And inevitably…
Published:
November 9, 2012 at 7:48pm
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I wish this campaign wasn’t run this way.
It is so childish and insulting to the intelligence of the average Maltese voter.
This is not a PN billboard but a clever meme on facebook.
clever ? hmmm
Well, we are on record as having one of the lowest levels of unemployment, so if this is Labour’s idea of slagging Gonzi, it’s going to fail.
[Daphne – It’s an internet meme that’s doing the rounds, and it certainly has not been produced by Labour (obviously).]
That explains it.
Sandbox politics. Sigh.
My manifesto is longer than yours. Ha!
Manifestly larger, I am sure. So many conquests. Ha!
If that is a PN production, it’s another shot in the foot. The ‘20,000 job” claim has been thoroughly debunked.
[Daphne – Has it? I would say there are far more than 20,000 jobs created as a result of PN policies. All you have to do is assess where we would be now had we not joined the European Union, as the people for whom you voted suggested we should do.]
Daphne: Are you so naive to believe that if Malta had not joined the EU – but would have had seperate agreements with the Eu, such as Switzerland and so many other countries haved – our unemployment rate would have been much more ?
First. These are the unemployment rates of European, but non-EU, countries: Switzerland 3.1%. Andorra 2.9%; Liechstentsein 1.5%, San Marino 3.1 %; Norway 3.0%; Belarus 0.7%, Azerbaijan 6.0%; Iceland (which had a big banking crisis) 6.6%, Monaco O.O%, If I had to include non-European countries, there are numerous countries with a lesser unemployment rate.
I’ll just give a few: Bngladesh 5.0%, Bermuda 4.5%; Ghana 3.6%; Malaysia 3.0% and many more !
Second: If joining the EU was the reason why Malta’s unemployment is not higher, HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE FACT THAT THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN SPAIN, IRELAND, GREECE, PORTUGAL, POLAND ETC..ETC.. ARE SO HIGH ???? Aren’t they in the EU ?
By the way, I Got the above figures from Wikipaedia.
If we were Monaco, you’d be grumbling to the size of yachts blocking the view, the grand prix spoiling your afternoon nap, the casino lit at night and the monotony that is life without paying taxes.
Bangladesh, now that’s an idea, go.
Oh, you got them from Wikipedia? Oh, good, so that gives them credibility.
Kemm tparla mit-toqba ta’ sormok, Privitera.
You have managed to mention either tax havens where people are enticed to work given the major perks granted or minute places that are obviously going to have a very low unemployment rate by virtue of the fact that the populations are insignificant.
Bangladesh? Ghana? Belarus? why don’t you go there given the misery you state you are currently living in.
Eddy, inti lil Malta mal-Azerbajgan ser tqabbilha?
Ghandhom pajjiz immexxi minn dittatura u mimlijin biz-zejt.
Eddy, labour simply hasn’t got the acumen to take forward Malta’s destiny.
Both its past and recent history have amply shown this. And this is why the Maltese have rejected Labour time and again. Suffice it to say it did so seven out the last eight tests at the polls.
Where Daphne? Can somebody tell what would have happened hadn’t we joined the EU? Maybe we could have been better off after all…But I cannot tell…Only witches and fortunetellers can…maybe
And people with a little common sense too can tell.
Where do you think we would be in this current situation if we did not have a thriving financial services sector (solely because we are in the EU) and a very good tourism sector, again significantly due to our increased profile as a result of forming part of the EU and because of the Euro?
That is to name but two of the current benefits that we are enjoying.
I won’t start to go in to the millions spent on EU funded projects that are beautifying our country.
The 20- thousand-jobs claim is one of the most powerful reasons to vote PN and Mintoffians like Martin “Balky” Borg (aka Gonz) are desperate to create the illusion that it’s not true.
Clever clogs. Why is it so many employers can’t find employees? Not employees with the right attitude, work ethic and training, mind – just anyone. And, no, it’s not the pay and hours that are the problem.
Irony of ironies. Manwel Mallia and Mario DeMarco on oppposing sides of the debate on Xarabank.
How times change, Dr. Mallia.
I wonder how with such a brain, Manuel Mallia was successful in his professional career.
[Daphne – He was successful in a different age, when juries were easily impressed by short, fat, pompous twats who stood and declaimed in that awful accent. He has lost a bit of business since.]
He can’t hold his own against Top Criminal Lawyers in pony shirts.
Maybe he should buy himself a few fighting cocks.
Mario Demarco took part in a debate; Manwel Mallia took part in a shouting match.
The level of intelligence of Labour’s billboard campaign has fallen even further to a now abysmal level.
But besides the stark stupidity of using a Brazilian football player with 0 on his back (which many of their faithful are probably unable to understand anyway), don’t they realise that we who have a few active cells between our ears, can read the veiled message?
This is nothing if not a vulgar attack on foreign companies who choose to invest in Malta. Most do succeed but a few will fail as with all ventures. This does not augur well for the future of investments under the next Labour ‘inhallukhom tahdmu’ government.
Do they realise that foreign embassies employ people who are constantly looking out for such signs, which they will certainly use with any of their co-nationals who are considering investing in Malta?
Depressing the country is what Labour does best. With Labour, il-passat garanzija tal-futur.
It is a vulgar attack on anyone who chooses to invest.
Simply because the PM wiped out Joseph’s tentative attempts to produce something tangible.
DeMarco did the same yesterday with Manuel Mallia, who by the way thinks he’s already an mp, what with his reference to the ‘onorevoli prim ministru’, such a pompous twat.
If there’s something this government has, it’s the statistics and the policies making up an organic whole, which vision if expanded upon, will expose Joseph’s plasticky vision.
Just put it into effective even if simple language.
Giraffa: A name that suits you. Your head – and brains, if any – are way above normal ones. No wonder you’re cut off from reality. ” vulgar attack on foreign companies ” ? Seems your ” active cells between your ears ” have gone out of control !
I hear valerian is very soothing to the nerves. Lavender, too, does wonders. Unfortunately, some cases are beyond economical repair.
Privitera, it’s probably people like giraffa and myself who are paying your pension, so i would really shut up if I were you.
It is a clear fact to even like you, approaching dementia, that the Labour Party gloats whenever some not-so-good news comes around and makes headlines on Super One, l-Orizzont, Torca and such scum.
To try and score political mileage because a foreign firm is having second thoughts is despicable. Does it ever cross your mind that maybe the impending Labour government was the unstated reason for this re-thinking? Yes from up here I can see much further.
Giraffe, they can’t have a competitor in Libya can they?
Leo Brincat’s glee was particularly cheap.
Takes “convoluted contrivance” to a new level.
In this particular case it is Gonzi who deserves a kick up the back side. He made a mistake, accidental or deliberate, but to criticise the critics and not the person who erred is dangerous. If Caesar is only told that he is the greatest his Ides of March may well come home to roost early. A generally decent and likeable man deserves better.
Next time, he should just utter inanities and rhetoric and nothing of substance like his adversary – that way he cannot possibly make any mistakes.
Actually, it was Joseph Muscat who made a mistake by claiming that the Brazilian company had not come to Malta. Technically, he lied.
If he didn’t have any information about the company he should have said so rather than ‘boasting’ that it didn’t exist. This incident shows that when Joseph Muscat doesn’t know things, he simply makes them up.
Could it be they knew that it was going to close down and he mentioned it on purpose just to spin the news against Gonzi?
What a way to run an election .campaign.
If both parties think that by putting up these type billboards, is the way to attract votes, they are both absolutely wrong.
The electorate wants sound and meaningful arguments. We are past the times when we used to have different coloured buses as that was the only way of knowing where it was heading to, as most where illiterate.
The best and most effective way, as I see it, is by personal contact, such as home visits, where persons can ask politicians unprepared questions and be in a position to judge the persons who are asking them for their vote.
Another thing that bothers me is that the campaign has again turned into a personal one between the two leaders. One might not like the leader as a person but still agree with the party’s policy.
But to vote for either of the parties just because one has a nice smile or similar reflects the zero I.Q. of the voter.
Who can deny that Gonzi is very charismatic, a great orator, and a shrewd politican? But as far as I am concerned he is a weak leader, and to top it all, misinformed and left his party be taken over by persons who are corrupt.
Silvio, it would be informative if you would give us details of the persons and what type of corruption.
Hopefully, in due time.
Molto Labour, Silvio.
The Pl don’t need to attract more votes,cause they would risk winning the election with a constitutional percentage…….The PN has to win votes….but the clock is ticking faster and faster…tick..tick..tick :)))))
Silvio, there is a big difference in the election campaigns of the two parties.
The PN uses billboards, sound, reasonable arguments and, of course, actions.
The PL has just the billboards and nothing else, except perhaps incredibly inane tweets and Facebook comments.
The PL also has My Dear Joseph and his creaking pack of dinosaurs. A negative campaign, if ever there was one, and they don’t even have to make any effort.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/nov/10/betty-white-golden-girl
Betty White ( 90 year old star of Mary Tyler Moore Show, Golden Girls, amongst others) :
Saturday Night Live (2010)
……. it was White’s acidic opening monologue that stole the show. “I didn’t know what Facebook was,” she mused of the online campaign to have her appear as host, “and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time.”
@ le redoute.
Correct me if I am wrong,
Wasn’t it ,lately, that a E.U. Mep, labled Tonio Borg as a :”Dinosaur”
Seems we have them on both sides.
Our prime minister is not just ‘a nice smile’. We’re doing very well for ourselves when the rest of our neighbours are struggling with austerity measures. That is good enough for me. And I flatter myself that my IQ is considerably higher than 0.
And really, what’s the alternative? A clueless, uncharismatic chav who has surrounded himself with people who have already run the country to the ground once and who are unlikely to have learnt anything useful from their mistakes.
In any other country but this, it would be a walk-over victory to the PN.
Why is it that we keep on hammering on the same point?
The economy is doing well, and we don’t have to resort to the austerity measures like Greece, etc. our unemployment is negligible, and so on, ad infnitum. As if man lives by bread alone.
What about the lack of respect that is shown to us as a country owing to the fact that the country is riddled with corruption?
The lack of respect that is being shown to parliament?
The “half truths” of our leaders on the media?
The way that some are treated as more equal than others, a case in point being the matter of pensions?
All these and many others, including of course the way our economy goes, are what makes a better way of living.
The above should bring to mind that the Germans made great strides forward under Hitler, but a pertinent question, was it nice living in Germany in those days? This could apply to Russia under Stalin, and Italy under Mussolini.
[Daphne – I thought you admired Mussolini, Silvio, and that the reason you are uncomfortable with the PN now is because it is not right-wing enough for you.]
Daphne, there comes a time in once’s life,when one has to admit that what “I thought” is not the gospel truth.
Not “right enough” does not mean “extreme right”
… ‘surrounded himself with people’? Those are dinosaurs, to me not people.
Envy and spite are two elements still much alive in the Labour Party.
Alfred Sant in his way tried to change this, but it seems these two ingredients are too far embedded in the lifeblood of the Labour Party.
[Daphne – Alfred Sant didn’t try to change that. On the contrary, he fostered that mentality with all his talk about barunijiet and hbieb tal-hbieb.]
Because, you know, Labour is made up of honest dealers with no hidden connections to powerful lobbies and corrupt oligarchs, and its politicians are all hard-working, god-fearing family men with a nine-to-five job and a middle income.
You lot sound like you have all had a sense of humour bypass operation. Lighten up, it is quite funny no matter what side you look at it from.
What political campaign?
What we have is a leader of the opposition who’s been ranting about energy bills for over four years linking these to the risk of poverty.
Fine, assuming he has evidence, why, when he also declares to have a solution doesn’t he propose it?
Isn’t saying that the risk of having it ‘stolen’ by the PN for implementation an unprecedented admission of cynicism versus the people at risk?
I didn’t know the electiorate existed to serve politicians’ agendas, yet this much Joseph’s done, the calculation in broad daylight.
I don’t know what’s worse, whether being so base to lower the standards this much or fibbing your way to power. It’s indecent.
Labour never managed produce productive jobs, not even productive ideas for that matter.
They are so incompetent they have no idea of how it is possible to create 20000 jobs without really knowing.
They are only capable of being doubting Thomases and international beggars.
Imsieken tal-labour kemm ghandhom memorja qasira ta’ kemm fethu kumpaniji u ghalqu qabel ma twieldu fi zmienhom.
http://maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Muscat-says-Labour-is-ready-to-govern-20121110
…..Speaking about the proposal of creating solar parks, cited by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Muscat said this only goes on to show that it is possible to reduce the energy tariffs.
Why did you suddenly realise this now? Why did you not invest in solar farms instead of the BWSC Delimara power plant extension? Why are you doing it just before elections?” Muscat asked……….
Is he serious? Does dear Joseph really think we could have subtituted Delimara with solar panels? The guy’s nuts, if he believes we haven’t noticed his panic ie.
I live very near a Social Servces office. Every Tuesday, the “unemployed” call to collect their unemployment benefit, in their powerful cars (I will not mention the brand), their gold watches and gold crucifixes hanging from gold chains, and I have heard some complaining of the delays as they will be late for work – that, I think should be looked into. This has been going on for years.
Mario Demarco was magnificent last Friday. He trashed and trounced Manwel Mallia. He is also a hardworking minister who is producing tangible results.
With party leadership contenders like Demarco, the future of the party is secure.
[Daphne – De Marco is not yet a contender. His name is not on the list. In fact, he is backing Tonio Fenech. But I agree with you about the rest.]
He drones. I barely manage two minutes.
So true. And I pretty much think that the brilliant results have more to do with the arrival of low-cost airlines.
And low-cost airlines came through the hard work and determination of his predecessor Francis Zammit Dimech, who had to take the brunt of Labour’s attacks as they were ‘defending’ one of their dinosaurs, Air Malta.
Typical PN, they saved Air Malta, made way for low-cost airlines and fully opened the gates to millions of tourists with the resultant figures.
Had it been Labour, they would have shut the door in the face to all low-cost airlines as long as Air Zejtun continues to dry suck each and every passenger.
Emmanuel Mallia was full of rhetoric. He thought he was in a court, as though trying to impress a client who would later have to pay his bill.
He was unable or unwilling to provide simple, straighforward, direct answers to simple direct questions.
And there was no substance in his arguments. It must be something to do with the water he is drinking.
The water must be coming from the Valletta fountain. Mallia is very convincing.
I consider most billboards, no matter how tasteless or silly, to be regular fodder for the political mill but when I saw the latest Labour billboard I was shocked and embarrassed, both for the Labour Party and for Malta.
The Labour Party keeps showing that it knows very little about business.
For starters, where there is one company, there are others. Companies tend to gather in hubs because they believe that they can share expertise, find talented people and communicate more easily.
If there is one company, it also means that there are others like it. This should be of news value. A company closing down an operation of four people should not.
A company failing or closing down doesn’t mean much. Companies which fail in Silicon Valley are a dime a dozen but no one is suggesting that the place is not thriving or that it is not a great place to invest in.
Secondly, the Labour Party might think that their attitude is only political and won’t affect business but petty politics has a history of affecting business.
The recent territorial dispute between Japan and China drastically reduced trade between the two countries as businesses and consumers boycotted each other. One of the reasons why many were afraid Mitt Romney would become president was that he promised he would label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office, possibly starting a trade war with the USA’s biggest trader.
Even seemingly smaller issues can have an effect. Ariel soap was once boycotted by many Egyptians because it was believed to refer to Ariel Sharon. Chick fil-A got into a pickle after its boss made some public comments about gays. Closer to home, last I heard, the Sicilian restaurateur who once called the Maltese “a nation of potato pickers” is having to live with much fewer clients than before.
Taking all of the above into consideration, imagine what potential Brazilian investors feel when they see our incoming government putting billboards up all over the island claiming:
BRAZIL = 0
One must also ask what the Labour Party is proposing in such situations. Is Joseph Muscat going to make it difficult or impossible for a company to close down like his socialist role-model Hollande tried (and failed) to do with Peugeot-Citroen, thereby driving potential investors away in fear?
If it had any sense, the Labour Party would pull the billboards down and issue an apology but I’m not going to hold my breath.