Yes2EU (pay and pension)
The way that those who campaigned against EU membership have spent the last five years tumbling over each other to scramble on board the gravy-train is quite unseemly.
Letters to the Editor, The Times, Thursday, 22 January
From ‘No to EU’ to Labour MEP candidate
Anthony Cachia Castelletti, Ta’ Xbiex
Sharon Ellul Bonici, the former No2EU campaigner, has been accepted by Labour leader Joseph Muscat and Labour’s executive as a contestant in the June MEP elections.Ms Ellul Bonici tried to contest the MEP elections in 2004 on the Labour ticket but had her bid turned down by the party’s vigilance board. Back then it was reported that declarations made by Ms Ellul Bonici that the Labour Party (PL) should join the euro-sceptic EDD grouping was one of the main reasons for having her bid to contest with Labour turned down.
In front of the vigilance board Ms Ellul Bonici was represented by Labour MP, now PL deputy leader, Anġlu Farrugia.
Strangely enough, Ms Ellul Bonici has now been accepted to contest the MEP elections on the PL ticket. What brought about this change of heart is curious and interesting.
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Kev the superhero to her rescue …
“In front of the vigilance board Ms Ellul Bonici was represented by Labour MP, now PL deputy leader, Anġlu Farrugia.”
No bloody wonder!
Kevin Ellul-Bonici (1 day, 17 hours ago)
To be EU-critical or eurosceptic does not necessarily mean being “anti-EU”. The EU’s political structure is still taking shape. We can choose to act like stooges who fail to grasp the fundamentals of the debate, or to actively participate in the democratic process. Can anyone here slinging “anti-EU” labels explain what the future EU political structure will look like?
Somehow I suspect this is the tripe that Ms EB threw at the vigilance board.
[Daphne – No, she hit them with Anglu the deputy leader, he who had no conflict of interest in the situation.]
What was that saying in Maltese?…..oh yes, meta l-lupu ma jilhaqx l-gheneb, jghid li huwa qares.
[Daphne – It’s not actually a Maltese saying, but a reference to one of Aesop’s fables, The Fox and the Grapes. The fox couldn’t reach the grapes and so he dismissed them as sour and not worth having anyway. That’s where ‘sour grapes’ comes from too. http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/oxford/255.htm%5D
NGt: Or maybe Anglu hit the hustings with an elephant.
@ Anna – the grapes have been reached, eaten and relished – but they’re still dismissed as sour!
Anna,
Actually it’s more a question of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them (on the gravy train)’ than sour grapes.
I wish I had the guts to vote for Ellul Bonici – would love to see the Labour Party saddled with her for the next five years. It would serve them right too but I don’t think I could go so far just to spite the PL.
The grapevine is buzzing with the news that dear Anglu’s daughter is eyeing a career in ‘Brussell’.
[Daphne – They’re all into it. It’s incredible.]
Here’s another suitable saying ‘Jekk ma nilghabx, inhassar’.
[Daphne – Dog in the manger….]
Actually, Mr Cachia Castelletti’s memory has failed him and now he’s made a complete fool of himself. It was not the Vigilance Board that stopped the candidature, but a higher threshold of 70% of the vote at the Labour General Conference, whereby a 30% block vote was enough to halt a candidature in its tracks. It happened twice, if you recall.
As to ACC’s hypothetics, the PL programme does not mention anywhere that one cannot be critical of the EU, its development towards a centralised state, or the legal tools by which to establish that type of state, such as the EU constitution and the Lisbon treaty. The PL is strictly against withdrawal once it has acknowledged the will of the Maltese electorate to join the EU.
Clearly, some people are messing up their EU terms, so here it is – the ABC of Euro-terms for dummies like ACC:
No2EU = No to EU membership, meaning:
a) one who is against EU membership
b) one who is for his country withdrawing from the EU after membership is sealed
Anti-EU
a) One who wants to dismantle the EU
b) One who wants his country to withdraw from the EU
Pro-EU
a) One who wants a “United States of Europe”,
b) One who is in favour of the rejected EU Constitution, or its derivative, the Lisbon treaty.
c) One who wants to retain the ‘four freedoms of movement’, but is concerned about the democratic deficit and prefers an alternative political structure
Eurosceptic:
a) a withdrawalist
b) a label used disparagingly by nincompoops like ACC and Ivan Camilleri tat-Tajmz, in order to lump all those who are critical of EU development into one bag,
EU-critical
a) critical of EU political development, usually preferring a free EU where democratic powers are largely retained at the lowest possible levels and not transferred to unelected civil servants in Brussels.
EU-reformist
Similar to one who is EU-critical, but who prefers ‘reformist’ because it sounds less confrontational.
If ACC thinks the European Parliament is only for Yes-men like his ilk, then he doesn’t know his democracy from his Stalin. From this mother of all blogs I salute him as a cousin of sorts from my mother’s Cachia Castelletti maternal lineage – with love to all you little Castellis.
@ NGT – instead of describing as “tripe” something you fail to grasp, why not tell us how you yourself envisage the future EU?
@ Antoine Vella – I agree with you. I too wish you had guts.
My God all in the family here…do the Daphne sisters find it so hard to pick up the phone and gossip, or they are sick of their squeeky voices…Sharon is the talk of the week by the look of it.
[Daphne – Oooh, somebody sat on a spiky cactus by the sound of it. We’re IT-literate and IT-inclined and that even includes our mother, who’ll give you what-for if you’re not careful. And don’t you know you can speak via a computer, and with a nice little camera as well?]
Daphne, what sisters? Am I missing something somewhere? I’ve scrolled up and down this page to try and find the sisters connection and to no avail, and because I’m a brunette and can’t put it down to having a blonde moment, I’m more worried now for not understand michelle falzon’s comment.
[Daphne – Corinne and Amanda are my sisters. There’s also another one, but she is rarely moved to comment.]
Why all this furore? – SEB’s candidature is hardly surprising. Some people have no shame. She has performed dismally in elections before and will fail again.
Kev,
Your glossary has some terms missing. Allow me to fill them in:
Europhobe
One who fears the EU irrationally
Europhile
One who loves Euros
Eurobummer
I’ll bow to your superior knowledge about this one and leave it up to you to define.
EU-paranoia
The irrational belief that the EU is out to get you (often brought about by europhobia)
EU-mania
The impelling urge to work for the EU (often brought about by europhilia)
@Antoine Vella – need a box-cutter? You’ll have a wider view, believe me.
Thanks for setting the record straight for me regarding your sisters, Daphne. So what is Ms. Falzon’s problem then?
[Daphne – God knows. That she sat on a spiky cactus?]
@ Kev
Oh God! Another pseudo-intellectual who thinks he’s above the rest because he can read a book and can now think out of the box! But no matter how sanctimonious and condescending you get in your trying to justify your presence as a neutral EU critic, your better half will always be associated with No2EU (i.e “one who is against EU membership”) just as you will be associated with the Maltafly garbage you ran or run. So it’s not a matter of not understanding certain issues – it’s a matter of choosing to listen to the right people whose credibility is substantially higher than yours will ever be – even if those people might endorse a political stance similar to yours.
And the predictable superhero zoomed out with a flash of his cloak …
Kev
“@Antoine Vella – need a box-cutter? You’ll have a wider view, believe me.”
Thank you – need a compass? You’ll be able to navigate better those 180 degree turns, believe me.
Funny how the Times comments section works. I quoted excerpts from my comment above, giving a link to this blog for further reading but it seems this is unacceptable. The moderator must have checked the full version on this website and discovered that Ivan Camilleri is a nincompoop.
I have my reasons to call him a nincompoop. For only a nincompoop would report that the “far-right” group ITS was headed by Jens-Peter Bonde MEP (photo and all). He thought it was Bonde’s group that was disbanded when, after four years of scribbling in Brussels, he should have known that Bonde’s group was the Ind/Dem group he so famously likes to slander. For the uninitiated, the IND/DEM group is made up of elements from both the left and the centre-right. Bonde himself comes from the radical Danish Left of the 70s. Today, is-Sur Camilleri was again chasing the group for details about SEB and her work here for another one of his sensational “qbadtek” scoops.
Ghax ma niltaqghux il-canteen, Ivan? Jekk trid anki s-size taz-zarbun naghtik. Tinsiex issemmi il-“far right” fir-“rapport” li se tharbex halli did-darba naghmlulek libell.
What’s the fuss all about? Is it wrong to be EU-critical? Where is the choice if there is no opposition? Seriously do we need Yes-men to defend our interests? If both parties are pro-Europe then what we really are voting on is the colour. By choosing Sharon, Labour has shown it is determined to respect the voice of pluralism. A slogan to ponder on: PLuralism starts with PL.
Well said, NGT, you should listen to the right people. Pity they seem to have failed to enlighten you since I’m still waiting for your two-cents’ worth on how you envision the Union’s future politcal structure.
I think it’s actually very healthy for Europe to have its critics involved in its own governance structures. It’s an instrument of checks-and-balances without which we would end up with a monolithic dictatorship. Let me put it this way – I know for a fact that most of those who openly criticise the Church are still getting married by the Church and have their offsping baptised as Catholics. Should we call this a conflict of one’s principles or is it simply an engagement process in one’s life aspects, beliefs and perceptions?
[Daphne – No, it generally has to do with conformity, wearing a big white dress, keeping parents happy, and as for baptism, being on the safe side. That’s all.]
I can’t ever understand how someone can keep so much spite and hate inside him or her for so long!Our Lord had forgiven all sinners and even those who ordered his crucifiction. but i8n tyhis blog it seems the only cries one hears is SALBUH SALBUH!!
I can’t understand iether why should we preach freedom of thought and expression and if someone has a different view then yours the cries of SALBUH are on most lips here?
I know very well how biased most of those who comment in here but neverthless it is always wrong to cry vendettas and radicule those with a different opinion. The teachings of the Church is quoted whenever it pleases someone and is thrown in the dustbin when they disagree with same teachings.
Politically this blog is too anti-MLP uuuppps anti LP …to
be ever politically credible.As if the dark of the PN never existed and to add insult to injury the way many of those who comment in this blog try to sanctify the misdeeds and wrongs of the PN is never acceptable in a modern society.
It is a shame that so many still live in the past.
[Daphne – Is it my imagination, or is support for Labour swinging ever further to the right? Apocalyptic religious zealots now…. Repent, for the end is nigh.]
Its amazing how Sharon Ellul Bonici has managed to attract the so called intellectual writers ! No, I am sure they do not think that they have superiority complex!!! My goodness, is it so hard to accept that everyone has the right to contest this EU parl election. Is SHARON such a threat. hehhe Do you think that you can stop people voting for Sharon? Sharon will definitely absorb one of the largest chunks from the PN electorate, for the simple reason that the PN was never honest in what the EU had to offer because they always promised magic. What goes round comes round. I am sure that you have prepared a character assassination profile aimed at discrediting Sharon. This is the best PN and some desperate isolated supporters can do. This time this will not work. Its really interesting to know that her candidature has caused recations among the PN. Is this a sign of panic? I am more than sure that you do not wish well the LP and therefore your say is totally biased and discredited. Hahha
[Daphne – Sharon has mobilised her supporters to write in, has she? Wow, impressive.]
And as far as I know a good number of them (the ex-No2EU camp) are also heavily involved in the local EU-good-for-the-pocket (Antoine – that is another term for Kev to learn) scene.
@A Huxley et. al. A system run by yes-men/women is doomed to fail. People who have diverging opinions enrich a system, that is if they want to reform the system, and not simply dismantle it. Let’s take the USSR as an example, Gorbachov would have made it stronger if he had been allowed to, Yeltsin just dismantled it because he had no interest in making it stronger (not that I’m a fan of the USSR, just an example). It’s same with the EU, wearing the EU winkers will in no way help the EU to become stronger, more efficient, to lessen the democratic deficit, narrow the gap between citizens and institutions etc. etc. etc.
It is thanks to EU critics that we know what goes on in the European Parliament. Critics are found in all political groups. If my memory serves me right there are around 200 critical MEPs in this legislature coming from all walks of life. Can you imagine a parliament were everybody says YES to everything? Imagine a parliament agreeing to all that is pushed in.
If the European Parliament ends up with only YES men then why even bother participate. At least they provide a healthier debate with different views. I’m sure it is much easier for any MEP to say yes than stand up and be counted and argue in favour of democracy and citizens’ rights. After all they should represent us European citizens, and more than half of EU citizens are quite critical of the EU.
Let’s take Ireland for example they stood up to be counted and now they have a better deal. What did Malta gain by being an EU lackey and be the first to ratify? What info did the government and five MEPs present to the Maltese people about the Lisbon Treaty and what it entails? They simply signed in our name without consulting us. And we call this democracy!
[Daphne – Got off your spiky cactus, have you? And you’re still not big on clear thinking. Nobody’s saying that everyone in parliament should agree with each other. But we do expect people in parliament to at the very least agree that the parliament of which they form part is a necessary institution of which they approve. Here we have somebody who is trying to join the European Parliament to undermine it, because she doesn’t agree with having a united Europe. In other words, she’s got Guy Fawkes syndrome, except that she’s going to use a popular mandate instead of gunpowder.]
Spending too much time in front of your blogg can harm your mental stability. I would like you to quote me when Sharon said she does not agree with the Euroepan Parliament. On the contrary, she always said that the European Parliament is the most important institution in the EU. It is elected by the people and they have a democratic mandate unlike the Commission and the civil servants that enact legislation. You can find this if you archive Xarabank!
[Daphne – If I were you, I would be worried. You spend so much time here that your own mental stability might be affected too. And by the way, it’s one G not two in blog. I wouldn’t rush to quote what Sharon said about the European Parliament, given that she’s not exactly known for rational thought. The European Parliament exists because there is a united Europe, which she opposes. You can’t work against a united Europe while being in favour of its parliament.]
And what is it that Sharon objects to in the EU?
“I’m in favour of a lot of what the EU has to offer, what I’m against is the political (federalist) integration of the member states,” she replies. “Malta’s so small that, if the EU follows its current trend and winds up as a huge federal state, then we will be nothing more than a sub-regional province”.
If you want to read the full interview with Maltatoday prior to the referendum, I took the liberty of pasting the link.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2001/1028/people.html
[Daphne – Just in case I wasn’t watching and taking note at the time…..I did work on the Yes campaign, you know.]
@Alf..Cassar
The ‘cry on my lips’:
Smells, bells and costumes are supposed to harm sensitive types. Dose carefully!
Guy Fawkes syndrome…wow..now isn’t this dramatic – I reckon you are getting emotional about the situation. Hehhhe.. I would like to learn from your “intellectual archives”…uppss perhaps you need to dig deeper to trace some brain matter !!! if any.. how on earth do you manage to invent such a stupid statement that Sharon intends to undermine. Can you get any lower…I think not – Sharon Ellul Bonici has been working within the European parliament for many years and with her experience and knowledge she will be the best candidate for MALTA and not just for the PL. Do you have a matching candidate…hehhheeeee..I guess you dread the moment. Yes dear, from what you write I conclude that Sharon is an asset and you will be doing your best to try to discredit her and secondly you are quite oblivious of what really goes on within the EU, in particula EU parliament affairs…obviously I doubt whether you know what goes on at Council level……ohhhh perhaps some dumb head who is working in Brussels and paid by us – tax-payers – may enlighten you before you take your next shot!
[Daphne -Gosh, Sharon has elves in her grotto.]
Oh my Godddd I pressed a double gg… as if it was my thesis! Do u think I care to check what I write on your blogggggggg hanini.
[Daphne – Kemm int antipatika u injoranta. Mhux ta’ b’xejn inti gallopina ta’ Sharon.]
Yes Daphne you got paid to work on the YES campaign from tax-payers money and mananged to hide it very well at that time.
[Daphne – I didn’t hide it at all, you silly b**ch (sorry, dear readers, but if there’s a kind of person who deserves that name, this one is it). The information was given in parliament, precisely because I didn’t want silly b**ches like you coming along years later to say that I or anyone else had tried to conceal the information. And incidentally, I wasn’t commissioned as a favour – which is partly why you aren’t living in a Switzerland in the Mediterranean with Sant as prime minister. You have me, among hundreds of others who worked on the campaign and the thousands who voted Yes, to thank for the fact that your Sharon can stand for election as an MEP today. So go on, grovel.]
“[Daphne – Just in case I wasn’t watching and taking note at the time…..I did work on the Yes campaign, you know.]”
Daphne, do you consider every comment posted here as a personal email? That comment is clearly aimed for public consumption and certainly not to persuade you that the moon is silvery grey. People generally have a good sense not to attempt such impossible feats.
“[Daphne -Gosh, Sharon has elves in her grotto.]”
It’s good that you mention elves, because the PN elves have been at work not only in the Times’ comments sections, but also in actual letter writing. The same mantra is being repeated ad nauseam and the message that they convey is that the inclusion of the EU-critical vote has angered them somewhat. They know this will only add to Labour’s vote count. Interestingly enough, had SEB been included in Labour’s 2008 election line-up she would have attracted, in 2 districts, at least 2000 of those 7000-10,000 EU-critical voters who had otherwise stayed home. Sant would have been PM today.
And perhaps all for the better… Muscat is much more practical and shrewd than the famously rigid, black-or-white Sant.
“[Daphne – Got off your spiky cactus, have you? And you’re still not big on clear thinking. Nobody’s saying that everyone in parliament should agree with each other. But we do expect people in parliament to at the very least agree that the parliament of which they form part is a necessary institution of which they approve. Here we have somebody who is trying to join the European Parliament to undermine it, because she doesn’t agree with having a united Europe. In other words, she’s got Guy Fawkes syndrome, except that she’s going to use a popular mandate instead of gunpowder.]”
I had nearly missed the above. Who is trying to undermine the European Parliament, Daphne? This is so off the mark it is even worrisome, coming from a highly educated person as you. The political structure of the future EU is taking shape right now and the European Parliament is the ONLY European insititution by means of which the people can help shape their own future. And you tell us we want to bring it down. U le jahasra – what a truly dismal level of a debate we have here.
[Daphne – OK, Kev, I’ll try to smarten up. If Sharon wants to do a guest-post here, I’ll upload it unedited. But she has to stick to the point and address the question of why she is contesting as an MEP when she worked hard to keep Malta out of the EU. And advise her to call off her silly elves posting comments here, because they’re doing no good to her cause.]
@ Michelle
“what I’m against is the political (federalist) integration of the member states,” she replies.”
This is exactly it – if one does not have integration, how can one have an EU parliament? There is no chicken-egg situation here – the EU parliament had to be set up after integration.
On the other hand, though a complete Europhile, I would also have waited before signing the new treaty and above all I hate the continuous implications coming from all parties, of the importance of the 6th seat – yes it is, but not the extent of undermining some of our leverage power.
“[You can’t work against a united Europe while being in favour of its parliament.]”
This is another gem – I see you people were busy here.
United Europe – okay, what type of unity? The ‘four freedoms of movement’ is one benefit of this unity. How far does ‘unity’ go? Does it go as far as lumping everything in Brussels DC? (You wouldn’t know of federal takeovers would you?) Or could it go as far as other unifications have gone? Is a ‘powerful and strong’ Europe (as they say) beneficial to the people? How? By having central planners in Brussels decide over half a billion people? Or would it be so strong and powerful militarily that it would seek to plunder world resources? I’m not implying this will happen – I am asking: How is ‘strong and powerful’ beneficial to the people? The Soviet Union was strong and poweful but this did not help the people much. The US to is strong and powerful, but the federal takeover has meant that the US is ruled by banksters not presidents.
Strong and powerful economically, perhaps? Yes, that makes sense. For that we need a single market with the least possible bureaucracy and the least possible harmonisation so the market can breathe and prosper. A single market is what we have today, complete with a single currency. More unelected central planners deciding over more areas of legislation is what we DO NOT need.
Now tell us more about your “United Europe”, Daphne.
[Daphne – Yes, we’re kind of busy. For some reason this blog appears to have caught fire over the last few days, with more than a hundred comments coming in every day. It must be Sharon.]
Daphne, what you call elves, are people brought here by word of mouth (or link) – at least that is my assumption.
Your question concerning “why she is contesting as an MEP when she worked hard to keep Malta out of the EU” is answerable in one sentence. When you oppose membership because of centralising aspects, after your country eventually joins you try and minimise those aspects as best you can while it is still possible and through the best possible means.
For fairness’ sake, live and let live.
If I were Ms.Ellul Bonnici, I would dare to ask you people to remark about Paul of Tarsus (does one know about him in Malta) and, to be more contemporary, I would ask for comments on the political vita of Xavier Solana.
The entire Labour camp, with one or two exceptions, sought to keep Malta out of the EU and most of them – again with very few exceptions – later scrambled to take a bite of the EU-pie. Ellul Bonici is just another member of the flock, no more no less, and I don’t think the PN will be setting up a special NO2EB club to single her out.
She has mellowed from eurosceptic (not believing in the EU) to eurocritical (wants to become an MEP to criticise) and it would have been embarrassing for Joseph Muscat to reject her on the basis of her antagonism to the EU, considering his own record in this regard. His contribution to the referendum campaign was probably even more virulently euroseptic than that of EB.
Hurrahhhh….where have all these elves came from..now let me guess…perhaps you have a breeding farm.!!! For goodness sake try and relax and stop spelling out vehemence. May I ask you…do you actually know Sharon, have you ever met her, have you ever attempted to ask her any question? ….Why don’t you put yourself together and go public…YES.. get out of your closet (with no mirrors) and ask her anything you want IN PUBLIC.. wouldn’t that be interesting…I know ..you to prefer to vote for a star in an Italian house !!!
Come on …….SHARON 4 MALTA is our No1
[Daphne – Hey Sharon, your fans are one sandwich short of a picnic. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/one-sandwich-short-of-a-picnic.html%5D
How can one be so stupid and arrogant. “advise her to call off her silly elves posting comments here, because they’re doing no good to her cause”… Who the hell do you think you are?.. Do you think that anyone out there has the right to stop me from saying what I want to say….oohhh yes, now I remember..you still imagine that you have some devine right to rule this island just because of your political inclination…buzz off to wonderland… freedom of speech … …. my advice – stop calling names… of all people how dare you use the word bitch…geeeeweeee…by the way I never doubted that you actualy need to look up references in order to come up with phrases. any way thanks for posting my coments…Now I will wonder off because it is not worth visiting any more. You are scattered all over the place, lost your concentration, calling people names and to use you own phrase ..one sandwich short of panic.Go and scream infront of your mirror wwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh
come on SHARON 4 MALTA …the elves community is out to help you.
[Daphne – Bloody nutter, I’m afraid. Sharon deserves better. Of course I have the right to stop you from saying what you want to say when you’re doing it here. This is my space, remember. Only I prefer to publish your comments intact for exactly the same reasons that I reproduce racist comments. It’s important to know what sort of people are out there working on political campaigns.The link to an explanation of the phrase ‘one sandwich short of a picnic’ was for your benefit. I wouldn’t have been able to look it up if I hadn’t known it already, and for years. Ah well, at least you learned something.]
Those elves transformed into screaming banshees.