[Daphne – Well, unfortunately governments are not there to grovel. They are there to run the country. In 1996, we – well, not me, but people I know – voted out Fenech Adami’s government because they were “sick of this arrogant ‘I know best’ attitude” and within months they were gagging to have the arrogant lot back. Come back, all is forgiven! Just 22 months later, Fenech Adami’s arrogant lot were returned to power, with a majority of many thousands (by Maltese standards). Is there anyone anywhere in the world who is entirely satisfied with any government? At least in our country, with no pathetic coalitions, we know what we’re going to get, and it’s not Russian roulette. It’s that lot or the other lot, and you choose. Simple. I’m one of those boring people who take the long view. I rather suspect that the thinking which shapes so many people’s attitude to the government is the very same one that shapes their attitude to their spouse: a short-termist inability to foresee and assess consequences.]

Maybe that’s the best solution until we have a government which is more attuned to the country’s (real) needs and to the basics of good aesthetics.

[Daphne – You mean like a government made up of Joseph Muscat as prime minister, Anglu Farrugia as justice minister and Anthony ‘tie me up’ Zammit as health minister? Or is there another alternative that I have failed to spot?]

[Daphne – You can’t separate trouble caused to the government from trouble caused to the country. What exactly is it that you do for a living?]

The ex-ministers have nothing to lose, even though it seems that they don’t care about their legacy, just because of a grudge. They can’t seem to comprehend that Gonzi’s choice of cabinet was highly popular with the public, and the ousted ones did not have the support of the general public even though they were elected by their constituents.

It still feels strange to me that both Pullicino Orlando and Arrigo, who were quite vocal about the fact that they were not appointed ministers (remember “it is not for me, but for the people who elected me”?), are acting against their own long-term personal interests. They must already feel that the probability of ever forming part of the cabinet is very low, to hold such a grudge and threaten the stability of the government out of spite.

I am more than aware of all this. However, it was you who first mentioned consultation. You are also jumping to the conclusion that all people who have voted for the Nationalist Party want what this Government wants, and that Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and others who were opposing the project were doing so in a vacuum – with no Nationalist voters agreeing with their point of view. On the contrary, they were probably representing quite a few of us. [Daphne – I have no doubt that Robert Arrigo thought he was, given that he comes from Astrid-land. I can just imagine the number of Sliema people who didn’t vote or who voted AD, who told him that they had voted for him. But Jeffrey certainly was not. I live in his constituency, remember, and I talk to people. Most of them haven’t a clue what the fuss is all about. Secondly, as government MPs, their duty was to correctly represent the project, countering the misinformation campaign emanating from the FAA and AD. Not having done so, they failed their constituents. Please understand that what I am saying is this: there is the world of difference between objecting to an idea and objecting to a project on the basis of correct information and technical studies. I’m racking my brains for a suitable analogy: let’s try this exchange of views. “I hate olives.” “Have you tasted them?” “No.” “Why not?” “I just don’t like the look of them.”]

No, I have not carried out any surveys asking people whether they want a national theatre on the site of the demolished Royal Opera House, or whether they want a parliament building, but I have a hunch (and I am not often wrong) that the national theatre would win hands down. [Daphne – Your hunch is right. It will win hands down at this point for EXACTLY the same reasons that the figure of Christ was the winning symbol for our euro-coin. Please do not tell me that you believe this is the way things should be done, and how projects should be decided.]

Borrowing your own analogy, one can often very strongly suspect cancer, even without a pathology report, although, of course, the latter would lend a final and definite diagnosis. Similarly, there’s only one way to find out what people want for the Royal Opera House site. Not doing so might turn out to be a grave oversight, seeing how emotionally involved people still are with the demolished building. [Daphne – You know what I think? That it’s going to stay that way, because everyone wants to have a say in the matter. A national theatre is not feasible, and the people who wanted Christ on our euro-coins want a national theatre. We have paid one architect and dismissed his plans already. Paying Renzo Piano and not following through on his project is going to be considerably more expensive, but I can see it coming.]

I would like to remind you that is not the first time that Pullicino Orlando took a stand against a project that could do more harm. I think he has qualities that no other MP has.

[Daphne – I kind of object to being instructed to think, since it’s generally what I do. Yes, it’s not the first time that he took a stand against a project, but he did so when the government was considerably more stable. Had I been in his position, and in the position of the other four MPs mentioned – Robert Arrigo, Ninu Zammit, Censu Galea and Jesmond Mugliett – I would have set out the priorities before taking a decision. One doesn’t take decisions in a vacuum. It doesn’t help that all five of them have a grudge and a grievance. It makes them look so cheap. I hope they understand this. It looks really bad when you come across as somebody grinding an axe.

As for Mintoff, I hate the man, and I think that he behaved like a jerk, as always. As I wrote on an earlier post, you can’t expect loyalty or integrity from a man who shags his brother’s wife. Anyone who betrays his own brother is not going to hold back from betraying his party. People who vote against their party are heroes only to the party’s enemies, except that Mintoff is never going to be a hero to me. I still despise what he did, even if it resulted in the near-miracle of EU membership. I only hope that the renegade MPs within the Nationalist Party realise that they will earn contempt from their party’s supporters, not admiration, if they carry on this way – just as so many Labour supporters felt contempt for Mintoff.]

I’m not saying it should be the other way around either but this blatant reverse discrimination is back firing and the PM has to carry that responsibility squarely on his shoulders.

[Daphne – I’m so glad you brought this up, Pierre. Like you, I know how projects worth many millions are being lost on a regular basis. Like you, I know that Malta no longer attracting FDI in capital projects because of the fear of ‘environmental’ groups – Smart City was an exception because it was a government initiative. And like you, I also know that even Maltese investors are taking their money elsewhere, and ploughing it into projects in the south of France, Italy, North Africa and eastern and central Europe. Some of that money would have stayed here if it weren’t for a small group of people who are essentially anti-capitalist rather than ‘environmentalist’.]