The next question I get asked by Maltese is who would I vote for? Well, I’ve voted in council elections here in Gozo, and I’ve voted for candidates from 3 parties, plus an independent.

Maybe being an outsider makes it easier to compare one candidate to another, and one manifesto to another. The first criterion was whether the candidate produced a leaflet in English – if not, how do I know what they were standing for?

I get told by some that foreigners shouldn’t get the vote as they don’t understand Maltese politics, and wouldn’t think about their vote sufficiently. My counter to that is, how many Maltese think about their vote sufficiently ? How many Maltese have even considered voting for a party other than their parent’s one?

I suspect within 10 years, it will be an EU-wide law that once resident in a country for more than 5 years, an EU citizen can vote in their country of residence even if not a citizen.

[Daphne – I don’t think it should be tied to nationality but to residence, as it is in Britain.]

Thanks – I stand corrected.

I’m a foreigner who is denied the vote. So in that case who represents me, or is it “taxation without representation”? Do you think EU (non-Maltese) citizens should be allowed to vote in Maltese general elections?

[Daphne – Yes. One of my best friends is a British subject who has lived here most of her life, was married to a Maltese man and has two Maltese children. This is her home. She has never voted, because being British, she can’t, despite having her entire life invested in Malta.]

In a democracy he represents all his constituents, not just those who voted for him.

[Daphne – Not in the Maltese system, no. That’s why we have several MPs for each constituency, from both parties, and not just one from a single party, like in Britain. Maltese MPs work for all the constituency because they have no way of knowing who voted for them, and not because that’s the way it should be.]

As if they are willing to lose the salary/pension of an MP.

No way, being elected to government is a duty, giving up simply because a couple of idiots think it’s democratic to personify democracy, is for Labour leaders.

There’s one thing the PM has to do, cut the don’t-blow-my-trumpet crap and shortstep these gits.

As for any hidden agenda on Labour’s ticket, are they positive people like Franco, Jeffrey and Jesmond will still be around to help? If so, they’re utter morons.

Take it to the real issues and the proposals, the ones determining our future, Labour can’t mention them, hijacked as they are by forces outside the party. Let them fester in the mess they created, the smell has turned repulsive.

Would anyone allow Labour in its present state anywhere near environmental policy related to economic growth?

No thanks.

Why not?

Joseph tries to propose Sargas as a viable option.

Marlene dampens his enthusiasm.

Joseph backs off.

Saviour issues an ultimatum a few weeks later.

Jeffrey votes to remove Malta’s representative in the EU where issues related to the technology are under scrutiny.

In other words, Joseph has second thoughts, Jeffrey moves in.

We have a stray poodle in the house now, poor thing.

But are these grown-up whining men for real?

It’s unbelievable.

A hired assassin would say that he has nothing personal against his intended victim , but that he is simply doing a job for which he is being paid.

and with better survival instincts as well.