Whatever the outcome on Sunday, I will always be proud to say I am Nationalist and voted as such. Within twelve months the switchers will be embarrassed to face the rest of us.
To get the full experience from this article one needs:
(a) to note the sharing buttons on the site and
(b) to play this in the background: http://youtu.be/ibjHm7tvw2I
There was a good vibe. Yesterday, it was the first time I heard Eddie Fenech Adami speak in public, live. I only know his public speaches from recordings. There was so much strength and determination in his voice. He is a true mythical figure.
While Joseph brought out politically irrelevant people to endorse his party, here’s a lesson on how an endorsement should be.
“M’ghandix dubbju li bit-tmexxija ta’ Lawrence Gonzi u shabu Malta jkolla Futur Fis-Sod”
and
“Naccertakom li jien ghadni nemmen li dan il-partit jista’ tabilhaqq ikompli jmexxi lil-pajjizna biex zgur ikolna Futur Fis-Sod”
That’s THE endorsement Gonzi needed !
A recommendation from a football club manager who’s team has just lost an important game is not good endorsement material and does not augur well for the one receiving it.
For those who think that ex-President Eddie Fenech Adami should not have addressed this political meeting I would just remind them that in the beginning of this electoral campaign, Joseph Muscat tried to use Eddie for his own advantage by stating that “in 1987 Malta needed (the highly respected) Eddie Fenech Adami” .
I am so proud and happy that I was there yesterday. I don’t really believe that numbers at mass meetings mean anything, but getting to know that Dr Fenech Adami was going to speak made my mind up.
I had to listen to this great statesman again.
He was and always had been decisive, and just great.
Dr Gonzi’s address was once again full of fire. I am beginning to believe that the PN will win this election, after all.
What a glorious party the PN is – always electing great statemen as its leaders: Sir Ugo Mifsud, Nerik Mizzi, George Borg Olivier, Eddie Fenech Adami, Lawrence Gonzi…and the PN never wavering in its ideals.
The leaders of the Labour Party – it’s like whom shall I pick from the skip.
My first vote was in the freedom election of 1987. I voted, as they say, “bil b*wl icarcar ma saqajja”, with Labour thugs from other districts standing near the head of the queue wearing their Labour t-shirts and doing their level best to scare us into going home, as we queued hours before the polling station opened, wondering whether we would actually be allowed to vote. I voted, and swore that I would continue to do so whatever happened. Others elsewhere were not so lucky and had their voting document taken away from them and the crap beaten out of them.
Eventually we joined the EU, and one of my main reasons for joining was that it would finally put the issue of democracy to rest, that with our entry in the EU, we would never get another Mintoff.
That done, I went back on my promise to myself to vote come what may, and did not bother to vote in the subsequent MEP election. Too late, it dawned on me that I was contributing to the election of those who did their best (whilst making money out of it – Joe Muscat on Super One, for instance) to keep us out of the EU. That has not changed. Do we really want to vote in as President of the EU, when our turn comes, the man who tried to keep us out of it?
Remember, there is no such thing as not voting. You ALWAYS vote. It’s just basic maths. If you don’t vote, you will have effectively voted for the eventual winner. Staying at home to ‘scare’ the PN is simply a vote for Labour. If you have not collected your vote, you can collect it and continue to think about it, but if you leave it uncollected, your choice is irreversible.
If you are a disgruntled PN voter, voting AD is also a waste of time. If you do that, you almost guarantee a Labour government. With the districts the way they are, if the PN gets a few hundred votes more than Labour, Labour will have a majority of at least three seats, and if AD gets the 2000 votes in one district they are campaigning for (the 9th or 10th), and an actual seat, the constitutional provisions allowing the largest party to govern won’t kick in, and Labour will be governing with a minority of votes. Again. Even if AD don’t get that seat, all you are doing is ensuring that the PN does not get that majority of votes.
On the off chance that you are an environmentalist voting for AD out of conviction, just remember that Birdlife have accused Labour and the hunters of colluding to relax hunting regulations if they get elected, so ironically you will be voting AD to kill protected wildlife.
You might also want to ask why large tracts of land are being bought in green areas, whilst considering Anglu Farrugia’s statements that Labour are getting too close to building contractors.
If you are an LGBT voter, remember that you have other interests as well, regarding day to day issues, and those need addressing first. Bear in mind that the world has changed, and that politics is driven by popular opinion, which is changing the world over and is coming round to support your aspirations, in Malta as well as abroad. For some of you, those aspirations such as marriage equality may be an overriding factor. But really, are they? Again, remember that AD will not hold the balance of power if it gets elected, it will simply take votes from the PN.
So why will I vote PN? Is the PN perfect? Has it done everything it should have done, at the right time and the right speed? It hasn’t, but its overall policies and strategies have always been the right ones. It has consistently been on the right side of history. Look at the alternative. Labour has been against independence, freedom of expression, plurality in broadcasting, the market economy, trade liberalisation, consumption taxes, local councils, EU membership, EURO adoption, closing the Drydocks, low cost airlines and many others. Every time it has kicked up a fuss, caused endless anguish, delayed their implementation and made us waste time and money we will never get back. And every time it has come round to see reason, mostly for pragmatic reasons rather than out of conviction, but at what cost to the nation? Just take a look at our national debt and easily half of it is a result of that.
Another reason I will vote PN is Lawrence Gonzi. I wasn’t always a fan. At the time, I would have preferred John Dalli. How wrong I was. I thought Gonzi was just another happy-clappy Jesus freak, but boy was I wrong. You only need to listen to him for 5 minutes to understand how on the ball he is, and how inspiring, on more than one level. Inspiring in terms of hope for the future, and inspiring in terms of setting the direction for his team and the country.
If you find a good speech writer and a teleprompter, lots of rehearsals can also allow you to present an occasional inspiring speech based on half-truths and lies – but that’s Joe Muscat.
Joe Muscat is nothing but a facade, he is the best Labour could come up with, and behind him there is nothing but the morally corrupt dregs left behind by Mintoff. Simon Busuttil’s claim that Labour is morally corrupt is not a new thing. They have been like that since 1949, when Mintoff falsely accused Boffa of incest in order to usurp his position. They sank down into the scum at the bottom of the fishpond then, and have never risen from it. How they can accuse others of negativity is beyond me. The Labour party is a sick evil thing which corrupts all it touches. People may join it with the best of intentions, but the result is always the same. Either they get sucked into the sickness, or they become irrelevant.
This moral sickness seems to extend to some of its supporters, including those who are parents, who casually brush off references to Joe Muscat and Toni Abela’s cover-up of drug dealing at the Safi club as insignificant or irrelevant, on a par with Tonio Fenech’s fake clock, they say. It never fails to shock me. Every time I think about it or hear it brushed away, it continues to shock me.
This is one reason why Labour needs to lose again. It needs to understand that a half-baked apology for the eighties regime, whilst glorifying the author of it, and pushing forward the survivors (Karmenu Vella, AST, Leo Brincat, Joe Debono Grech et al), just won’t work. It needs to receive the message that re-writing history is not profitable. Otherwise we are doomed to have people like Lorry Sant enter our lexicon of national heroes, as he already is in some areas, with statues of him in parts of the south. When you vote Labour, remember this:
You are voting for the beatification of Lorry Sant.
Any change Labour has undergone has not been by choice. Any of the old guard who are still alive and physically able are still there. It has only changed through attrition. If Lorry Sant were alive, he would lurking someone on the stage with Joe Muscat
And really, why should WE vote for change? Even if it is not for the better, overall? What is so drastically wrong?
I’ve had people whining about arrogance, but what does that mean really? Not getting stuff you don’t deserve? Is that what constitutes being a victim of arrogance? But who cares about arrogance as long as they do a good job? It’s the arrogant incompetents I’m worried about. The kind of people like Joseph Muscat who take a university course in EU studies and against the odds, come away with the cock-eyed idea that it would be bad for Malta, and spend years spreading lies and propaganda, only to lead the stampede to the trough once we got in.
Someone mentioned the judges’ scandals. How the hell is that going to change with a Labour government? The things you need are properly paid judges and the teeth to use on them when they go wrong, within the constraints of democracy. Both have been stymied by Labour. They shot down the proposed wage increases for the judiciary, and when it comes to disciplining errant judges who fall foul of ethical boundaries, they have consistently refused to collaborate in parliamentary impeachment procedures simply to score cheap political points.
Another person I know was complaining that according to him a particular nationalist contractor was “getting all the big deals”. In the same conversation he mentioned that this businessman has Labour partners and would continue to get these deals anyway, even with a change. Even if we accept his premise, what’s the point anyway? A change won’t solve this problem but it’ll sure as hell create others.
But hey, if that’s enough for you, maybe you’re voting with the right demographic. Latest surveys on the topic show that university graduates vote for the PN and Labour in a ratio of 2 to 1. Likewise, those with only a primary school education vote for Labour and the PN in a ratio of 2 to 1. Remember that, when you are voting Labour, you are voting with those least qualified to make that choice.
So anyway, please forgive me if I’m a little pessimistic, but in the face of such rubbish reasons to vote Labour, I come to the conclusion that we will lose. We will lose because voting Labour is not a rational choice, and irrational choices do not bend in the face of logic and reason.
There are other factors which will make us lose, and one of them is the supposedly the independent press.
Take Malta Today for instance, and its impending purchase by the G.W.U. It all ready uses Union Print’s printing and distribution network, and sometimes shares local stories with the GWU / Labour stable in order to avoid duplication of effort and send two journalists instead of one. So finally Labour have their English language weekly. This will come at a price. Expect Saviour Balzan all over PBS in the coming months.
They now appear to have their English language daily too. Yes, I’m talking about the Times.
Never mind the moderation on the comments forum, which lets in very few pro-PN comments – those of you who try to comment will have noticed this.
Never mind the headline writers, who delight in writing headlines about foreign events which give you the impression that whatever disaster they are talking about happened here not overseas.
Never mind the fact that local stories are reported in such a way that aspects of a story negative to the PN are given prominence, whilst those negative to Labour are buried away.
What really gets to me is their relationship with Labour’s campaign manager Keith Schembri, of KASCO. This is the man who sold their new press to them and built it, the man who supplies them with their paper, their largest consumable. How can that not worry us? Where are the statements by the Times that the press is paid for and the paper comes from multiple sources? In their absence, we must assume that the Times owes him lots of money. Our nation’s newspaper of record, beholden to the campaign manager of one of the parties. This is shameful.
Another issue is the church. I would expect, wrongly in a democracy, that the church would be sending subtle messages to vote PN. This is not happening, if anything it is the contrary. The church has finally come of age. It has realised where the liberals are, and it’s not the Labour Party. It has realised that parties pander to their supporters, not their leaders’ intellectual foibles, and that the true conservatives vote Labour, whereas the progressive liberals actually vote PN. So if you think you’re voting Labour for liberal and progressive reasons, think again. You should be voting PN.
Finally, just because I think we’re going to lose, it doesn’t mean we should stop trying. I shall be voting PN. I shall be trying to convince friends and colleagues to do the same up to 10p.m. on March 9th. You should be doing so too.
The Church radio was infested with Labour-leaning speakers and journalists.
We had the case of the emails Joseph had with the news editor.
We got used to listening to the pediatrician Fredrick Fearne, the dentist Marlene Farrugia and the tardy lawyer Toni Abela, then we had Alfred Griscti the MLP mayor of Haz-Zebbug and last but not least the self-claimed ‘switcher’ Carmen Sammut who was always a Labourite.
To top it all up we had the usual phone-in moaners and no one from the PN ‘stables’ to rebut the unfair and subtle criticism.
At times there was Michael Schiavone.
In a typical RTK radio programme one would have Alfred Mallia Milanese in a discussion with the MLP delegate Alfred Griscti chaired by Carmen Sammut.
It is pertinent to note that Mr Griscti was introduce always as an educator and no mention was ever made about his Socialist credentials.
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
PURCINELLI KELLKOM INTOM – U PURCINELL L-EX PRESIDENT EMERITUS LI REGGHA CCAPPAS MA PARTIT U SAR PARTIGJAN. MOSSA LI DAHQET LIL KULL MINN RAKOM. PARTIT LI NIZEL DAQSHEKK FIL-BAXX LI MAR GHARKUBTEJH JIBKI BIEX EFA JGHID KELMA FORSI JGIB XI VOT. NAHSEB LI TILFU AKTAR VOTI U DIN U JÁLLA HALLI NHEHHU DIN L-ARROGANZA MOQZIEZA LI TEZIZTI BHALISSA F’MALTA.
Ma tantx qed tidhek milli jidher. Nahseb ghejra bazwija ghandek. Ghax intom tal-Partit Laburista hlief racanc ta’ leaders qatt ma kellkom.
Mintoff fl-ahhar hliesna minnhu, il-KMB jitkellem u ma jaghti kasu hadd, Alfred Sant bela kull ma kien jghidilkom kontra l-EU u qed jipponta biex issa tivvotawlu halli jkun membru tal-Parlament Ewropew.
U issa ghandkom lil-Joseph Muscat li ma jafx jitkellem minghajr ma jigib mieghu l-pitazz, u dan ghaliex lanqas huwa stess ma jemmen dak li jkun qed jghidilkom.
Dawk huma l-pulcinelli ta’ veru, u intom pulcinelli aktar minnhom ghaliex tibilghu li jghidilkom waqt li huma stess jkunu qed jinqdew bikhom ghal skopijiet egoistici taghhom.
Labour supporters ghandkom kull ragun iskom tizvinaw x’hin tisemghu l-isem biss ta’ Eddie Fenech Adami, ghax ma tantx igibilkom memorji sbieh bhala partit.
Mhux ghax biss rebah il-leaders kollha taghkom, imma ghax gab il-liberta, il-paci u t-trankwillita f’ pajjiz li ghan-nies tal-generazzjoni tieghi (1975) qabel 1987 qas idea taghha ma kellna.
Imma l-MLP dejjem mohhu biex il-poter juzah fi stil dittatorjali, kif jaghmlu mexxejja ta’ pajjizi li kienu u ghadom hbieb u vicin l-MLP.
Jekk ma tafx min huma dawn l-istati, staqsi l-Alex Sceberras Trigona.
Int bis-serjeta? Int ghandek wicc tajru purcinell lil Eddie?
Kieku Muscat tella lil xi KMB jew Sant kien ikollna purcinell zgur ghax l-ewwel kontra l-EU u issa irid isir MEP.
Purcinell Muscat ghax hallihom jippublikaw itra dubjuza minn Kaptan ta’ tim tal-football aktarx falsa biex jirbah il-voti. Purcinell Muscat ghax bieh ruhu mal-kaccaturi ghal voti taghhom u nesa li ghal kull kaccatur hemm 50 li joghbodu l-kacca.
Purcinell Muscat ghax publika testimonial minghand Hollande li Franza kollha iridu jnehhuh.
Imma l-akbar purcinell huwa inti… ghax ser tivvota lil Muscat.
Minn jaf kemm tixtieq ghandkom storja ta’ kapijiet sura bhal tal- Partit Nazzjonalista. Kellkom cans tingabru ta imma ghaziltu lil Alfred Sant flok Lino Spiteri u lil Joseph Muscat flok George Abela. Shame really, forsi kien ikun hemm kompetizzjoni ahjar u ggibni f’dubju lil min ghandi nivvota imma l-ghazla hallejtuha cara daqs il-kristal u ghal darb’ohra nerga nivvota ghall-partit li minkejja l-izbalji li ghamel taghna ix-xoghol, il-liberta u l-fiducja li kapaci mmorru ahjar u fuq kollox ikollna futur fis-sod. Malta ilha taghna lkoll mill – 1987 u Joseph ghadu ma ndunax!!
Clearly you seem to have your ideas caught up in a knot, or you are just completely naive. I do not understand how people, along with yourself, can not see what our country has achieved in such difficult global times.
The world was going through a recession and many countries have had to deal with riots due to financial troubles, yet Malta managed to stand tall and strong. Why is that?, that is because of the people that have been leading this country.
They have a clear sense of what this country needs and have always desired to make it even better. Yes, there have been some mistakes along the years but everyone is human and mistakes are a part of life.
Obviously people may not always agree with certain decisions that are taken, but I do believe that the choices taken have helped every single Maltese national, regardless if they want to acknowledge it.
The Nationalists do know what they are doing and have proven this over the past number of years, whereas the labour party has not been able to. Forget corruption and all the stupid things every Maltese is likely to say, as this is found everywhere in the world, in each and every single democratic government.
I myself have never been into politics but I am aware of the benefits I have experienced since this government has led the country. People may say or believe that CHANGE is necessary and that it is good.
In this case, sorry to burst your bubble, change is not always good, especially when you have a party manifesting to abolish certain aspects which have helped Malta reach where it is today.
Don’t think about yourself only, think about the country as a whole. Think of the younger generation and the opportunities that are available to them that were never there before.
L-iktar partit li waqa’ fil-baxx kien dak li gab lil Muammar Gaddafi u lil Bettino Craxi jindirizzaw il-mass meetings tieghu. U dan il-partit mhux il-PN.
Wiehed dittatur li qabel ma helsu minnu, cappas idejh bid-demm ta’ eluf ta’ niesu stess tul is-snin.
U l-iehor kien fic-centru ta’ skandlu ta’ korruzzjoni fl-Italja fil-bidu tas-snin 90 maghruf bhala Tangentopoli tant li harab lejn it-Tunezija u miet hemm.
Eddie is a brilliant statesman and was a great leader
His message was so strong and electrifying people were crying with emootion and went ecstatic when he went on stage and no wonder too. He led Malta and the Maltese through the worst of times and in peace too.
Kif jista Joseph qatt jimitah jew jixbhu – lanqas f’xejn.
Assuming that Dr Gonzi’s gov e-mail can be compromised as of next Monday, is there an alternative e-mail on which he may be reached? I have not found anything on pn.org.mt.
Thank you, Dr Eddie Fenech Adami for what you did for all of us.
You are a great leader and you selected another great leader in Dr Lawrence Gonzi. Let’s just hope that the Maltese are wise enough to choose the PN to continue working for all Maltese.
What an emotional moment. What a gentleman. He symbolises what the PN is all about, and he’s the best reminder of what Malta went through in order to get to the strong position it enjoys today. Joseph Muscat is not even fit to stand in his shadow.
So lovely! The pictures ooze warmth, hope, determination and courage and, above of all, sincerity and the REAL feeling of “I’m in”. What a wonderful trip down memory lane – would have loved to have been there!
Thank you, Eddie, for all you did for our country – especially for the people of my generation – and thank you too, Gonzi, for all you have done and will continue to do.
Grazzi Prim Ministru, Grazzi ta xoghol u l-energija li tajt lil dan il pajjiz….u grazzi talli ikkonvincejtni biex nivvotta lil Partit Nazzjonalista ghalija, ghalik u ghal pajjizna.
I was out there on the Granaries at the back, and when Gonzi invited Eddie to address the crowd the people just started moving forward.
That was the best endorsement Gonzi and his team could ever get. Eddie showered praise on Gonzi and the PN and wisely avoided even the mention of the Labour Party let alone attacked it.
During his campaign, Joseph Muscat tried hard to imitate the respected Eddie Fenech Adami but yesterday we heard the real Eddie who stated unequivocally that he was always there backing Gonzi, bringing down in the process that same night’s “Labour’s taht it-tinda “ testimonials by the usual suspects who said that the PN was better during Eddie’s times and that the PN needs to lose this election so that it will ‘purge’ itself from the corrupt clique.
With hindsight I can see that the PN was being purged naturally of people whose only aim was to further their personal interests.
Remember that the first to leave a sinking ship are the rats. The same rats who thought that the other ship was sinking sneaked onto Joseph’s ship. Anglu Farrugia spoke about these rats who were frequently seen on the fourth floor of the PL HQ rubbing shoulders with Joseph Muscat.
If the PN is elected we will get rid of these rats who want to dictate our political party’s programmes.
If one needs proof, just look at Labour’s flagship proposal: the unneeded multi-million power station project will be done without the ‘unnecessary formalities’ like MEPA permits, environmental impact assessments,financing and proper feasibility studies.
Remember that in 2008 Joseph was in favour of night tariffs. Why did he have a change of heart?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yQjBdoPn4Eg
Whatever the outcome on Sunday, I will always be proud to say I am Nationalist and voted as such. Within twelve months the switchers will be embarrassed to face the rest of us.
I AM OUT
Hear, hear.
They truly changed Malta and turned it into a European modern state.
I have no idea what they see in Joesph Muscat.
I listened to Muscat’s speech tonight and within a few minutes I lost interest.
It is obvious to me that Muscat is trying very hard to imitate Gonzi’s speeches but he can’t because Muscat is phony.
http://www.maltastar.com/dart/20130307-pn-and-busuttil-inciting-supporters-to-break-the-law
To get the full experience from this article one needs:
(a) to note the sharing buttons on the site and
(b) to play this in the background: http://youtu.be/ibjHm7tvw2I
There was a good vibe. Yesterday, it was the first time I heard Eddie Fenech Adami speak in public, live. I only know his public speaches from recordings. There was so much strength and determination in his voice. He is a true mythical figure.
How about this for a laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8u1jaUuakI
That must have been like old times with Eddie “Mass Meeting” Fenech Adami at the granaries.
Shades of the steep hill struggle of the 1980s, to free Malta from the clutches of Mintoffian wrought socialist barbarism.
While Joseph brought out politically irrelevant people to endorse his party, here’s a lesson on how an endorsement should be.
“M’ghandix dubbju li bit-tmexxija ta’ Lawrence Gonzi u shabu Malta jkolla Futur Fis-Sod”
and
“Naccertakom li jien ghadni nemmen li dan il-partit jista’ tabilhaqq ikompli jmexxi lil-pajjizna biex zgur ikolna Futur Fis-Sod”
That’s THE endorsement Gonzi needed !
A recommendation from a football club manager who’s team has just lost an important game is not good endorsement material and does not augur well for the one receiving it.
For those who think that ex-President Eddie Fenech Adami should not have addressed this political meeting I would just remind them that in the beginning of this electoral campaign, Joseph Muscat tried to use Eddie for his own advantage by stating that “in 1987 Malta needed (the highly respected) Eddie Fenech Adami” .
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130120/local/malta-needed-fenech-adami-in-1987-muscat.453902
Now as Joseph says “We have it from the horse’s mouth”: “Malta needs Gonzi for a ”Futur Fis-Sod”.
Thank you Eddie.
Please allow me to say this again.
Thank you, Dr Fenech Adami, for all you have done for us.
I was proud to be one of the tens of thousands on at the Granaries this evening waving the European Union flag, and it was all thanks to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lzH_mCAouEY
I am so proud and happy that I was there yesterday. I don’t really believe that numbers at mass meetings mean anything, but getting to know that Dr Fenech Adami was going to speak made my mind up.
I had to listen to this great statesman again.
He was and always had been decisive, and just great.
Dr Gonzi’s address was once again full of fire. I am beginning to believe that the PN will win this election, after all.
“Is Sewwa jirbah zgur”
As Eddie himself put it in a few words: IS-SEWWA JIRBAH ZGUR.
IS-SEWWA REBAH.
IS-SEWWA JIBQA JIRBAH.
VALURI SODI – FUTUR FIS-SOD.
God bless us all.
Daphne, did you go to the meeting? I assume you did because for a long time your blog was very quiet. I bet you could not resist the fun.
What a glorious party the PN is – always electing great statemen as its leaders: Sir Ugo Mifsud, Nerik Mizzi, George Borg Olivier, Eddie Fenech Adami, Lawrence Gonzi…and the PN never wavering in its ideals.
The leaders of the Labour Party – it’s like whom shall I pick from the skip.
My first vote was in the freedom election of 1987. I voted, as they say, “bil b*wl icarcar ma saqajja”, with Labour thugs from other districts standing near the head of the queue wearing their Labour t-shirts and doing their level best to scare us into going home, as we queued hours before the polling station opened, wondering whether we would actually be allowed to vote. I voted, and swore that I would continue to do so whatever happened. Others elsewhere were not so lucky and had their voting document taken away from them and the crap beaten out of them.
Eventually we joined the EU, and one of my main reasons for joining was that it would finally put the issue of democracy to rest, that with our entry in the EU, we would never get another Mintoff.
That done, I went back on my promise to myself to vote come what may, and did not bother to vote in the subsequent MEP election. Too late, it dawned on me that I was contributing to the election of those who did their best (whilst making money out of it – Joe Muscat on Super One, for instance) to keep us out of the EU. That has not changed. Do we really want to vote in as President of the EU, when our turn comes, the man who tried to keep us out of it?
Remember, there is no such thing as not voting. You ALWAYS vote. It’s just basic maths. If you don’t vote, you will have effectively voted for the eventual winner. Staying at home to ‘scare’ the PN is simply a vote for Labour. If you have not collected your vote, you can collect it and continue to think about it, but if you leave it uncollected, your choice is irreversible.
If you are a disgruntled PN voter, voting AD is also a waste of time. If you do that, you almost guarantee a Labour government. With the districts the way they are, if the PN gets a few hundred votes more than Labour, Labour will have a majority of at least three seats, and if AD gets the 2000 votes in one district they are campaigning for (the 9th or 10th), and an actual seat, the constitutional provisions allowing the largest party to govern won’t kick in, and Labour will be governing with a minority of votes. Again. Even if AD don’t get that seat, all you are doing is ensuring that the PN does not get that majority of votes.
On the off chance that you are an environmentalist voting for AD out of conviction, just remember that Birdlife have accused Labour and the hunters of colluding to relax hunting regulations if they get elected, so ironically you will be voting AD to kill protected wildlife.
You might also want to ask why large tracts of land are being bought in green areas, whilst considering Anglu Farrugia’s statements that Labour are getting too close to building contractors.
If you are an LGBT voter, remember that you have other interests as well, regarding day to day issues, and those need addressing first. Bear in mind that the world has changed, and that politics is driven by popular opinion, which is changing the world over and is coming round to support your aspirations, in Malta as well as abroad. For some of you, those aspirations such as marriage equality may be an overriding factor. But really, are they? Again, remember that AD will not hold the balance of power if it gets elected, it will simply take votes from the PN.
So why will I vote PN? Is the PN perfect? Has it done everything it should have done, at the right time and the right speed? It hasn’t, but its overall policies and strategies have always been the right ones. It has consistently been on the right side of history. Look at the alternative. Labour has been against independence, freedom of expression, plurality in broadcasting, the market economy, trade liberalisation, consumption taxes, local councils, EU membership, EURO adoption, closing the Drydocks, low cost airlines and many others. Every time it has kicked up a fuss, caused endless anguish, delayed their implementation and made us waste time and money we will never get back. And every time it has come round to see reason, mostly for pragmatic reasons rather than out of conviction, but at what cost to the nation? Just take a look at our national debt and easily half of it is a result of that.
Another reason I will vote PN is Lawrence Gonzi. I wasn’t always a fan. At the time, I would have preferred John Dalli. How wrong I was. I thought Gonzi was just another happy-clappy Jesus freak, but boy was I wrong. You only need to listen to him for 5 minutes to understand how on the ball he is, and how inspiring, on more than one level. Inspiring in terms of hope for the future, and inspiring in terms of setting the direction for his team and the country.
If you find a good speech writer and a teleprompter, lots of rehearsals can also allow you to present an occasional inspiring speech based on half-truths and lies – but that’s Joe Muscat.
Joe Muscat is nothing but a facade, he is the best Labour could come up with, and behind him there is nothing but the morally corrupt dregs left behind by Mintoff. Simon Busuttil’s claim that Labour is morally corrupt is not a new thing. They have been like that since 1949, when Mintoff falsely accused Boffa of incest in order to usurp his position. They sank down into the scum at the bottom of the fishpond then, and have never risen from it. How they can accuse others of negativity is beyond me. The Labour party is a sick evil thing which corrupts all it touches. People may join it with the best of intentions, but the result is always the same. Either they get sucked into the sickness, or they become irrelevant.
This moral sickness seems to extend to some of its supporters, including those who are parents, who casually brush off references to Joe Muscat and Toni Abela’s cover-up of drug dealing at the Safi club as insignificant or irrelevant, on a par with Tonio Fenech’s fake clock, they say. It never fails to shock me. Every time I think about it or hear it brushed away, it continues to shock me.
This is one reason why Labour needs to lose again. It needs to understand that a half-baked apology for the eighties regime, whilst glorifying the author of it, and pushing forward the survivors (Karmenu Vella, AST, Leo Brincat, Joe Debono Grech et al), just won’t work. It needs to receive the message that re-writing history is not profitable. Otherwise we are doomed to have people like Lorry Sant enter our lexicon of national heroes, as he already is in some areas, with statues of him in parts of the south. When you vote Labour, remember this:
You are voting for the beatification of Lorry Sant.
Any change Labour has undergone has not been by choice. Any of the old guard who are still alive and physically able are still there. It has only changed through attrition. If Lorry Sant were alive, he would lurking someone on the stage with Joe Muscat
And really, why should WE vote for change? Even if it is not for the better, overall? What is so drastically wrong?
I’ve had people whining about arrogance, but what does that mean really? Not getting stuff you don’t deserve? Is that what constitutes being a victim of arrogance? But who cares about arrogance as long as they do a good job? It’s the arrogant incompetents I’m worried about. The kind of people like Joseph Muscat who take a university course in EU studies and against the odds, come away with the cock-eyed idea that it would be bad for Malta, and spend years spreading lies and propaganda, only to lead the stampede to the trough once we got in.
Someone mentioned the judges’ scandals. How the hell is that going to change with a Labour government? The things you need are properly paid judges and the teeth to use on them when they go wrong, within the constraints of democracy. Both have been stymied by Labour. They shot down the proposed wage increases for the judiciary, and when it comes to disciplining errant judges who fall foul of ethical boundaries, they have consistently refused to collaborate in parliamentary impeachment procedures simply to score cheap political points.
Another person I know was complaining that according to him a particular nationalist contractor was “getting all the big deals”. In the same conversation he mentioned that this businessman has Labour partners and would continue to get these deals anyway, even with a change. Even if we accept his premise, what’s the point anyway? A change won’t solve this problem but it’ll sure as hell create others.
But hey, if that’s enough for you, maybe you’re voting with the right demographic. Latest surveys on the topic show that university graduates vote for the PN and Labour in a ratio of 2 to 1. Likewise, those with only a primary school education vote for Labour and the PN in a ratio of 2 to 1. Remember that, when you are voting Labour, you are voting with those least qualified to make that choice.
So anyway, please forgive me if I’m a little pessimistic, but in the face of such rubbish reasons to vote Labour, I come to the conclusion that we will lose. We will lose because voting Labour is not a rational choice, and irrational choices do not bend in the face of logic and reason.
There are other factors which will make us lose, and one of them is the supposedly the independent press.
Take Malta Today for instance, and its impending purchase by the G.W.U. It all ready uses Union Print’s printing and distribution network, and sometimes shares local stories with the GWU / Labour stable in order to avoid duplication of effort and send two journalists instead of one. So finally Labour have their English language weekly. This will come at a price. Expect Saviour Balzan all over PBS in the coming months.
They now appear to have their English language daily too. Yes, I’m talking about the Times.
Never mind the moderation on the comments forum, which lets in very few pro-PN comments – those of you who try to comment will have noticed this.
Never mind the headline writers, who delight in writing headlines about foreign events which give you the impression that whatever disaster they are talking about happened here not overseas.
Never mind the fact that local stories are reported in such a way that aspects of a story negative to the PN are given prominence, whilst those negative to Labour are buried away.
What really gets to me is their relationship with Labour’s campaign manager Keith Schembri, of KASCO. This is the man who sold their new press to them and built it, the man who supplies them with their paper, their largest consumable. How can that not worry us? Where are the statements by the Times that the press is paid for and the paper comes from multiple sources? In their absence, we must assume that the Times owes him lots of money. Our nation’s newspaper of record, beholden to the campaign manager of one of the parties. This is shameful.
Another issue is the church. I would expect, wrongly in a democracy, that the church would be sending subtle messages to vote PN. This is not happening, if anything it is the contrary. The church has finally come of age. It has realised where the liberals are, and it’s not the Labour Party. It has realised that parties pander to their supporters, not their leaders’ intellectual foibles, and that the true conservatives vote Labour, whereas the progressive liberals actually vote PN. So if you think you’re voting Labour for liberal and progressive reasons, think again. You should be voting PN.
Finally, just because I think we’re going to lose, it doesn’t mean we should stop trying. I shall be voting PN. I shall be trying to convince friends and colleagues to do the same up to 10p.m. on March 9th. You should be doing so too.
The Church radio was infested with Labour-leaning speakers and journalists.
We had the case of the emails Joseph had with the news editor.
We got used to listening to the pediatrician Fredrick Fearne, the dentist Marlene Farrugia and the tardy lawyer Toni Abela, then we had Alfred Griscti the MLP mayor of Haz-Zebbug and last but not least the self-claimed ‘switcher’ Carmen Sammut who was always a Labourite.
To top it all up we had the usual phone-in moaners and no one from the PN ‘stables’ to rebut the unfair and subtle criticism.
At times there was Michael Schiavone.
In a typical RTK radio programme one would have Alfred Mallia Milanese in a discussion with the MLP delegate Alfred Griscti chaired by Carmen Sammut.
It is pertinent to note that Mr Griscti was introduce always as an educator and no mention was ever made about his Socialist credentials.
Daphne, thank You for your blog.
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
PURCINELLI KELLKOM INTOM – U PURCINELL L-EX PRESIDENT EMERITUS LI REGGHA CCAPPAS MA PARTIT U SAR PARTIGJAN. MOSSA LI DAHQET LIL KULL MINN RAKOM. PARTIT LI NIZEL DAQSHEKK FIL-BAXX LI MAR GHARKUBTEJH JIBKI BIEX EFA JGHID KELMA FORSI JGIB XI VOT. NAHSEB LI TILFU AKTAR VOTI U DIN U JÁLLA HALLI NHEHHU DIN L-ARROGANZA MOQZIEZA LI TEZIZTI BHALISSA F’MALTA.
GRAZZI.
Le, ma ccappas ma’ partit. Ghax zmien il-partiti spicca. Issa movimenti, or didn’t you get the memo.
Ma tantx qed tidhek milli jidher. Nahseb ghejra bazwija ghandek. Ghax intom tal-Partit Laburista hlief racanc ta’ leaders qatt ma kellkom.
Mintoff fl-ahhar hliesna minnhu, il-KMB jitkellem u ma jaghti kasu hadd, Alfred Sant bela kull ma kien jghidilkom kontra l-EU u qed jipponta biex issa tivvotawlu halli jkun membru tal-Parlament Ewropew.
U issa ghandkom lil-Joseph Muscat li ma jafx jitkellem minghajr ma jigib mieghu l-pitazz, u dan ghaliex lanqas huwa stess ma jemmen dak li jkun qed jghidilkom.
Dawk huma l-pulcinelli ta’ veru, u intom pulcinelli aktar minnhom ghaliex tibilghu li jghidilkom waqt li huma stess jkunu qed jinqdew bikhom ghal skopijiet egoistici taghhom.
What is it with these PL people that have to write in capital letters. As soon as I see text in capital letters I always know it is some PL smart ass.
Labour supporters ghandkom kull ragun iskom tizvinaw x’hin tisemghu l-isem biss ta’ Eddie Fenech Adami, ghax ma tantx igibilkom memorji sbieh bhala partit.
Mhux ghax biss rebah il-leaders kollha taghkom, imma ghax gab il-liberta, il-paci u t-trankwillita f’ pajjiz li ghan-nies tal-generazzjoni tieghi (1975) qabel 1987 qas idea taghha ma kellna.
Imma l-MLP dejjem mohhu biex il-poter juzah fi stil dittatorjali, kif jaghmlu mexxejja ta’ pajjizi li kienu u ghadom hbieb u vicin l-MLP.
Jekk ma tafx min huma dawn l-istati, staqsi l-Alex Sceberras Trigona.
Kemm taghtkom gewwa.
Mela Joseph jpoggi lilu nnifsu bhala okkazjoni storika ghal-pajjiz, u Fenech Adami jaccetta l-istedina biex ikun ma’ Gonzi.
Int tahseb li Eddie ma kkunsidrax kif l-istorja se tiggudikah fuq il-bierah?
‘Jibqa l-uniku partit li kapaci jmexxi dan il-pajjiz’
Int bis-serjeta? Int ghandek wicc tajru purcinell lil Eddie?
Kieku Muscat tella lil xi KMB jew Sant kien ikollna purcinell zgur ghax l-ewwel kontra l-EU u issa irid isir MEP.
Purcinell Muscat ghax hallihom jippublikaw itra dubjuza minn Kaptan ta’ tim tal-football aktarx falsa biex jirbah il-voti. Purcinell Muscat ghax bieh ruhu mal-kaccaturi ghal voti taghhom u nesa li ghal kull kaccatur hemm 50 li joghbodu l-kacca.
Purcinell Muscat ghax publika testimonial minghand Hollande li Franza kollha iridu jnehhuh.
Imma l-akbar purcinell huwa inti… ghax ser tivvota lil Muscat.
Minn jaf kemm tixtieq ghandkom storja ta’ kapijiet sura bhal tal- Partit Nazzjonalista. Kellkom cans tingabru ta imma ghaziltu lil Alfred Sant flok Lino Spiteri u lil Joseph Muscat flok George Abela. Shame really, forsi kien ikun hemm kompetizzjoni ahjar u ggibni f’dubju lil min ghandi nivvota imma l-ghazla hallejtuha cara daqs il-kristal u ghal darb’ohra nerga nivvota ghall-partit li minkejja l-izbalji li ghamel taghna ix-xoghol, il-liberta u l-fiducja li kapaci mmorru ahjar u fuq kollox ikollna futur fis-sod. Malta ilha taghna lkoll mill – 1987 u Joseph ghadu ma ndunax!!
Clearly you seem to have your ideas caught up in a knot, or you are just completely naive. I do not understand how people, along with yourself, can not see what our country has achieved in such difficult global times.
The world was going through a recession and many countries have had to deal with riots due to financial troubles, yet Malta managed to stand tall and strong. Why is that?, that is because of the people that have been leading this country.
They have a clear sense of what this country needs and have always desired to make it even better. Yes, there have been some mistakes along the years but everyone is human and mistakes are a part of life.
Obviously people may not always agree with certain decisions that are taken, but I do believe that the choices taken have helped every single Maltese national, regardless if they want to acknowledge it.
The Nationalists do know what they are doing and have proven this over the past number of years, whereas the labour party has not been able to. Forget corruption and all the stupid things every Maltese is likely to say, as this is found everywhere in the world, in each and every single democratic government.
I myself have never been into politics but I am aware of the benefits I have experienced since this government has led the country. People may say or believe that CHANGE is necessary and that it is good.
In this case, sorry to burst your bubble, change is not always good, especially when you have a party manifesting to abolish certain aspects which have helped Malta reach where it is today.
Don’t think about yourself only, think about the country as a whole. Think of the younger generation and the opportunities that are available to them that were never there before.
Grazzi, futur fis-sod, ghax urejtni lil minn ghandi nivvota. Bla dubju PN.
L-iktar partit li waqa’ fil-baxx kien dak li gab lil Muammar Gaddafi u lil Bettino Craxi jindirizzaw il-mass meetings tieghu. U dan il-partit mhux il-PN.
Wiehed dittatur li qabel ma helsu minnu, cappas idejh bid-demm ta’ eluf ta’ niesu stess tul is-snin.
U l-iehor kien fic-centru ta’ skandlu ta’ korruzzjoni fl-Italja fil-bidu tas-snin 90 maghruf bhala Tangentopoli tant li harab lejn it-Tunezija u miet hemm.
Thank you for uploading. I keep confirming over and over again why I vote PN.
Here we go!
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130308/local/sliema-monument-vandalised-again.460637
Ahhhh now that’s a pleasant sight! Smart men in smart suits.
With brains, manners and savoir-faire to boot.
Thank God I was there.
Eddie is a brilliant statesman and was a great leader
His message was so strong and electrifying people were crying with emootion and went ecstatic when he went on stage and no wonder too. He led Malta and the Maltese through the worst of times and in peace too.
Kif jista Joseph qatt jimitah jew jixbhu – lanqas f’xejn.
Time to relax and perhaps listen to an analysis about the behaviour of the human and modern sociology.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kugiufHh800
Was the word “vintage” appropriately used as a heading on ‘The Times of Malta’, in regards to Dr Eddie Fenech Adami?
Nasty choice of word, wasn’t it?
Assuming that Dr Gonzi’s gov e-mail can be compromised as of next Monday, is there an alternative e-mail on which he may be reached? I have not found anything on pn.org.mt.
[email protected]
The grand old man himself. What memories.
Thank you, Dr Eddie Fenech Adami for what you did for all of us.
You are a great leader and you selected another great leader in Dr Lawrence Gonzi. Let’s just hope that the Maltese are wise enough to choose the PN to continue working for all Maltese.
What an emotional moment. What a gentleman. He symbolises what the PN is all about, and he’s the best reminder of what Malta went through in order to get to the strong position it enjoys today. Joseph Muscat is not even fit to stand in his shadow.
Grand yes but by today’s standards, not OLD at all.
Mass Meeting on the Fossos (complete).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYhlq1a9qh0
It was great to hear Eddie again. It was a show of who is the real thing.
Joseph Muscat’s biggest failure is in trying to be something or someone he is not.
In life whatever one does or would like to do, one has to be sincere and truthful to oneself before trying to change anything else.
So lovely! The pictures ooze warmth, hope, determination and courage and, above of all, sincerity and the REAL feeling of “I’m in”. What a wonderful trip down memory lane – would have loved to have been there!
Thank you, Eddie, for all you did for our country – especially for the people of my generation – and thank you too, Gonzi, for all you have done and will continue to do.
Grazzi mill-qalb.
Grazzi Prim Ministru, Grazzi ta xoghol u l-energija li tajt lil dan il pajjiz….u grazzi talli ikkonvincejtni biex nivvotta lil Partit Nazzjonalista ghalija, ghalik u ghal pajjizna.
The moment Eddie came on stage yesterday and started delivering his speech, shivers went down my spine and memories of ’87 came flooding back.
I was surprised how strong his voice still is…. what a statesman!
What a genius!
The last photo speaks volumes, incredible atmosphere yesterday – so proud to be a Nationalist.
Joseph can’t hold a candle to these statesmen, not in his appearance, his manners, his speeches and most of all intelligence.
Pity that there are those who are going to give that spoilt brat the satisfaction of enjoying what these great men worked hard for.
Do as I did. I have already voted -‘GHAL FUTUR FIS-SOD’
I was out there on the Granaries at the back, and when Gonzi invited Eddie to address the crowd the people just started moving forward.
That was the best endorsement Gonzi and his team could ever get. Eddie showered praise on Gonzi and the PN and wisely avoided even the mention of the Labour Party let alone attacked it.
During his campaign, Joseph Muscat tried hard to imitate the respected Eddie Fenech Adami but yesterday we heard the real Eddie who stated unequivocally that he was always there backing Gonzi, bringing down in the process that same night’s “Labour’s taht it-tinda “ testimonials by the usual suspects who said that the PN was better during Eddie’s times and that the PN needs to lose this election so that it will ‘purge’ itself from the corrupt clique.
With hindsight I can see that the PN was being purged naturally of people whose only aim was to further their personal interests.
Remember that the first to leave a sinking ship are the rats. The same rats who thought that the other ship was sinking sneaked onto Joseph’s ship. Anglu Farrugia spoke about these rats who were frequently seen on the fourth floor of the PL HQ rubbing shoulders with Joseph Muscat.
If the PN is elected we will get rid of these rats who want to dictate our political party’s programmes.
If one needs proof, just look at Labour’s flagship proposal: the unneeded multi-million power station project will be done without the ‘unnecessary formalities’ like MEPA permits, environmental impact assessments,financing and proper feasibility studies.
Remember that in 2008 Joseph was in favour of night tariffs. Why did he have a change of heart?