God give me patience: just look at the way this story was reported on the PN site MaltaRightNow

Karmenu Vella and AST signing a deal with Libya back in the Golden Years

This story beneath is as surreal, weird and detached from reality as when newspapers report that ‘lawyer Toni Abela was defence counsel to Malta Today editor Saviour Balzan’.

Or when they report that somebody involved in a shoot-out with the police was defended by ‘lawyer Anglu Farrugia’.

Excuse me while I raise my voice.

THAT IS THE NATIONALIST PARTY’S BLEEDING NEWS SITE, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. IF THE NATIONALIST PARTY ISN’T GOING TO PUT KARMENU VELLA’S POSITION INTO PERSPECTIVE, WHO IS? THE INDEPENDENT MEDIA, WHEN THAT’S OBVIOUSLY TOO MUCH TO ASK?

The problem is that the Nationalist Party’s news site probably feels itself hamstrung by the fact that here we have Karmenu Vella speaking on behalf of a company which is partly owned by Sam Mifsud, the man appointed by the government to head the Malta Tourism Authority and who was staunchly defended by the party when he came under attack.

This, of course, is exactly why people like that Sam Mifsud behave as they do and make and take the appointments they do: to ‘buy’ political protection from both sides.

And when the political parties – both of them – cave in, the result is a weakening of democracy in its truest sense.

We are also faced with the absurd situation in which Karmenu Vella The Shadow Finance Minister takes to the podium at the Labour general conference and mocks and laughs at the government’s performance.

Then Karmenu Vella The Orange Travel Group Chairman addresses the press and says that the government’s performance in the cruise liner sector has been amazing.

And the Nationalist Party media report it just like that, separately, instead of writing a story which begins:

“Shadow Finance Minister Karmenu Vella, in his role as chairman of the Orange Travel Group, a private company involved in the cruise liner business, told a small audience of XXXX yesterday that government policy in the cruise liner sector has led to impressive results for XXXXX. This is in contradiction to statements he made earlier in the year at the Labour Party’s annual general conference, when he said XYZ.”

I can’t believe these things have to be explained. This is the only way the story should have been written even by the independent newspapers, because THAT is the news angle – let alone by the media of the party in government.

Heads need to be knocked together. Here, you don’t only have the eyebrow-raising situation of a shadow minister of finance masquerading as the chairman of a cruise and travel company, a questionable appointment at best.

You also have his split-personality, two-hats statements. As shadow finance minister, he runs down everything this government has done. But as chairman of the Orange Travel Group, he’s full of fulsome praise for everything that’s been done in the cruise liner sector.

And this extraordinary news report on the PN news site doesn’t even mention that the Karmenu Vella in question is the selfsame shadow minister of finance, who is writing Labour’s programme for government.

Why not? Because the Nationalist Party really wants to further the strange Maltese idea that we can be different people at the same time?

This country, honestly. Sometimes I just despair.

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MALTARIGHTNOW

L-industrija tal-cruise liners miexja ‘l quddiem u qed tagħti benefiċċji kbar lill-ekonomija Maltija
– Karmenu Vella, Chairman ta’ Orange Travel Group
11 ta’ Novembru, 2011 14:17 CET

Pajjiżna qed jikseb riżultati mill-aktar pożittivi fl-industrija tal-cruise liners u hu importanti li kulħadd jibqa’ jagħti s-sehem sħiħ tiegħu biex din l-istorja ta’ suċċess tissokta u tkompli tkun ta’ benefiċċju kbir għall-ekonomija ta’ pajjiżna.

Hu qal li matul dawn l-aħħar snin kiber ħafna l-interess tal-Maltin u l-Għawdxin fl-industrija tal-cruise liners. Iċ-ċifri dejjem jiżdiedu tal-Maltin li jieħdu vaganza abbord cruise liners kulma jmur qed ikomplu jiżdiedu minn sena għal oħra. Dan hu xhieda ta’ kemm din l-industrija f’pajjiżna qed tikseb suċċess kbir.

Karmenu Vella qal li matul is-snin pajjiżna kompla jinvesti fl-infrastruttura meħtieġa għal din l-industrija u dan ta riżultati inkoraġġanti, anki mill-aspett li issa qed jidħlu f’Malta cruise liners kbar. Ġieli f’jum wieħed ikun hawn irmiġġati aktar minn cruise liner wieħed għax l-infrastruttura tista’ takkomoda fl-istess waqt numru ta’ cruise liners.

Hu qal li Orange Travel Group qed tkompli tagħmel dak kollu li tista’ biex toffri l-aqwa u l-aħjar prodotti u servizzi lill-Maltin u l-Għawdxin. Il-kunċett tal-all inclusive li qed joffri l-cruise liner Mein Schiff niżel tajjeb ferm mal-Maltin tant li fl-ewwel staġun tiegħu li uża lil Malta bħala home port, kiseb suċċess kbir. U dan is-suċċess jidher li se jirrepeti ruħu fl-istaġun tas-sena d-dieħla tant li diġà bdew deħlin ħafna bookings.