Baxxter, it seems that it is now the time for a wave of fairylights, perhaps to illuminate all those colourful pavements.

And maybe it is now time to start reaping the benefits of all that investment in embellishment, in the form of a “commission.”

As for Prof. Scicluna, your prediction about the spring will probably come true.

Do not forget that since becoming an MEP, he has still found the time to work out the national cost of a power failure on Good Friday. He must have done some “to the power of Hal-Kbir” in that computation.

Fair enough, but this is a case where quantity – not just in numbers, but in individual output – has not necessarily produced quality.

If you had to look back over the past 50 years or so, how many MPs of quality can you recall compared to those who are purely party people with their interest mainly restricted to what goes on in their electoral district or who are just plain deadwood?

Debates are conducted along party lines. Joining in may be a good way of scoring points for the MP in question but it does not add another dimension to the debate.

Policy is not driven by MPs but by the top party people and gurus operating in the shadows. The technicalities can be handled very well, indeed probably better, if left in the hands of capable civil servants.

Also, Malta enjoys a free press and people are free to express their opinion. If anything we tend to debate things to death, whether it’s in newspapers, the electronic media or on Xarabank. I’m all for a smaller parliament and my view is that government at the national level should only be seen and felt in moments of real crisis.

I’m all for devolution and local councils (within reason). A smaller parliament means that debates on legislation will not be conducted properly. Do you have any suggestion?

I agree though that ministries should be few and very well chosen.

What surprised me (or rather shocked me) was the way The Times defended the ex-mayor, calling Nikki Dimech ” a successful young auditor” and “an unlikely hero with a conspiracy theory”. I understand that The Times needs to compete with Malta Today by jumping on the anti PN bandwagon, but that doesn’t mean that whatever journalistic ethics they ever had need to be thrown out of the window.

As a fellow auditor, I am not too keen on sharing my profession with the ex mayor. Actually, it’s quite embarrassing. I wonder whether the Malta Institute of Accountants kept him on as a member after this incident. Which lending institution would ever give any weight / credibility to a prospective borrower’s set of financial statements signed by this auditor?

A cogent comment, Mr. Borg. Your fifth paragraph aptly points out why we follow Daphne’s blog and articles. A professional journalist who pulls no punches and tells it like it is.

First came the frenzy of “pavimentar” and old grannies breaking their ankles on the Giant’s Causeway. Then came the flurry of “Gieh Haz-Zghir” awards and 1: 1.3 scale bronze busts. Then came the Age of Aquarius and waste separation bins.

Now that every possible square inch of every village has been paved over, painted, embellished, whitewashed and had a plaque screwed over it, the sleaze and corruption that’s been there all along is finally coming to light.

So is this the end of local councils? Is it f….

Come spring we’ll have Edward Scicluna giving us the fractal dimension of the third-order Chi-square second derivative of Haz-Zghir’s electoral results. Oh sorry, he’s an MEP now, and above all this.

Regarding the local councils,then I totally agree ,and I further comment that they are ridiculous and the government should scrap this whole idea.

A case in point is the village that I live in. We have bad roads and the council blames the government, while the government blames the council.

At the end of the day as citizens we need service; whether it is from A or B we do not give a hoot. If you had to quantify the service and works against the thousands of euros they receive, I think we have another Malta Drydocks to contend with.

The council office is only there to receive fees for getting an open skip or truck etc. or to report a faulty street light, which could and should be handled directly by Enemalta.