So much for 'leaving the PN because of the PM's divorce vote'

Published: July 30, 2011 at 12:10pm

It has now become screamingly obvious that Cyrus Engerer did not leave the Nationalist Party because of the prime minister’s stance on divorce.

That seemed like an odd and incredible explanation even at the time, because he already knew the prime minister’s stance on divorce when he – Cyrus – gave a keynote speech at the PN’s annual general conference at the end of June, praising the party’s myriad virtues.

His sudden change of heart and overnight departure occurred when he discovered that the police were about to charge him with obtaining sex pictures of his former lover, without consent, and circulating them, also without his consent, to people who did not ask to receive them and who were horrified when they did, in an attempt to cause harm to that former lover.

In simple terms, Cyrus jumped before he was pushed, and landed straight in the Labour Party’s think-tank IDEAT.

Now he is Joseph Muscat’s problem to deal with.

Cyrus was right about one thing: he has far more in common with the Labour Party, and with Super One in particular.




9 Comments Comment

  1. red nose says:

    Birds of a feather………

  2. sap says:

    Cyrus comments before joining the PL

    On facebook – June 17th @ 9.34pm
    True Labour colours coming out on Xarabank tonight. As Evarist Bartolo once said, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

    On facebook – June 17th @ 9.06pm
    Shocked at Joseph Muscat’s comments with regar to the LGBT community: marriage only between a man and a woman only and LGBT people should not be allowed to adopt. Very liberal and progressive!

    17.06.11 @ Kunsill Generali Partit Laburista
    “…jgħidu x’jgħidu tal-Partit Laburista u jpinġuna kif jipprovaw ipinġuna, aħna għadna
    bżonjużi! Aħna bżonjużi għaliex għandna l-aqwa tim li għandu jkompli jigverna lil dan il-pajjiż.”
    http://cyrusengerer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/speech17062011.pdf

    on facebook – June 20th @ 6.56pm
    Last weekend’s events have proven that PN is still relevant and needed. While Muscat on Xarabank gave no answers, PN’s General Council opened the way forward and invited all those who want to be part of it, no matter what their opinion, to join in and give their piece of mind.

    cyrus comments after joining the PL

    On facebook – 25th July @ 2.49am
    I have joined a movement that brings together a wide spectrum of people led by an inspiring leader, Joseph Muscat

    • sap says:

      “i7.06.11 @ Kunsill Generali Partit Laburista”

      should read “17.06.11 @ Kunsill Generali Partit NAZZJONALITSA”

  3. Robert says:

    Now that’s a much clearer picture of how things have actually developed.

  4. ciccio2011 says:

    Is it not normal that when someone holds an official position like that of a Deputy Mayor, and one is accused with criminal charges, one resigns until one’s name is cleared?

    In those circumstances, usually one’s Party will ask its representative to consider resignation.

    Is that why Mr. Engerer remains an Independent Sliema councillor, so that no one will force him to resign? Or to avoid the embarassment to Joseph Muscat from asking him to resign, because the latter can hide behind the “independent councillor” excuse?

    Can the Sliema council push a motion requesting the resignation of the Deputy Mayor at this point?

    • Libertas says:

      That’s one reason why the ‘no to political parties in local councils’ movement (including Labour and the Church) was so misguided.

      We would have had our local councils infested with people like ‘Il-Ħanfusa’ and worse, and there would be no party discipline whatsoever.

      Cyrus Engerer knew that he would have been at least suspended, if not kicked out from th PN, if they knew what he was up to.

      Now he’s an ‘independent’ like Nikki Dimech.

  5. Libertas says:

    Cyrus Engerer, speaking at the PN’s general council on the 17th June (from his own website):

    “Kemm jien kburi li qed nindirizza l-Kunsill Generali tal-Partit Nazzjonalista, ghax matul dawn it-tletin sena, il-PN kien il-forza politika li ispirat bidla u progress, immodernizzajna l-ekonomija u tajna tama ta’ futur ahjar lill-generazzjonijiet il-godda.
    Ksibna d-demokrazija, u ma waqafniex, ghax ridna l-aqwa u l-ahjar, hdimna biex Malta saret membru tal-UE, fejn sahhahna il-valuri tas-solidarjetà, tolleranza u ugwaljanza.
    Ksibna dan kollu flimkien, u dan is-success hadd ma jista’ jehodulna.
    Malta ghandha bzonn lill-Partit Nazzjonalista… jghidu x’jghidu tal-Partit Laburista, u jpinguna kif jipprovaw ipinguna… ghandna l-aqwa tim li ghandu jkompli jigverna lil dan il-pajjiz.”

    Then, all of a sudden, a convenient ‘conversion’, after being questioned by the police on the 23rd June on a ‘small matter’, something ‘personal’ with his ex lover that should be over in Court ‘in five minutes’ (which is the time it might take only if the accused pleads guilty).

  6. mc says:

    “Cyrus jumped before he was pushed”

    I think it is worse than that. I would speculate that he joined Labour in an effort to avoid prosecution. He might have hoped that the Police might be persuaded to shelve his case because of the risk of being politicised.

    In fact, when the details of the prosecution were leaked, there were many who jumped to conclusions and commented on timesofmalta.com that this was PN’s revenge against him for switching parties.

    How else could one explain him throwing away years of political work within the PN and starting afresh in another political party? How could he justify joining a party, which he had criticised just a few weeks earlier?

    He could have done the decent thing and resigned from the Council and the party with the hope that he could start afresh when the Court proceedings are over.

    The more he twists and turns the more despicable he makes himself out to be.

    • Alfred Bugeja says:

      It is even worse than that.

      He timed it perfectly to look like he’ s the victim of political persecution. And he succeeded (for a while).

      I still can’t figure out if his father’s case was also a part of the scheme, because for that he would need help from the ‘inside’.

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