You couldn’t grow up in Sliema without knowing Silvio tal-Mqaret
The mistake John Dalli made (well, just one of many, and a smallish one at that) was not to know that before it became a mess of badly designed flats and a jungle of strangers in the last 20 years, Sliema was just a smallish seaside town where everyone knew everyone else, at least in their particular parish or neighbourhood.
You couldn’t grow up there without knowing Tal-Mqaret, the family who made, fried and sold those pastries out of a makeshift wooden stall near the ramp down to the boathouses, on the front opposite what is now the Plaza hotel/Cara’s coffee shop.
I bought mqaret there most of my life, and lived directly opposite the stall for six years when Silvio Zammithimself used to bag them up for me with a smile and a joke. That’s how I know him, and not through his links with politicians, not at all.
In fact, when I began seeing him with politicians, my first thought was ‘X’qed jaghmel Silvio tal-Mqaret hawnhekk?’ I didn’t even know his surname – I’ve only got to know it now, with all these news reports – because the family were know by their ‘laqam’.
I found it a little odd, but being a democratic, meritocratic sort, I thought who am I to judge? Perhaps he has innate skills but never got the life chances to develop them.
Now it turns out he was probably some kind of front or fixer. Nice going.
So why did John Dalli make a mistake in not understanding that Sliema was a place where everyone knew everyone else, until only a couple of decades ago?
Simple: when he sat around in public in Sliema with Silvio Zammit, he probably didn’t understand that Silvio tal-Mqaret is as recognisable to proper Sliema folk as John Dalli is himself. People would immediately log seeing them together, it would strike them, and they would notice and remember.
And sure enough, this morning an older, serious gentleman whose family I have known all my life sent in this comment to this site:
I personally saw John Dalli at least two times, between March and May this year, at a table with Silvio Zammit at Peppi’s in Tower Road, where we go often for lunch on Saturdays. Hope he won’t deny knowing Silvio.
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And now the plot thickens.
Can somebody tell us who was Silvio Zammit supporting during the PN leadship contest between Lawrence gonzi and John Dalli?
Pastizzi and Imqaret are the column of our economy. John and Silvio know that.
So your point is that due to the fact that he was seen on two occations, he is guilty?
Good Grief… give the man a chance to say his piece first!
i`m a floater, so please no need to say I am defending Dalli, I do not even know where he hails from!
Just a thought. What if Silvio Zammit, knowing John Dalli quite well due to their PN connections, had invited John Dalli for lunch . Wouldn’t Silvio Zammit speak to John Dalli ?
[Daphne – Silvio Zammit was a canvasser for John Dalli, Mr Privitera. You are making yourself ridiculous, believing Super One’s hogwash and then refusing to believe the European Commission’s corruption investigation agency.]
What if Silvio Zammit took the opportunity to suggest that John Dalli meets someone who wished to talk to him about a serious matter ? Would anyone expect John Dalli to refuse, saying that he doesn’t speak to anyone except his staff !
And even if John Dalli did meet someone who mentioned the tobacco directive, but John Dalli just ignored what was said to him, since even OLAF has said that there has been no influence on John Dalli, what wrong has John Dalli committed ? Does anyone expect John Dalli to go and report Silvio Zammit for having suggested that he meets someone who wished to speak to him ??
I believe, up to now, John Dalli’s version, as reported in The Times today; that ” this was a systematic plan at entrapment”. Probably by the Tobacco industry and its lobbyists, who would have had their business impacted negatively with John Dalli’s directive on tobacco products !
May I suggest to Daphne and those who have already condemned John dalli, to read the following two books;
Bernard Connolly’s ” The Rotten Heart of Europe”. Mr. Connolly had been Head of he European Commission’s monetary affairs department.
And Marta Andreasen’s book; ” Brussels laid bare”. Marta Andreasen was the Commission’s Chief Accountant.
Both lost their job because they revealed the corruption which exists in the EU. And how lobbyists work to influence the Commission , other EU officials and MEPs !
[Daphne – Here’s another Labour sod, all out to defend the Labour hero Dalli.]
Daphne: Quite obviously you – the well -read Daphne (!)- has never bothered to read the books I mentioned. Is it because you were scared to read about the sordid affairs that happen in the corridors of Brussels ?
[Daphne – I read only novels, Mr Privitera, and occasionally, I read history. Oh, and about food, of course.]
No wonder you know next to nothing about the European union !
[Daphne – Go and lie down, Mr Privitera. You need to stay up past 9pm tonight to watch Bondi+.]
what had you written about John Dalli when he had been asked to resign by Lawrence Gonzi ? Remember, he was then cleared because he had been the victim of a frame-up, remember ? So aren’t you in too much of a hurry to condemn him ? Who knows, he might be found to have been set-up again. But your hate for John Dalli will not allow you to be cautious !
[Daphne – Quite frankly, I think he hasn’t been caught often enough.]
Shame on you . You are a disgrace to Maltese women !!!!
I will be watching Bond+. But if John Dalli is going to be present, you will not believe a word he says, ain’t that right ?
Well Silvio sucking up to politicians must have facilitated the expansion of the once small Mqaret stand to the fully fledged restaurant it is today.
Is smoking allowed in his restaurant?
About four an a half years ago, I went to speak to Johnny Dalli. His private secretary Mr Victor Caruana fixed an appointment, at Mr Zammit`s kiosk.
Needless to say, I thought that I did not understand Mr Caruana, when he told me to be at the kiosk.
But there he was, with diary in hand and Mr Dalli conferring with his constituents. At the time I thought it funny and awkward, but as they say, `time is a great healer and teacher`.
If Silvio Zammit might have been a canvasser or chief canvasser in the Sliema district, what has Dalli done wrong ? Not all candidates for election have canvassers ? it seems that Silvio Zammit might have thought that he had enough influence on John Dalli that he could project himself as a lobbyist to the Swedish company. Still it seems that his lobbying got him nowhere, except in trouble !
[Daphne – You just don’t get it do you? But then what else might we expect of somebody who voted for the corrupt Labour governments of the 1970s and 1980s.]
And YOUR GOVERNMENT has been in office for 25 years and has not found one such instance of corruption which happened in those years you mention! Or is it because PN important people were involved ??????
[Daphne – Not my government, Mr Privitera, but the Maltese government, which is yours too. You are not in a position to talk about corruption. I never voted Labour, so I am.]
Six question marks. This time it’s serious.