Jesmond Mugliett: a fine one to talk
Jesmond Mugliett conveniently forgets that he was the cause of a major scandal in 2007, when he was a cabinet minister and responsible for, among other things, the Regional Road bridge and tunnel.
The Labour Party and its media machine had gone to town on him, damaging the government and the Nationalist Party’s electoral chances in what were a few months’ time.
The Opposition did not present a motion for his resignation. And if it had, no MP on the government benches would have voted against him (or abstained).
But there you go. Perhaps is-sewwa really does jirbah zgur. Life’s given me a mixed bag of lessons on that one, but the lesson that stands out clearest, and which keeps coming back at me repeatedly, is that the combination of bitterness and lack of intelligence, which gives rise to an obsessional pursuit of vengeance, is – particularly where there is also amorality or moral relativism – a tough one to beat.
Because where those factors are present, individuals will stop at nothing to get what they want.
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Min huma dawk il membri parlamentari li qed jaqilghu l-inkwiet? Franco Debono, JPO, Mugliett, Jean Pierre Farrugia, Robert Arrigo (li issa ghalaq halqu). U x’hemm komuni? Dawn riedu pozizzjoni u baqghu b’xiber imnieher.
Il-coach jaghzel il-players ghal kull loghba u sinjal li dawn l-MPs ma kinux idejali ghal-loghba.
U nahseb il-PM kien korrett. Dawn iridu jivvendikaw ruhhom mill PM, Richard Cachia Caruana u Carm Mifsud Bonnici.
Iz-zejt diga telgha f’wicc l-ilma imma nahseb li jrid jitla aktar.
That is why Gonzi should stop defending anyone’s wrongdoings. He defended Jeffrey on the Mistra scandal and Mugliett on the bridge scandal.
And Richard Cachia Caruana helped JPO to save face. Then you get these two f—ing idiots, who were protected and defended by Dr. Gonzi, who are a shame to our country doing this to the govenment.
Well Done Daphne…..
This clip says it all…..
Let us remind ourselves of some of his “achievements” during his time as minister.
http://corruptpractices.blogspot.com/2007/07/malta-corrupt-adt-employees-salaries.html
(Warning! Article authored by Kurt Farrugia, but still…)
Tghid ghaliex hux tal-Labour m’ghadhomx jattakkawh fuq dak li huma sejhulu”SKANDLU”? Min jaf ghaliex hux? Min jaf x’inhu ghaddej bejniethom? Ghaliex sfuma dan l-ISKANDLU?
L-istess jista jinghad ghal siehbu JPO. Tghid x’gara??? Tghid kellhom ihallsu prezz?
Mugliette ma hafer qatt lil Gonzi talli hadlu il-Ministeru tat-toroq, li kienet zejza kbira, li hu u l-ufficju tieghu xebghu jerdghu, meta jaghti l-kuntratti lilu nnifsu. Lanzit all the way.
Daphne, you are not alone to believe that:
“But there you go. Perhaps is-sewwa really does jirbah zgur. Life’s given me a mixed bag of lessons on that one, but the lesson that stands out clearest, and which keeps coming back at me repeatedly, is that the combination of bitterness and lack of intelligence, which gives rise to an obsessional pursuit of vengeance, is – particularly where there is also amorality or moral relativism – a tough one to beat.
Because where those factors are present, individuals will stop at nothing to get what they want.”
Ignorance and vengeance are very hard to beat, because they are uniting forces.
JPO and Mugliett come and go. Individuals with a clear mind can distinguish between what is right and what is wrong.
However, we shall not be discouraged from persevering to protect what is right.
Jesmond and Jeffrey must be so proud of themselves for having ousted one of MALTA’S (not the PN’s) most brilliant EU strategists.
This is a fine way to thank the person behind Malta’s EU accession. Indeed a shame of huge proportions so soon after the other MP Franco levered out Carmelo Misud Bonnici.
Should these three people remain in the Nationalist Party? The electorate will soon sort them out for good. Enjoy your last few months in the spotlight BOYS.
Who’ll bet that Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando will have his development permits for his Mistra site within the first year of a Labour government?
Of course he will and no doubt about it.
In the meantime, MEPA officers are allowed to carry on causing public dissatisfaction and potential loss of more votes by behaving like a bulldozer upsetting a lot of small fry unnecessarily with petty and senseless regulations which are enforced retroactively and worthy of the regime in Azerbaijan or Gaddafi’s Libya.
GD, as far as I know, no MEPA policy/regulation is enforced retroactively. Can you give one or two examples of such enforcement?
“Jesmond Mugliett conveniently forgets that he was the cause of a major scandal in 2007, when he was a cabinet minister and responsible for, among other things, the Regional Road bridge and tunnel.”
You started your blog in the run up to the 2008 elections. If you considered this a scandal, why didn’t you admit it in public and write about it back then? Why now?
[Daphne – I started my blog in ELECTION WEEK, and not ‘in the run up to the 2008 elections’. The bridge was not exactly top of the news, though the political damage had been done.]
“The Opposition did not present a motion for his resignation. And if it had, no MP on the government benches would have voted against him (or abstained).”
Should the MPs be applauded for their unwavering loyalty so the party gets away with murder? This is precisely what’s wrong with politics in this country and you fail to admit it, unless it’s on the PL benches.
[Daphne – Yes, of course government MPs shouldn’t vote against a member of their own cabinet in our sort of oppositional politics. Don’t confuse our system with ‘hemispherical parliament’ situations in other parts of Europe, where governments are formed from several parties. With our system, loyalty to the team is paramount. If there are wrong-doings, it is taken as read that the prime minister will ask for the resignation of that particular member of his cabinet. If the prime minister does not ask for a resignation, and the Opposition feels it should force the issue, then government MPs should stick by their prime minister, for the simple reason that he is their primus inter pares. Where governments have the luxury of a majority of many seats, they can even secure the removal of MPs – from the party, though not from parliament, for obvious reasons – by withdrawing the whip. In any normal situation, the whip would long have been withdrawn from Jeffrey PO, Jesmond Mugliett and Franco Debono.]
This is how I see it: the Gonzi government is losing its credibility with the issues that are brewing within the PN group and will probably lose the forthcoming election.
However I cannot imagine a bright future with Joseph Muscat as Prime Minister and la bella compania as ministers.
So who will suffer in the long term? MALTA and its citizens, young and old.
Dr Gonzi, I voted PN because I believe that you are the best option for our country and like me there was the majority of Malta who elected you, so you have a responsibility towards us all.
CLEAN your house, get rid of the spiteful and envious members who are putting spokes in wheels and who might have their own agendas.
For the love of Malta, do this soon so as to ensure that the PN is ready to win the next election.
Ganni, the Pm cannot “clean his house” at this stage of the legislature. What do you suggest: that Pullicino Orlando, Mugliett and Franco Debono are expelled from the PN?
We have to wait for the elections before we can free ourselves of these elements; I don’t see any other way.
Niftakar qisu ‘l bierah meta JPO infaqa jibki taht it-tinda il-Mosta waqt attivita politika. Kont hemm. Nisimghu barra t-tinda.
Jidher li rnexxielu jimpressjona lil hafna nies, inkluz lilek Daphne. Lili ma presjonanix.
Kont ghidt bejni u bejn ruhi, dan ir-ragel mhux genwin. Kuntrarju ghal kif kont ser naghmel, tajtu l-ahhar fil-vot, sempliciment biex ma nhalli l-hadd barra.
Il-kas tal-Mistra ghoddu sewa l-elezzjoni lil Partit Nazzjonalista, u mhux kif qed jghid hu, li rebbah l-elezzjoni lil PN.
Il-polls tal-media kollha jixdhu dan.
Qabel qam il-kaz tal-Mistra il-PN kien fuq il-Labour b’margni akbar. Sempliciment kien timing hazin tal-Labour.
Li kien l-kaz tal-Mistra harguh gimgha qabel JPO kien itellef l-elezzjoni lil PN.
Rigward Mugliett ma tantx hemm x-tghid …nesa kemm il- Prim Minstru hareg ghonqu biex jiddefendih. Sour grapes.ghax m’ghamlux ministru. Hu biss irid jiekol hej!!
Igri tigi l-elezzjoni halli dawn in-nies jintesew ghal kollox!!
Fine, but this begs the question, “Why was Jesmond Mugliett allowed to contest the 2008 election on the PN ticket?”
You cannot have it both ways, i.e. use Mugliett to scrape up votes, not reappoint him as Minister and expect to have a jolly Jesmond on the backbench.
[Daphne – I agree with you wholeheartedly. And he wasn’t the only one. Maybe now they’ve learned that particular lesson that people who come with too much baggage tend to collapse.]
What a difference there is between the attitude of Jesmond Mugliett and other ex-ministers/parliamentary secretaries.
Francis Zammit Dimech and Edwin Vassallo come to mind. One of them was a minister and the other was a parliamentary secretary and both were not re-appointed after the 2008 election.
But their loyalty to the party and to the electors who voted for them because they were on the PN ticket hs been exemplary.
There are others who were not re-appointed but remained loyal. Ninu Zammit is one, and although one rarely hears of him now he has never uttered anything against the Prime Minister who has not re-appointed him.
Apologies for changing the subject but another one who seems to have profited from switching sides is Musumeci.
His suggestion that an amnesty should be granted to illegal developments brought no response – not even a whimper – from shrilly Astrid and her FAA.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120618/opinion/Time-for-a-Mepa-amnesty.424817
Some recently enacted regulations are irrational.
They make as much sense as FIFA would, if it suddenly announced new regulations re what constitues a valid goal and what does now, AND INSISTED THAT SUCH REGULATIONS ARE RETROACTIVE when deciding on the validity or otherwise of historically controversial gaols like Maradona;s (in)famous ‘Hand of God’ Goal.
I say , let the little folk be and let them enjoy their lawfully obtained little properties whose construction they were not responsable for, in peace.
As far as I know Mintoff’s Gharix was built irregularly , yet, not only did he have it sanctioned , but he even got compensation because its value plummetted when the power station was built. .
Nammetti li lanqas lili ma kien irnexxilu jimpressjona JPO meta mar ibewwel ghajnejh fil-pubbliku erba’ snin ilu.
U iz-zejt issa tela’f wicc l ilma. Jien nghid li kull deni hudu b’gid u ahjar issa milli lejliet l’elezzjoni generali li jmiss.
Ftit hafna huma in-nies li naf jien li huma floating voters jew bierda politikament , jew Nazzjonalisti inkazzati (ghal xi raguni jew ohra), li javdaw lil Muscat U LESTI LI JIVVUTAWLU, specjalment issa li hu imdawwar ‘b’tilja Mintoffjani li lanqas Fredu Sant ma ried jidher mejjet maghhom meta kien leader! Nies bhal dawn, jippreferu jivvutaw b saqajhom billi ma jivvutawx milli jivvutaw lil Mr The-End-Justifies-The-Means Muscat.
Dr Gonzi , is-successi tieghek fl’edukazzjoni , sahha , ekonomija, investiment u ix-xoghol ma jmerijhom hadd. So please ikkoncentra aktar il laqghat tieghek fuq oqsma ohra fejn hemm l aktar tgergir u min fejn jintilfu l aktar il voti., u burokrazija zejda u azzjonijiet drakonjani min certa awtoritajiet, li minnha hadd ma jiehu xejn , SPECJALMENT il PN , razzanhom.
Hey, here’s a thought. We have two vacancies. Carm should resign from parliament and be appointed as our ambassador to the EU. Richard Cachia Caruana should be co-opted to parliament and appointed Home Affairs Minister. After all, if its good enough for Joey……
Message sent to Ambassador Richard Cachia Caruana on 4th June 2012 and posted on FaceBook.
To H.E. Richard Cachia Caruana.
Dear Colleague and friend, For more than a quarter of a century we have been virtually collaborators and vigilant in seeing our beloved Malta not only to punch above its weight but to successfully overcome difficult situations and challenges leading to the winning of seemingly impossible battles if not wars! Richard, nobody should ever doubt the meaningfulness of your potential and prowess but as we all very well know through personal experiences, jealousy breeds hate which are twin thieves… Those who matter know that the directions given to you to undertake have always been executed with unwavering loyalty until the goals are reached…Malta is proud of you…It is very true that the Jealous are troublesome but they are also a torment to themselves. There is no escaping the fact that Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity…my humble word of advice to you as the quintessential prime mover of Malta’s international global development is to keep up the good work in flying high the flag of Malta. You still have a lot to contribute for the emerging beautiful and exciting Chapters of the History of the Maltese Islands..God Bless and good luck.
Anthony (Tony) De Bono..
Irrespective of yesterday, I still hold firmly with my message to Richard and being myself an Ambassador I do not mind if I have to face a ‘no confidence vote’. Throughout a career spanning more than 3 decades I have had occasions to negotiate myriad agreements aimed to enhance Malta’s international profile without prior consultations but on the basis of my full responsibilities arising out of my pertinent official position – Indeed as expected by every Civil Servant. Individuals with the highest degree of intellectual capacity, like Richard, are at a premium and Malta cannot afford to irrationally eliminate…
About time for the P.N to get rid of “racanc”. Kif ghandu il-wicc johrog quddiem in-nies u jkompli jmur il Parlament?
Ninharaq meta nara lil dawn is-suppst ribelli, li l-unika raguni tal-attegjament taghhom hi biss vendetta personali, jkomplu jsahhnu is-siggu parlamentari f’isem il-Partit Nazzjonalista, barra li fil-kaz ta’ tnejn minnhom ghandhom karigi li jirrendilhom dhul finanzjarju extra.
Kick them out. The worst that can happen is that they would vote against the government again. So what?
I sincerely hope that the PM will be patient with those nincompoops no longer and demand that they resign their parliamentary assistant posts and forgo any perks that went with them.
If they will not, we will then know who is exactly ‘iggranfat ‘to what.
THIS Jesmond Mugliett? http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2012/01/karen-muglietts-mother-writes-to-the-sunday-times-in-disguise-to-criticise-the-transport-minister-and-arriva/
A fine one to talk!