Watch Joseph Cuschieri being told to please shut up in the European Parliament

Published: July 4, 2012 at 1:15am

Given that the Labour Party has found it opportune to speak against illegal immigrants – sorry, illegal immigration – now that one such has been beaten to death by those who were supposed to be looking after him, its emissary in ‘Brussel’ has seen fit to take up the diska.

Somebody wrote him a speech on both sides of a piece of paper and Joseph Cuschieri read it out in the European Parliament – only to be interruptedly and abruptedly told to shut up by the visibly irritated lady in charge.

My, she must be the witch of Brussels. Arrest her now.

But just look at him in the link below: kif johorgu minn Malta, jispiccalhom l-arja li ghandhom. Imagine if a woman told him to shut up here in Malta.

God bless.




34 Comments Comment

  1. Żeża Ta' Bubaqra says:

    Sounds like a must see… But where’s the link?

  2. P Shaw says:

    His body language is very telling. This parliament is way out of his league.

  3. RJC says:

    Seems like it’s been edited. Someone has downloaded the original version?

  4. Carmel says:

    Who is Daphne Caruana Galizia?? What does she Know about Terrorism?? Does she know anything at all about Israeli Terrorism ..since, Irgun, Stern Gang , Hagana, till the Present day of July 2012?????

  5. La Redoute says:

    Damn. I can’t get the video player to work. Is there another link?

  6. The chemist says:

    Joseph Muscat must have known Jeffrey would threaten early elections were he to be expelled from the party.

    [Daphne – He wouldn’t have to. Expulsion means loss of the party ticket, meaning loss of the government’s single-seat majority, meaning no right to govern, meaning an election.]

    He said it clearly yesterday that GonziPn only had another two months till after parliament’s summer recess. Carmen must be truly loyal after all. Throw these rats out and let’s settle this issue once and for all.

    I would vote Nationalist just to see Dr Gonzi take this much awaited decision. And expel them now, we don’t need to wait until September.

  7. Jack says:

    The MEP elections are just as insignifcant as the local council elections. I, for one, will not be bothered to cast my vote.

    • Not Tonight says:

      I can’t agree with you. We can’t keep sending idiots like this if we want to be taken seriously as a nation.

      Maybe you’re happy with this man representing you but I blush with humiliation at the very thought.

      No wonder we end up with 4 PL candidates in Brussels and only 2 from the PN, the only two whose interest it is to make the best out of our membership.

    • Esteve says:

      I beg to differ.

      The European Parliament is getting more powerful by the day. Having incompetent MEP’s representing us WILL have disastrous consequences.

    • tinnat says:

      Jack, I think you’re projecting a very uneducated opinion. Do you know what the European Parliament does in the first place?

  8. Sowerberry says:

    Qiesu qieghad jaghmel il-priedka tal’Milied li tghallem bl’amment. Bloody hopeless git.

  9. Bubu says:

    While I agree that Cuschieri cuts a pathetic figure in the EP, it seems to me that he was cut off by the chair only because he exceeded his one minute allocation. She does the same thing to several other MPs.

  10. il-bonn says:

    How was his speech interrupted by the woman in charge?
    He seemed to have concluded his speech, sat down, and the disinterested woman in charge moved on to the next topic.

  11. Neil Dent says:

    Maybe it’s a different speech, but there’s no put-down of the Sprout in the links provided. Unfortunately.

    [Daphne – There definitely was when I watched it last night.]

    • Neil Dent says:

      Got it now – I watched it again with the original soundtrack rather than the (awful) translation to English. In the latter you can’t hear the speaker interrupt the Sprout when he’s well over his minute.

  12. Toninu says:

    I cannot say I’m happy with what happened because at the end, he was representing Malta in the European Parliament.

    But with all due respect, if you’re an MEP the least you can do is be fluent in the subject you’re talking about not just read a (poorly written) article out loud.

  13. Anthony Briffa says:

    I have looked for this news item in the Times of Malta, and so far I did not find any report from the Brussels correspondent yet.

    I hope that the Times will report this incident in full because it is not normal that an MEP is told to shut up whilst delivering a speech. A statement from the Foreign Office and the PL leader would also be appropriate under the circumstances.

    • One minute means ... one minute says:

      I hate to burst the bubble for you, Mr Briffa, but in the EP there are very clear rules and procedures. This speech was delivered under Rule 150.

      Rule 150 : One-minute speeches

      “For a period of not more than 30 minutes during the first sitting of each part-session the President shall call Members who wish to draw Parliament’s attention to a matter of political importance. Speaking time for each Member shall not exceed one minute. The President may allow a further such period later during the same part-session.”

      The Chair is duty-bound to see to it that members do not exceed 1 min. If a member is unable to contain themselves in 1 min., this is the said member’s problem and not the Chair’s, i.e. it’s the member who’s breaking the rule and not the Chair. In this context, if the Foreign Office or the PL leader make even a single move, they are exposing themselves to an even bigger embarrassment. Rules are rules!

      • Anthony Briffa says:

        I cannot understand which bubble you talk about.

        If Joseph Cuschieri exceeded the limit of one minute accorded to him and he was told to shut up, then we as Maltese, should be told what action will be taken, firstly to obtain an explantion why a Maltese MEP was addressed in that way, and secondly to train him keep his speeches within the allotted minute.

        This is what we get when we do not use our vote properly.

      • La Redoute says:

        X’ghageb, jahasra.

        Talk about fiddling while Rome burns.

  14. tinnat says:

    I really don’t want to defend this guy, certainly not his style of intervention (robotic, boring). However the reason he was stopped is that he had one or two minutes to talk, and he went over. This happens quite frequently in the EP. There is nothing worth reporting about in the Times.

  15. ciccio says:

    He must be thinking that the way he turns that piece of paper between front and rear is cool for the EP.

  16. Toninu says:

    Many are correct in saying that he was stopped because the 1 minute was over.

    However, it doesn’t justify why he was reading out a speech during a EP sitting. He’s an MEP for crying out loud, being paid quite well and doesn’t have the decency to at least be prepared to deliver a speech on a subject that his party has being criticising so much about?

    He should have been able to say all that in his sleep.

  17. Riff Raff says:

    The inspiration of the one-minute-speech concept:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjz16xjeBAA

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