The crown is a little tarnished

Published: April 3, 2008 at 3:21pm

The more I read about the various contenders for the Labour crown, the more worried I get. This is not because I think that any one of them presents a real and viable threat to the Nationalist Party, but rather the opposite. I’m worried because they don’t. I’m worried because their quality is so poor that come 2013 we will be back where we have been for the last 40 years – allahares jitla l-Lejber.

The Labour Party thinks that the only reason ‘we’ – we being the 140,000-odd people on the other side of the barbed wire – are giving them advice and offering our opinions is because we want to see them dig themselves deeper into the quagmire. They can’t seem to understand that apart from the Nationalist Party hardcore – they have a hardcore too, though it’s smaller than Labour’s hardcore because on the whole PN voters tend to be more intelligent – thousands of those who vote for the Nationalists would like to see a Labour Party they are comfortable with, one that they might even vote for.

Labour supporters are desperate to see ‘their’ party in power, but here’s the thing. They are not terrified of a Nationalist government. They do not think that a Nationalist government is predictable in its unpredictability. They are not going to spend the next five years afraid to turn on the evening news in case they hear something wild and crazy. They know that a Nationalist government will not wake up one morning and do something like remove VAT and spend the next 10 months trying to invent a mad new tax to replace it with. They can grasp the fact that Lawrence Gonzi (and Eddie Fenech Adami) would never step up on a public podium and announce that the man he has named Oil Minister (in a country without an oil industry) will not be forced to find oil and obliged to resign if doesn’t. They can also understand, at some intuitive level, that there is something wrong with people who think and behave like this, but out of loyalty, they never give voice to their concerns.

Nationalist supporters, on the other hand, live in fear of a Labour government – not because it isn’t ‘their’ government (Nationalist supporters, as I said, tend to be more intelligent and less tribal) but because of what that government means in terms of inept amateurishness.

Who are the named contenders for the Labour Party leadership so far? Here’s the shocking list of three: Joseph Muscat, who did nothing but smirk and tell us about the people who have a ‘grazzja mieghu’ when interviewed by Lou Bondi, Michael Falzon, who comes across very well on a one-to-one basis but who performs like somebody ta’ wara l-muntanji in public and who was part of the catastrophic leadership in this last election, and Evarist Bartolo, a specialist in communications who had no idea how the Labour Party was coming across in the campaign and whose alter ego very different to his public face. Now here’s the even more disturbing list of those who are thinking about it: Anglu Farrugia – no need for me to go into any great detail there as I’ve done so several times already, andToni Abela, who behaves on television like somebody auditioning for Moira Orfei’s circus. George Abela? They might have frightened him out of the race already.

The confused thinking over at Labour is quite beyond belief (or perhaps not). They’re telling us – ‘us’ being those of us on the other side of the barbed wire, remember – that we don’t want that smug Cheshire Cat because he’s a threat to Gonzi. Yes, and I’m a threat to Carla Bruni. When we insist that the only possible choice is George Abela, because he is a real threat to Gonzi in that they are remarkably similar, they turn their argument on its head and say that we want Abela because he’ll split the party.

What? If there’s anyone who’s going to split the party it’s Joseph Muscat. I can already sniff out the fact that the party is splitting between those li ghandhom grazzja mieghu (as he puts it) and those who think that he’s tad-daqqiet ta’ harta, as I do. My visceral response to him has little or nothing to do with party politics. It’s at a human level, and so I have no doubt that lots of Labour people respond to him in the same way. Let me put it this way: if the daughter I don’t have came home and announced of somebody like Muscat that this was the man she planned to marry, I would be devastated with worry. There’s something there that I just can’t put my finger on, but I know it’s there all the same. Whether the party delegates can be bullied or persuaded into voting for somebody so very off-putting is another matter.


The first thing Labour has to ditch is its paranoia. Every time Labour exponents appear on television as guests on one show or another, they are hostile and bristling with antagonism. This was the case before the election, let alone afterwards. I’m not going to run through the list here. I’ll just mention the most recent incident that I watched on television: Frans Ghirxi, who edits L-orizzont, on Bondiplus last Monday. He’s was very pleased with himself because his newspaper has the largest circulation in Malta (other than its sister It-Torca, that is). That means nothing: it’s because Labour supporters are on average less comfortable reading English and less uncomfortable reading rabidly partisan ‘news’ than better-educated Nationalist supporters, who are happier reading the English-language newspapers, which is also why sales of In-Nazzjon and Il-Mument are lower than those of the GWU newspapers.

Now Frans is a decent chap, so I can’t understand why he turns into an anger machine when he’s supposed to be having a civilised discussion in front of an audience of many thousands. He fails to give a good account of himself, which is a shame.

His opening gambit was an attack on his host for choosing to discuss the Labour leadership election rather than the prime minister’s choice of cabinet. Well, I’m doing the same here, and I’ll tell Frans why that is: it’s more interesting. For the last 18 years or so, I’ve worked on the basis that if I find something interesting, my readers do too. If I find it yawn-making, so will my readers. I’m pretty average in that respect, not highbrow or different at all, and I use it to my readers’ advantage. A discussion about the prime minister’s choice of ministers leaves me wanting to reach for the remote control to see what’s exciting on the French Hunting and Fishing channel. This is largely because the discussion is about such dull characters, which is why they are safe. The discussion about the Labour leadership, on the other hand, is peopled by characters of assorted quirks and oddity, which is why they are widely regarded as unsafe.

At one point, Bondi quoted at Ghirxi something I had written: that Labour inevitably fails because it chooses ‘Labour leader’ material rather than ‘prime minister’ material – hence Mintoff, Mifsud Bonnici, Sant and now, Muscat. When Sant, for a very brief moment there in 1996, looked like prime minister material (through the rose-tinted spectacles of those drugged on the promise of VAT-removal), he won. When he ceased to look like prime minister material a few months later, people rushed to vote him out.

Bondi asked Ghirxi what he thought about this. Ghirxi’s response wasn’t like that of Jason Micallef when Bondi confronted him with something I’d written. He didn’t say that he can’t take me seriously because I’d had more bodywork than Cher, but it was in a similar vein. “Allahares il-Partit Laburista kellu jiehu bis-serjeta dak li tghid Daphne,” he said. I suppose it was on the tip of Bondi’s tongue to say that the Labour Party could do a whole lot worse than take my advice on how to win an election, but in the face of such tunnel-vision, you just have to give up. I have no interest in ensuring that the Labour Party remains a mess, but rather the opposite. I can see clearly where they are going wrong, what they have to do to attract the votes of people who think like me (the maxim that you have to set a thief to catch a thief holds true in every sector), and I can’t resist pointing out what the solution is. But what does the losing Labour Party do? It listens only to those who already vote for it. Over the last 40 years, it has developed a bunker mentality and it seems that nothing is going to change that any time soon.

This article is published in The Malta Independent today.




66 Comments Comment

  1. Adrian Borg says:

    The way things are turning out for the MLP it seems highly unlikely that the changes that they are likely to make are going to be anything more than just cosmetic. It is a real pity that they are once more going to miss the opportunity to become electable. Let us just hope that this won’t make the PN too complacent!

  2. Silvan Mifsud says:

    Spot on Daphne! I once a militant labourite, have completely lost hope….they seem so happy to remain in opposition!

  3. Paul Caruana says:

    Perhaps it was also a nationalist party conspiracy that placed Emmy Bezzina at the helm of the Alpha party, as a dastardly ploy to wreck the pro-divorce lobby.

  4. Mazokista says:

    About Conspiracies
    I smell a ‘deja vu’ with what happened during the election of the GWU General Secretary. The PN openly supported Manuel Micallef – probably the better alternative. What happened ? They voted Tony Zarb in and we all know the state the GWU is in. Shall we have a repeat scenario to the benefit of the PN ???

    Also seems like Daphne has overlooked or forgotten the other Prime Minister material they have in the shape of Louise Coleiro Preca, can one just imagine her as Prime Minister ???

  5. Fan says:

    I believe that it is going to be a highjack scenario again. There are people in the Labour camp who know what is wrong with their party and are ready to admit it. Miriam Spiteri Debono on Smash television “Realta” in my opinion came through as one of these people. But it seems that such people are being ignored and sacrificed to that terrible beast paranoia.

  6. Francis V says:

    @ Mazokista

    Precisely! They will never elect George Abela because he is “liked” by the Nationalists, so they’d rather cut their arm off “milli jpaxxuhom”. They will elect a leader that is acceptable to the laburisti only.

  7. Jack says:

    How about this for a sweeping statement…

    “They can’t seem to understand that apart from the Nationalist Party hardcore – they have a hardcore too, though it’s smaller than Labour’s hardcore because on the whole PN voters tend to be more intelligent ”

    Fanatics or “hardcore”, both side of the divide, are ruled by impulse rather than reasoning.

    I fail to fully understand how you have assessed the quantity (mass meeting attendances perhaps?) or intelligence of either camp in making your judgment.

  8. Meerkat :) says:

    Joseph Muscat has all the charisma of a con artist.

  9. Alex says:

    I guess it will end up with George Abela not contesting at all. Have a look at this latest order from Il-bord tal-vigilanza u dixxiplina:

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080403/local/mlp-leadership-hopefuls-asked-not-to-speak-to-the-press

    no wonder, joseph muscat was so fast to throw in his nomination…

  10. Charles Spiteri says:

    Francis V: Hang on, not all nationalists “like” George Abela, as you put it. In fact, many don’t know enoguh about him at all. At the moment, we’re just all enjoying feeding this angle among ourselves, because we seem to take some joy out of the fact that there are many laburisti in the core of their party who don’t want HIM.
    Other than that, however, i still prefer Gonzi to Abela. God knows what Abela will come up with if HE were leader of the MLP!!!
    Yes, yes, i agree… better him than poodle and so forth…

  11. Francis V says:

    Have a look at this – here they go again trying to silence all criticism.

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080403/local/mlp-leadership-hopefuls-asked-not-to-speak-to-the-press

  12. DF says:

    Come on guys and girls. Let’s be honest shall we? Imagine God intervenes and George Abela does get elected leader. Wouldn’t that still leave all Daphne’s pet hates lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce on some ministerial/top post in 5 years’ time. The Varists, the Anglu Farrugias, the Muscats, the Lions of Change, the DNA Mangions, the Silvio (Iggelljat) Parnises…

    What you guys really want is a clean sweep. You never want to see them gracing your TV screens again. You want them to walk the plank.

    But don’t pretend that yours is not a case of very wishful thinking. It is. In 5 years time, it’s going to be the same old story all over again.

  13. Edward Clemmer says:

    Why do the MLP keep insisting upon trying to fit a square peg into a round hole? From the glass-windowed ivory-towers on Mile End, they want to dictate to the masses rather than let the masses dictate to them. Really, all of us who are just trying to “help” the MLP are not trying to throw stones at the “glass house”. We are simply trying to clean their windows so that they can see what really is out there in the world beyond the drawbridge. It seems they keep hoping that with sufficient marketing of their product, they can sell us their future packaged product. It is looking bleak over there. The situation requires objectivity, and there are some among the MLP who have that clear capacity; but the machine is not listening. And they seem to be ignoring those from within the MLP, let alone the rest of us plebeians. I wonder who now, in the end, will be ejected this time from the MLP into the realms outside? It seems that the defenses are gathering momentum.

  14. But I thought everything concerning the election of the MLP Leader is all hush hush, so far. You are a seasoned journalist, Daphne and your acumen is indisputable, but do you really know for sure which way the wind is blowing…. over there at Mile End?
    Madonna Santa, you make it a fait accompli already and it is worrisome, to put it mildly.

  15. Albert Farrugia says:

    So, Silvan, what should we DO?

  16. Albert Farrugia says:

    And regarding the way “Labour exponents” behave on Bondiplus. Yes, that’s the way it is and that’s the way I hope it will stay. We know who the people who run Bondiplus and Xarabank are. We know their agenda. I hope no-one will insult our intelligence to deny this. And please, please dont give us the c..p that these people manage to “overcome” their political beliefs to produce “unbiased” programmes. Please let’s get real. In Maltese we say “Ghidli ma min taghmilha u nghidlek x’int”
    So, the only way for “Labour exponents” to make this point is to go there (boycotts did not seem to be effective) and score points on away ground, as they are doing now. By exposing the presenters for what they really are. At their own home. If the presenters do not like this, hard luck.
    They might discontinue inviting “Labour exponents”.

  17. Alex says:

    @ Albert Farrugia

    So according to you in Malta not only we do not have any independent media, but it is also impossible, right?

    I think it is more a matter of labour being afraid of getting exposed to the media for the various reasons.

    Have a look at the leader campaign, it is going to be held in secrecy, poor maria il-maws he has been let down by the BORD, he had just discovered that one of the reasons why MLP didn’t reach out was the inefficient use of the media…

  18. Vanni says:

    “Yes, that’s the way it is and that’s the way I hope it will stay.”

    Now this is really arrogance. What exactly is the objective in sending representatives there? Tit for tat? Or to convince and win voters for the next time? When one is in a hostile envienment, one should try to find the common ground. In other words, the speaker cannot come across as defensive, but should find something that all can identify with in the target, and than start building on that. In fact that was Sant’s failure at uni.

    “I hope no-one will insult our intelligence to deny this”

    So the MLP’s reply is by insulting viewers’ intelligence by sending Jason and those of similar ilk?

  19. Ivan M says:

    @ Albert Farrugia

    And they will be “banned”? And how does getting banned help your cause more than boycotting? That’s to continue with your line of thought.

    In my line of thought they are acting like ill-mannered buffoons who provide us with cheap entertainment.

    Funny how presenters from the party of TV OF THE YEAR, and who host shows on Smash Tv are always complaining about media. Sorry, sad not funny.

  20. amrio says:

    @Albert Farrugia

    Oh really? Well, if it suits them and you… I suggest that Lab guys at XaraBondiPlus wear a leather belt with a big bokkla, shout and swear at all and sundry… and don’t forget to use frequently ‘bocci’, ‘bajd’, ‘bazwa’, and other assorted words beginning with a ‘b’

    Hello? Look at the date on your PC – it say 2-0-0-8…

  21. Tony Pace says:

    watch what LABOUR are doing to George Abela! !
    What chance do decent people have with such a corrupt party?

  22. Bendu says:

    Re AF’s contribution. MLP’s Mintoffian behaviour par excellence. They trust no one, believe no one but are proud to be labour.

  23. Mazokista says:

    Think again Alfred Farrugia, wonder what you would have said if PBS had to transmit the PN emblem in the background and the equivalent of ‘run rabbit run’ possibly ‘we’ll take a chance – we’ll win again’ on the 9th March. Those days are over for ever and so will the MLP be if they continue using the same old tactics albeit in a different manner. You can take the horse to the water but you cannot make it drink now can you ??? The MLP can elect whoever they please but Malta deserves a decent opposition and everyone can see what is happening in this campaign – just more of the same.

  24. Adrian Borg says:

    I have said it before and will say it once again…the only hope for the MLP is to split up. Clearly there are those in the party who want to stick with the old ways and who want a leader that reflects their attitude and beliefs. There seem to be those of like George Abela and Alfred Mifsud who want a modern centre-left party, but they are being blocked by the party machinery. It appears that the first group hold the majority and are in a position of strength within the party structure. The facts are however that as Edward Clemmer correctly pointed out in this blog, they need to hear what the maltese people want, and to me this appears to be Abela and Mifsud’s model. For as long as the GWU is led by Tony Zarb, people like Abela and Mifsud do not stand a chance of taking over the MLP. In my view the split will either happen now or else after yet another electoral defeat in five years time, the more likely scenario being the latter one. Only then can a truly modern party emerge that with time will gain momentum and strength to become a true alternative government, either as part of a coalition or on its own merits.

  25. Silvan Mifsud says:

    @ Albert Farrugia

    You want advice from me? I tell you what you should do…keep things as they are..with the delegates already handpicked and brainwashed on choosing a leader which is only liked by them…and person who by being ‘loyal’ to Alfred Sant he/she permitted to have Labour defeated (yet again). In this way Labour will remain in opposition forever…if this is what you want..fine by me!It seems that Labour needs to lose more elections to start seeing things objectively!

  26. @ Adrian Borg
    Split the party? Not on your nelly! They have closed ranks and are gritting their teeth and digging their heels in. Besides, G.A. and A. F. will never have the gumption to split the party. In fin dei conti they will remain within the ranks, on sufferance, yes, and forever critical, but I do not envision them as triggering such a drastic move. They would bring down the wrath of the Laburisti and they will pay for it as sure as night follows day.

  27. Jason Spiteri says:

    “Allahares il-Partit Laburista kellu jiehu bis-serjeta dak li tghid Daphne,” he said.

    He SHOULD be at least considering, 9 of 10 of the points Daphne makes, I agree. But unfortunately the 10th point is some humorous stunt like the poodle pictures posts, which while funny for some, are not exactly mature or objective or unbiased stuff.

    If they’re all as dumb as they’re made out to be in these columns, it’s easy to imagine that labourites would be more receptive to that 10th point rather than bothering to think through the rest.

  28. Luke says:

    The Labour Party Leadership campaign is quickly turning into a farce.

    – Labour SecGen publicly declares that George Abela does not deserve to be leader;

    – The statement is quickly corroborated by the person vying to succeed him, Alfred Ghirxi;

    – They decide to shut out the media;

    – Now, they are attempting to disqualify Abela because he’s not a ‘delegat’.

    Mugabe could learn a thing or two from the MLP – but, perhaps he’s too late.

  29. Kenneth says:

    You can say whatever you want and please but l-orizzont probably owes its popularity to their genius motto – “ġurnal indipedenti ta’ kuljum” **insert manga sytle sweat tear here**

  30. Adrian Borg says:

    @Phaedra

    It all depends on whether there are enough people in the party organisation that are seeing through the current messa in scena and have had enough of these manouverings. It depnds on how much they see that they have no future if they carry on like this. You are probably right though, and there will not be enough of these to go through with a split now. This is why I said that it is more likely that they have to lose another election for this to happen.

  31. Gerald Fenech says:

    Hi all and apologies for not posting in the last few days but was busy with an important transition that needed my full attention.
    Also since I am now no longer in the local news media, I can speak my mind freely and without holding back!
    I have to confess that I have been watching the developments in the Labour leadership contest with growing alarm. It looks like the ill advised ‘Bord tal Vigilanza’ has again managed to score a spectacular own goal by issuing this absolutely senseless and disastrous media gagging order on the leadership candidates.
    Whilst each of the four contendors have their own strengths and weaknesses as potential party leaders and/or Prime Ministers, I have to grudgingly agree with Daphne that the PN really have nothing to fear next time round.
    I also have to eat humble pie and state I was wrong about JM. MF is a gentleman but is definitely not leadership material whilst EB is a has been who couldnt even make it to the deputy leadership. And with the new rules being touted about, it looks like George Abela will not even contest.
    If the Labour Party manages to make a monumental cock up again this time round then it really has no chance of ever being in government again.

  32. Alex says:

    And the farce goes on… the so feared BORD has now lifted the ban.

    And how do they get the message through? Yes, they do it in style, they got the ban lifted, by no other than the latest contestant, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca,

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080404/local/coleiro-preca-declares-her-mlp-leadership-bid

    Can they keep up with issuing a farce a day?? I think most of us will be let down when they cease to entertain us so regularly.

  33. And another thing…. Why the Bord tal-Vigilanza? I think it is out-dated….Vigilanza ghal x’hiex? What do they ‘vigilate’ against? New ideas? Top secrets leaking out? Rats in the wainscotting? Smacks too much of ‘cloak and dagger’ to me!It surely must be humiliating to their members. (Step out of line and bingo you get ostracised).
    I thought the days of the KGB were over.

  34. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    @Jack – PN voters are by definition more intelligent, not because they vote PN, but because they made an intelligent decision to (1) vote for EU membership and (2) not to vote for Alfred Sant. Of course, you can be intelligent and/or prejudiced and blinkered, and so still vote (1) against the EU or (2) for Alfred Sant, but those who are intelligent and neither prejudiced nor blinked didn’t do either of those things. Indeed, they went one step further and voted PN.

  35. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    @DF – you’re right, the Labour Party really is a lost cause without a clean sweep. Forty years of accumulated muck means you have to bring in the fumigators. And as you said, it’s not going to happen. They’ve let things slide for far too long. And because they always managed to get almost as many votes as the Nationalist Party, they’ve never had enough of an incentive to change. These are not the sort of people who understand that you have to stay ahead of the game, changing before you are forced to change.

  36. Daphne Caruana Galizia says:

    @Albert Farrugia – you miss the point that Labour exponents on Bondiplus are not defending a fortress against hostile invaders, nor are they communicating only with Lou Bondi whom they don’t like or disagree with. They are communicating with the tens of thousands of people out there on their sofas who are watching them, and they have to talk TO THEM. What do we get out of seeing Labour exponents trying to score points off Lou Bondi? We’d be more impressed if they told us something worth hearing. As a typical non-Labour voter, let me just tell you what my reaction is to a Labour/GWU representative bristling with hostility: my God, what a problem these people have. They don’t know how to communicate. That’s what my reaction is, and it’s the reaction of thousands of other people whom the Labour party wishes to convince.

  37. Gerald Fenech says:

    People don’t only vote PN because of the EU and to get rid of Alfred Sant Daphne. There are other, more personal issues at stake too like some promised promotion or even ‘your’ plot of land at Mistra (or any other scenic location) coming up for inclusion in the development zone!

  38. Gerald Fenech says:

    With all his failings, Alfred Sant still polled more first count votes than GonziPN, almost a thousand if I’m not mistaken. So let’s stop gloating over such a slim win, if you can call it a win anyway.

  39. me says:

    @Gerald Fenech
    Dr. Alfred Sant called it a win because he resigned. Irrevocably ???

  40. Biased Journalist says:

    @ Gerald Fenech

    …… and I thought you were an independent journalist!!!!

    he he he

  41. Iva, Le, Iva, Le... says:

    Media ban leadership candidates, no ban, ban, no ban…..

    … and the story goes on and on!!!!

    However the annointed one has already been chosen. You wanna bet Gerald??

  42. Adrian Borg says:

    @Gerald Fenech.

    Had Sant contested a district which is a PN stronghold (like Gonzi did) he would not have gotten that many votes, so I do not think that your comparison makes logical sense. Ultimately the PN got more votes because people preferred Gonzi rather than Sant as PM and this opinion has been consistently apparent in all published polls.

  43. Adrian Borg says:

    http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=50566&newscategory=33

    “Ms Coleiro Preca said that the party should give its members a sense of pride and allow them to build their profile by letting them and not just delegates vote for their leader.”

    She agrees with George Abela on this!

  44. me says:

    Yes, give all members the vote. Choose a cut off date, say the first of March. All those who were members should vote. To add more security the membership card should be changed immediately after casting the vote.

  45. amrio says:

    @Gerald Fenech

    People voting for a party to gain personal favours come from both sides. If I was a ‘light red’ Labour voter who would have been maybe light-hearted to vote, I would be tempted by Labour’s ‘Gvern tal-Laburisti biss’ enticement, ‘forsi niddobba xi haga’. So I believe such voters from both sides balance each other somewhat.

  46. amrio says:

    @Mod,

    Aren’t you moderating entries today? Normally, entries take minutes to appear, today, they are being approved in under ten seconds flat!

    [Moderator – I am.]

  47. M. Brincat says:

    @ amrio, the “Gvern tal-Laburisti biss” was a lie by the PM. He confirmed that the word “biss” was added by his Holy self.

  48. Please says:

    @ M. Brincat

    National elections are over if you haven’t noticed!

    The “Gonzi Giddieb” slogan is ‘ormai’ over! Change tack please…

  49. M. Brincat says:

    @ Please – I was just stating a fact. Nothing more. Nothing less. If that fact is not to your liking …

  50. amrio says:

    @Gerald

    The new Lab leader should ban the use of the words ‘giddieb’, ‘bir-rispett kollu’, and ‘kontabilita’ from his lingo!! Joking…

    But, my friend, don’t let us bicker upon dialectics… ‘Gvern tal-Laburisti’ or ‘Gvern tal-Laburisti biss’, I still hold true to my argument.

  51. Simon says:

    Gerald

    Welcome back to this blog.

    Curisoity, what made you change your mind about JM? You seemed to be so fascinated by him and his ‘aura’.

    SO, are you still working with Smash or not?

  52. Amanda Mallia says:

    Gerald Fenech – You cannot assume that Sant is more popular than Gonzi. I can vouch for that, because despite wishing to give my No. 1 to Gonzi himself, I refrained from doing so. The reason I did this is because I assumed that with or without my No. 1 vote he would be elected anyway, and so decided to give it instead to another PN candidate who I thought would be an asset to the party. Rest assured that there were several others like me.

  53. Amanda Mallia says:

    Amrio – You said “wear a leather belt with a big bokkla”

    I’m not sure whether of not you’ve noticed, but the “leather belt” trade mark has now been changed. It is now a “dirty green” (pun intended) outfit consisting of waisted rubberised jacket with matching hat and trousers, which are usually tucked into boots resembling Wellingtons.

    You may be forgiven for not noticing it, however, since such outfit seems to be reserved for special occasions, such as court appointments (where all other men must wear a smart jacket and tie, I believe), visits to the electoral office, etc …

  54. Meerkat :) says:

    I really feel for the average Labour supporter who is trying hard to regain some semblance of equilibrium after the shock of defeat at the polls. But nay, the MLP are taking them on a roller-coaster ride with the latest media circus (to ban or not to ban? Yes. No.) and their various exponents who go on TV ready to slug it out with the interviewer at the merest whiff (perceived or not) of a pertinent question.

  55. amrio says:

    @Amanda Mallia

    Miskin! He was one of Malta’s most hated or worshipped man, the best orator I have ever heard. He’s now 92 years old, arguably sick, but still the fighting spirit is there. Minn banda nammirah… I wish I’ll have his spirit when I’m his age.

  56. Meerkat :) says:

    Some timeout for Daphne

    http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article3653998.ece

    No pix just in case someone is offended.

  57. Meerkat :) says:

    @ Ivan M

    Tsk! Tsk! You broke an unwritten rule… No pix of guys and dolls unless they are ugly as sin…or wear accessories in the wrong places…

  58. Meerkat :) says:

    …or are atop animals or benches in far-flung places…

  59. Amanda Mallia says:

    Amrio – Miskin? Orator? You must be joking!

    Do you know what? – I can’t feel sorry for somebody who has ruined so many people, caused so much harm and dominated our lives, to say the least.

    It is actually great satisfaction seeing that he is going down the road down which we all have to go … maybe a little less gracefully than most, to boot.

    [Moderator – And when drunks on their way home from Paceville urinate on that bush dedicated to him, just outside the St Julian’s car park, I’m sure they do it with a great deal of satisfaction.]

  60. Meerkat :) says:

    @ Amanda

    I only feel sorry for the people who have smarted under his ‘bokkla’.

  61. Vanni says:

    @ Amanda
    You may not agree but I concur with Amro. He had great oratary skill, and few Maltese orators could hold a candle to him. Just think, how could a man talk the way he did, and say the crap he did, and still hold his audience in the palm of his hand. He was a masterfull oratary tactician, and if you have any doubts, ask Sant. He played AS like a bad violin in parlaiment.

    We may laugh at his “bocci”, but he knew that his target audience loved him for it. His huge buckle was just a prop for him, and he used to always manage to draw attention to it, by hooking his fingers in his belt. His only failure as a consumate orator was his lack of ability to not get side tracked. EFA found this chink in his armour, and exploited it regularly. I remember once during a tv debate, EFA looked relaxed, and smiling (laughing is maybe too much) openly, and Mintoff suddenly stopping from full flow clearly upset at EFA’s lack of attention.

    Actually few politicians in history shared his undoubted gift. One was a certain german leader, who I will not mention.

  62. Amanda Mallia says:

    Mod – “I’m assuming that the drunks outside Paceville” were born long after he disappeared from the limelight, which goes to show how his awful reputation lives on …

    (I must admit that I contribute to keeping his memory alive: My 5 & 7-year-old girls have long been aware of his existence, and have been told about some of the things he has done, albeit in a way that they can understand, like the lack of chocolate, pasta, toothpaste, etc to say the least … )

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