More to this than meets the eye
Magistrate Consuelo Herrera (left) with the new Mrs Pullicino Orlando, a Labour Party activist
Shadow foreign minister George Vella told The Times this morning that he “had no knowledge of any contacts between Dr Pullicino Orlando and the PL before yesterday’s vote”.
When a key member of a political party feels the need to qualify his statement like that, saying that he does not know of any contact between his party and X, rather than saying categorically that there WAS NO contact, it means he rather suspects there might well have been contact and he doesn’t want to risk being branded a liar through categoric denial, should the details emerge.
Vella would be the last person to know, anyway. Joseph Muscat has ensured that the useful Jeffrey and his consort Carmen are in his immediate social circle. Jeffrey doesn’t need to set up meetings with Labour because he meets Joseph socially. It was Consuelo Herrera, the magistrate, who brought them together through her friendship with Jeffrey’s wife-to-be, and his friendship with Robert Musumeci.
We are left with the troubling possibility, or rather likelihood, that this was a mise en scene hatched up by Joseph and Jeffrey over a couple of bottles of whisky.
Muscat knew the outcome from the word Go, which is why he was never bothered by the tenuous nature of the original accusation to do with Wikileaks and Partnership for Peace. It could have been about anything, really – how much paper Cachia Caruana uses in his office, his phone bill, whatever. It wasn’t important.
When the outcome is a foregone conclusion, the process is irrelevant. That’s why their questions, during the prolonged ‘grilling sessions’, made no sense in the context. They didn’t have to make sense in the context. They were just a form of Schadenfreude harassment. Apparently, Jeffrey popped in a couple of times and sat there at the table with the committee members, trying to ask questions even though he is not a member of that committee.
And that’s why Jeffrey’s been so quiet over the last few weeks, allowing the press to focus on Franco. Imagine not telling your party whip how you plan to vote, when you have not resigned that whip and are obliged to declare your intentions when asked.
And imagine standing up in parliament and making it blatantly obvious that you are motivated by personal grudges and spite, to vote against somebody on the basis of what you would have everyone believe he has done to you personally, rather than on the actual contents of the motion before parliament.
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando actually managed to do the seemingly impossible and make Franco Debono look sound. At least Debono had the good sense to leave out of his ‘Mifsud Bonnici resignation’ speech his personal animosity towards his victim. He slipped up only after the vote itself, when he blurted out that ‘hu go fik’ insult.
The most important questions left now for reporters to ask all centre round what might have been in it for Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and for the new Mrs Pullicino Orlando in her Labour Party.
The desire for revenge is not enough of an explanation for why a man would wish to divest himself of the last vestiges of dignity and make himself the despicable talk of the town.
I rather suspect that there is far more to this than meets the eye.
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Id-dinja raddiena; illum minn fuq int, għada minn fuq jiena.
[Daphne – As if, that’s rubbish. I can’t see Bill Gates being ‘taht’ any time soon, or the poor immigrants who collect the rubbish being ‘fuq’.]
I didn’t mean that, but perhaps I chose the wrong vessel for my thoughts.
I’m sure there were similar ‘interesting dynamics’, to put it that way, benefiting the PN in the past, but the parties involved must have done a better job at concealing them without raising any suspicions.
This time these ‘dynamics’ are blowing in Labour’s sail and that doesn’t suit the more incisive PN-leaning analysts, so they cry foul. But let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
[Daphne – No, not at all. The reason I vote PN, and not Labour, is because the Nationalist Party would never do such a thing. It is inconceivable. In fact, the problem here is that there is inequality of arms: people who won’t fight dirty are up against people to whom any means will justify the end. If the Nationalist Party starts fighting dirty and abusing the systems of democracy, it will be held to account by its own supporters, who are very different to Labour supporters, which is why they don’t vote Labour. Some people might find such tactics par for the course, all’s fair in love and war, and so on. Others find them repellant, anti-democratic and frightening. Lynching of the inappropriate person by the inappropriate forum, with no regard for due process and with the outcome already decided, is very, very scary. It is the equivalent of going to court on a trumped-up charge, knowing that the judge has found you guilty already. My position on this is that if the Labour Party has found ways to abuse power while in Opposition, it will abuse power more comprehensively when in government.]
Who knows what plans were hatched in that meeting of 21 July 2011?
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2011/07/joseph-muscat-calls-on-consuelo-at-home-at-10pm-with-his-wife-i-hasten-to-add/
JPO seems to have knocked Franco Debono off his pedestal as the most hated man on the island.
Why is he hated more? The harsh reality is that Franco Debono almost brought down the government (which is something the electorate cares about) whereas JPO ‘only’ led to RCC’s resignation (which is something very few people actually care about; they barely know him and the PN is still in government anyway).
[Daphne – Franco Debono never planned to bring down the government. And Jeffrey’s speech and actions made him out to be much more of a spiteful, vindictive and even unbalanced little shit. The emphasis is on the little, because he’s vertically challenged and I suspect that is part of the problem. Notice how he walks into a room: the first thing he does is lift his chin, straighten his shoulders and try to get as much height as possible, like in that photograph when he left parliament after the vote. He was lifting his chin so high he looked like a toy soldier. I won’t comment on the size of his appendage, but given how small he is everywhere else, I have grounds to suspect that this is too is a major issue. Perhaps his consort might wish to enlighten us. They do say she has a back catalogue for comparative purposes. ]
The laugh of the day. Really did laugh out loud. Happy summertime, Daphne.
Unbelievable. On JPO’s Facebook page yesterday:
“I will, obviously, be siding with Ireland this evening….hope to get back home in time for the second half after parliament. Go gcuire Dia an t-ádh ort lads !!! :)”
And earlier today:
” Looking forward to tonight’s big match against the Ukraine. Fingers crossed :)”
I think I may be the one living in “the other Malta”.
What if the new Ms. Pullicino Orlando merits to head some sort of organisation or be a Minister?
[Daphne – Then why is she selling Yellow Pages right now?]
Good point. It will be way out of her league.
I will have to agree with sap on this one. The standards are going to be so abysmally low, given the sort of irmixk that root for Labour, that she might well find herself on top of the pile to fill an important post.
“Then why is she selling Yellow Pages right now?”
Well, doesn’t that qualify her for the title of a “Mara ta’ Success”?
In 1996, Louis Buhagiar appointed her to the board of directors of Zammit Clapp hospital in 1997-98. Enough said.
Jeffrey’s days might well be numbered not only politically. If he thinks that marriage will make his position more secure, he should know at the outset that this isn’t so, because she was married already and it didn’t stop her leaving, or living with Jeffrey.
Once the MLP is elected to power, Carmen could well move on to her next useful target. Just analyze her ‘timeline’ from her days as a teenager at the Macina. The Macine being, for those who don’t know, the Labour HQ in Bormla before the new HQ at Hamrun.
Sorry for the bombardment….but I’m getting madder by the minute:
A woman who is extremely happy with her tits and posting on JPO’s fb page writes this:
“I’m not so interested in politics… what i’m sure is that you have a lot of guts doing what you did without too much pre-focus on you… It’s obvious that this government is falling into pieces… Never was so looking forward to vote against a government as much as this time… Whatever is on the other side!”
This woman is telling a PN politician that she is going to vote against his party – no matter what’s on the other side. You’d think Jeffrey would reply and put her back on the straight and narrow, now that he’s cleaned the party up.
But, of course – nothing. And it’s not because he hasn’t had the time, because he’s already let the world know that he’s looking forward to the match against Ukraine.
Yellow Pages should be boycotted. They deserve nothing better.
Attakk fahxi w personali fuq il-mara futura ta’ Mr. Payback Orlando.
insomma Jeffery Pullicino Orlando migbud lejn l-ahmar. Mhuwx ta’ bxejn ghamel li ghamel.
Those who were thinking of abstaining from voting in the next general election should keep in mind that this sorry excuse of a man stands to gain should the PL win. This is one of the many reasons why decent people must think carefully.
I know a few who have already changed their minds following yesterday’s events.
‘Shadow foreign minister George Vella told The Times this morning that he “had no knowledge of any contacts between Dr Pullicino Orlando and the PL before yesterday’s vote”’
He also said exactly the same thing on TVAM.
And I immediately thought: just a moment, he’s not denying contact, he is only saying that he doesn’t know that contact has indeed taken place.
Besides, to be perfectly honest, he didn’t sound quite convinced and his facial micro-expressions betrayed him. In other words, there were all the tell-tale signs that indeed some form of contact has taken place.
I do agree with you, Daphne, that there is much more to this than meets the eye.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080707/social/announcements.215739
Director appointment
Gemxija Crown Ltd, developers of Xemxija Heights, formerly the Mistra Village, have announced the appointment of Carmen Camilleri Ciantar as sales and marketing director.
Prior to her appointment, Ms Camilleri Ciantar was the marketing executive of Midi plc, developers of Manoel Island and Tignè Point. In this role, she was responsible for corporate public relations at Midi and Tignè Point Marketing Limited. She was involved in the strategic marketing issues covering all the phases contemplated within the master programmes for Tignè Point and was responsible for the development and maintenance of all marketing tools, including websites, brochures, flybys and other publications.
Ms Camilleri Ciantar also worked at the Malta Tourism Authority for four years, rising to the post of manager corporate communications and business development and was also a part-time lecturer at the Malta International Training Centre, the Institute of Tourism Studies and the University of Malta Gozo Centre.
As sales and marketing director with Gemxija Crown, her task is to maximise sales targets, assist sales advisors to achieve sales and assist the sales and marketing consultant in the development of new and existing business.
She is responsible for customer and client services, relationships with local and overseas agents, the site sales office staff and for the development and maintenance of all marketing tools.
Why don’t we propose a constitutional amendment regarding MEPA in the spirit of the mission it serves?
A charter delineating the principles and direction upon which to base our decisions.
I can already see the usual architects who talk by profession moving in to hog the contents of the draft.
It will also be extremely revealing to see who’ll oppose anything as ambitious.