“So first you say you are against gay marriage, and then you say that the land owners should not only have to deal with married tenants but even those who went abroad, to Holland, to marry someone of the same sex and then returned to Malta expecting to be recognised by the landowner…” (my italics)

So I can’t understand how come you say that the basis of Tonio’s argument about the PN not being liberal is economic and has nothing to do with his well-known extreme social conservatism. If Tonio had it his own way, all the piccaninies would be shipped back to where they come from and the queers made to wear armbands and declare their orientation. Tonio feels comfortable making such declarations only because his feelings are in synch with the majority of the Maltese population, both labour and nationalist.

I guess liberals and libertarians in this country never really felt comfortable voting PN but felt compelled to do so only because the alternative was so scary (think Mintoff, KMB and Alfred Sant). Let’s face it a party with a fascist past who was previously headed by a leader who insisted that Malta was holier than the Vatican, only to be replaced by an conservative leader (of Azzjoni Kattolika fame) and which boasts the likes of Tonio Borg and Jason Azzopardi within their ranks, is no natural home for liberals or libertarians. When I listen to the likes of Tonio speak, not sure if Joseph Muscat is such a scary option after all.

I ask ASP a question and get an answer from you instead. Are you the same person using two names or a spokesman for ASP?

[Daphne – ‘Tell that to the marines’ is a very outdated exclamation, much used by people who encourage others to smell the coffee.]

How can anyone predict what will happen in 4 years time? Since the last election, nothing has happened to make the PL more electable than it has been these past years. Do you know any PN voters who have warmed up to Joseph Muscat?

[Daphne – The PN is liberal insofar as economic policy is concerned, and that’s what European liberalism is all about. Unfortunately, in Malta people appear unable to distinguish between the meaning of liberal and libertine.]

[Daphne – Left wing in that he has little respect for property rights, hence his insistence that boyfriends and girlfriends of sitting tenants be given protected tenancy status in blatant infringement of the rights of property owners to the enjoyment of their own property. Left wing in that he thinks a finance minister can actually interfere in the workings of a business like ST Microelectronics, as say, Mintoff would have done. Right wing in that he was anti-EU to the point that he needed five years of hindsight, four of them as an MEP, to convince himself that maybe freedom of movement is not so terrible after all, but you can tell he’s still not 100% about it.]

[Daphne – Fortunately, it won’t make any difference to my life. Others are not quite as lucky.]