone else brought up Pietru Pawl Busuttil and his alleged ODZ pig farm. (one could say a lot about pig farms, bank loans from state-owned banks, and certain labour thug in the eighties) Not sure what is being suggested here. Should the police have thrown him out of the window of St. Luke’s? I don’t think he was beaten at the depot, as someone states, but hey, lets take a few other choice goings on at the depot:
1) murder
2) sodomy with a squeegee handle
3) burning tattoos with cigarettes
4) burning genitals with cigarettes
5) breaking bones and beating the broken bones
6) shoving pistol barrels in people’s mouths
7) sticking peoples head in the toilet.
This is just a short list, and unlike the muck produced in books by people like Joseph Muscat, its all documented in court judgements. Yesterday after following someone’s advice and re-watching the 1987 pre-election debates I re-read sections of a very interesting book by Dione Borg, called Liberta Mhedda. Most of it was reported in the papers when it happened, but in less detail, and it was denounced as propaganda, and in any case appeared in sections of the media not accessed by the labour rank and file. What is important about this book is that there is no speculation, no drawing of conclusions, it is simply transcripts of judgements and sworn statements collated in a sequence which makes sense. For this reason, no-one has challenged this book with a libel case. It should probably be mandatory reading in our schools, but then again some of the testimony is just not suitable for children. Another interesting point highlighted is that a general enquiry was commissioned and completed by a judge who’s name escapes me but soon after Alfred Sant’s election in 1996 all copies of this report vanished. (Including the copy he personally requested and allegedly disappeared from his office)
Still others somehow try and play the victim and claim they are being insulted because it is being suggested that this only happened because labourites are stupid and nationalists are intelligent. Quite apart from that claim being a load of rubbish, it could have happened just as easily if the PN tried it, but the fundamental difference is that they didn’t. The MLP did!
Another person asks why people were not convicted. Well, to start with, a number of people were, not least the Commissioner of police, which is a huge indictment of any government. Interestingly he was later engaged by the MLP as a consultant, (not sure if he had even served his full sentence yet) which somehow gives the lie to remarks about disassociation. Other reasons why far less people were convicted than they should have been, include the disappearance of important evidence and the fact that the police force after the PN victory in 1987 was still a collection of criminals, thugs and diehard labourites, who in the heat of the moment, driven by the thugs and criminals, acted in the same way. This has been repeatedly stated both in print and viva voce, and again I see no libels.
Yet another apologist somehow turns the resignations argument on its head and says that it wouldn’t make any difference anyway. I don’t know whether it would have made a difference, although I suspect that if enough people did, it might have. Where it certainly makes a difference is that those who were in high places in the Labour party cannot not have known about these things, and not resigning from, as a minimum, their posts on the party, results in a moral disqualification from Maltese politics.
Someone else, (or possibly the same person as one of the above) said computers were available to the general public. Not sure of the context of the comment but I started working in the IT industry in 1985. Sales really took off in 1988. Before that it was an uphill battle, not least because of all the declarations we needed to sign and the regular confiscations of monitors at customs (ghax dawk televisions!) Try selling a company 5 computers and 1 monitor! People keep mentioning computers but they forget how difficult it was and the amounts of paperwork one also needed to import or buy faxes. What’s the point I hear you ask? Well, at the same time the fax was being used by dissidents in Russia in order to spread pro-democracy propaganda, so bearing in mind who the Labour governments’ friends were at the time……….
And another thing – every episode I have referred to is documented in a court judgement or sworn evidence transcript not some beano or a speech by a rabble rouser. Interestingly no-one has challenged the facts in my previous post, but instead chosen to try and raise presumed mitigating or compensatory circumstances.
I could go on and on and on, as could many others, and as long as an admission and an apology is not forthcoming, we will continue. Like me, many who lived through this and are old enough to remember the details are in our early forties, so you can look forward to another 40 years of these comments, while we wait for a Labour leader who has enough courage to come to terms with his party’s past.
Forgive and forget I hear you say? Sure, but that needs to be preceded by another phrase, admit and apologise.
Since this is a free country i dare to say what i believe with or without your permission. I am just a stupid labour voter as you try to make almost half of malta feel however i don’t so i am no one to apoligize and never did.
Again i say that nothing can take away what you or other people like you suffered. it is a dark page in our history.
But alas, speak about the social benefits that most of the population got. am not speaking of the forever well off but the layman in the street who didn’t even have enough money to feed his/her family at the time and all you speak about is not finding certain things on the market when other people were in need of the basics. Labour government gave these to everyone who needed.
Just for the record, i come from a working class family. father worked three jobs as to keep me studying till i graduated and i look on that man and am proud of who he is and what he believes in.
He taught me to be fair, honest and always speak my mind. Let no one intimidate you. and that is what i am doing.
@moderator
Believing in someone or something doesn’t necessarily mean you are wrong because the majority do not agree with you. The majority do win elections and do elect goverments but it doesn’t mean that all I did or believed in was wrong and that I need a total overhaul if Mr X becomes leader. Abela would score more points if he acknowledged the good things that were done and suggested improvements and not just spoke critically about the last 10 years. Labourites would tend to connect more with him if he were a bit more cautious in his words. Yesterday’s interview of Xarabank was an example of how not to win the hearts and minds of those who would elect him…
[Moderator – David,
“subject to systematic oppression and terror” – That is a misnomer.
I have lived and worked in Zejtun from 1977 to 1987. I cannot say slept as well because I cannot remember how many nights I had to stay awake always fearing the worst.
Imagine having to hide your newspaper in a bag before leaving the newsagent. Taking great care that it doesn’t look like a newspaper in a bag.
In the morning, make sure that the clothes you are putting on do not have the slightest tinge of blue because today you have to cross the main square….
If you have decided to attend a political meeting make it a point to leave the town in the morning and arrive back after dark stopping 30 minutes away by walk so as to return without drawing attention.
Terror does not manifest itself in the big events only. It is the day to day events that really puts one under the feeling of oppression. The feeling that you are nothing and made to feel as nothing.
But the anvil is much stronger that the hammer.
Those who were not born, or were very young cannot understand. But now they have lived freedom and when man tastes freedom he will settle for nothing less.
It was not in vain……
RE the 1987 election may I remind you that the result was broadcast by RAI 1 radio. I just couldn’t believe the news and thought that RAI had made a mistake. How could so many people be so blind to what had been happening? Surely there were Labourites who disapproved of the way the MLP had behaved? But as I said in another comment, half of Malta was living in cloud 9 with never an inkling of what the other half of the population was going through.
By the way, during those terrible years my Italian perked up no end as I used to tune in to RAI radio from 06.00 to after midnight – and there were many good programs. Also for 10 years I never wore anything red – it had become a colour synonymous with fear and terror.
It will take a very changed and apologetic MLP to make me vote lejber!!
Like it or not age is an issue. Watch as it becomes an issue for McCain in the U.S. elections. I remember when Mintoff was reaching 65 back in the late 70s the PN of the time was deriding him for not resigning because he had reached pensionable age. I remember the PN “xarabanks” full of people waving flags and singing witty little ditties about sending Mintoff to l-Imgieret!
Admittedly at 65 the age issue will not be much of a factor but assuming all goes well for Labour and Labour is elected in 2013 won’t it be a factor when running for a second term of office that the PM is 70 and that he will be 75 by the end of that second term? Didn’t EFA use age as his reason for resigning the Premiership at 70?
The rough and tumble and cut throat nature of politics does put a huge strain on people of even the best health and age. Look at EFA – how many heart related ailments was he treated for while PM? Sant looked like death warmed up on the campaign trail and at some level I am sure that he himself and certainly his loved ones must be glad that he does not have the strain of office to deal with while recovering from his surgery.
So there are my reasons and examples, moderator.
[Moderator – All of them trivial.]
Also assuming the MLP makes it to power in 2013 they will likely dump Gonzi and go for someone new who will be younger who will be up against nannu George by then. As for Muscat he is not leadership material as Daphne points out even if he was older.
@Mary Agius
I quote:
“Since this is a free country i dare to say what i believe with or without your permission”
Well done! But remember PN gave you this freedom, we couldn’t do that under labour!
I quote:
“all you speak about is not finding certain things on the market when other people were in need of the basics. Labour government gave these to everyone who needed.”
The “basics” then were not fit to be called so. Remember the imitation pasta? And why did the government had to deprive others of “certain things” to provide these basics?
I repeat my points from above
1. Water in the pipes, especially in Sliema (my home town) was a luxury. (Isn’t water a basic?)
2. On picking up the phone, more often than not one joined a telephone party of crossed lines.
3. One could not find a decent bit of chocolate, toothpaste, pasta or other basic commodities.
4. One could not go abroad with more than lM140 (I believe) and this included the hotel!
5. How many years after other countries did we get colour TVs?
6. Even radio controlled toys were banned for heaven’s sake!! I remember my father having to smuggle one in for me. As for computers – ha ha good joke
And all the above is not even taking into account the murders and violence both physical and psychological condoned and tolerated by the state!
@ David Zammit
You wrote “The 80s is as much an issue to the general public as the massive pothole I have up my street. The few that continue to harp on this are blue bred nationalists who are once in a while tempted not to vote because of the general inefficiency of this goverment and the so called favours they may or may not have a right to have…”
That’s bullc..p and you know it. Your dismissal of those days shows that either as the mod said you were brought up under Nationalist administrations and take today’s freedoms for granted or:
You were not at the receiving end of that regime. Few who harp on? If the 80’s are such a non-issue why did MLCP take great pains to dissassociate herself? She wouldn’t have bothered if people don’t care. And for your info I’m not blue-bred, very much the contrary actually.
My mother was Labour until the late 70’s and so was my father until KMB’s government closed our schools.
@ Mary Agius
You wrote “the layman in the street who didn’t even have enough money to feed his/her family at the time and all you speak about is not finding certain things on the market when other people were in need of the basics”
What kind of justification is that for the curtailment of general freedoms and the general shortage of even the basic stuff. People concentrated on computers… how about water? how about a government controlling every single aspect of your life?
“Labour government gave these to everyone who needed.” – There it is – the typical socialist thinking of a paternalistic government providing everything.
I don’t want to depend on anything from any government except freedom to pursue my dreams and achieve as far as my capabilities take me. Congrats on your graduation, you, like myself and many others who were fortunate, did not have to face a board chaired by the Irrevocably Resigned on whether you could pursue your studies or not.
And good on you on speaking your mind. No one is intimidating you… If you think this is intimidation, believe me, you do not know the meaning of the word
@The Abbott
What makes you think that Gorg will do a full term if he wins? Why do you think they are pushing for Muscat as deputy (Lino Spiteri and the like) Most likely Gorg would do and EFA and retire at 71 if he manages to win a second term.
And Gonzi isn’t 20 years younger like EFA was with Mintoff. The sign of times are also showing on Gonzi’s face…
Nah the arguments against Abela becoming leader are others and much stronger than age…
[Moderator – What are those arguments?]
@David Buttigieg
Please allow me to add some comments to your entry:
1. Not only water in pipes was a luxury – But also electricity 5 days out of seven
2. On picking up a phone – If one had a phone in the first place…and ddin’t have to prostrate oneself in front of one of the big ones just to have one.
3. Chocholate , toothpaste… – Fruits and vegetables…it wasn’t enough having to be forced to work a 3 or 4 day week with less pay and the blessing of the GWU but to buy a kilo of oranges one was forced to buy vegetables he didn’t need.
4. Going abroad – Whilst on a 3 or 4 day week…..joking
5. Colour TV’s…..not for the common people….but walking in front of certain houses one could easily notice that he had a colour TV….but he is a friend of a friend of….
6. Radio controlled toys – what toys and buy them with what.
@The Abbott – Fenech Adami was born in 1934. He became prime minister for the first time at 53, again at 58, lost an election to the ‘youthful’ Sant at 62, won against him and became prime minister again at 64, beat Sant again and became prime minister for the last time at 69, and then bowed out. He was the best prime minister this country ever had, and in the most difficult times too, taking us from Albania-status to EU member state. So no, I don’t think age is a factor where George Abela is concerned – or rather, yes, I do think it is a factor, and one that works in his advantage.
On the other hand, Joseph Muscat’s age works against him. He already comes across as vain and silly at the best of times, even without factoring his lack of life experience into the equation. Only yesterday I was thinking about the insanity of handing the reins of the Labour Party, and possibly the country, to somebody who would have to compete in interviews to get a job with an investment services company, and might not even get it because of his attitude problem.
Lawrence Gonzi is only 5 years younger than George Abela. In 2013 he will be 60 and George 65. I don’t think it is an issue at all.
@Sack Jason micallef
I was neither at the giving end nor at the receiving end – I lived my life as always without giving too much wieght to what politicians say and yes one could have done this even in the 80s….
@moderator
The arguments I have outlined many a time on this blog, mainly the genuine reasons behind Abela’s surge back to the limelight – I think he came back with too much aggravation against Sant and his motely crew for us to really believe that he doesn’t want revenge…. And if that is one of the reasons he may as well leave right now….
Another issue is the way he attempts to wash his hands from the Svizzera fil Mediterran and the VAT-CET issues when he was so heavily involved and made so many public speeches which conflict to his stand today. How can one accuse Sant and MLP of U-Turns and then divest Abela with praise in such a scenario! And lets say that in his heart of hearts he was pro-eu and anti CET. How can I value his honesty if he left MLP because of his disagreement on the election and not because of these issues?? And he has the cheek to criticise the MLP for taking such stands on these issues when in the last 10 years he stayed put….
If he at least acknowledged that not all that the MLP had done since he left was a disaster at least he would be more credible in the eyes of the labourites…
@Mary Agius -what on earth do you mean when you say ‘what you and other people like you suffered’? The whole country suffered! It was brought to its knees. I am trying to imagine what sort of a sheltered life you might have had, to be completely oblivious to all that was going on. Do you know nothing of economics? Nothing about democracy? Nothing about freedom of speech? Nothing about how people in neighbouring countries lived (and I don’t mean Libya)? Didn’t you ever wish for anything better and wonder why you couldn’t have it?
David Zammit wrote
“I lived my life as always without giving too much wieght to what politicians say and yes one could have done this even in the 80s….”
Unbelievable…..
@ Mary Agius – if your father held down three jobs to put his daughter through higher education, then by definition he is a Nationalist, not a Labourite, even if that’s not how he votes. I am also rather taken aback that you say he taught you how to speak your mind and let nobody intimidate you – and then you say he voted for the government that intimidated the entire country and clamped down on free expression! What a mass of contradictions – amazing.
Daphne, u mean a MESS of contradictions. A mass is too restrained a word here. Mary Agius, truly, I am sorry for u.
and the best word to decribe JM is one of the nicest words in the English Language. Lest he hauls me to court again, it simply describes someone who tosses……
“Those who were not born, or were very young cannot understand. But now they have lived freedom and when man tastes freedom he will settle for nothing less.
It was not in vain……”
Never were more truer words said. thats why we vote PN. Lest it happens again. I live in fear of it. George Abela or no George Abela, I will never vote MLP. And the EU is no guarantee it wont happen. All it takes for some MLP nut elected PM is to say…..we are out of the EU. It wont have an effect on the EU. None at all. Those guys will be glad to get rid of us, because we cant give a toss about stability. And we will be back to 1981 all over again. I will not let that happen with my vote. So no, no GA or even less some born again christian like JM, or Ev, or MLCP whatever, or MljunF, will make me vote MLP. The same goes for all of us who lived in those years, i hope. This is my nightmare. I’ll not help it happen.
David I agree that Lawrence is starting to look frayed at the edges on those rare occasions that he is caught minus his trademark Colgate “tbissima”. Kate does look a charm.
What I would like to know is what sort of an image does Mrs. George Abela project? Will the Abela duo be able to counteract the wholesome Lorry “ragel tal-familja” and Kate “mara tal-knisja” image made in tal-Pieta that electorate was and will continue to be fed? Does Mrs. Abela, like Kate Gonzi, look like a model out of a 50s edition of Woman’s Own? Does she have a prozac smile to dazzle us all with? Does she hold controversial views and espouse causes that will have the clergy up in arms? In other words is Mrs. Abela a real woman of her times or is she a cut out fabrication made in the spin unit of her husband’s party H.Q.? What does she think about “aborxin”, d-divorzju and other hot button topics? Shouldn’t the Times be rushing to interview her to introduce her to her future electorate?
So, good riddance Mr Debono….we have one worry less. Thank you.
@Uncle Fester – all we care about is that George Abela has a wife he clearly loves and respects, which is more than can be said for the last three Labour leaders. And don’t imagine that it didn’t work against them, either.You may scoff, but the fact is that most people – gay, straight, old young, married, single, divorced, separated – find this kind of thing appealing, for a variety of reasons. It makes them feel safe. We are more primitive than you think.
@ Amanda Mallia
That was a brilliant piece. said it all. They’re the ones who are at ‘drinks’parties saying how great it is to have Gonzi looking after us. they have’nt even go the bocci to admit they did not vote and could have caused such misery to all of us. Selfish Cowards !
Tony Pace – As I said in “the piece”, I was quoting what Daphne wrote in her post of the 9th March, immediately the result was out, but yes, it summed up the thoughts and feelings of many.
Apogies DCG, you were being quoted. just realised. but prosit Amanda for highlighting the piece.
no sheltered life daphne. i came to this blog because i love to listen and learn. this is the only way of knowing the other side. as i already said i do not remember anything as i was born in the 80s myself so no sheltered life.
it is good that many of your entries have ‘windows’ showing what happened from the abused side and this is what i meant by saying that i understand what you and others have gone through.
to be honest and not because it happened to you, i was dumbfounded when i read what happened to you personally when you were pregnant(nothing to take away or disrespect the what happened to others). Maybe this touched me more being a woman and not long ago a mother myself. Yes i repeat it was a dark side of mystery. In no way was i defending the abuse so if i was misunderstood i hope i am making it clear.
My father never voted p.n. His family and himself were lifted from misery. that said dap, did it ever cross your mind that maybe my father had to work three jobs because he wanted what was best for us? something he could not give us with his minimum wage?
I cannot speak of the 80s by first hand experience but i can speak of the 90s which i remember well.
And yes i remember when labour government 96-98 touched our stipends. i was at valletta protesting myself because it wasn’t fair having the party which i always believed in taking away what was rightly mine (apart from the fact that i really needed that money). i remember as well how the protest turned into a political one but it was obvious it would. then came the nationalist party promising that he would give us the stipends as they were. everyone was happy.
However when he came into power 98 this did not happen as he removed the loan and gave a stipend of LM60 a month which to be fair was better than the labour’s deal but not what had been promised when i knew that with the previous arrangements 3rd and 4th year university students were being given almost the double of this.
To conclude, to be educated and mature people have to say that x thing was right and y thing was wrong. this is what i try to do otherwise i will never make wise choices.
@Uncle Fester – there you go, in true Lejber fashion, casting aspersions on someone you obviously don’t know at all. To suggest that Kate Gonzi is “a cut out fabrication made in the spin unit of her husband’s party H.Q.” would be utterly despicable if it weren’t so hilarious to those who know her and probably to her too. I have known Kate for over 30 years, well before she and her husband became public figures, and I can confidently state that apart from being highly intelligent, charming, loyal, utterly dependable, totally unflappable and possessed of a highly evolved social conscience, Kate is very much her own woman – an asset to both her husband and the country.
Careful Uncle Fester, just because past Lejber leaders (as I don’t know anything about the partners on the horizon I will not comment) have had nobody of Kate’s calibre by their side, it simply doesn’t do to let your envy show.
AGE issue…its your leadership skills that matter, NOT age.
Has everyone forgotten Ronald Reagan becoming president at 70 years ? His new style of limiting govt was termed Reaganomics .You could be 70 years old with a fresh mind of 40, or you could be 35 years old with a mothballed mind of 80, or even 35 but behave like a 16 year old squeaky voice and all.
@David Zammit . I would be grateful if you reveal your age, because evidently you have not lived the terror years of 1971 – 1987, in particular 1981 – 1987.
I am 44 years old and I have experienced Tear Gas, Bomb explosion and 3 sten guns pointed at my head by the army personnel(for having an EFA poster in my car) .I can assure you what I experienced is mild , as I was fotunate enough not to experience “questioning” at the Police Depot under that MONSTER SADIST PULLICINO. Just in case you dont know the Police Commissioner was found guilty of murdering someone held for questioning…
Full page adverts were put in the Times as what to do if you
were arrested, since being arrested for being a PN sympathiser was the order of the day.
A friend of mine was so traumatised at the Depot he spent time at Mount Carmel Hospital
SO PLEASE DONT INSULT US THAT WHAT HAPPENED IN THOSE TERROR YEARS WAS SOME WALK IN THE PARK.
AN UNCONDIOTIONAL AND FULL APOLOGY HAS YET TO BE GIVEN BY THE MLP
David Zammit / Mary Agius / Albert Farrugia: You persist in defending the indefensible because you’re hung up on the idea that the MLP could have been worse but wasn’t and because it is a party it has a ‘right’ to be in government but isn’t. You add nothing to the debate with your comments except remind everyone why, in spite of being everything that a government should not be, the MLP government hung onto power for 16 years.
David Zammit, your comments about computers are particularly irritating. So everyone could get hold of a computer if they wanted to, could they? How depressing that you should defend such unnecessary malice and stupidity in this forum – which is only possible because of the economic and political liberty that the MLP restricted when in government and continues to undermine even while in oppostion.
David S: It is not David Zammit’s age that interferes with his thinking, such as it is, about the horror years you mention. It is the obtuse mentality that apparently knows no age boundaries. People voted for the MLP throughout those horrible years. More shockingly, they voted for the MLP even when they saw first hand how different things were after 1987.
@Daphne – I totally agree. I have never seen or heard Mrs. Abela and was wondering if she could match Kate Gonzi and project the same image of marital bliss and solid traditional family values that the Gonzi couple do. Whatever you say the “smiling Gonzi couple” have been packaged professionally to tailor to the needs you try to identify. That’s not to say that Kate Gonzi is not genuine or that Lawrence is not decent. The raw material is definitely there but there is no doubt that there has been professional packaging and marketing for the consumer.
@Anna. What makes you think I support “lejber”? Cannot one make a comment without being labelled red or blue.
@Uncle Fester – I have no problem with professional packaging, rather the opposite. When a political party does things professionally, I am reassured that they will also take a professional approach in government. When a political party does things amateurishly and on the hoof (Labour) I am left in no doubt that they will have the same approach to government. Professional packaging is a reassuring sign, and not a suspicious one.
@Daphne. I think that we are in agreement. My point was that Labour’s package had better be up to snuff with the sophisticated “smiling Lawrence and Kate” package that comes out of Tal-Pieta. So, anyone seen, heard or know anything about Mrs. George Abela? So far all I’ve heard is Daphne’s reassuring comment that Dr. Abela loves and respects Mrs. Abela. Nice to know I’m sure but does anyone know more than that? Is Mrs. Abela a stay at home mum? Is she a professional? Is she involved in any charities, pet causes etc? Is she short, tall, fat, thin, old, young, an extrovert, an introvert? Would Colgate approve of her smile? Would the manufacturer of prozac use her in an ad campaign for the “after you pop a pill you’ll look and feel like this” pictures?
@Uncle Fester – I do apologise if I got that wrong; it appears that you don’t like labels either. My jumping to the wrong conclusion (if that’s what it was) may have something to do with your labelling of the Prime Minister’s wife a puppet who’s on Prozac when you obviously don’t know her at all and with your trying to justify the Labour media’s treatment of a young man who is NOT A PUBLIC FIGURE by saying that that’s life (thread on ‘The Difference is Clear’).
Again, if I’ve got it wrong I apologise but, having seen family members and friends slandered in the Labour media in same offhand manner in which you made your remarks and with the same lack of regard for the truth, I have decided that my lapse was perfectly understandable and I will therefore absolve myself from my ‘sin’ without waiting for an absolution from you.
@Uncle Fester – … and your angling for any information people may provide about Mrs Abela reminds me of the gutter press and gossip of the worst kind. Mrs Abela will have enough to contend with if her husband is elected Labour leader without her private life becoming fodder for public consumption.
@Anna. I don’t have the power to absolve any sins and moreover you have committed none. By the way isin’t the whole style of Daphne’s commentary to mix in the serious with the flippant? Re-read her past columns which are full of scathing references to Alfred Sant mixing in serious commentary and astute observations with flippant and denigrating personal observations such as references to his hairpiece and so forth. Why can’t I try to do the same with Kate and Lorry’s perpetual smiles? Haven’t seen such perpetual fixed smiles in ages. I think the last time I saw so many was when a busload of residents from Mount Carmel rolled into town on a day trip.
@Uncle Fester – remarks about the wigs (plural – he has a whole wardrobe of them) worn by the man who wanted to be prime minister are not flippant or ‘personal’ but extremely pertinent. A wig is not a physical deformity one is born with and over which one has no control. Wearing a wig is a deliberate act, a choice driven by psychology. It is the psychology that is at issue, given that it is perfectly normal for men to be bald. I would never dream of making reference to a wig worn by a woman suffering from alopecia or whose hair has fallen out because of chemotherapy. That’s another matter altogether. It’s not normal for women to be bald, and so it is perfectly acceptable for women to wear wigs when afflicted by such an unusual trauma. I would be more inclined to question the psychology of the woman who insists on walking out bald.
As for the smiles – better people who smile than people with fake smiles (Joseph Muscat and Jason Micallef) or people who look like they’re mourners at the funeral of a Mafia boss (the ‘leadership’ of the Labour Party in the election campaign).
@Uncle Fester – maybe if you ask nicely Daphne will agree to give you some lessons in prose style. Until then, may I suggest that you attempt to develop your own. Trying to imitate Daphne’s does both you and her a disservice.
@Daphne. Are there any normal people in politics? What a sorry picture you paint. Former MLP leader needs wardrobe full of wigs to cope psychologically with baldness. (Would it be better if he had a hair transplant?) Possible Future Mexxej who you are supporting who seems to use Nice’n’easy or Clairol to give his hair a youthful black gloss. (Is that psychologically okay?) Current Secretary General and possible future boy wonder leader who you say have fake smiles. The MLP leadership trio that look like mourners at a funeral – little did they realize it was their own political funeral. On the other side we had a deputy leader who had a serious ego problem complete with puffed up chest. Former leader never learned to wave properly, always looked like Sister Benedicta flapping her wrists to tell the schoolboys to keep down the volume. We now have Lorry and Kate with those almost natural smiles. About 10mgs each short of normal Why do we hold these people in such esteem?!
@Anna. Bless you, you always think the worst of people don’t you? I’m not angling for gossip – I could care less. I want to know a little about Mrs. Abela. Is she a professional? Is she a stay at home mum? Is she involved in any charities, organizations or pet causes? What is her image? Kate’s is as a traditional wife who has an interest in charities particularly dealing with battered women. Commendable. How does Mrs. Abela compare to that? I’m not asking if she slept with the milkman.
@Uncle Fester – until Mrs Abela enters public life, we are going to keep her out of it. That’s the rule. Please read what I wrote elsewhere on this blog about dragging in relatives who have stayed out of the spotlight. Mrs Gonzi is up for comment because she participates actively in public life and was an important part of the campaign. Mrs Abela is absent from the media, so until she starts campaigning let’s leave her in peace (unless she does something illegal or grossly immoral). It’s not as though she’s trying to court attention or get in on the act like Sant’s (long ex) wife did throughout the campaign, giving interviews and the like.
@Uncle Fester – Such information is irrelevant just now; leaders are (or should be) elected on their own merits not the merits of their spouses. Should GA be elected leader of the MLP such information may be relevant but only insofar as the spouse’s qualities may or may not be deemed an asset to GA, his party and ultimately, if he becomes Prime Minister, to the country.
@Daphne – my sentiments exactly. Thank you, Daphne.
@ Daphne – now I know how Alice felt when she looked through the glass. I’m amazed that you of all people should be “gharukazaing” away simply because a member of the public wants basic information on the wife of a candidate for public office. You would think it would be part of his publicity material. George has been married to Ms. Mysterious, a school teacher, for 30 years. They have three children called Ini, Mini, Minimo. Ms. Mysterious enjoys skateboarding and helping out at school picnics in her free time. What’s the big deal?
@Anna. No comment.
Uncle Fester, what wit! “No comment” – what a fantastic come-back; so simple but yet so cutting! Now did you come up with that all on your own? Inspiring, really – Daphne I really think you are being given a run for your money.
Uncle Fester
If you are so curious, may I suggest you sashay down to the person you are so keen to get the scoop on and give her the third degree.
As Daphne put it, so long as she is not a part of the limelight, she should be entitled to her privacy. I am sure you can understand this, seeing that you want to have yours respected by posting anonymously.
@Uncle Fester – just curious, how old are you? I wouldn’t normally dream of asking but your behaviour on this blog puts me in mind of a young child allowed onto the playground with the ‘big kids’ for the first time. We’ve all seen it happen: the youngster darts from one group to the other excitedly putting in his tuppence worth, miscuing more often than not and totally unaware of it.
I would really like to believe that it is age and not the lack of a moral compass that is responsible for your failure to understand that someone who is NOT A PUBLIC FIGURE should not become the subject of public commentary simply to gratify your curiosity, in this case, or to harass and intimidate as in the case of Daphne’s sons and others that I know of. How many times do you have to hear it – relatives of public figures (whether spouses, offspring, members of the extended family) do not lose their right to privacy simply because they are related to the public figure.
I am, however, starting to find you rather tiresome. The topic’s closed. Daphne says so and it’s her blog. Perhaps, as Amanda suggested elsewhere, you should retire to your grotto for a while and take stock.
@ Mark, Vanni and Anna: You’re all so right and all much too sharp for me, how could I not have understood that asking for basic biographical information about a candidate’s spouse (usually contained in election campaign literature as a matter of course) is violative of their rights? I stand corrected and duly chastised by all of you much more mature and knowledgeable people.
Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but I love it as well as the next fella.
Glad that you saw the light Uncle Fester. Any time you want some more enlightenment, just give us a call.
@ Vanni – until the next time….LOL!! Amazing how politics still enflames people’s passions this way and how they put these political leader types on pedestals. It is still so 1980s in many ways. Black and white. No grey or very little. To those of us floating out there from pale blue to pale pink and then to green and back again it’s just such a yawn and taking a poke at the sacred cows of the true believers proves to be irresistible. I know as Anna said I’m lacking in maturity – that’s why I just don’t see it her way!
@Uncle Fester
What is actually amazing is how such a bored, disengaged floating voter can take so much time out of his day to write on a political blog that apparently makes him yawn. And all this for want of anything better to do. Are you really that sad?
@Mark. Daphne’s articles and most of the comments are quite informative and entertaining. The blog is excellent. I am not bored or disengaged – that’s your fabrication. I am bored with true believers of all political hues who treat politicos as if they were super mortals on pedestals and who see issues in terms of blue and red and deal with political issues as if they were dogmas of faith. Witness Anna’s first reaction that I must be a “lejber” voter just because I took a swipe at the Gonzi duos constant smiles. And by the way this took me five minutes to write. Pleasant dreams and may PEACE, good karma and all that stuff come your way.
Was giving a little thought to the by all means extraordinary reactions (overkill x infinity) that I have seen on this website and want to throw something out there.
Seems to me that people like Anna, Amanda, maybe Mark, definitely Daphne and so forth are in a generation of people that have been mentally scarred by events that they witnessed in their formative years. The accounts of violence that these people recount on this blog were witnessed in their teenage years and must have had an effect on them so much so that like many victims of injustice or crime they continue to relive these episodes over and over and these experiences give them a world view that remains with them throughout life. In this case they will never ever trust Labour, however much it reforms itself and diassociates itself from the past.
They are not unlike the generation of Labour Party supporters known as the “suldati tal-azzar” who were the victims of Arch. Gonzi’s interdett in the 1960s. These people witnessed and felt this injustice in their youth and were forever scarred by it – Lino Spiteri, Micallef Stafrace, Lorry Sant and so many others. It forever tainted their view of the church and the allies of the Church in public office – the P.N. Whatever was said by way of regret was never enough and could never right the wrongs they experienced.
And by the way, I believe the MLP through Sant had already apologized for the excesses of the 1980s. Am I wrong about that? Sant also routed out the violent elements in Labour and the party has never looked back. What else should Labour do to make amends?
Remember the church, i.e. that institution set up to give an example of repentance and forgiveness, took for ever to apologize to the victims of its interdett. And that’s from an institution that doesn’t have to worry about running for election.
Any thoughts on this?
[Moderator – You are confusing citizenship with religious following. The Roman Catholic church is probably the most undemocratic organisation in the world, and when intelligent people disagree with its dogmas, they leave it because it is not a social service that we are all entitled to. How on earth is the Nationalist Party responsible for people who didn’t have the courage to leave the church when they were asked to?]
Good point moderator. However the PN stood by or worked behind the scenes to let these injustices continute to happen in the 1960s because it was politically expedient. But there again you focus in on defending the P.N. – my comment was wider than that. Is there anything the M.L.P can do to make amends for the violence of the 1980s that would satisfy the victims of that violence (which in a wider sense is all of us in Daphne’s generation because although never one to be politically active I do remember those events clearly)? I think that like victims of crime there is nothing ever that really can be done – they are scarred forever much like the victims of the man who Daphne outed as being a sexual predator.
I see where you are coming from, Uncle Fester. And maybe I would agree with you that it would take an earthquake to make certain people begin trusting MLP after the disgusting things they saw and lived through. However, unless the MLP start by apologizing (and not just by mouthing the words either) for its actions, there can’t be any reconciliation. Saying “that is water under the bridge” won’t help any attempt at reconciliation. Another problem is that the MLP is still crawling with people who were members of quite some standard within the MLP of the time. They should be given the boot.
In other words, a rebirth is needed. If the past is buried, then people who were scarred by the events, whilst maybe not voting MLP, might consider abstaining from voting for PN ghax allahares jitilaw il-lejber.
I quote from JM’s piece in today’s Times: “In the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the Socialist Group leader, Martin Schulz, put forward yet another facet to the argument when he lashed out at speculation on the current situation in the global food market. He was critical of the fact that financial institutions are advising their clients to bet on soaring prices, thus providing an incentive for speculators to create food shortages. Describing these actions as “immoral”, he argued in favour of international regulation of the financial markets, especially in the case of hedge funds.
Food for thought.”
This is the same Martin Schultz MEP who made as if he hadn’t known that Silvio Berlusconi was referring to the character on Hogan’s Heroes in his comment a few years back, and created a big, big storm in a tea-cup.
Listen to what he’s saying now, and what JM is toying with as if it were age-old wisdom: it’s IMMORAL for financial advisors to advise their clients on where best to put their money (even though they’re being paid for exactly that reason) because – catch this – in a market where there’s shortage of supply and high prices, it makes sense for food producers NOT to sell food. In other words, it’s not objective conditions like bad harvests, crop disease etc. that are resulting in price hikes, it’s evil entrepreneurs’ wickedness. And the answer according to our socialist friends?
More state regulation.
This type of thinking in a possible future PM, during a pretty leftist government’s tenure, chills my blood infinitely faster than eyes or goatees do.
[Moderator – I wonder if he even knows that, a few weeks ago, the UK made it illegal for petrol stations to dispense petrol that does not contain a percentage of crop-sourced fuel. Government regulation has more of a role in driving up food prices than he cares to consider.]