So it wasn’t that close, after all…
Despite all the talk about last night’s being a neck-to-neck race, it turned out to be not close at all. It would have been better for the entire cabinet had they endorsed neither candidate and just stayed out of it as the prime minister did.
It invariably looks bad when the incumbents (for want of a better word) state their preference in public, let alone actually endorse their preferred candidate.
It also makes councillors who want a shift in this situation even more determined to vote against the one they see as the representative of these incumbents.
Neither the candidate nor the ministers stands to gain, either way. If the candidate endorsed by almost the entire cabinet wins, it looks like the reinforcement of power in the status quo. And if he loses (which he has done), it looks really bad for the cabinet: their choice was defeated.
Health minister Joe Cassar is in a better position because he stuck his neck out alone in endorsing Simon and so it did not look like some kind of mass power game but the opposite. Also, he backed the winner.
But still it’s going to be awkward.
They should all have diplomatically stayed out of it, at least in public, as their party leader and prime minister did.
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My fear is that within the next three years Simon will reconcile with Franco and Jeffrey. Is there anyone who can remove my fear, obviously excluding Alan Bates?
I doubt however that the electorate will vote them in again, and I doubt that they will try to contest again on the PN ticket (well, owkey, better not speak on behalf of Franco Debono). So there will be nothing for Simon to reconcile.
I bet he won’t. He just wanted to give them a chance so if they continue to obstinately blackmail the government (which they are still doing), Gonzi will finally getting the blame for it in the eyes of the media and Jeff’s and Franco’s arguments and lack of reasoning will be rendered null.
No. You got that one wrong. In the forthcoming election, Franco Jeffrey and Jesmond do not feature in the equation (except that they have one vote like the rest of the population).
The important thing is that Simon will bring some fresh air at Pieta’ HQ and will manage to convince/reconcile that 12% gap.
If he does .. they will lose my vote .. and that of my family.
What is most important is that the best candidate for the job won. Now let’s move forward.
The result beggars the question; what made the ministers, minus one, openly support one of the candidates?
There must be a reason, and one of them may be that Tonio Fenech holds the purse strings of their ministries.
These ministers, minus one, must look stupid with their electors and canvassers, not to mention the general public.
I think the ministers and the party executive were irked by the meeting between Franco and Simon in Republic street.
Franco cannot be trusted and he did great harm to this administration which he was supposed to support, not attack it ferociously for not being made minister.
BTW , it seems Mary Mifsud was substituted by mark borg :
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121130/local/simon-busuttil-wins.447579
mark borg
Yesterday, 22:11
how about the 60’s taht il miserja ta borg olivier ? 200 ruh l-aktar !!!!
mark borg
Yesterday, 22:10
u fis sittiniet kemm kien hemm Tony studenti universitari …xi mitejn ruh wlied tobba u avukati biss !grazi ghas sebghanijiet ta mintoff li infethet ghal poplu kollh u ghat tfal ta kulhadd l-universita..allura tippruvax ghax ghadda iz zmien minghalik tqarraq bxi hadd
mark borg
Today, 08:00
u ghaliex ..ghal raqda li rieqed ?
mark borg
Yesterday, 22:05
yes back to the sixties ! min hu sinjur sew jew tkun missejt il qiegh sew !
mark borg
Yesterday, 22:23
or end up in financial services as a Corporate administrator with some 14 k per year ! 7 years for becoming a glorified secretary ! …in maltese we say l-iblah taqlalu ghajnu u jifrah !
ps irringrazjaw lil mintoff li fetah l-universita ghal kulhadd u introduca l-istipendji
mark borg
Today, 07:52
lanqas ismek kollhu ma gib ghax tisthi turi li tappoga lil pn
mark borg
Yesterday, 22:04
dan min ivvutalu xi xeba immigranti illegali li wekkilna ghal generazzjonijiet shah li gejjin ?
mark borg
Yesterday, 22:08
ha ha ha zball kbir iehor tal gonzipn …itellghu deputy leader li xeba membri parlamentari hadmu bis shih biex ma jigix appuntat hu …..aktar pantomini ta nies kontrih bhal ma rajna go din il legislatura.
Reply to Mark Muscat
mark borg
Today, 07:50
come on franco go and get them :)
Reply to M. Bezzina
mark borg
Yesterday, 22:29
ahjar tipruvaw tirbhu vot gol parlamrnt flok tahlu iktar hin itellqu wehidkhom jew bejnitkhom…
Reply to Thomas Mifsud
G Tonna
Yesterday, 23:40
The Nationalist party have commenced their strong challenge to win the eighth time out of the past nine tests at the polls in the past 32 years. Clearly the Maltese favour the Nationalist party in government.
Reply to G Tonna
mark borg
Today, 08:04
lolllllllll
mark borg
Today, 08:04
lil Pn kollha- bhas solita tipruvaw tghamlu probaganda min kull haga ta xejn u ghax rebah il patrun tal burden sharing ,qed idawruha li se tirbhu l-elezjoni …hafna duhhan li il pajjiz ma jinteresahx,bhal dak id duhhan u storbju li ghamiltu wara li gie appuntat tonio borg cummissarju (jew wara li tkaxkar u iredikolana) –
PS -ahjar tikonvincu lil membri parlamentari taghkhom stess l-ewwel !
mark borg
Today, 08:07
honorevoli Tonio Borg-shabek stess u min qed jikkumenta hawn qed juruk bic car li il ftahir u probaganda u trewwieh li rewwaht fuq x ekonomija ghandna Malta u il pozi li tipoza ….li ma jemmnukx .
I agree 100 per cent.
That was my feeling too.
It’s a closed chapter now. Let’s look forward and be positive.
YES, WE CAN NOW MAKE IT… TOGETHER
This was another stupid mistake like when most ministers took a side publicly in the divorce referendum when it was clear they were going to end up on the losing side.
Seems like they never learn. In my opinion, though happy with the result, is a sort of no confidence vote in the cabinet by the PN councillors.
This is the best thing that could have happened to the PN.
I know of many PN supporters who see in Simon the spirit of reconciliation which would help to bring back many who are not happy with the present situation.
Reconciliation with Franco and Jeffrey does not mean that they shall contest again on the party ticket. That will never happen but it is better to reconcile with them and at least stop them from causing more harm to the party.
The die is cast. There could be only one winner, and only one loser. It is time to move on. The spirit in which the result has been taken is encouraging.
Simon Busuttil will surely take note that cabinet ministers felt the need to bolster Tonio Fenech’s chances, and if he went out of his way to take into acount the views of JPO, FD and JM, he is bound to take into acount the views of the current cabinet members, who never rocked the boat, and faithfully followed the party line.
Above everything else, he should take into account the views of the electorate at the next general election, both vis-a-vis the PL (omission of AD is not an oversight), and on the individual PN candidates. Indeed, a new test awaits him, and Gonzi, following the result of that election.
Yes what a surprise, right? Amazing how there are still some who actually believe the PN narrative. Simon was the anointed one. He was anointed as “the Prime Minister’s special delegate”, whatever that means, when there was no deputy leader contest in the offing. Then, not for the first time, fate suspiscioulsy played into the PN’s hands and opened up the chance for the PN to organise this contest and so, in Simons’s words, enthusiasm was “rekindled”. But the PN needed a real contest, as the PM himself was reported to have said. Enter Tonio Fenech who sacrificed his name for the sake of having a contest. To give the impression that this was a “close” race, a number of ministers “endorsed” him, something which was never done in previous similar contests. But then, surprise, not only does Simon beat Tonio in the first ballot, but he wins it hands down, again, something which never happened previously. Very exciting.
That’s quite a conspiracy theory, Mr.Farrugia.
Are you suggesting that the whole cabinet (bar one) chose to have the proverbial egg on their faces just so we could have a close race and rekindled interest?
I guess it was more collegial vote than anything else.
What is truly interesting is that if the delegates are closer to, and more representative of the Nationalist electorate then we have a serious disconnect between the electorate and the cabinet.
More Patria and less Religio, anyone?
I am also struggling to understand why cabinet ministers took sides.
Maybe there’s some obscure protocol they are obliged to follow? It makes no sense otherwise.
Even the usually measured Mario de Marco first makes a show in his newspaper about how inopportune the timing is, rightly suggesting that any exercise with the potential to expose even the slightest bit of party disunity should be avoided.
Then he goes ahead and publicly supports one of the contenders.
If the cabinet had remained neutral, it would have been an extremely positive exercise in re-invigoration for the PN. Instead it looked like a bit of an inter-factional power struggle.
It is really so simple. The Ministers joined forces to shut Simon Busuttil out of the race, Simon being considered an outsider.
They reckoned that they could not beat him individually but could do so collectively – they were wrong.
I pity Tonio Fenech and cannot fathom how he failed to realise that he was being used and how some backed him because they were aiming at eventual leadership themselves, perhaps Tonio is too decent a person to have realised this.
Some are known and others remain hidden, they joined forces to take their chance in the run for leadership that will necessarily take place just after the coming general elections. One deceitful MP tried to convince some Counsillors to vote for Tonio Fenech by telling them that it was a Cabinet decision. He is not even a Cabinet Minister. Shame on him.
How self centered and pathetically cut of from the people these MPs are and what a contrast to the measured and intelligent way the Councillors have voted, notwithstanding this, it is still not over for Simon Busuttil.
Simon will face many underhand currents that will try to bring him down between now and election day, something that will not be solely emanating from within the PL camp.
The people know Simon Busuttil can break away from a parochial political culture but for this to happen the people must now give the PN their first preference vote in the coming general elections. The people must keep in mind those Members of Parliament who voted against popular request, opting to think of themselves in the race for deputy leader.
The people’s vote has the strength, after all, to mould that front bench.
I wouldn’t be so concerned, the PN uses form to achieve its objectives.
Imagine if Tonio weren’t endorsed by anyone in cabinet. Formality becomes substantial, what ONE called ‘daqqa ta’ harta’ is simply a clear message.
Simon’s election is the party resolving to move on.
It’s not engineered, just logically demochristian.
Hopefully Busuttil knows his vatican II, ensuring liberals’ happiness.
A massive vote of no-confidence in Gonzi’s cabinet.
Who would have thought it?
[Daphne – Don’t talk bollocks.]
Whilst watching Simon Busuttil on Net TV following his appointment as deputy leader I could not stop thinking about the absence of the majority of cabinet members. I could only spot George Pullicino and Joe Cassar.
Yet, as much as I prefer Simon over Tonio in this role, something was missing in his speech. The whole vibe was missing and it’s like he was the odd one out in that room.
I suddenly don’t have a good feeling about this either and the lack of support from the other MPs will not help either.
In my opinion, there was no need for a deputy leader election as there was more to lose than gain in the internal dynamics of the party.
Clearly the Nationalist Party councillors know how to chose a winning horse.
Unlike the Labour councillors who chose Alfred Sant over Lino Spiteri and Joseph Muscat over George Abela.
If Joseph Muscat does not win the next election the labour councillors should call it a day.
All councillors know how to chose a winning horse. The only difference is that PN councillors are at a liberty whom to choose whilst the Labour delegates, in their majority, are told what to do. That is yet another difference between PN and Labour.
Joseph Muscat had been the anointed one for years, at least from the time he was elected MEP.
I am surprised how someone like George Abela didn’t realise this but there again he wasn’t in Alfred Sant’s camp, George Vella was.
Um, neck and neck?
Busuttil knows how to handle Franco. I do not think that Simon will fall for any tricks hatched by Franco
I admirer the resounding vote choosing Simon as deputy of the PN. It is a clear message of change.
I admire this vote because it is a ‘cleaning’ vote and one should not be afraid to read between the lines.
There is no need to outvote this government and place at the helm a party which has no credentials. The PN has a unique quality which is to be admired. It is a self cleansing quality which the PN is not ashamed to admit.
We are all humans and we all err. We all made bad choices especially when choosing a narcissus with a form 2 certificate tag ‘do not open before Christmas’.
There are other toy boys which we all thought that being so young they would bring a breath of fresh air, instead they brought a stench of selfishness and arrogance, as if we all owe them a favour.
I wish Simon well and the same to all those who, like me, believe in the PN that brought about a cyclone of change and though mistakes were made, we still have a better quality of life than ever before.
I believe that choosing young means choosing young and fresh ideas not good looking sexy candidates who only live in front of the mirror, and think nothing but about themselves!