It’s becoming ever more obvious who the real Evil Clique is
The Sunday Times carries a revealing front-page story today which gives a strong indication of how Dalli and Zammit operated in this mess.
It makes me wonder, given what John Dalli was in charge of when he was a minister in the Maltese government, whether the same system was used.
We’ve got to frame Dalli’s collusion with Labour on the multi-million Sargas power station ‘deal’ in this context, and no two ways about it.
That Dalli was in Sargas’s pay before he became EU Commissioner is something he confirmed himself. That he has gone on Super One to argue for Sargas is on record.
That Labour deputy leader Anglu Farrugia and leader Joseph Muscat have said that their amazing plan for power post 2013 involves “il-pjan ta’ John Dalli” and Sargas is on the record too.
This whole thing stinks. Badly.
Read these bits from The Sunday Times report by Mark Micallef.
The Swedish tobacco manufacturer at the centre of the Dalligate scandal yesterday claimed John Dalli told a Maltese lawyer representing it that he thought the EU’s ban on snus – a smokeless tobacco product – was “absurd”.
Swedish Match told The Sunday Times that the former Commissioner appeared well informed about snus and “its health consequences”. It also claimed that on February 10 a key meeting took place between the company’s Maltese lawyer, Mr Dalli and the middleman at the centre of the scandal, Silvio Zammit.
(…)
Swedish Match said the lawyer had told the company that Mr Dalli said during the meeting that he had “the will, the arguments and the Commission’s support to lift the ban on snus, but also that it would mean political suicide for him”.
The lawyer also told Swedish Match Mr Dalli mentioned he was willing to take unpopular decisions, as long as science supported it.
After making this statement, Swedish Match claims, Mr Dalli left the meeting and Mr Zammit then allegedly told the lawyer that such a difficult and risky decision required substantial compensation, which was later elaborated into a figure of €60 million.
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“Is-sewwa jirbah zgur” – Joseph Muscat, quoting Eddie Fenech Adami.
[Daphne – Unfortunately and tragically, it does not. Or if it does, it’s too late for the victims, and the consequences carry on down the generations.]
It would be very interesting to know what John Dalli’s reaction was when confronted by OLAF about this comment.
[Daphne – They might not even have had it.]
I agree, Dalli’s involvement in Sargas stinks. But it doesn’t make the Government’s decision on the BWSC contract less pungent. There’d have been pages upon pages from you on this blog; pity you go soft when such stench emanates from the inner Gonzi core.
And I fail to see any Labour connection with Sargas. All statements made by Labour on the subject were about considering this alongside other alternatives. Considering that even the PN government (allegedly) vetted this, it puts both parties at par.
[Daphne – Don’t be ridiculous. Labour’s deputy leader himself said that his party’s plan for water and electricity is “il-pjan ta’ John Dalli”.]
Joseph declared his support for Dalli’s proposal as soon as John dalli made an appearance on TV, the week following last year’s budget. He couldn’t keep himself from saying how wrong GonziPN was if a billion euro investment wasn’t considered.
It’s all on record. Anglu Farrugia and Karmenu Vella repeated this on Bondi+ on different occasions. At one point last january, it was THE cunning plan which would have reduced electricity costs.
When Marlene Farrugia held back on Bondi+ a few weeks later, she was demoted from Labour shadow for energy, Konrad Mizzi having taken her place.
Didn’t John Dalli try to introduce the genetically modified seeds in Europe as well (widely used in the US but banned and furiously opposed in Europe). He hinted to their introduction by stating that Europe should be open to new developments in the agricultural industry (GMO food lobby is extremely strong in Washington DC).
I vaguely remember (I stand to be corrected on this) that the EU parliament and the European NGOs shot down the idea, and were appalled that the GMO introduction in Europe was even discussed or considered, where opposition to their introduction is considered as sacrosanct.
I can’t help wondering what John Dalli was capable of as Minister for Finance. Did he ever “mess around”, safe in the knowledge that he would not get caught?