Somebody really needs to tell Joseph Muscat to f**k off
Yes, we really should take economic advice from the man who told us not to join the EU or the Eurozone, and who believes Partnership wasn't fictitious because boss-daddy told him so.
There are moments in life when proper language just doesn’t suffice, and this is one of them.
I’ve just been reading Prime Minister Muscat’s hectoring advice to the real prime minister about how to handle the economy.
It includes the usual socialist crap about price control.
I honestly don’t know how the real prime minister can maintain a calm facade in the face of such nonsense from this chuntering half-wit, who only two years ago was toeing boss-daddy’s line and fighting Malta’s entry into the Eurozone, who needed five years of hindsight and a four-year Thomasine ‘touch to believe’ stint in the European Parliament to reach the conclusion that EU membership is an OK idea after all.
How can the real prime minister listen to lectures on the Maltese economy from somebody who prated on about partnership and campaigned against EU membership, who got it all so badly wrong and now expects fools (and fools they really would be) to have faith in his judgement? But then maybe the real prime minister is muttering the polite, nice-boy equivalent of ‘Why don’t you just f**k off, you cheap prat’ in the privacy of his rooms, where no one but Mrs Gonzi can hear him.
Imagine where we would be today had the country believed Sant and Muscat when they told us that (fictitious) Partnership would be much better for the economy than EU membership, and that on no account should Malta join the Eurozone. Euros? Mela le. We should have stuck to our lira, and then we’d be in a fine pickle.
It would take more than his stupid Mintoffian price controls and reducing the VAT rate on restaurant bills – two suggestions of scintillating brilliance and originality made at Haz-Zabbar yesterday – to pull us out of the gargantuan disaster we would have been drowning in had we taken his advice in the first place.
What a nerve the man has. Being hectored on what’s best for the economy by Joseph Muscat is like getting a lecture on investment best practice from Bernie Madoff when he gets out of jail and rewrites his personal history.
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You’re surprised because Muscat hasn’t got an economic clue? His economic mentor was and is Mario Vella, a man who never did a proper day’s work in his life, who sits around and mutters into his beard half-baked theories he picked up at the LSE in the days of the Lovin’ Spoonful. Look at him today, telling us that Malta’s position is more pecarious than it has ever been – this from the man who voted No to EU membership and who advises Muscat to create jobs by cutting the VAT rate on restaurant bills. I’m packing my bags.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091026/opinion/a-circus-indeed
Even you can’t quite bring yourself to tell Pratman to fully fuck off, Daphne. You fall short by suggesting that people should tell him to f**k off instead. Come on, if you’re going to say it, say it, no hiding behind asterisks!
Perhaps an old adage is appropriate. ‘Give a dog a little rope and he’ll hang (f**k) himself’. Still over 3 years to go. Lot’sa time.
Why tell him to fuck off? The more he says, the more his shortcomings are exposed for all to see.
I firmly believe that not all Labour supporters are stupid enough to give him credit. Maybe by the time the next general election comes along, people will know better than to to give this idiot their vote as a form of protest.
Where’s Marisa?
[Daphne – Where do you think? Advising him. They got the wrong girl.]
You wrote: “Imagine where we would be today had the country believed Sant and Muscat when they told us that (fictitious) Partnership would be much better for the economy than EU membership, and that on no account should Malta join the Eurozone.”
That is another overdue apology, incidentally. I’m curious to know how he (or whoever is preparing them for him) will word it.
@Joseph Muscat
F**k off
Yes, shall we ask Tonio Fenech? He’s a guru, isn’t he? Would you like me to tell you who his advisers are?
Oh and what do you need moderation here for?
I had a “wait and see” approach towards Muscat until now.
Nothing he said yesterday makes me want to see what he would do with his dirty little fingers groping our economy. Virtually everything he “suggested” has been tried before – and failed miserably in its aims to alleviate economic woes.
Somebody do us all a favour and give him a subscription to The Economist for Christmas (and make sure he flicks through it every now and then).
We might not be moving forward much right now, but moving backwards is definitely not an option.
A subscription to Private Eye would do him more good. Not that he would understand its humour.
So now we know it from the PL itself: not only did the world economic crisis ‘shouldn’t have happened’ (like Black Monday), but it actually didn’t – it was all a Gonzi fabrication just to increase taxation.
What we heard was the expected pitiful speech from an egomaniac surrounded by the same bunch of losers, who are hanging on to his coat-tails until they eventually get their stint as ministers.
Unbelievable that within four years this bunch could be running this country. Not one iota of sense or originality came out in the speeches, but the usual dribble of unasked for advice to the government. Reducing VAT on eating out will not reduce the patrons’ cost of their meal by one cent – it will just increase the restaurateur’s profits. All serious restaurants are doing well enough, thank you, and one has usually to book a table days before if he intends to dine there. My (equally unasked for) advice is, that if the government intends to reduce some of the burden that we all carry, this should be in the utility rates or costs of medicine.
I spent quite a lot of time trying to find something positive about Dr Joseph Muscat’s speech. I must say that I don’t like the EUR 40 million losses of the Fairmount – if there are people who made bad decisions, they should be accountable for what they did.
On the other hand, can I trust the same party which brought in the orders for Malta Shipbuilding for the timber (they were MISSILE) carriers, which could not be sold after the fall of the Soviet Union?
In the 10 points on his list there are interventions in the economy which would not bring about jobs. They are false safety-net measures which in the long run will worsen our finances. When taxes are removed or reduced, at least here in Malta, the difference is absorbed by the vendor. We experienced this with sun block creams and solar water heaters to mention two examples.
Our economy should support real productive work and not speculators.The prices of houses will go down because the supply is bigger than the demand.
The demonstration was ‘organised’ a la Ceaucescu trying to give the impression that it was national. So, red was conspicuous by its absence. All the Malta flags were brand new – with an oversized George Cross – in 25mm PVC conduit pipes, held by unenthusiastic people. The only people grinning were the party’s top brass. The standard-sized placards were held up high as per instructions handed out by the organisers.
The real Labour supporters with the party flags and scarfs were kept at a safe distance. Spontaneity was nowhere to be seen ……Joseph Muscat killed it. The same will happen to the economy with some of his proposed measures.
The shame of it all is that his followers are still stuck in the Mintoffian era and think that price control and meddling in the market by government is the holy grail of solutions to problems that, after all, do not exist. Not to the extent that Joseph Muscat would like us to believe.
The man just cannot be trusted. If he had had his way we would not be in the EU. That is unforgivable and unforgettable. Besides, his gross hypocrisy takes some beating. As I keep repeating to myself, the Labour Party never ever made any significant achievements for the country. They missed the big events big time – independence and the EU. The British Forces left because the lease agreement ran out and in these days of state-of-the-art technology Britain no longer needed Malta as a physical military base. The Labour Party always pandered to small minds.
And yet Kenneth Zammit Tabona has such confidence in him and feels he can now vote as he really chooses.
Be careful what you say because Kenneth Zammit Tabona has become touchy all of a sudden. Have you read his outburst in The Times yesterday? He is against everything and everybody where politics is concerned. So, first he gets all excited and praises Joseph Muscat to high heaven, and then when people criticise him for being so naive, he throws a tantrum. Just like children do.
Anyone saw the football game yesterday………..Liverpool vs Man.Utd?
Sunk by a Spaniard with the looks of a transvestite. Ouch. That hurt.
Whose only handicap is being unable to walk for the huge droves of nubile crumpet hanging on to his legs, one might add, Lenny….
Those butt leeches behind him sure ain’t gonna.
Just as a matter of fact, Bernie Madoff won’t be seeing the light of day, he’s been sentenced to 150 years.
Oh goodie, here I was thinking he would get a life sentence.
I cannot understand how anybody, that’s ANYBODY, can possibly be enticed to back these fools. No amount of advice, however well meant, will change these A-holes. For starters, PM Joey’s intellect is so shallow he can hardly impress the monkeys around him, let alone the floaters. Then we have his attitude problem which, like that of PM Sant before him, influences his politics to the point of desperation.
Although sadly the Nationalists are lately shooting themselves in the foot far too often for comfort, and they should know better, ultimately it is going to end up being a choice between the promise of utter incompetence, or more of the same which, regardless of what some ‘uccelli di mal augurio’ have us believe, has not been bad at all.
Hey Tony, how about some more monkey business:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcYLQGg6-d0&NR=1&feature=fvwp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVkRzY9ru7E&feature=related
It is a global problem, you know…!
The ‘marc tal-progressivi’ took place in one of the main streets of south Malta… and one of the narrowest.
Daphne,
I would like Joseph Muscat to explain how he is going to finance his promises. He believes in subsidising ‘the people’ and prattles on about the ‘high cost of living’ which he promises to reduce. In the UK (where I happen to live), when budgets and budget proposals are announced, they are detailed enough for experts to go over them and check whether they make mathematical sense.
Now if only Muscat would tell us how he plans to reduce the cost of living and control prices without increasing tax revenue or reduce public spending, maybe we could start to believe him. I sometimes despair that a lot of people take what he says at face value like he can do magic. I would like to see his economic genius of a plan published so it may be tested. I doubt if he ever will do such a thing. It is so easy to criticise when in opposition. I would rather the country does not find out the hard way that he is talking a load of bollocks.
The plan you are requesting is still being drafted by Mario Vella and Joe Vella Bonnici. Maybe it will be ready by the next election and they will have a clue what to do once in office.
History is gong to repeat itself. Prior to 1996, Alfred Sant made everybody believe that he had everything ready and could start implementing things as soon as he entered Castille. But we all know it wasn’t true and it took him (and the country) months of torture to come out with something like CET.
Spot on maryanne. It’s bad enough not having a plan B.
Progressive Joe’s spokesperson on divorce :
Justyne Caruana (PL) said opposition to divorce did not stem only from religion but also from the very consequences of divorce.
Mr Scicluna said there was also pain suffered by people whose first marriage collapsed and they moved into a new, stable relationship but could not remarry.
Dr Caruana said that in many cases, the least thing people thought about when their marriage collapsed was remarriage. The country should first address the issues created by marriage breakdowns, and their causes.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091026/local/house-committee-gets-first-attempt-at-divorce-debate
Do you think the Maltese economy is working perfectly under GONZIPN? Gonzi lost control and at the moment he is not acting like a prime minister.
[Daphne – There is one country only where the economy works perfectly. It is called Utopia and it is fictitious.]
Today, when the current economic crisis originating from the US has gulped plethora of liquidity and confidence from the markets across the globe, the experts are scratching their heads hard for searching an appropriate solution for the same. In our country, unfortunately we have an opposition leader taking people in the street protesting, giving stupid advice of how our prime minister should handle the economy. Joseph Muscat should know that the market runs on the wheels of confidence and be reminded that election is due in 4 years time and the less he speaks and shows off the better.
Joseph Muscat is our next prime minister, there is no doubt about that. This does not merit his famous 15-year plan but the inefficiency of our civil servants. Unfortunately we will be facing the same after Dr Muscat and Dr Anglu Farrugia will be at the helm position.
I believe that Dr Gonzi’s policies are intelligent and innovative; the problem is in who is implementing policies.
I have just received a letter from tax dept (informing me for the first time) that I owe them Eur 1500.00 being penalties accrued for the last six years for not sending tax return. Shall I blame the government and vote PL?
If we had followed his advice and done like Iceland he’d be in a real pickle. Where will he get his burger from?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8327185.stm
Whether this man f%$ks off or not, Daphne, be prepared to call him my prime minister in a few years time. This is not necessarily because he has what it takes to lead this country, but out of simple luck and circumstance. The PN has been there for years on end, and the international situation does not help.
People do not care if Shiek Al Madoff pumps oil and the big countries hoard as much of it as there was no yesterday therefore making it cost sky high.
The PN, on the other hand, have got used to being in power so much that (as much as I hate seeing Labour in power) it will do them good if they missed the seat for 10 years. There’s an endless list, but some are: Queroz, yes, old story, but still hurts, a drug pusher goes scot free on very strange circumstances, the Bahrija cases, loads of corruption (nepotism cases), Austin Gatt and his character, hotels building on pub land and getting a small fine and the stolen land remains theirs. The boat houses up north and the alleged promise by Dr. Gonzi to them before the election that they will keep the Armir boat houses.
[Daphne – I don’t follow your logic, I’m afraid. F**k up the country for 10 years for the sheer thrill of punishing the PN because of Austin Gatt’s character, some boat-houses and a drug-dealer whose case preceded three PN electoral victories? I don’t think so. I’m not a sado-masochist, though sometimes I think I’m surrounded by them. People’s political thinking makes me stop and wonder about how they get their kicks in the bedroom – but then, I’d rather not know.]
It will be no different with Labour in power, hence I smirk when I see Labourites getting so hot under the collar and proclaiming that Labour is and will be better.
[Daphne – So….what exactly do you hope to achieve here?]
The only salvation for this country and I know a lot might be afraid of this (for no relevant reason) is to have a 3rd party in parliament and governments made up of more than one party. I know you’re scared we’ll get elections every Sunday, shit happens, but it will only happen for the first three to four elections, then the parties will know and be on their tippy-toes more to keep the government going. There will be more accountability, a tad less corruption, just a bit is better than present scenario, accountability etc.
I am not an AD person and I know you hate them, vote whoever you feel could contribute.
[Daphne – I don’t hate AD. I think it is pointless. And a potential source of instability. Fortunately, the majority of people here seem to think the same way. We are accustomed to the British style of democracy which is dominated by two political parties which make up on their own the government and the opposition. You make the mistake of assuming that more parties means more democracy, but it doesn’t. Britain, with its two-party dominance, is the most democratic country in the world. Italy, with its multifarious parties, is one of the least democratic countries in Europe.]
But even I as a PN person feel that enough is enough and I need to make the transition, I need to start giving AD (or a 3rd party) a higher up choice in the ballot paper. I need to do that because its make the PN/MLP less of a gang for the few.
AD could have cost us EU membership when in the 2003 election they campaigned for first preferences. Why should they be rewarded with anything now?
@Fausto. Just out of pure curiosity (and preferably ignoring the fact whether you vote AD, PL or PN), how exactly is a vote a “reward”? The way I see it a vote is a matter of trust and investment – not a reward or prize. Unless of course we take the metaphor of “rewarding work in politics” to an extreme.
@Daphne “one of the least democratic countries in Europe”? Now that’s a sweeping statement if ever there was one. What do we judge that by? Unaccountable police behaviour? Non-respect of rule of law? At which point do we point out the general classification?
@Marco (because after all it IS his comment). I see your point with regard to 3rd parties seeming once again the best hypothetical possibility to get us out of this modus operandi that translates to a race to the bottom. I believe both PL and PN see it too and it is their very interest in the status quo (where even a “mexxej tal-oppozizzjoni” can be a good enough post to hold onto for five years – in the popularity stakes) that has made them rewrite the rules in their favour.
As for AD – much remains to be seen what Mike B will make of it. It has time and again failed to take up the reformist battle in the name of change (the real one not JM’s progressive claptrap) and though it has every right to do so it will probably opt to return to an activist movement representing not so moderate green politics in Malta (with all the “watermelon” implications). Nothing wrong with that choice itself but that means that the options for a real reformist third option will dwindle to nothing – and the gun at your head alluded to by KZT (and wrongly interpreted in this forum) will still be there in a couple of years time.
Ah. needed to get some non-work related typing done…have not had time to do some blogging of my own this week – too much work too little time.
You’ve got your facts wrong. The truth is quite the opposite. In the 2003 election AD instructed “their voters” to give their first preference vote to the PN.
[Daphne – I’m afraid that’s not quite the case, John. After a prolonged campaign during which AD gunned for the No. 1 vote, the party leadership saw partial sense at the 11th hour and asked people to give their No. 1 to the PN and No. 2 to AD, but by then the damage was then. Much of my time was taken up in the last few crucial weeks explaining to people we know, and even people who I hardly knew but who stopped me to ask my advice, why they should not vote for AD if they wanted Malta to become part of the EU – not even the No. 2 vote because of the wastage effect.]
@Jacques
In this case, a vote being “reward” is not very far from the vote being an issue of “trust/investment”. Every election is an issue of investment but the one of 2003 was even more than usual and for a much, much longer term.
In 2003 AD stood for election and campaigned for first preferences because they thought of themselves as being more important than what was at stake for the country in that fateful year. If it’s question of trust you’re after why should these people be rewarded with your trust?
P.S. Don’t hold much hope for AD “new formula”. It’s already been tried in 1998 with the ludicrous “Alleanza Gustizzja Socjali” and the Party’s second worst ever performance at the polls.
@john
The facts as contained in the *Party* press release at the time (11/4/03) which, to this day, is still available from the online *Party* archive:
“Alternattiva Demokratika is asking its members and supporters to Vote 1 AD so as to help bring about a breath of fresh air based on sustainable development, social justice, civil rights and a better quality of life for all Maltese and Gozitans.”
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Alternattiva/message/3127
Does it get any more factual than that?
The AD campaign slogan for the 2003 election was “it-tieni jghodd ukol”.
I didn’t realise that the instructions came late in the day.
” Britain, with its two-party dominance, is the most democratic country in the world”
I kind of like the French system too, it allows one to correct mistakes before it’s too late – remember the “Le Pen” incident in 2002?
[Daphne – This is another variation on the same theme put forward by John, but France is yet another example of how parliamentary democracy does not of itself make for a democratic environment. A case equivalent to the Jean Sarkozy/La Defense business would have been beyond contemplation in Britain.]
Well I didn’t say I think the French are the most democratic, but I like the mechanism that allows one to come to his/her senses before it’s too late!
Otherwise yes, I agree the UK is the most democratic. By far!
“Britain . . . is the most democratic country in the world”? This is a country where the Government is normally backed by less than 40% of the voting electorate, on a relatively low turnout.
[Daphne – You’re assessing democracy in terms of representation in parliament. That’s a very narrow definition. There are other factors which are equally important – freedom of speech and civil liberties among them. There can be a near absence of democracy with parliamentary elections but no freedom of speech, and we experienced that ourselves in Malta. But it is almost impossible to have an undemocratic environment where you have absolute freedom of speech. Britain’s long tradition of free speech and personal liberty is in fact what makes it the world’s most democratic country, and not so much the fact that it has the world’s oldest parliament.]
And why does everyone I know always quote Italy, the exception that proves the rule (as regards stability, rather than democracy, I would have thought)? Holland, for example, with its multifarious parties, is one of the most stable and democratic countries in Europe.
[Daphne – Yes, but it is Holland which is the exception to the rule, and not Italy. Germany, which also has many parties, is not naturally inclined to democracy, but has had to have democracy forced upon it, for example.]
McDonalds has just announced it’s pulling out of Iceland. Due to the collapse of the Krona, the selling price of a BigMac in Iceland is higher than the most expensive BigMac in the world – Switzerland’s – so they decided to pull out. Perhaps financial guru Dr Joseph Muscat can now lecture Iceland about his “ftajjar”.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=amu4.WTVaqjI
This was his opportunity to show that he is a strategic thinker, smart, realistic, and tough. It’s not as if the election is tomorrow, and already he is behaving like a screaming harridan when he knows the current economic situation.
He could have proved that he was capable of proposing unpalatable economic decisions when the nation calls. But he didn’t. The economy needs strategic stimuli packages that impress not just the Maltese but foreigners searching for new investment locations and Brussels, which we now depend on for financial support. He failed.
Instead he produced a cut and paste exercise largely from the GRTU’s budget proposals, liberally dosed with whiffs of hdura towards those who create the nation’s wealth and who employ the nation’s sons and daughters. This is the best the MLP can throw at the PN? Is this the material of alternative prime minister in the midst of an economic crisis? He himself acknowledges we are in a crisis. Thank God, we are in the EU, and not out, as he wanted us. Cannot he be a man and acknowledge he was very wrong there?
Daqshekk ghami ghal poter li jrid idahhalna go hajt, basta jkun PM?
What a waste of a Jesuit education. He had the opportunity to be a man for others, and he showed that he is a man for himself – and his single-minded aspiration to become prime minister. He is now making U-turns galore and saying “yes,yes” even when he doesn’t agree. What a sorry state we are in.
All you PN backbenchers with axes to grind against the current incumbent, is this what you want for the country? A party of hungry people who are not able to govern? Do you want to elect a party that is so riven with chips on the shoulders and “need to feed” that it has become dangerously unelectable?
Listen to this message well. If you don’t stop griping and bleeding the government, the rank and file will make bloody sure that you will never be elected again. With my little pen I will make bloody sure of that. Gonzi is not the government; it is the PN which is IN government. And you are part of that by choice.
Listen to this message well. If you don’t stop griping and bleeding the Government, the rank and file will make bloody sure that you will never be elected again. With my little pen I will make bloody sure of that. Gonzi is not the Government, it is the PN which is IN Government. And you are part of that by choice.
I’m in full agreement – but I’m afraid we’ll have to get used to the idea that he will be PM in three years’ time.
At any rate, the proposal of reducing the VAT rate on restaurant bills is really silly and I hope the real PM doesn’t take it up. How naive do you have to be to believe that restaurateurs will not keep the difference for themselves? I will have to “Thomasinely” see reduced restaurant prices before actually believing that there will be restaurateurs who would reduce their prices in proportion to the reduction in VAT.
Reducing VAT on restaurant bills will further increase the price of a meal within a short time. No restaurant will reduce the price of a meal if there is a reduction in VAT. And when government raises VAT again, as it must and it will, the price of a meal will rise again. If we do not learn from the past we will relive the past.
I fail to understand how reducing VAT on restaurant bills will help the lower-earning class. Actually I’m totally lost on how this item even found itself on the agenda.
I thought that VAT is a “fair” tax because it redirects money from high-spenders towards the state, to make life (a bit) easier for lower-earning (= lower spending) citizens.
Or does Mr Muscat think that eating out is a human right?
Maybe you will find this interesting
http://www.euronews.net/2009/10/24/malta-immigration-and-xenophobia/
Avoid wearing red?
The prime Minister is doing the right thing keeping his mouth shut. I hope he does not take your advice and send this young man to f*** off. It’s so shallow, Berlusconi style.
Herr Doktor Mario Vella ist ein Professor im Scotland. Ja!
Herr Vella ist Professor von Foreign Investment.
Herr Professor: baqra tajba tinbigh f’pajjiza!
Daphne… did you realise who the guy in specs is (half-hidden behind Joseph Muscat?) It’s one of Alfred Sant’s good old elves. Maybe they have found Snow-white now.
[Daphne – Snow White has dwarfs. Il-Krismis Fader has elves.]
Joe Muscat should have told Lawrence Gonzi to increase our Income Tax rates, our Social Security contributions and VAT. Ah but Lawrence Gonzi needs no one to tell him such crap. He is already taking a good portion of our income to compensate for the ‘Hofra Hrafa’ Alfred Sant used to talk about. Ah but then this Hofra was all Alfred Sant’s mismanagement between 1996 and 1998. It seems that to people like you all PN does is perfect management, while MLP/LP is incapable of doing anything right. Funny it is exactly what those illeterate Mintoffjani later laburisti say about their party. It is about time staunch followers of both parties remove their blinkers, After all if we want to really be EU citizens we should try to act like them and forget our Pikki Politici or Religjuzi.
You’re absolutely right on one point, Grace: the MLP is incapable of doing anything right. Ever since Paul Boffa was deposed.
And you call LP appologists gnomes. People who reason like you are no better than those illiterate fanatics who say that MLP never did anything wrong. I can understand illiterate brainwashed persons reasoning like that; but when it comes to educated persons, it makes me wonder what type of an education we are getting, use her head man.
Just out now!
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091028/local/two-acquitted-in-connection-with-mistra-case
The courts, who we all believe in, have said that these two gentlemen are not guilty. The guilty party here is Alfred Sant, and the MLP, for its senseless mudslinging against these two gentlemen and many others. The MLP willdo anything for power, not because it is capable of wielding it, but because it believes its “its turn to govern” and because “it’s now its turn by right”. What a sorry excuse for politics.
Another guilty party who should be hauled up in front of the courts is the present MEPA auditor, whose morals are so questionable that the mind boggles….he has no problem in issuing a permit for the development seen in this very photo, plus the MUSEUM eyesore at Marfa, but was so ready to condemn JPO’s development…..and this guy teaches catechism as a hobby. Maybe he hasn’t heard the story of the beam in one’s eye?
It seems so fashionable nowadays to bash people in MEPA, or who are associated with development. This is not on. These people have been dragged through an ordeal for nothing.
I’m sure the MLP will now propose….. …a people’s court to retry this case a’ la’ Ceausescu, as we had during the good old MLP days, when Lorry and Wistin ran the show. Thats how things are done, and that’s how things will be done in the future, when Jose becomes Prime Minister Joe.
I can remember cases when PN turned against the court because the judgment was not to their liking. I can’t remember which case it was, but I distinctly remember everyone saying that the jury system should be eliminated.
By the way I’m sure you understand English, the magistrate never said the Mistra Development was legal. She said the prosecution did not give sufficient prove of these two gentlemen’s guilt, therefore she could not find them guilty.
With your same arguments mintoffjani can say that Lorry Sant was not what you say he was since the court never found him guilty.
Grace,
Lorry Sant’s lawyer asked for and obtained a pardon for his client before the court could deliver judgment so it would be foolish (but typical) for a mintoffjan to claim that Sant was not found guilty.
The other case you refer to was the controversial non-guilty verdict returned by the jury in the trial for the attempted murder of Richard Cachia Caruana. It was the AG not the PN who first mooted the possibility that some cases could be heard by a judge without the dubious help of a partisan jury. Perhaps the AG knew some things about the jurors which he could not express publicly.
In this Mistra case, the magistrate said that there was no illegality when the permit was issued. Not only did the prosecution not prove its case but the accused actually proved their innocence.
” I can remember cases” but ” I can’t remember which case ” I’m confused Grace………do you recall or not?
Lorry Sant’s case could not be dealt with because the legal time limit had elapsed.
In the months and years prior to the 2008 elections there was a systematic campaign to smear DCC board members and MEPA senior management. Every time there was a decision which was not agreeable to them, a small group of people strongly hinted to wrong-doing within the DCCs. One can mention Astrid Vella, George Debono, Martin Scicluna and James Tyrell but there were others. They have created an air of hostility against the DCC and the right ambience for these two people to be dragged through the courts for nothing.
The MEPA auditor made matters worse. His shameful allegation of corruption in the Bahrija case, without bringing any shred of evidence was not a one off, but a pattern of behaviour intent on passing judgement and shaming anyone who took a decision which he thought out of line.
An injustice has been done against many DCC and MEPA board members who were doing their duty. The greatest injustice of all has been done against these two people.
Dr Muscat must learn to show respect to the office of prime minister, a position he is struggling to achieve.
I cringe when I hear him address the prime minister as ‘Lawrence’ on national television. I find it very condescending and over-familiar but it backfires on him.
[Daphne – He looks still more gauche when the prime minister addresses him as Dr Muscat.]
This is not the correct way to address a prime minister, no matter how much you dislike him.
Kollha hekk. Tiftakar meta kitbu lil Barak?
There is a rumour that there is intelligent life in the MLP/PL or whatever they call themselves. However, after reading the little gnome’s speech, I must admit that the rumour is totally unfounded.
How can the real prime minister listen to lectures on the Maltese economy from somebody who ……
How can someone with 3 REAL degrees,
1 regarding public policy
another regarding european affairs
and a doctorate in economics
listen to lectures from a grubling old woman in her mid life crisis
with a miserable degree in archeology, wtf where you thinking??
the fact that you say euro saved us all shows your ignorance – it does shield us on some matters
but when exports fall and the real rate of interest has falls – how are we gonna adjust our real value?? by offering tax exemptions ofc and allowing + covering for inefficiency instead of implying conditions on those who get subsidies
indri jones
“…how are we gonna adjust our real value??”
I don’t know. We can’t even adjust our ideas to express them lucidly.
Mr. Jones. Your garbled ramblings leave much to be desired. Your point (if there is one) appears to be lost in your zest for hyperbole. Your lack of ‘knowledge’ of economics is only outweighed by your misuse of the English lanquage. Please desist in displaying your ignorance. You are embarrassing yourself.
@Indri Jones
So Joseph has the three degrees – reminds me of the 1960s group – and another one you gave him in lecturing prime ministers.
You just hit spot on one of the root causes why Labour’s leaders make bad decisions.
Though good prime ministers need to have some qualifications, these are requirements which they can do without. They don’t need to be a ‘sappitutto’ like Herbert Ganado used to call Mintoff. Prime ministers and ministers should keep back and listen to the advice given by the best qualified, unbiased experts in the country.
After listening to the advice given and after observing the consequences of such decisions on computer models the prime minister takes a mature and informed decision.
When Michael Falzon was works minister the joke was that while his predecessor was a minister trying hard to be an architect. he was an architect trying hard to be a minister.
A presumptuous prime minister is dangerous to his country. The same applies to the prime ministers who make off-the-cuff gross errors of judgment, take purely vote-catching decisions and who are only inspired by political ideology.
Ooooh la la! It looks like somebody’s a wee bit impressed by qualifications, and thinks that they are worth more than brains.
I don’t know if you’ve realised, “Indri”, but the persons who tend to parade their qualifications are usually the ones coming from a rather naff background, and are usually the ones learning things by rote, rather than reasoning them out. Where is the intelligence in that?
May I suggest that archaeology might prove useful in digging up the kind of policies dear Dr. Muscat is proposing.
Dear Indri,
The number of degrees JM has is completely irrelevant. What has he done in his professional career? If he is so well qualified he should have an impressive CV. Unfortunately, working as a hack with the Labour media and selling some financial products does not impress.
Even less impressive is his own admission that “with hindsight” joining the EU was a good thing for Malta. He should have known that if he really does hold a doctorate in economics and a degree in European affairs.
@ Indri
Shouldn’t the fact that your hero has a degree in European Affairs (which he obtained well before membership) tell you something about the honesty of this……
Anyhow, degrees only indicate the areas one knows nothing about. Knowledge, wisdom and skill come through work and honest commitment. Your hero’s commitment is only personal.
@ Indri Jones
When you learn to write proper English, and when you make sense, thenreaders would have a chance to understand what you mean and where you are coming from.
@ Emanuel Borg
“I sometimes despair that a lot of people take what he says at face value like he can do magic….”
It demonstrates the IQ level of the LP and its followers.
@ Some others
Please stop predicting that Joseph Muscat will be prime minister any time soon. It is so irritating and besides if the false rumour gathers momentum, it may very well become a self fulfilling prophecy.
this is all such entertaining reading! I mean, its all so tribal. Or should I say trivial.Or maybe drivial. Or more accurately, drivel. Notwithstanding the fact that, IMHO, the LP has not got its act together to come up with a viable alternative to the the current management of political affairs, still, PU-LEEZE! If the LP isnt a viable alternative, stop wasting energy on pummelling them with your diatribe; if you think the NP is the better option for Malta collectively, direct your energy to giving it a wake-up call. Inspite of all the bull that was exposed prior to the last elections, the PN still got in, and in doing so they were given the signal that anything goes..the Maltese people will settle for rampant corruption rather than back an unpredictable and volatile entity. But a white flag for corruption is going to backfire. We are part of the EU now, remember. Malta’s tribal dynasties cant operate without being called to account. (and who gets fined for transgressions? The politicians? Hell no. The people! The people who voted in this government to represent them, AND those who didnt- the stupid Labourites…dumb clucks).
The PN poses as a party of gentlemen as opposed to the LP which is seen as a party of thugs. Are you off your rockers? Gentlemen keep their word. Has this govt kept its word? Come on, they’re politicians! The same rules of etiquette and morality dont apply. Surely you know that by now.
Perhaps the NP is dying for a LP win so that when in office THEY will have to answer for the thunder that is pending from the EU over the myriad defaults that this current govt has committed in its glorious reign since EU accession….oh wait, please remind me, I’m a little short-sighted, what achievements has this govt made in the post-EU accession era?
It gave you a European passport. Isn’t that enough?
Very well said, Mr. Mario Debono.
These back-benchers should realise that their priorities should be the “national” good and not personal!
The electorate should weigh these types of behaviour by certain back-benchers, when the time is ripe.
Daphne. Although eminently admirable in all other respects, the British system lacks the cornerstone of true representative democracy i.e. majority rule. The near perfect Dutch electoral system, on the other hand, produces a coalition government that does represent majority rule. As the Dutch are in no way inferior to the British as regards the other factors determining democracy, I would suggest that it is Holland, rather than Britain, that could be considered to be “the most democratic country in the world” (even though I’m not really into these kind of statements).
Aa to whether coalition governments are more, or less, prone to encourage a democratic environment, there is little doubt as to the answer in the case of Malta, which you yourself raised. It is less likely that the excesses of the Mintoff and KMB governments could have occurred had they been dependent on a minor coalition partner, which tends to provide a restraining influence on the major coalition partner. Those governments showed how a one party regime can degenerate into a pseudo-democratic dictatorship, a scenario that some fear might happen again. A coalition government is, by definition, one tempered with a degree of compromise, and is more prone to encourage democratic values than a one party state (where that one party is suspect).
Malta can only get competitive and economically stable, whether in the present economic crisis or otherwise, through discipline and accountability.
There is no magic formula or solution. We can only get better if we call a spade a spade and start to realise that we are highly inefficient in a lot of sectors. Take the public sector, employing thousands of people, some of them for no real reason, let alone economic value to the country. They are a burden to the hard working private sector.
The private sector is loaded with taxes, tariffs, compliances, fees, and so on, and every day is a battle in order to survive and succeed. On the other hand, the inefficient public servant has a guaranteed pension, wage, bonuses, even if he reports for an hour a day of work, and the rest of the year is either on vacation or sick leave.
The private sector is at the mercy of civil servants, faced with excuses, delays, bureaucracy and so on.
No prime minister or institution has solved this matter, maybe due to the effect on votes. We wish Gonzi or Muscat might have a magic solution but that still needs to be discovered.
@ Indri Jones.
Just for the record and without trying to diminish any of the academic achievements of Dr. Muscat following is an extract from his profile on Google. Nowhere do I find a doctorate in economics.
“Education
Muscat graduated Bachelor of Commerce in Management and Public Policy from the (University of Malta, 1995), Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Public Policy (University of Malta, 1996), Master of Arts in European Studies (University of Malta, 1997) and Ph.D in Management Research (University of Bristol, 2007).”
U IWA MHUX XORTA BRAVU?
@ C Said, who wrote:
“The people who voted in this government to represent them, AND those who didn’t- the stupid Labourites…dumb clucks)”.
It is more likely that it was the ‘dumb’ Nationalists who did not vote in the last election, and not the “Labour dumb clucks”. Maybe five years of Labour is what tepid Nationalists need to wake up.
Kemm niggustakom tiehdu il-kedded f’gieh il-gvern u kontra “il-leader” tal-lejber. Imxejna il-quddiem ta’ imma fadlilna x’naqdfu u ghandi id-dubji tieghi kemm xi hadd minnhom ser iwassalna verament x’imkien. Bejn iz-zewg partiti “hziena” taghzel l-inqas il-hazin? In******* ha nghidha! Ahjar inhalli il-vot id-dar milli nkun parti mill-kummiedja!!! U ahjar jghinu lil nofs Malta tirraguna b’mohhha minfflok ihalluha ixejjer l-imkatar fil-meetings! L-estremizmu politku taghkom hawn gew zgur ma huwiex ta ghajnuna u jiswa daqs dak il-maktur imxejjer waqt xi meeting tal-lejber jew tan-nazzjonalisti!
I’ll have to agree here….
Don’t you ppl get tired of reading the same old crap stories every day in our newspapers?
Sure…I hope things improve for my very own welfare. But quite frankly, I can’t be bothered to compare Muscat and Gonzi, or whatever the hell they think is right or wrong.
Am I ignorant? hmm…I guess you can call me that – but why vote for somebody I respectfully find repulsive? Of course, they can invite me ‘taht it-tinda’ to voice my opinion – which I would do out of politeness – but who the hell are these people to think they’re gonna take me for a ride?
my first time logging in here —gee asking Daphne on how to vote!!!!!!! no wonder people read this stupid blog