Comment of the day
Sent in by Last Post:
I’m not a member of the PN and have never been. Indeed, in 1976 I voted Labour and I started regretting it (it is a process) once the election result was known and I witnessed the violent gutting of practically every PN club.
In this sense I don’t consider myself a Nationalist but a convert.
There is no doubt that the election (any election for that matter) will be won or lost on the basis of the ‘floating’ voters, and not the diehards.
Although I don’t consider myself a Nationalist, I do consider myself (and my family) middle-class, both ‘culturally’ and financially, and I don’t feel the PN owes me anything nor do I in any way feel disgruntled.
This is particularly so when I consider what life was like under Labour and what it has been like these past 25 years or so.
This does not mean that all PN voters feel the same way I do, but I suspect that the ‘disgruntled’ Nationalists are precisely the diehards. Those that in Franco Debono’s words are “Nazzjonalisti minn guf ommhom”.
It is equally true that Malta hasn’t been a paradise but when you consider where we started from in ’87 and where we are now, particularly against the sombre economic background we’re witnessing around us, we should be thankful for what Nationalist governments since 1987 have achieved for us and for our country.
If not so thankful, what’s the other option? And so it goes again, but all we’re left with is a vacuum filled with populist promises.
So, yes, the PN councillors, probably being themselves (or representing) diehards, have a lot to weigh up before deciding who’s best as deputy leader.
Needless to say, they would be highly tempted to opt for Tonio Fenech. This has already happened with the vast majority of the cabinet members, but as the writer of this piece has argued, Fenech would be seen by “PN outsiders” (i.e. floaters and potential PN voters) as one of the old guard.
Therefore, although I could be happy with any one of the contenders, I would certainly prefer Busuttil. Difficult though it is for the PN, I believe that he is better placed to project the PN as a self-renovating party and equally capable of winning the minds and hearts of the genuine and open-minded sector of the electorate.
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‘Malta has not been a paradise’. Why then, Last Post, have I hosted so many visitors over the year who describe it as exactly so?
Self criticism is helpful and healthy. However, the whining and whinging over the last five years only indicates how spoiled we are.
Time to take stock of our situation and compare it to the alternative—a bunch of envious, dangerous and useless ingrates.
I agree totally, however, on your last point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMoP3Cg5RdI
Was this what it looked like? If so, then it was paradise.
You gottit, Baxter! That’s a little place way up on Xemxija Heights. Very nice view.
I agree with all your points. The whining and whinging drives me nuts! Go anywhere else in Europe and see what it is like and then “the great unwashed” would soon change their tune.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Yana-Bland-Mintoff/395908743804100?sk=photos_stream
Very classy…
She’s going to be a MP. We had better get used to seeing her face. With some luck an MP is all she will be.
Is Joseph wearing a garbage bag in one of the pics?
You don’t have to be a hypocrite to be a millionaire socialist, but it helps.
To me her face looks like a carricature of her father’s.
“When you consider where we started from in ’87 and where we are now…….”. In 1987 the PN government started with LM 450 millionin in the kitty ( equivalent to over €1 Billion.). While today we have €6 Billion national debt, including Enemalta’s debt !
“When you consider where we started from in ’87 and where we are now…….”. In 1987 the PN government started with LM 450 millionin in the kitty ( equivalent to over €1 Billion.). While today we have €6 Billion national debt, including Enemalta’s debt !
Harry Purdie: If you truly believe the last sentence you wrote – which I am sure you do not believe – i would expect you to catch the first flight out of the island as soon as you hear the election result !
Eddy, eddy, short-sighted Eddy, can you kindly illuminate us how many hundreds of billions that 6 billion spent multiplied in Maltese families’ pockets?
Debt that is manageable is a good thing, watching your bank account growing (or in you case il-kaxxa) whilst living in misery is a crime.
Don’t complicate it for Eddy. He’s still figuring out the arithmetic of the EU referendum result.
Mintoff mexxa l-kaxxa ta’ Malta kif mexxa l-kaxxa tieghu personali. Miljuni l-bank u ghix/ghixna fil-mizerja, l-injoranza ppjanata u l-QAMEL.
Li kont minnek, immur ninheba!
Excuse me, Daphne.
XALAZOBNA, Sur Privitera.
Answer this, Privtera: what is the point of money in the kitty when the standard of living was abysmal?
Why don’t you all ignore this Privy? He will never understand. Remember: Tahslu ras il-hmar tahlu l-ilma u s-sapun.
“Therefore, although I could be happy with any one of the contenders, I would certainly prefer Busuttil. Difficult though it is for the PN, I believe that he is better placed to project the PN as a self-renovating party and equally capable of winning the minds and hearts of the genuine and open-minded sector of the electorate.”
A relative of mine who is in her seventies and a die-hard Nationalist if there ever was one, told me exactly the same thing this morning, over a cup of tea and a piece of cake.
Why are well-known nationalists here in Mosta saying: ” Vote Simon, get Franco ” ?
Mr Privitera, go out and get some fresh air for heaven’s sake. I think you need it.
Mr Privitera, do you want a polite reply to your query , or a rude one?
Ahjar tghidilna x’inhuma jghidu fuq Anglu Farrugia, Sur Privitera.
I’m from Mosta and haven’t heard anyone saying this…or maybe it’s just your Labour friends who are saying it? I’m sure that if Simon Busuttil is elected, he will be, as always, loyal, honest and a gentleman.
So much has been said about the deputy leadership election that it’s easy to lose focus on what’s really important. I believe it’s necessary to recap the whole story.
When Tonio Borg was nominated as a prospective commissioner, the media was cynical. Regardless of how the vote goes, Tonio Borg proved the media wrong by giving, to quote some MEPs, ‘one of the best ever performances’ during the grilling.
When the election for deputy leader was announced, the media was cynical saying that it would draw bad blood within the party. In reality, the Nationalist Party is doing what the Labour Party never seems to do; renewing itself.
The media said that the contest would be no contest at all but a walkover for Simon Busuttil. The media was proved wrong. Tonio Fenech came out with all guns blazing, as he should have. It is a contest after all. It would have ridiculed the whole process and been grossly unfair on Tonio Fenech to just expect him to lose deliberately.
When Tonio Fenech announced his candidacy, the media was cynical saying that he was only contesting so that there would be a contest. The only way not to look like a joke was for Tonio Fenech to get some heavyweight backing. When he did so, the media went all cynical again saying that he went over the top.
The Nationalist Party is damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t. It is important that the party doesn’t let the media frenzy affect its reasoning.
All three politicians have proved themselves to be incredible at what they do (Tonio Fenech a great minister of finance during such turbulent times, Simon Busuttil a respected and highly capable MEP and Tonio Borg a human rights champion) and the Labour Party doesn’t have anyone who’s a patch on any of them.
I’m sure that the Nationalist Party will remain level headed and make the right decision. More importantly, it will unite behind whoever is chosen.
Through this whole story, the Nationalist Party has once again shown that it attracts the most able politicians (Franco, Jeffrey and Jesmond being being unfortunate exceptions). It really has a lot to be proud of. This election should strengthen it and give it a better chance at winning the general election.
The 900 or so PN councillors need to be reminded that people have spoken loud and clear – they prefer a change and Simon Busuttil is that change.
Unfortunately entrenchment in their territory prevents some from thinking clearly. The majority of MPs are sticking up for the one who they consider their own, and they fail to listen to popular request.
Some are even doing this for personal motives and future positioning. This is shameful. Their put their own personal interests before those of the country.
They only get our vote because Labour is a dangerous risk and no real alternative, but they certainly do not deserve that vote. Thanks to the lot of them, the Nationalist Party will be losing the next election and if that happens I would dread to be in the shoes of the one who will have the audacity to knock at my door.
Xi hlew, wahda tghid “I think he looks like Joseph a lot” u ohra tghid “Zewg angli wahda tixbah il-mara u l-ohra lilek Joseph”. ‘Mn Alla mhux triplets ghax konna nispiccaw hazin.
a.atterd. X’ghira bazwija ghandek ! Anki t-tfal ta’ Dr. Muscat tawk f’ghajnek ? U Daphne thalli dal-hmieg jidher.
On BBC news today there was a 5-minute report from Ireland. Business down by 60%, 68 billion bailout from EU and 15% unemployed even though 87,000 have emigrated.
Anybody thinking of changing for the sake of change is due for a wake-up call.
Renovating yes, change no.
Rover: Ireland today is the same Ireland which Dr. EFA and his then deputy Lawrence Gonzi, and Simon Busuttil used to tell the Maltese people: ” Look at Ireland, what progess it has made in the EU. Malta could be like ireland “! At the way the national debt is exploding UP, we could very well end like Ireland TODAY ! Especially if GonziPN is not given the Order of the Boot in the next few months or weeks !
Any news about Cyprus Privitera ? In case you forgot you can always ask Joseph .
Haha, what about Joseph then? He suggested that we should follow Iceland and Cyprus’ paths…and where are they now? BANKRUPT!!! Oh and by the way…Iceland is not a member of the European Union, I just thought that mentioning this to you, would save you some embarrasement
Oh give over, for crying out loud, Eddy Spiritiera.
Who wrote this?
@ Who wrote this?
OK – What’s in a name? THIS is what’s in MINE:
I come from a working-class family and background. This has some Labour-leaning implications but not necessarily Mintoffian. (We had no picture of him anywhere in the house – we didn’t have many pictures anyway – a waste of wall space!) I was born and bred in one of the lesser villages in the ‘south’ of the island.
Up to WWII my father was a manual worker in the private sector after which he was engaged first as a labourer then as a fitter with one of the Government’s utility services dept. My mother came from a family of farmers. As was common in those days, both my parents came from large families.
My father lost his father when he was 21 – he died on the spot from a work accident – and as he was the eldest he assumed responsibility for maintaining ‘the family’. He married in his mid-40s after the war, my mother being some 10 yrs his junior. They had 3 (live) children. Considering their times and conditions they were just literate (i.e. could read and write simple Maltese) – enough to appreciate the value of education.
It is thanks to them (and the educational structures existing in the 60s) that I made it quite well through secondary school, and later, thanks to some of my wider circle of friends who encouraged me to continue my studies until I graduated from university (BA – Arts). Nothing spectacular these days, I know, but it was enough to give me a wider perspective of life, people and events.
In my original comment I described myself as middle class. This is in no contradiction to my working-class upbringing. I perceive my middle-class-ness in terms of culture/education and financial position vis-à-vis my parents and childhood colleagues and friends. Exposed at an early age to the events of the politico-religious question I took an early interest (albeit a superficial one) in politics. I clearly remember my father’s advice not to get carried away, “ghax hadd ma jgibulek shun” (because nobody will make your life that easy).
Still, I would be enthralled listening to his views and experiences (he was among the crowd that the young “Il-Gross” and his fellow students picked up from the port area where he worked then during the 1919 revolt/skirmishes) about the War, Hitler and Churchill, Stalin and Gandhi, Nasser and Boffa and Mintoff.
When I was at University (yes, working-class students could already make it to post-secondary and tertiary education free-of-charge during Borg Olivier’s time!) it was natural to look for fellow students with the same background and to explore new ideas (liberal and leftist) in the aftermath of the 1968 Student Unrest in Western Europe ( Cohn-Bendit, who boldly took a stand in support of Dr Borg’s nomination as EU Commissioner, was one of the ringleaders as rightly pointed out by Daphne), the invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Viet-Nam War, Pinochet’s Dictatorship in Chile, the New Left movement, etc.
Although imbued with such currents and ideas, I always had an open-mind and, with a few exceptions, it rarely occurred to me that the University was the ‘nest of serpents’ and ‘enemies of the working class’ that it was bandied about to be by Mintoff and his media.
After University I was soon engaged by a government-controlled enterprise where it was rumoured that Mintoff had a direct say in our employment as he was scared of having unemployed graduates for fear of fomenting a Maltese version of the ‘Brigate Rosse’!
As I said in the original post I still supported Labour up to the 1976 elections. No, I didn’t get a government plot or flat for that – thank heavens for that and what was to come later!
In fact, after the arsonist and violent Mintoffian reaction to that election result on PN clubs, I seriously started to question my support of Labour.
This reached a climax after the 1981 perverse result. Prior to that event I had already started to publicly denounce, on an individual level, many of Mintoff’s policies: the economic performance, the handling of nationalizations, the decimation of the University, the MLP-GWU ‘marriage’, the complete obfuscation of the distinction between Party and State machinery, the utter disregard to people’s suffering due to the continuous shortages of water and electricity supplies – I had direct experience of this with 3 young children (practically babies) and no water in the tanks to wash their nappies (pre-packed nappies were a luxury if they existed at all on the baby-shop’s shelves) and clothes for days on end.
After 1981 I took my political activity to higher level by joining others in public to demonstrate and protest at the glaring injustices perpetrated during those terrible years. I made it a point not to miss one single mass meeting held anywhere in Malta.
It was at this time that I solemnly promised myself (and now I’m doing the same before you all) that I will never again vote Labour, unless the PN commits the same horrendous mistakes perpetrated during those terrible 16 years of Mintoffian (mal)administration.
Since 1987 and EFA’s premiership, when things finally started assume a semblance of normality and eventually the development into modern-day state within the European community of nations, I have resumed the low profile I normally tend to keep.
It was only with the hypocrisy and hullabaloo surrounding Dom’s funeral – he had already been ‘dead’ long before that – that all the memories and angst of the past came back to prod me to comment on this blog (or any other – I’m not a great fan of the computer).
So there you have it Joseph Carmel Chetcuti. That’s my identity, which I hope will dispel any suspicion that I might be a staunch nationalist posing as an ex-labour supporter hoping to win all-important votes for a frail PN.
In the last sentence of the first paragraph I meant “lesser-known villages”.
This election has been vitiated by the way it was brought about. The nomination of Tonio Borg for EU Commissioner need not have triggered his immediate resignation from the post of deputy leader of the party, the same as it did not require his immediate resignation as minister or member of parliament.
It seems that Gonzi just wanted him out of the way to install Simon Busuttil, a very able person, as his anointed choice. Gonzi did not find volunteers as sacrificial lambs in this stratagem. Tonio Fenech’s nomination, and the support it is gathering, is a silent resistance to Gonzi’s manipulation of his lesser colleagues like chess pieces.
Dr Tonio Borg has been approved – against all odds!
In your face, Privitera and the lot of you.
Hope Privitera does not now say that he is happy that Tonio Borg was approved . In any case we wont be surprised he is so famous for U TURNS
Privitera’s cheek knows no bounds. This fully fledged ‘lejburist’ thinks we have forgotten when his hero Mintoff took over the casino’ where privitera worked and he was reduced to calling out numbers at bingo! It was thanks to Eddie Fenech Adami that he was reinstated in his job and he retired from the casino’ as manager, and this during the PN administration. It would be interesting if this old fart would tell us the story he tries to hide.