Very interesting article by Noel Grima in The Malta Independent on Sunday. “Who is to blame for the Dalli fiasco”. It is not on line as yet.

The very serious cross party meetings which took place in 2008 or thereabouts put Dr. Gonzi’s choice to appoint John Dalli as commissioner as the worst decision possible.

Is he the one who takes decisions? Or are they suggested by a trusted team at OPM who do not have the foggiest idea of how to run a country?

Noel Grima’s conclusion:

“When in Brussels, last Friday, I heard Dr. Gonzi make that remarkable statement, that he has no regrets at having appointed John Dalli as Commissioner, and later say that he did not know anything about him. I realised conclusively that here was a man who has well and truly lost it”.

“He has brought this on himself by way of his favourite vice – his short-termism. His penchant for resolving an immediate problem and worrying about it later. Look where it got him. And look where it got us”

We cannot trust Joseph Muscat. We cannot trust John Dalli and his alternative party. I am beginning to suspect that we cannot trust Lawrence Gonzi’s team, either.

With this scenario, my vote is shifting to new PN candidates only.

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=152217

Looks like the “not sorry” comment was not the only sorry thing during that press conference.

What does he have to lose?

When you are 12 points behind in the polls with very little time left only extreme measures will change the future.

He needs to have a dedicated task force on this Dalli issue full time and get to the bottom of it now rather than later.

If Dalli was really aware of Zammit’s actions then he should pay the price in full view of the public eye.

At the very least Zammit who is clearly guilty of asking for 60 million to change a law, needs to sample prison food for a long time.

If Dalli is found to be involved in this sleazy affair then Gonzi needs to accept that his appointment of Dalli was totally inappropriate and directly led to the nation being ridiculed internationally.

If this proves to be the case, I think Gonzi should consider resigning after such a poor judgement call, and we can go into the next election with a new leader and a good chance of winning.

Did you post your comments then, or just discussed your opinion privately ?

Daphne: Even when you have a valid argument, you lose it by bringing in stupid comments, such as ” Don’t keep putting your labour brain on display” . What the heck do you really mean ? Do you mean that “nationalists” have a superior brain ? If you do, then Franco should have called you a “Hitler” !

Lil Antoine Vella:

Il-kumment tieghi kien oggettiv. Ic-Cawlun jiftah gwenhajh u joghla ‘l fuq mill-politika partigjana patetika taghkom.Sakemm tibqghu dil-ping pong stupida taghkom se nibqghu kif ahna!

Dalli was not put on the EU Commission by Gonzi.

Gonzi or rather the Prime Minister nominated Dalli as Malta’s commissioner, after Dalli was grilled by the selection committee (?), he was accepted as commissioner.

Bottiglioni was not accepted as Italy’s commissioner after he was grilled, but Dalli was.

I see this as an exercise in hindsight. Gonzi gave an opportunity to Dalli of €250,000 per annum plus perks for a position of high esteem. Later it proved to be that he was throwing pearls to swine.

This is like an investment gone wrong. You invest in Lehman and afterwards they file for bankruptcy.

I’m talking about Gonzi. He is fit to run a missionary evangelical group. Or a small-town legal office. But not a country. He is not particularly bright, has poor leadership skills, and is much given to piety. Unfortunately, this is just what the Maltese love in a man.

Wishful thinking, NikiB. This incident simply confirms that Muscat has transformed Labour into a bring-in site.

Cawlun, something tells me you’re a Labour supporter lightly disguised as a Nationalist one.

John Dalli has embarrassed Malta – all of it – on an international scale. On a national scale, however, he has embarrassed your Labour Party, not the PN. Everybody knows that he was Muscat’s ally in attacking and trying to harm Gonzi and his party.