Kullhadd ghal ghand il-manifestazzjoni ta' Joseph – ejjew l-ahwa!
Joseph Muscat is having what Maltastar.com calls a manifestation. And no, it’s not a manifestation of sheer bloody cheek or poor dress sense, either – it’s a demonstration. Ah well, trust Maltastar.com to think dictionaries are for other people. The date and time have yet to be announced, so clear your diaries.
Maltastar.com, Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Joseph Muscat calls people to a manifestation of national courage
“Not a political manifestation… everyone is invited”
By Denise Buhagiar“The time has come for the Maltese and Gozitan citizens, to have their voices heard in a manifestation of national courage.” This was Labour leader Joseph Muscat’s, message to the nation, following the government’s decision to go ahead with the energy tariffs that increases astronomically the burden on the families and the industry. Joseph Muscat stated that the decision to organise a manifestation was taken with a sense of responsibility, and maintained that it is not a political manifestation but a manifestation of the people, for which everyone is invited. In holding a manifestation, the people will be participating in a practice that is common in all democratic countries. The day, place and time will be announced at a later time.
“Never, as much as today, there was a greater need for our country to have a national movement of progressives and moderates. The Labour Party is ready to be the basis of this movement,” said the Labour leader. The Labour Party has clearly expressed its disapproval for these new tariffs that are much higher than the current 95% tariffs.
Dr Muscat said that the government has chosen the worst time to impose the new tariffs, given the international economic crisis. In other countries, the state is intervening to reduce the burden on citizens in order to incentivise economic activity. In times like this, the government should be helping families and not asking them to help the government. These new tariffs could cause a serious disintegration in the standard of living of many middle-class families, who will end up with much less money in their hands. This will increase uncertainty amongst these families and businesses, and this will influence many decisions that will be taken in the coming weeks.
“Instead of using the fact that the international financial crisis has not had a direct impact on Malta as a competitive advantage, the Nationalist government is creating a crisis anyway, by introducing the new electricity and water tariffs,” he said. These new measures are an absolute contrast to the pre-electoral promises of peace of mind and more money in people’s pockets, reminded Joseph Muscat. “We have a two-faced Prime Minister, who showed one face before the general election and another one after.”
………..
The Labour Party pledges to give hope and courage to the citizens. “In such circumstances, the Labour Party will always be close to the people.”
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Primadonna Joe playing for an audience. What was missing was the national anthem.
ROTFL.
[Daphne – Like he has the charisma to get us all behind him at his ‘manifestation’. Who is he kidding? It’s going to be the usual Labour crowd agitating for an early election four and a half years before the date. Tal-biki. L-anqas leader wiehed suret in-nies. The only way he is going to get us to go is to promise that Anglu will be mounted on his elephant. And if you’re reading this, Toni, I said MOUNTED ON not MOUNTING or BEING MOUNTED BY. So relax. My apologies for the the mind-numbing mental image, though.]
By politicizing the issue the way he did, Primadonna Joe has effectively undermined the efforts for a genuine national protest by the ordinary man in the street( who felt aggrieved by the new tariffs) and led by the likes of unions and other apolitical bodies.
[Daphne – You mean like the one against VAT in late 1994, led by Anglu Farrugia and Vince tal-GRTU? No thank you. There’s no call for national demonstrations: people the world over are paying through the nose for electricity. Why do we think we’re privileged enough to live in a bubble? All these whiners should be damned grateful they don’t also have to pay high fuel bills for heating between October and June like most of the rest of Europe. Naqa gass u lesti, even if the average Maltese home is an ice-box in January.]
I am actually looking forward to watching the goatee between il-mustaccuni, parading in the streets, with all the hysteria behind them.
[Daphne – Yes, maybe Toni Abela will be decked out in a silver spacesuit this time, while Michelle will wear something tasteful in red and gold.]
My point was that irrespective of the cause for a national protest, Primadonna Joe’s histrionics effectively squashed any possibility of a protest being truly national and apolitical.
[Daphne – That’s right. And we’re back to square one: a Labour leader who’s embarrassing rather than inspirational. At least this one doesn’t wear a wig or have sex with his brother’s wife, but he does have a wife who wears silver outfits.]
I imagine that if one day he becomes pm she will graduate to wearing gold outfits.
:P
This is another crowd who met up in Valletta for a manifestation.
http://www.malcolmhanson.co.uk/Malta.html
“The international financial crisis has not had a direct impact on Malta “. This is a fact according to Joey . This statement would be laughable if it did not emanate from a jerk who could be Malta’s PM in four years’ time. The mind boggles. Where did this creep get his doctorate from? What sort of thesis did he defend? Was it to do with ballet or flower arranging? Does he really and honestly believe this statement? Is it possible he still thinks the majority of us out here are headless chickens ? What a statement. What an insult. Take it all back young man. The global economy is in meltdown and this twerp is still thinking that Malta is immune. What a cheek. What a tragedy. When this unprecedented financial debacle hits our little islands in the face, as it surely will, this moron will blame the W&E tariffs for the ensuing disaster. Once again “Allahares jitla’ il-Labour”.
[Daphne – His degrees are in public policy and European studies.]
This ‘all me Joseph’ is even more dangerous than his predecessors. He is an Alfred Sant with energy, a KMB with a half-brain and a Mintoff with dreams turned into nightmares. He is PRUZUNTUZ and a s**t-stirrer – no more and no less. And his bahnana followers just lap it up. Truly a party which feeds on low intelligence – sorry, there is simply no other way to put it.
He has no answers to what the government proposes so rather than work on alternatives, he wastes his time mingling with his usual adoring crowd made up of has-beens or too dumb to amount to anything useful.
I forgot to add that I have been noticing lately that the Times and other English newspapers have been giving the MLP and its commentators an extraordinary amount of space lately while restricting replies on blogs from anti-MLP contributors even if their name is mentioned in previous comments.
Have these papers abandoned the fairness of equal free time and space especially when one finds it necessary to defend his name or ideas?
“and maintained that it is not a political manifestation”
Someone should tell them that a protest/demonstration (or “manifestation” ;) against a government policy is necessarily political.
Even an anarchist protest is political, let alone one organised by a political party!
[Daphne – They think political parties are all about labels (which is why they think are they left-wing and progressive, rather than xenophobic and veering towards the right) and they think everything that is political has to do with political parties. Try telling them that even what BirdLife does in campaigning against bird-hunting is a political act.]
have you listened to his message? The tonality was quite strange. Somehow, he sounded like KMB.
[Daphne – Somehow? What do you mean, somehow? I’d be surprised if he sounded like anything other than all his predecessors rolled into one, besides copying their tactics. The man is one of those empty-shell people who reinvent themselves by creating an ‘artificial person’, which is why they come across as having no depth and as curiously like a Stepford Man.]
Daphne – “And if you’re reading this, Toni, I said MOUNTED ON not MOUNTING or BEING MOUNTED BY. So relax. My apologies for the the mind-numbing mental image, though.”
I would have done away with the “if” and replaced it with a “when”.
There’s a saying that goes “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach”. I would say that it’s pretty apt in the case of Jowzef, who has not really held down a decent job, and who yet aspires to running the country and the lives of those who live here.
jomar – You’re right about that. It’s ironic that the people who support a political party that bears a great deal of responsibility for the burning down of The Times building, a party which stomped and stamped on freedom of speech, are now rushing around expressing themselves, usually on that same newspaper. Times really do change.
@ jomar:
Regarding The Times blogs, I think it has more to do with moderators not knowing what moderating is all about, than having any partisan motive.
Consider this example. One day ago, someone wrote:
“When I congratulated you (the blogger) for eliciting a response from your readers by ‘dangling a baited hook’ I was rather foolishly lambasted as being inexplicably derogatory. Now you yourself rashly admit to ‘prodding’.
Prepare yourself to be lectured by the same people about cruelty to animals and insulting your readers by implying that they are donkeys. In the unlikely eventuality of your asking for my intervention I will not fail to come to your assistance”.
Anyone who follows my posts in that particular blog knows that he was referring to me, even though I am of course not that silly (the article had nothing to do with animals). So I posted the following reply:
“Straw man”.
Nearly two days have passed, and my reply has not yet made it to the blog.
So my advice is the following: Be careful when posting on the Times blogs…you might not be allowed the right of reply.
I’m trying to wrap my mind around Joseph Muscat’s declaration that his project is not a political act “but a manifestation of the people”. If a street protest is not a political act, then what is it? Entertainment for the masses?
What we have here is a street protest that Joseph Muscat says is not political because it involves the people (as opposed to politicians, one assumes), only it’s organised by the Leader of the Opposition who is acting with a sense of responsibility in organising a non-political protest, from which remark we can infer he thinks political acts by professional politicians are by definition irresponsible.
The really interesting bit is that he feels the need to explain that public protest is “a practice that is common in all democratic countries”. It seems he needs reminding that it was even more common in undemocratic Malta when street protests really were by “the people”.
But maybe the most important thing that he needs to learn is that street protests were more common in undemocratic Malta
How pathetic ?
And this is the ”alternative” leader we can count on? Not on his nelly……. U halluna !!
It is about time that the water and electricity bills reflect the real costs of water production and electricity generation:the matter should not be subject to hot-headed protest marches copying Veltroni in Italy who,by the way, left Rome heavily in debt after his departure as mayor!
We should ask questions like:
1)Is Enemalta charging too much with the new rates in comparison to other countries were oil-fired power stations are used?I made some research and the answer is NO.
2) Is Enemalta inefficient?In the generation and distribution of the energy,NO,and whoever says yes should give some backing facts and figures.One can argue that it has too many employees but so is Air Malta and we should blame both parties(but mostly the MLP since we know what used to happen before an election in the distant labour years):should we therefore now throw out hundreds of workers from these two big essential employers?The answer is also NO. Air Malta has already stiff competition and Enemalta is on the way to.
So we should all stop our grumbling,pay up for what we use,and face the recession that sure as hell is coming to the world!
@ Amanda Mallia
Times do change but The Times has changed for the worse. I suspect that it is not a simple case of incompetence, but rather a case where some infiltration has taken place upsetting the balance which that paper had been renowned for. Pity.
@ Kenneth Cassar
I know exactly the instance you quoted and read your comments. However be aware that the moderator has a habit of altering text, thus completely changing the essence of one’s argument. Leaving a paragraph out is not so rare.
I have had replies to individuals who named me but could not defend myself since my comments never made it to the blog. I wrote to the Editor to complain on October 6, but to-date I have not had the courtesy of at least, an acknowledgment.
pity they could not park buses in front of the dockyard exits anymore so that the workers have to go to the demonstration by force
in the ‘mamifestation of the people’ jowsef will not wear a suit (like the workers), will not wear brown shoes, have his goatie trimmed and “din” will be smartly dressed amid the crowd chanting viva lejbor. they will be hushed down and reminded that this is not a political manifestation but a peaceful show of force
Kenneth Cassar – “So my advice is the following: Be careful when posting on the Times blogs…you might not be allowed the right of reply.”
That much is pretty obvious, considering that the moderator there is pretty lax when it comes to posting some harsh comments, and yet does not put the relevant replies online. A case in point is several replies posted by myself and others to comments on this link ( http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081026/local/kmb-picks-up-gaddafi-prize-for-mintoff ), which were never put online.
@ Amanda Mallia:
Finally, after posting the same comment three times (and other comments several other times – these were never published), my two-word comment has been published. Of course other comments and replies to them were published before mine.
I’m thinking of giving up on The Times blogs altogether.
[Daphne – Don’t do that. It’s crucial that sensible people who think rationally don’t butt out and leave the field wide open to sub-literate racists, bigots and Mintoffjani.]
@ Daphne: Thanks for the compliment. Of course, you probably already know I won’t give up. It’s not in my nature ;)
Hey Ken, don’t give up The Times blogs…
I enjoy reading your posts and a certain Victoria Grech’s… funnily enough she hasn’t written either lately.