Careless talk costs lives
Jeffrey had better decide – very quickly – whether he’s in the business of speculation and rumour a la Malta Today (they’re buddies, after all) or whether he’s a serious politician and a member of a team.
Imagine going to a private meeting with the prime minister and then emerging to shoot your mouth off with Super One. Imagine asking around and speculating about a ‘plot’ to remove a member of the cabinet and then conjuring one up in your fevered imagination and taking it to the press.
This is now quite beyond belief.
The Times, today
Giovanna Debono ‘was not offered new ministry’
Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono was not offered a new ministry or new responsibilities during a meeting with Lawrence Gonzi on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said.
The denial comes after Nationalist backbencher Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando said on Wednesday the Cabinet reshuffle was “predictable” and the only hurdle in the plan was the “retention of Giovanna Debono as Gozo Minister”. When contacted yesterday, Dr Pullicino Orlando stood by his comments.
In the wake of the much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle that turned out to be a minor touch-up, speculation was rife that Mrs Debono was going to be moved to the Education Ministry and Chris Said appointed Gozo Minister in her stead.
Mrs Debono’s summoning to Castille on Tuesday afternoon lent credence to the thesis and her retention as Gozo Minister caused surprise, especially in Gozo.
“It is pertinent to note that last Tuesday the Prime Minister spoke to every minister and parliamentary secretary,” Dr Gonzi’s spokesman said when asked why Mrs Debono had been summoned to Castille.
However, Mrs Debono’s Castille meeting was also an indication of Dr Gonzi’s plans, Dr Pullicino Orlando said.
“Did all ministers and parliamentary secretaries go to Castille? I had received information from various sources that Giovanna Debono was going to be removed from the Gozo Ministry and the same information had also reached other parliamentary colleagues,” he said.
Moreover, Dr Pullicino Orlando said that last week he had a “long and cordial meeting” with the Prime Minister unrelated to the reshuffle and was led to believe that Dr Said would be promoted.
“In passing, Dr Gonzi told me he had plans for Chris Said. I took that to mean he was going to be appointed Gozo Minister,” Dr Pullicino Orlando said, insisting that both Mrs Debono and Dr Said were doing a good job in their respective portfolios and he respected them.
When asked for the reason behind her meeting in Castille, Mrs Debono yesterday insisted the story was “sheer speculation based on unfounded rumours issued by Super One TV”.
25 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Jeffrey’s motto on Facebook:
great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.
Let’s see if Jeffrey and his other “disgruntled” pals in the back bench have the ba**s to vote against the government and bring it down. They will then earn the eternal “gratitutde” of the Maltese people for handing over power to Joseph, Toni and Anglu.
All this posturing is making everyone sick. They should put their money where their mouth is and face the consequences or else shut up. Otherwise they should be treated with the contempt they have earned.
Our eternal gratitude will be greater, given the economic situation we are passing through. These people are really selfish.
Don’t lose your credibility by posting wishful thinking. You were doing pretty well until now.
There have been plans to move Giovanna Regina either to another ministry or to make her Speaker. One minister’s comment about her was “Giovanna ma tidghix imma ggieghel lil min jidghi.” I cannot quote the rest of the comment because the person concerned would obviously deny it.
Gonzi has found himself between a rock and a hard place and his position is becoming more tenuous by the day.
[Daphne – I despair at the inability of some people to separate issues. Issue 1: was Giovanna Debono to be or not to be removed? Issue 2: should a member of parliament, invited for a private briefing or discussion to his prime minister’s office, emerge to release details of what was said, speculate on what wasn’t said, and brief the media of the Opposition party? Issue 1 is a complete irrelevance. Nobody could give a toss as to whether Giovanna Debono is going or staying, except for its bit of curiosity value. However, the lack of discretion, incredible disloyalty, absence of integrity, and cheap, shallow, charlatanesque behaviour of the MP in question is definitely a big issue. I would have said exactly the same had he been a Labour MP emerging from the office of prime minister Muscat to blab and brag about what was said, to NET television cameras. It is impossible to have respect for somebody like that, even if his behaviour serves your purposes. It’s behaviour worthy of contempt.]
Agreed.
However issue 1 does gain relevance if the prime minister for some unknown reason could not act on his hypothetical wish to remove a minister.
[Daphne – I am not in the business of speculation. I leave that to Jeffrey and Super One.]
Qisu tifel zghir – shame on you, Jeffrey.
Daphne, there was hardly any discretion left to safeguard. Giovanna Debono’s embarrassing position has been as much common knowledge as the ‘clandestine’ love affair between RM and CSH before you splashed it here.
[Daphne – Really? She’s sleeping with Robert Musumeci too, is she? I know he goes for the older ladies, but surely there are limits.]
After the Mistra scandal I would have thought that Pullicino Orlando would keep his big mouth shut. If he cannot bear the heat in the kitchen he should get the hell out of there.
Jeffrey seems to be getting back at his peers. He has, after all, been elected twice over. And that’s power. And it’s power everyone wants today. That’s why those already in place do not want to move an inch, and the in-waiting aspiring ones are doing all they can to expose.
What does Pullicino Orlando think he is? What does he think is is achieving by playing this game? He lost my respect the moment I saw him cry on TV but he never ceases to surprise.
Mur obsor hej, mar jghid x’intqal fil-meeting bejn il-PM u l-ministru Debono. Mur avdalu sigriet lis-sur JPO.
I voted for Pullicino Orlando in the last general election hoping that he would be an effective parliamentarian and part of a team. Little did I imagine that he would become a speculative ‘reporter’ and part of the Labour team. Now he wants to hold by its balls a government which was democratically elected. Shame.
U mur afdalu sigriet, lil JPO! Oh my god, what a man.
Pullicino Orlando does not endear himself to any of those who voted for him. People don’t appreciate turncoats. Soon enough he will find that those egging him on will drop him and discard him. Blabbermouths cannot be trusted.
‘good’ (depends on your allegiance) old Mintoff used to say, “min mhux maghna kontra taghna”. I was never a fan of il-perit, but maybe Jeffrey should be reminded about it.
And would anyone for a moment believe that Prime Minister Gonzi is going to share his inner thoughts about a cabinet reshuffle with a pulcinell like Pullicino Orlando.
Jeffrey, you should cross the floor and join the Partit tal-Pulcinelli , and take Jesmond Mugliett with you for good measure. Go on – bring down the government if you really have the balls.
David, if and when they do that, Labour will dump them as they will not want to share the winning cake with them.
If they do that they will be defeating themselves in more ways than one. All this disgruntlement by the backbenchers has one sole aim (according to them) – they have a responsibility to those who voted them in. Do they honestly think that the latter are happy seeing them act in this way?
Wara li qalawlu l h*** qabel l elezzjoni, issa il-PL qed jilaqulu sormu. U hu, l-imbecilli, jghidilom x’jisma.
Ara sewwa jghidu, meta kelb issawwtu, il-kelb isir ihobbok iktar.
…but I would still like to know…..was the PM unable to exercise his prerogative in Giovanna Debono´s case? Unfortunately, when I put all that has been said from all sides together, especially what I am reading here, I get the feeling that this is really the case.
[Daphne – Take it from me, Albert. Nobody was planning to switch Giovanna Debono around. And Jeffrey wasn’t summoned to Castille to be informed of changes that were to be made. He was there for a routine meeting and the prime minister made pleasant small talk, with which Jeffrey went off at a tangent. He really has shot himself in the foot. First he was in a position where nobody told him anything because they didn’t trust him, and now nobody will even make small talk with him in case he reads too much into it and goes to Super One.]
Why was JPO summoned to Castille to be informed of what changes were to be made? Was he put to a test? Was he given false information on purpose, to see if he divulges it?
[Daphne – Labour loves its plots. Daqxejn spine chillers u thrillers (sorry, trillers) u kuntenti u ferhanin.]
Why did The Times, a few hours before the little changes were made, state matter-of-factly that Debono would be given another ministry? Where did that leak come from? Who feeds The Times?
The questions are mounting. As it is, either JPO´s, or the PM´s position has become untenable. The PM does not command a majority in parliament. The LP should at this moment call for a vote of confidence in the government.
[Daphne – The things that excite you, Albert, honestly. An MP behaved like a total w****r, end of story. He isn’t the first one and he certainly won’t be the last.]
Albert, there might have those who love to hear their the sound of their loud voices, but when if it comes to the crunch, they will regroup.
People like Pullicino Orlando are unbelievable. First they complain that the PM ignores them and has no time for them. Then he gets invited to Castille to speak with the PM and on he goes to divulge whatever has been discussed to Super One.
Sintendi u ma ghandhix dubju that the PM did not tell HIM out of all people what he intended to do in the reshuffle. Gonzi is not that daft to tell his secrets to someone as unreliable as this man.
@Daphne
But does one hold “routine” meetings with people who might spill beans? I mean does one speak about such a hot topic like a cabinet reshuffle, personally, to someone who has been for months showing his rebellious streaks?
[Daphne – Precisely, Albert. The prime minister did not speak to Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando about a cabinet reshuffle. If you knew how these things worked, you would also know that the prime minister never speaks to anyone about a reshuffle, before the changes are announced, except for his most intimate and trusted advisers.]
What would the aim be? I mean the people at Castille, and those who have influence at Castille from a distance, are no fools when it comes to media savviness. How could they not have anticipated JPO’s move?
And, once again, was The Times fed by JPO? Was The Times fed the tickets story, regarding John Dalli, by JPO? Surely we are not expected to believe that Debono was not about to be moved just because the PM’s “spokesman” (who is the PMs “spokesman”?) said so.
[Daphne – No, Albert, I believe it because when I ask questions of the right people – not Jeffrey, that is – I am given the bare facts and the truth. And so I never have to speculate.]
You might be surprised, but there ARE people who can think and also do not stand in awe in front of the wonders of Castille.
[Daphne – Bit pointless thinking, when you don’t have the facts to hand.]
I heard the phone interview with Pullicino Orlando on One News where he actually quoted something which was said in a meeting he had with the PM and the PM’s assistant. Irrespective of what was said or not said, I could not believe that a member of parliament would shoot his mouth off and say publicly what the prime minister (or anyone else for that matter) told him in a private meeting. I could not believe my ears! Has this person no decency?
This is a trick which I always used to catch informers: tell each suspected person some specific information and then wait for the ‘information’ to come back.
When and if certain information becomes public, all one has to do is to see who was given that specific information.
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando swallowed it hook, line and sinker. When he realised that he was caught he applied the old adage: “In the face of defeat all that remains is defiance”.
In Mintoff’s time there was some Nationalist MP (Alfred Baldacchino?) who crossed the floor to Labour. He was given a permit to build a villa on Delimara point amongst other things, though the two events may not be connected.
The prime minister has shown for the umpteenth time that he is his own man and there is no chance that he will be ruffled by a few noisy back-benchers. My take is that he is grooming three of his better parliamentary secretaries to replace the old guard (read Giovanna and one or two other heavyweights) at the opportune time.
Gonzi will in turn promote the more deserving and loyal of his back-benchers. He will than be in a position to face the next election with a fresh team which will be able to give the inadequate Muscat a good run for his money.
The Nationalist Party should also at this early stage start identifying good material to stand as candidates. This should give the party ample time to vet prospective candidates thoroughly. They have to be drastic and innovative. The party has to do away with ‘the more the merrier’ philosophy and select strictly on the bases of competence and integrity.
Gonzi, like Fenech Adami before him, is a man of the greatest integrity and will sooner call an early election than give in to a couple of charlatans.
After the PM stood by him, with all that during the elections, JPO decides to be disloyal to those who respected him. I want him and the other rebels who cannot be loyal to those who elected them ejected from the party and parliament. Any ideas what we can do?