Careless talk costs lives
This was my column in The Malta Independent last Thursday.
I don’t suppose Michelle will be buying a reproduction of one of those British World War II posters for Joseph to stick on his office wall at the Mile End headquarters of the Moviment Bla Isem.
Let’s face it, if her husband hadn’t blabbed uncontrollably to Simon Busuttil, when they were both MEPs on a flight to Brussels in February 2008, he wouldn’t have become Leader of the Opposition and she wouldn’t be about to become Mrs Prime Minister.
She likes that, doesn’t she, and so does he – so there are obviously no worries or regrets there. It’s not as though Muscat and the missis are going to be crucified by guilt at having ruined Labour’s chances at the 2008 general election, and as for embarrassment, quite frankly, I don’t think either of them is capable of feeling any.
Joseph Muscat’s personal success has been built directly on the abject failure of the Labour Party’s common goal. Without that failure, he would still be a Super One reporter or an employee at Alfred Mifsud’s financial services company.
Because Labour’s campaign against EU membership failed, Muscat became a member of the European Parliament. Because Labour failed at the last general election, Joseph Muscat became leader of the Opposition, even though he did not have a seat in the house, electors did not vote him into parliament, and he had to be co-opted like Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici (iz-Zero) before him.
On the basis of the votes which the Nationalist Party haemorrhaged when news of Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s lucrative and anti-environmental Mistra deal broke in the last couple of days of the 2008 electoral campaign, it is appropriate to conclude that, had the news been broken earlier by Labour, and had the Nationalist Party not been prepared for it thanks to Muscat’s loose tongue when in conversation with Busuttil on that flight, Alfred Sant might well have become prime minister.
Because that’s the way many people reason when voting, and very little can be done about it. They miss the bigger picture.
The major stumbling-block which the Nationalist Party faced at that stage was that, even though Simon Busuttil correctly identified Pullicino Orlando as the target during his conversation with Muscat, Pullicino Orlando repeatedly denied that he had a contract.
The release two weeks ago of the transcript of a telephone conversation between Gordon Pisani, who worked on the 2008 campaign, and Pullicino Orlando, made public and beyond dispute the fact that the Nationalist Party only discovered the existence of the contract when Sant produced it on state television on the last day of the campaign.
And still Pullicino Orlando tried to get out of it by pretending he felt ill, then turning up to party HQ without the contract but with his lawyer.
I am glad that Simon Busuttil has revealed in public the fact that he was the one to whom Joseph Muscat spoke. This has put paid to the rumours that the Nationalist Party was inventing stuff when it said that Muscat gave the game away. References to an anonymous “PN official” didn’t help much, either.
Busuttil has a great deal of credibility. He is well respected and taken seriously. Nobody, not even Joseph Muscat, can accuse him of maliciously concocting things about him and get away with that accusation. People are going to believe Busuttil and not Muscat – unless they are the sort who believe everything Super One tells them, of course.
17 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
“I am glad that Simon Busuttil has revealed in public the fact that he was the one to whom Joseph Muscat spoke. This has put paid to the rumours that the Nationalist Party was inventing stuff when it said that Muscat gave the game away.”
One man’s word against another man’s word – especially when they are politicians on opposite sides – doesn’t count for me.
And the onus is on the accuser to prove his claims, something that the PN is apparently unable to figure out, and evident to the public at large.
Unless they are the sort who believe everything NET TV tells them, of course.
[Daphne – “One man’s word against another man’s word doesn’t count for me”. What a daft observation. I don’t know where to begin, so I shan’t.]
@Genuinely Amused
I do not think Simon Busuttil needs my services in his defence, but I do not recall that Joseph Muscat has denied what Simon Busuttil has said.
Actually, he has.
But I wouldn’t expect Daphne to faithfully reproduce Labour’s press statements or comments the way she does with the PN.
Labour’s refusal of the claims are towards the bottom of the article (link below).
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120725/local/PN-blames-Muscat-again-in-Mistra-row.430000
[Daphne – You can’t read simple English. That is not a denial.]
@Genuinely Amused
Do you see the name of Simon Busuttil there? As Daphne said, you can’t read simple English.
Actually, was this guy Genuinely Amused, or was he Genuinely Curious?
So didn’t the Labour Party demand Pullicino Orlando’s resignation as chairman of the Malta Council for Science and Technology?
This is not a case of “one man’s word against another’s”. This is the word of Dr Simon Busuttil, of Gordon Pisani, of Joseph Saliba and perhaps others spread over the past four and a half years and never contested except now half-heartedly and unconvincingly.
Get your facts straight.
Saliba never accused Muscat of slipping information. He simply hinted regularly that the PN gleaned JPO’s impending Mistra attack from Labour, without implicating Muscat.
Also – I’m pretty sure that Gordon Pisani has not said a single thing about Muscat passing on information to the PN (inadvertently or otherwise).
It is only Busuttil who came out with this ‘revelation’, and only now.
Which obviously begs the question – why didn’t he mention anything before?
[Daphne – Because he didn’t want to, my dear. As a committed liberal, you should understand the spirit of free will and individual liberty. I don’t think Simon Busuttil would have said anything at all had Malta Today not somehow found out it was him and asked him straight and plain. So it was actually your friends at Malta Today who released the information, rather than, so to speak, Busuttil volunteering it. Bet you missed that.]
Like when Muscat actually became leader of the Labour Party?
Not that I’m not pleased as punch by the personal attention Daph (not to mention you actually approving my comments for a change), but even if you think I missed something, its certainly not he obvious.
[Daphne – I told you three years back or so that from the start I imagined you to be somebody who felt snubbed, ignored or inferior at some distant point of my past. You know, the nerd in the corner who one doesn’t notice until they’re in a position to bite. Don’t make it so bloody obvious that you are now pleased as punch that I’m not ignoring you. I’m not taking you seriously, either. I’m uploading your comments, and replying to them, pour encourager les autres. It’s a sort of object lesson in chippy stupidity, and how to deal with it.]
” I don’t think Simon Busuttil would have said anything at all had Malta Today not somehow found out it was him and asked him straight and plain.”
Madoff. X’inhu ragel sew Simon, keeping a lid on a leak until an evil despicable journalist pries it out of you by asking nicely. Its a wonder he held out as long as he did.
[Daphne – Oh, it’s got nothing to do with being a ragel sew or not. Some people just don’t want to become part of the story until they have to, and who can blame them. Politics in Malta is very childish, but all VERY dangerous.]
“So it was actually your friends at Malta Today who released the information, rather than, so to speak, Busuttil volunteering it.”
Yes of course. And the tip-off to ‘ask’ such a question did not come from the party at all, I’m sure.
[Daphne – Of course not. Malta Today is the enemy press and also has zero credibility. If anybody in the Nationalist Party wanted to tip off a journalist, they would tip off somebody in the more credible and widely read newspapers, not Malta Today. This is basic public affairs strategy. Malta Today gets its tip-offs from Labour, J Dalli BA and Jeffrey, plus assorted fellow-travellers.]
Bet you certainly didn’t miss that, even though you’d like everyone to think you did.
[Daphne – This is my field. I doubt that you can teach me much about it, hope to as you might. But if it keeps you happy, go ahead. Meanwhile, I hope this bit of attention has helped some way to undoing the pain of whatever decades-old rejection you’re still smarting under. Have a nice time, and don’t let your bitterness give you a stomach ulcer. I’m not worth it.]
@Genuinely Curious and Amused.
You say: “Saliba never accused Muscat of slipping information. He simply hinted regularly that the PN gleaned JPO’s impending Mistra attack from Labour, without implicating Muscat.”
Sorry to say so, but you are wrong once again. Read here.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080615/local/muscat-hints-help-pn-prepare-for-jpo-attack.212396
@ Genuinely Curious
Following the saga as an expatriate outsider, from what I have been reading at many cyber locations, I also have the impression that “Saliba never accused Muscat of slipping information. He simply hinted regularly that the PN gleaned JPO’s impending Mistra attack from Labour, without implicating Muscat” and that “Gordon Pisani has not said (my addendum: publicly) a single thing about Muscat passing on information to the PN”.
Hence, I would similarly surmise that, perhaps for the moment, it is a “one man’s word against another man’s word”.
As a liberal independent, I cannot find any tangible fault in Dr. Busuttil’s party-political stance.
I must admit that I am genuinely amused and genuinely curious to know the source of Dr. Muscat’s informative knowledge.
Nonetheless, I am personally convinced that Paul Borg Olivier’s contemporary performance can only be detrimental towards the GonziPN. His strategic and tactical counsellors should actually carry as much fault as the man himself.
@Genuinely Amused
“What soberness conceals, ‘Drunkenness’ reveals” … Please, do not take this saying too literally.
@ Genuinely Amused
You write as though all individuals were of equal integrity.
Hey Genuinely Amused,
What’s it like to be ripped to shreds by a girl you obviously fancied in the past, time and time again?
Does the hate/love make you stronger?
You make us all laugh so please carry on Mr. Libel Fund.
[Daphne – Oh, it’s not Saviour. You can tell from the writing style.]
Jew il-kelma ta’ vavu kontra l- kelma ta’ ragel.
There is such a huge difference between Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil regarding the issue of honesty and truth, especially as a quality required in a potential PM.
Let’s see. Denials and obfuscations as leader of the Opposition = _______ as a present Movement Leader and future PM, always in crisis mode regarding the truth. Hint: who cloaks the (M)PL past and present in superficiality, complete with new logos, borrowed slogans, and reconstructed fictions.
quote:
[The major stumbling-block which the Nationalist Party faced at that stage was that, even though Simon Busuttil correctly identified Pullicino Orlando as the target during his conversation with Muscat, Pullicino Orlando repeatedly denied that he had a contract.
The release two weeks ago of the transcript of a telephone conversation between Gordon Pisani, who worked on the 2008 campaign, and Pullicino Orlando, made public and beyond dispute the fact that the Nationalist Party only discovered the existence of the contract when Sant produced it on state television on the last day of the campaign.]
And despite all, Dr. Lawrence Gonzi is now more than ever compelled to politically associate himself, and his party, with Dr. Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.