Why do I get the feeling that former EU Commissioner/Nationalist Foreign Minister Joe Borg voted Labour?

Published: March 18, 2013 at 2:04pm

How sweet. Agribank provided the prime minister with a lectern when he went to declare their premises officially open.

Perhaps they noticed how very much at a loss he was when Marlene Bonnici failed to provide him with one at Dar Malta in Brussels.

In any case, when I read this headline in The Times, my first thought was to wonder out loud who Agribank are, given that it is significant how they waited until just a few days after the general election to have their new premises inaugurated by somebody other than Lawrence Gonzi.

I read the report right through to the end and found my answer in the last line: the bank is chaired by former EU Commissioner Joe Borg, who never forgave PM Gonzi for not nominating him for a second term as Commissioner, and who gave a big, bitchy interview to The Sunday Times about it.

And then they say women are spiteful. There’s a certain kind of Maltese man that seems to have cornered the market in that.

Look at the delighted smile on Joe Borg’s face.

Agribank

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24 Comments Comment

  1. Pecksniff says:

    Ah. but behind former EU Commissioner Joe Borg there is an unforgiving, spiteful, pushy woman.

    • tinnat says:

      Is that so, Pecksniff? My experience of Dr Borg’s wife is totally different from yours.

      • Pecksniff says:

        tinnat : Direct, personal experience ?

      • Tinnat says:

        Yes, Pecksniff. Were you a student of hers, I wonder? At any rate, she is not as you describe.

      • Pecksniff says:

        Is that so, Tinnat? My experience of Dr. Borg’s wife is totally different from yours. And no, thankfully I was not a student of hers but had the misfortune to cross her path and was on the receiving end of this “unforgiving, spiteful, pushy woman”.

        Just look at her husband and the interview he gave to The Sunday Times when he was not reappointed EU Commissioner as if it was his (or her?) divine right. As they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

  2. David Gatt says:

    no wonder you have enemies everywhere!

    [Daphne – And friends, too. It cuts both ways.]

    • Mr. Bean There Done That says:

      “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

      Winston Churchill

      • C C says:

        Thanls for the quote Mr. Bean as it makes life worth while when people are looking with a snare at you.

  3. Mr. Bean There Done That says:

    Did they provide teleprompters for his speech, as well?

    As for the rest of the observations you make about the opening being postponed until after the elections, this shows typical Labour thinking – vendikazzjonijiet.

  4. Qeghdin Sew says:

    A second term for Borg would have spared us the Dalli embarrassment.

    [Daphne – Neither option was have been the right one.]

  5. michelle pirotta says:

    This was a clear case of breaching protocol.

    The Maltese flag may NOT be used for this type of situation.

    Unbelievable.

  6. ken il malti says:

    At least he was smart enough to ditch that fruity brazzuletta.

  7. Bob says:

    Joseph is so happy to see his name on the plaque.

  8. David says:

    Yes most “Nationalists” have voted Labour or are now being sympathetic to Labour, it seems. We are all Labourites now.

    [Daphne – Rubbish. That’s called watching your back and sucking up. What they actually think is something else. It’s like a carbon copy of 1996. Deja vu all over again, as they say, with even the same comments.]

  9. Last Post says:

    I am speechless! If Joe Borg felt he could be this disloyal, no wonder there were so many thousands who switched their vote to Labour.

    And yes, I remember that interview in which he could not contain his anger against PM Gonzi at not being chosen for a second term as EU Commissioner.

  10. Grezz says:

    Delighted smile on Borg’s face in the last photo … while Muscat is trying hard to suck his tummy in ghar-ritratt, and holding his jacket too, lest it flaps open.

  11. charlie says:

    Unbelievable! Thanks to Lawrence Gonzi, Joe Borg got an annual salary of over €238,000 annually which on a five-year period whould amount to €1.2 million. And I’m not sure whether he ended up with a Commissioner’s pension and an additional MP pension in Malta.

    This is besides hundreds of thousands more in allowances and perks, and besides the fact that he was given an exemption from registration tax on a car which he both in Brussels and brought over to Malta. X’ried aktar ja hanzir li hu, meta Gonzi ghamlu miljunarju.

  12. charlie says:

    Just see what EU Commissioners are entitled to:
    http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/pdf/entitlements_en.pdf

  13. Watchful eye says:

    Is it not forbidden to use the Maltese flag for such events? The mind boggles.

  14. Selit says:

    That is exactly what I thought.

  15. fm says:

    Tohodhiex bi kbira li weghdu li ha jerga jibghatu EU Commissioner la jispicca Tonio Borg.

    Anzi ma dahalx ghal-gurament il-palazz ukoll jigri wara JPO u Sandro Chetcuti li miskin ta ftit eluf jew mijiet ta’ eluf bhala karita ghall-campaign tal-PL.

    B’ hekk gabha il-maggoranza, b’weghdiet u hmieg kbir.

    Per ezempju x’ma jaghlaqx halqu Anglu Farrugia meta ha jkollu salarju kwazi daqs ta’ prim ministru u ovvjament ix-xoghol legali tal-ufficcju tieghu jibqa sejjer qisu ma gara xejn.

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