He’s still at it – and it’s getting worse. Now he’s talking about himself in the third person.
Academic tragi-comedy : Some jokes for Tenor Joseph Calleja
Next time Joseph Calleja feels the need to crack a joke about FRANCO DEBONO, a backbencher elected as government’s youngest mp instead of veteran cabinet members Louis Galea and Helen Damato, in the presence of the University ‘intelligentsia’, here are some suggestions.
In the meantime in normal countries ‘academics’ would be very concerned and on the forefront where a democracy degenerates into an oligarchy.
And if university lecturers are of the likes of Andrew Azzopardi and Mark Anthony Falzon, there is much to joke about. But back to tragi-comedy :
1. since it was no joke that at 2009, Malta was the only EU country not allowing any type of legal assistance to rrested suspects, it had to be FRANCO DEBONO, a backbencher elected as government’s youngest mp, to campaign assiduosly to lead the government to implement such a law, and it was FRANCO DEBONO as a lawyer wh0 won the first case in Malta, which ruled that that right constituted a fundamental human right;
2. since it was no joke that at 2009, Malta still had the Justice and Home Affairs portfolios fused in the same Ministry, and this constituted a blatant conflict of interest prejudicing both portfolios, it had to be FRANCO DEBONO, a backbencher, who had to campaign assiduoulsy and file a parliamentary motion for the split of the two portfolios, which split was effected a few weeks later;
3. since it was no joke that as at 2009, in the digital era, Malta had law courts still using outdated cassette-tapes and Parliament’s means of communication was radio, leading FRANCO DEBONO to describe this archaic situation as a radio-Parliament and a cassette-tape-Justice system, it had to be FRANCO DEBONO, a backbencher to campaign assiduously and led digital recording to be introduced in court, and live video-streaming of debates in parliament;
4. since it was no joke that the public transport reform piloted by Hon Austin gatt and his right hand man Manuel Delia practically brought Malta to its knees, whilst London mayor was poking fun at us because of bendy buses, it was FRANCO DEBONO who had the courage to stand up to ultra-arrogant Minister Austin Gatt and abstain in the no confidence vote, which led the same Minister to at least acknowledge political responsibility and revert immediately to the previous good routes;
5. since it was no joke that as at 2010, the justice and home affairs portfolios were in shambles, it had to be FRANCO DEBONO, a backbencher to show vision and courage and file a private members’ motion about twenty-four major areas of reform in Justice and Home Affairs, including (…)
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http://maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/world/Brussels-press-raises-bribe-allegation-over-Tonio-Borg-for-Aliyev-residence-20121106
Nothing to say about this?
[Daphne – No, except to say that somebody malicious is obviously feeding lazy journalists with half-assed information. Exactly how do you make the mental leap from Pio Valletta’s demand for a EUR1.5 million fee to a EUR150,000 bribe for Tonio Borg?]
Still this case raises many questions. Who granted residence permit to Aliyev? Should a residence have been granted? I think an investigation should be started on this matter.
And Joseph Muscat wants us to believe that he and his party are working in the interest of Tonio Borg. Like hell they are.
Malta zghira u n-nies maghrufa.
@ Daphne.
Still cannot understand why you are so quick to defend or accuse anyone?
[Daphne – Being a 48-year-old woman who hasn’t lived a sheltered life might have something to do with it. Taking people, men or women, at face value is very, very dangerous and wrong-headed. Every time I over-rode my alert antennae and did so, the results were bad. And in one notable case, they were catastrophically bad. Now, I tend to use my better judgement and insight all the time. And no matter how nice and friendly and decent a person might seem, if I’m picking up clues that tell me ‘watch out’, then I watch out. I’ve been working as a journalist since 1989, Mandango, and have been looking at Dalli and Tonio Borg that long.]
In John Dalli’s case, time and again you’ve “shouted out loud” (rather irritatedly at our common mortals’ belief that an investigation was still underway) that there was no such thing. Then the papers, admittedly only some of them, were talking about an on-going investigation yet to be concluded.
[Daphne – There isn’t an investigation, because there simply cannot be one without redoing all the thorough work that OLAF has done. What is being called ‘an investigation’ is a seemingly prolonged examination of the OLAF file, by the police who will now have to decide how, whether and on what basis to prosecute. It should be quite obvious to you that the Malta police will not have access to the incriminating details that OLAF did – by now, hard-drives will have been wiped, for a start.]
Now we had it too from the Prime Minister himself a few days ago.
[Daphne – Semantics, Mandango.]
You seem to be rather isolated on this.
[Daphne – Yes, but that often happens. It’s the result of my fixation with using words precisely, because in English, unlike Maltese, there are many different words which mean different things. In Maltese, one word has to make do for many different meanings, and so meaning and precision are lost. I had a bit of an argument a few days ago with somebody who insisted that Franco Debono is talking about reconciliation. No he’s not, I said. He’s talking about a deal. Reconciliation means something very specific and that’s not at all what he has in mind. But because the word’ reconciliation’ has been used, everyone is using it unquestioningly, leaving me “isolated” in saying that Franco wants a deal.
I think what really needs to happen now is for some reporter to ask the Attorney-General what his recommendations to the police are. Files are never sent from the AG’s office to the police without a recommendation to prosecute. The decision is taken at that level by the AG, not the police. People – you included – are missing this point because they are probably unaware of procedure.]
Likewise, on the Tonio Borg allegation. Why not let whoever’s got the facts or access to them to investigate and come up with a conclusion? What’s in it for you to defend or condemn anyone prematurely?
[Daphne – Nothing, and as everyone knows, Tonio Borg is hardly my favourite man on the planet. But I’ve worked as a journalist for practically all of my adult life and I also know lots of people and what sort of person they are, and that includes Pio Valletta, incidentally. And Tonio Borg. Oh, and also the individuals here in Malta who are feeding this stuff into the mix. It was very clear to me at the outset, when Muscat said that his party “will support Borg’s nomination but that doesn’t mean he is not going to have a hard time and there are people in Brussels who are already lifting information though we are not helping them” that, in fact, they were and are helping them. As I said, it really helps to be 48.]
[Mandango] What’s in it for you to defend or condemn anyone prematurely?
[Daphne] Nothing, and as everyone knows, Tonio Borg is hardly my favourite man on the planet.
It well may be, but one does not generally bite the hand that feeds him or those close to him.
[Daphne – Tonio Borg doesn’t feed any hand close to me, dear fool. My son entered the diplomatic service through the time-honoured route of sitting for the foreign service examination along with a hundred others including Chirelle Sciberras, Labour activist and Labour councillor, and the results of that examination were on public display for weeks. He certainly wasn’t done any favours: he’s a double masters graduate of the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies and of the College of Europe in Bruges. Use your common sense: what were the odds that I would have a stupid son incapable of forging his own path, and in need of helping hands and favours? Pretty small, I’d say. These things are a combination of genetics and attitudes learned while growing up, not luck.]
I’m quite baffled by your response because I did not allege that there was any preferential treatment in the selection process.
[Daphne – Yes, you did. ‘The hands that feeds you or those close to you’. Diplomats and civil servants who enter the service through the legal route are protected from the whims of politicians and ministers, so ministers are patently not the hand that feeds them. They play no part in the selection process at all, either. It operates independently of them (nowadays). ]
Just goes to show the damage done by the Dalli affair – now they think all Maltese take bribes.
It just occurred to me that what really got Franco’s goat is not really the Form 2 report (though I’m sure that did sting his ultra fragile ego) but the fact that Calleja now has a degree without having to swot at school and University.
What gets Franco’s goat is the fact that he is a two-bit village lawyer destined for oblivion the moment the prime minister announces the election date.
Nixtieq inkun naf kemm hela hin Franco jattakka personalment nies waqt l-aggornament tal-Parlament.
There is not a lot of swotting needed to get a law degree. When I was at university I knew a number of students reading law who did not set foot on campus for months on end, and still managed to graduate without problems.
Perhaps top student Franco Debono should tell us a bit about the lax work ethic that seemed to be endemic among law students.
If i were one of those unfortunate enough to have voted for this guy, i would be deeply sorry and guilt ridden for the rest of my days.
At least Dr Gonzi is calling his bluff. Yes Franco, we want to be on the opposition benches as long as you’re out of the party. And this applies to you too Jeffrey.
To put it mildly, he’s f*cked.
6. since it was no joke that as at 2013, when parliament is dissolved, it had to be FRANCO DEBONO, a backbencher to show vision and courage and kiss his ass goodbye
He’s back to ghost(ess) writers?
I think it’s high time for these attacks on Franco Debono to stop.
Instead, a serious appeal should be made to his family and friends to act in his best interests and convince him to seek professional help.
If, as seems clear, he is struggling with some form of illness, then he must be encouraged to seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Continuing to ridicule and lambast him is beginning to smack of cruelty. I think it is a mistake to take what he says at face value and then react to it as if he is in full possession of his faculties.
[Daphne – I agree with you. I have never reacted to him as though he is in full possession of his faculties, and have always criticised those parts of the media which quote him and interview him as though he were not unbalanced. That isn’t just a disservice to him, but has been a disservice to the country for the last four years. He should have been publicly marked down as crazy from the start. It was unfair to allow the public to take this long to find out for themselves through his blog.]
His English is dreadful. How this guy managed to make it through university is beyond me.
There are others and others, and others who have made it to LLD and, in my opinion are far below Franco’s standard
Franco, everybody eventually gets judged on the balance between the good and the not so good achieved in one’s lifetime.
This is more so for public figures, which you are at present, but the minute an election is called, unless you contest it as an independent candidate (or with on an AD or LP ticket), you cease to remain (a public figure). And maybe this in itself could save you.
And give us a little peace, too.
Barak Obama tips the balance in his favour and stays.
This notwithstanding all the negative financials of recent years. But the American population sees this in the world economic context.
There’s a lesson to be learned there.
Rumour has it that Franco Debono sleeps wearing a tin foil hat, just in case the evil click try to read his mind with mind-waves.
Point 4 is pure fantasy, chronologically speaking.
He reconstructed reality, weaving a year together, not a good sign.
An antidote that would help this man would be a trip to Haiti. He needs to spend a few years there so he can learn a thing or two about life.
He still thinks of life as a 15 year-old might.
Madoffi all the cock fight made him a mighty megalomartri stallion.
So what’s your point, Franco ? You were doing your job as you should have been.
That’s what you are paid for, not acting silly and stupid.
Franco, I know you’re reading this because you’re such an egotistical freak that you’ll probably Google yourself to see how popular you are and go and show the results to your mummy.
Get some help.
These are all signs and symptoms of somebody who has severe problems.
When you summon the television cameras to your home giving them to understand that you will give them an interview, and then show them your Form IIC mid-year report instead, that report ceases to be your private life.
So, congratulations to Joseph Calleja, who entertains us and makes us proud.
Got inspired from his own blog …
”It was FRANCO DEBONO
it had to be FRANCO DEBONO
the youngest backbencher
and largest wenker
It was FRANCO DEBONO
it had to be FRANCO DEBONO
Form 2 results, pony shirts and all
with constant threats for Gonzi to fall
It was FRANCO DEBONO
it had to be FRANCO DEBONO
but now lets be blunt
and ignore his usual stunt
since we all know he is a cunt
It was FRANCO DEBONO
it had to be FRANCO DEBONO
it is FRANCO DEBONO!
This “great reformer”, who makes such a fuss about how Malta needs a serious parliament, is generally to be seen fidgeting and playing with his mobile phone while parliament is in session.
Dik serjetà. Have you ever seen Calleja playing with his mobile phone during any of his performances?
The royal “we” ?
Only a few weeks now and he’ll be talking about ‘I, Caesar’.
Have you heard Obama’s victory speech today? He just said that if it hadn’t been for his brilliant results with 100 in civics and religion in Form II, he wouldn’t have gone so far.
“God bless you all”
Have you reflected that he is 100% right on all the points he mentioned?
Even if he is right on all the points he mentioned (I don’t agree he is, but that’s irrelevant), he made them in an open missive in broken English about a tenor cracking a joke at his expense, at which he has taken disproportionate and unending offence, referring to himself in the third person, with his name in caps throughout.
Do you think that’s really the way a normal person would go about things?
You can say that his suggestions are right. The wrong thing about them was that he pushed them before other things the PM prioritized.
He is not the prime minister.
Franco wanted to put the cart before the horse, and the PM had no other option but to oblige for a while. If the PM didn’t oblige he would have lost the cart and the horse, and we would have too.
I have just been to Athens staying with friends (both medical professionals). Their salary has been cut by 50%, the shops are empty of customers, every day several businesses close down, the construction industry is moribund, and there are constant demonstrations and strikes.
And here in Malta our talking point is an unbalanced politician from Hal Ghaxaq.
Soon he will be equating himself with Napoleon. And then good old JC himself.
“….and it’s getting worse. Now he’s talking about himself in the third person.”
Actually, this means it’s getting better – at least for us. It seems that he is distancing himself from himself, and, in fact, I am now expecting him to talk about himself in the past, very soon.
“Franco Debono was…”
I have no idea where this place called 2009 is.
Marks, I was in Athens too recently and noticed that the price of diesel was 1 euro 80 cents, while here in Malta it is 1 euro 37 cents and Muscat claims that it should be even cheaper.
Edgar, Muscat is right. It will work out cheaper if you travel, say, a 100 km, driving along for 50 and pushing the car the remaining 50.
Dear Franco, I wrote a similar reply on your blog (when I used to read it) but you had decided not to print it so here I say it again: “The man who sings his praises is likely to be a soloist”.