Malta Taghna Lkoll update: I am forced to take shelter in a Franciscan Convent with two friars guarding the door while people led by the Labour mayor of Zurrieq yell outside in the street, “Ohorguha minn hemm ghax issa ahna ghandna l-power!”

Published: March 19, 2013 at 8:49pm
Magistrate Consuelo Herrera with the Labour mayor of Zurrieq, Ignatius (Natius) Farrugia

Magistrate Consuelo Herrera with the Labour mayor of Zurrieq, Ignatius (Natius) Farrugia. Robert Musumeci is in the background, wearing white spectacles.

A pleasant afternoon in the prettily decorated streets of Rabat, during the feast of St Joseph, ended this evening with a spectacular demonstration of Labour positivity, Malta taghna lkoll and ‘lesti li nahdmu maghkom jekk intom lesti tahdmu maghna’ (the 2013 version of Mintoff’s ‘min mhux maghna huwa kontra taghna’).

I found myself having to take shelter inside the Franciscan Convent while two monks slammed the door shut after me and stood watch outside on the pavement as assorted Laburisti, rounded up by the mayor of Zurrieq, waxing-salon owner Ignatius ‘Natius Ola’ Farrugia, and those harridans from the Labour club up the road, yelled “Ohorguha minn hemm! Ohorguha minn hemm ghax issa ahna ghandna l-power!”

Two of the people I was with were locked inside the convent with me. Because of the commotion outside we couldn’t leave. The rest of our friends had meanwhile gone for the police and returned with a posse of them: around eight officers. Only then was I able to leave the building.

The Labour mayor of Zurrieq was so convinced that this is what he is able to do with impunity ghax issa huma ghandhom il-power that he didn’t even bother to leave the scene of the crime before or when the police turned up. He was perplexed when I pointed him out as the source of the rabble-rousing and the police took his statement.

The police then invited me to go to the station up the road to file a formal complaint against him so that they could prosecute him, which I did.

The only problem here is that the district magistrate, who will hear the case, is the one in the photograph shown here: the Labour mayor’s bosom friend and my sworn enemy, Consuelo Herrera. Il-gustizzja taghna lkoll – and complaining to the Minister of Justice is not going to ensure that this case is heard by another magistrate, because Herrera is the one who brought him and Joseph Muscat together in the first place (to the detriment, oh irony of ironies, of her brother).

So how did it all happen? Simple – one of my friends and I fell behind the rest of our group because I was taking pictures and moving more slowly. Ignatius Farrugia appeared out of the crowd and began dancing around me like a complete imbecile, waving his arms and shouting ‘Defni Defni! Malta taghna lkoll! Malta taghna lkoll!’, confirming me in my view that whoever voted for this ship of malicious fools is just as maliciously foolish as they are.

I ignored him and kept walking, turning only once to say that if he persisted in harassing me I would go straight to the police. He continued to follow me so that every time I stopped or turned around, he was there with his goons. I continued to ignore him and he continued to follow me with those goons, jeering and barracking. I had to stop taking pictures because they made it impossible for me. The friend I was with stopped to speak to a couple he knew and I stopped with him.

I saw Ignatius Farrugia signal to that woman who runs the Labour Party club in Rabat, where they had that brawl some weeks ago in which a man almost died, and another young woman who I took to be her daughter. Within seconds they were on me, yelling abuse like two streetwalkers fighting over a sailor. I gave them my back and ignored them until they went away. Meanwhile, the mayor of Zurrieq stood there visibly delighted.

When he saw to his disappointment that I had not reacted, which meant that their verbal assault did not progress to the physical and they gave up and left, he decided to try it himself instead. He brought out his camera, barged his way into our small group of four, and shoved his camera into my face, jostling me, his goons in attendance.

Given that the situation was getting threatening, and the mayor of Zurrieq showed no sign of letting up, I slipped into the open doorway of the Franciscan convent, with the help of the two friars who were standing outside. The couple who had been talking to my friend came with me, while my friend went for the police.

The woman who was with me got angrier and angrier, saying that this was ridiculous, that we had ended up taking shelter in a convent because of the Labour politician rabble-rousing outside, and so much for Malta taghna lkoll, and we should go right back outside because this is a free country and we should be able to walk the streets without being harassed by Labour politicians, who should lead by example.

At that point the friars standing outside quickly slammed the door shut, locking us in, and we soon realised why as the cry went up: “Ohorguha minn hemm! Ohorguha minn hemm ghax issa ahna ghandna l-power! Dahhaltuha hemm biex toqghod tqerr ghandkom? Ohorguha ghax il-power taghna! Joseph l-Alla taghna!”

Meanwhile, my other friends, wondering where I had got held up, had turned back to look for me and immediately realised where I was when they heard people outside the convent howling “Ohorguha minn hemm lil Defni! Ohorguha ghax issa ghandna l-power!” The friars told my friends: “Morru gibu l-pulizija issa stess.”

They went in two different directions looking for police but then a small army of them turned up, alerted by my other friend who had gone in search of them earlier.

They took a statement from the mayor of Zurrieq and then asked me whether I wished to file a formal complaint against him. I said that I did and they walked alongside me to the station so that I would not be accosted en route. The mayor thought I’d been arrested and was surprised to discover that he is the one who is going to be arraigned.

He was taken aback when the police arrived because apparently, issa li ghandhom il-power huma, the police should leave me to be ripped apart by his flash mob. He was so absorbed in gloating at the attack he had instigated that he was surprised when the police questioned him.

So does he think it’s legal to do this kind of thing? Yes, he does. Maybe where he comes from, uncivilised behaviour is the norm.

I’m afraid this is what happens when you elect savages who inhabit a world of their own. This is a MAYOR we’re talking about, a politician elected in the name of the Labour Party, the governing party. He represents that party, bringing it into disrepute with his behaviour.

Instead of moving to calm the situation, he is the one who actively encouraged it and caused it. The people baying outside the convent while I was locked inside did not know I was in there, or who I am. They arrived later, when I had been inside for some time already. He’s the one who told them.

PS If you wish to find him on Facebook, he’s listed as NATIUS FARRUGIA.




418 Comments Comment

  1. Nadege says:

    How scary. And what a fool that Ignatius is, the idiot.

    • How foolish to have given Real Labour a chance to get into power again says:

      How scary…

      And what fools all those who deliberately abstained from voting PN and all those who switched over to voting Labour and who were ready and willing and capricious enough to give these people – real Labour – a chance to get into power again. FOOLs FOOLS FOOLS.

      I really don`t know what to tell you, Daphne, except that you are exceptionally brave and command the respect of so many.

  2. dre says:

    Ahh barely a week has passed and we can already see their true colours..

    • Mandy Mallia says:

      Did you have any doubt that we would?

    • Wot the Hack says:

      In the area where I live, I could see Labourites acting above the law this last Sunday, and I thought, God, here they go, barely a week after the end of their celebrations.

  3. rc says:

    Do keep us updated on what happens with the hearing.

  4. Roy says:

    This is going to be a repeat of 1996. Within a few months 60% of the country will be saying they voted Nationalist. Only this time, the beast that has been unleashed will not go away in 22 months.

    Well done, switchers. Well-fu*kn-done.

  5. mhuxveru says:

    As we say in Zurrieq, if Farrugia carries on like this he’ll end up finding a hat that fits him.

    • ken il malti says:

      A big fancy chapeau with ostrich feathers, the kind Ethel Merman would wear in Radio-city NY back in the 1940s.

  6. H.P. Baxxter says:

    You need to start taking Harry with you. His Hulk Hogan frame and moustache will keep the rabble at bay.

    • Harry Purdie says:

      Jeez, Baxxter, wish I hadda been there! These red pricks are all pussies. Taunt a woman, but not a man, Wimps, them all.

      Available 24/7.

      A truly sickening display by little Joey’s storm troopers.

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        Hello darkness [and fear] my old friend.

        Could well be the Maltese national anthem.

      • Harry Purdie says:

        Darkness, fear and a fucked up economy, my friend. Mark my words.

        Incompetence and thugerry rules once again, led by a no-nothing dwarf. Just wonderful.

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        Have the markets reacted yet? Or are they waiting for the next revision of our credit ratings?

        You’re an old hand at this game. I’m told that for those who knew how to play the market, there was a killing to be made in 1996-1998. Any tips? By email of course.

      • Harry Purdie says:

        Not yet, my friend. We’re small potatoes in the scheme of things. Once Cyprus goes, the Americans will, recognizing that we have a commie government, focus their radar on us.

        Sell short if invested here. Email on the way.

      • Paddling Duck says:

        Does the e-mail contain some news or speculation report we should start worrying about?

      • HATEPN says:

        Harry purdie i would love to fight you ,,,,,

  7. Makjavel says:

    There’s something really wrong with that man and he gives a bad name to the gay community.

    The decent Zrieraq should get rid of him, he is not contributing to their self respect.

    This guy is taking them back into the bad days. It needs only a spark and the old divisions will explode again.

    • Wormfood says:

      Err, why should he represent anyone who happens to be gay?

      People who are gay are individuals like any other. His actions give a bad name to no one but himself and anyone who is best mates with him.

      • Wormfood says:

        and of course the Labour party but then it’s not like we can ever expect anything else from them…

      • Esteve says:

        And those who vote for him. Because let’s be clear here, there is no better to way to condone someone’s behaviour than by voting for them.

      • Paul Bonnici says:

        So if a heterosexual man does something wrong, I blame all heterosexual men.

        This idiot does not represent gays (I avoid using community because there is no such a thing) because he is gay.

      • ken il malti says:

        I suspect that Natius, being an outrageous campy queen, thought that his over-the-top behaviour will be excused because he is normally so extravagant and a show off.

        And being a homosexual will get him more leeway, as homosexuals are supposed to be seen as “permanent victims” and they simply can’t do any wrong in this enlightened age.

        I am not buying that – the guy should step down as mayor. He is not fit for the job and it has nothing to do with his sexual preferences.

      • Paddling Duck says:

        I’m gay, and because I’m gay, I’d be out and proud to execute him.

  8. king rat says:

    Ignatius = an absolute bitch .

  9. Manuel says:

    What a moron. The PL must be very proud of him – taf int, l-aqwa li gab il-voti ghall-partit.

    Here is a video that really spells out the situation we are living currently in Malta and this mayor seems to be the King among so many dumb people.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pD_UK6vGU&feature=youtu.be

    • Catsrbest says:

      The PL is not only proud of him, but also proud of that other stupid prat – Joe Debono Grech, he’ll probably be elected. OMG. Dear God please have mercy. What have we done so wrong in order to deserve these fools and incompetent lot.

      • Pied Piper says:

        Nationalists who voted lejber enjoy self flagellation

      • Roy says:

        The phrase “Nationalists who voted lejber” irks me. They are NOT Nationalists, thank you very much. And what is a Nationalist anyway?

        My parents brought me up Nationalist. They didn’t do so by taking me to Eddie’s meetings, harping on about the evil that is labour and indoctrinating me with propaganda; and I’m too young to have lived through it myself.

        They brought me up to think for myself, exposed me to the world rather than letting me wallow in the mediocrity of our town and let me form and express an opinion. Believe you me, I could soon tell the difference between the world and Malta on my own accord.

        When it came time for me to concretize a political opinion, the PN was the natural choice, what with it’s forward-thinking mentality and expansive vision for the country, rather than Labour’s “il-but tal-individwu” tunnel-vision approach.

        I work for a living, and I don’t expect handouts. I expect my work to translate into reward. I am more than happy to pay taxes, as it is only fair that I contribute towards the road I drive on and the health service I know is there in case of need. Call me a Capitalist all you will but I’d rather make something of myself than depend on the state to get by.

        The Labour party’s age-old cry of being a worker’s party is nothing but a populist way of telling lazy (from a mental trait, not ‘zest for work’ p.o.v.) persons who classify themselves as “il-haddiem” that they will be taken care of, regardless of the effort they put in. And don’t be fooled by the “moviment”. Labour hasn’t changed and that was just a means to an end. The queues outside ministries are proof enough of this.

        Back to the “Nationalists who voted lejber” though. The few I know are very obviously bored with the turns their lives have taken (mostly results of their own choices). What it shows me though is that they only voted Nationalist out of habit, rather than out of reason. Alas, denial is rampant and the PN at the polls was an easy target for those wanting to compensate monotony by doing something new. One wonders why they didn’t just change the living-room sofa.

        I have never been so proud to be part of a minority.

  10. MxC says:

    This must have been going through their minds:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BRv9wGf5pk

  11. Hannah says:

    I don’t think that Muscat likes this behaviour, but these idiots need a lesson and Muscat needs to show that he doesn’t agree with this behaviour by asking for his resignation.

    If he does not put his foot down now, worse will happen later.

    • Wot the Hack says:

      Muscat never stopped the harassment of Daphne or of any other journalist by the Labour Party. Nejxu reports to Muscat because he is a MLP member and he is one of Muscat’s party Mayors.

      Therefore Muscat must come into this.

      Unlike the case of the Safi club and the ice cubes, where Muscat acted like Pontius Pilate and washed his hands.

    • Harry Purdie says:

      It will, the animals have been unleashed. Don’t have to guess anymore. One week later, here we have proof.

    • Catsrbest says:

      I think that you have no real concept of Muscat, if you say that he does not like this.

      In my book, Muscat is simply a person with many scheming faces and he is amoral, not immoral.

      My greatest astonishment in this election was at how can people in their right senses voted for an obvious liar (he lied through his teeth in this campaign) as a prime minister.

      I enjoy calling him Pinocchio because it suits him extremely well and in the interview he gave to ‘The Times’ he said he is not going to sue the PN for the ‘Pinocchio’ billboard.

      Certainly he cannot sue, as there is ample proof of his lies on the internet.

      • Maria Xriha says:

        Amoral is a fitting description all should keep in mind, and apply it to the whole of the marmalja. Those in the cabinet and those who put them there.

        Please be careful, Daphne. If grown people have lived with this hatred all their lives they’re more likely to see this show of MLP resurgence as space to vent after such a long absence from power.

        They don’t know any better. Little wonder they – from the top to the bottom of the LP scale – can’t bear the sight of you. You stand for all they are not, and they’re too far gone and compromised to ever be able to do anything about what they are.

        Why should JM himself do anything about it? It might dent his local image and lower his voter following. What good is smiling and posing around the Pope when what’s reserved for the nation is the smirk?

  12. ken il malti says:

    This sounds like a scene from from the TV series “Batman” with the evil and campy mayor of Tutti-fruitiville out to shanghai the dynamic duo to his torture chamber at the city hall cellar.

    What a nightmare this Labour is.

  13. Reason says:

    Can someone guide me to this buffoons Facebook page?

    Repost this page on your walls and tag this poor excuse of a man… Online social media can work both ways you know…

    [Daphne – http://www.facebook.com/natius.farrugia?ref=ts&fref=ts ]

  14. David says:

    As the Italians say, chi e\ causa del suo mal piange se stesso.

    [Daphne – No, David, there is the rule of law.]

  15. Michael A. Vella says:

    Less than ten days since Joseph Muscat and the Partit Laburista are in government, and Malta is back 42 years to the darkening days of the Mintoff regime, the civil service is a complete shambles, uncertainty reigns in state agencies, governing boards on state bodies are absent or suspended and now, and most threatening of all, it is no longer safe for anyone expressing opinions at variance with those of PL or of its supporters, or who exposes their dark side, their ineptitude, or their shortcomings, to walk the streets in safety, not even in daylight and in the presence of other members of the public.

    Kenneth Zammit Tabona, Kevin Drake, the switchers, those who voted to ‘punish’ that most excellent of Maltese Prime Ministers, Lawrence Gonzi, and the PN for some petty self-perceived ‘hurt’ are no doubt now standing tall in pride for having voted to put Joseph Muscat and his PL goons into power.

  16. Stephen Borg Fiteni says:

    Shouldn’t this appear in the media? We’re just past their first week in government and this is already happening, I shudder to think how comfortable they’re going to feel in a few years.

    • Grezz says:

      Well, seeing that The Times is pro-Labour, rest assured that, if reported there, it will probably be misreported.

      • Wot the Hack says:

        If The Times were to be burnt down, again, by Labour supporters tomorrow morning, the headlines on the next day will be “The Times celebrates Labour Victory.”

      • Min Jaf says:

        One thing is for sure, the level of journalism in The Times is now so abysmally low, Pl political bias apart, is that no one there will consider it necessary or appropriate to call Daphne for her side of the story before it goes to print.

      • A. Charles says:

        Stop complaining about The Times, just stop buying it. At the end, the shareholders will take note of the poor end-of-year financial results.

      • Pecksniff says:

        A.Charles : Completely agree with you. Dump The Times (which I did with no withdrawal symptoms) and start taking The Malta Independent.

      • Angus Black says:

        Muscat must answer to these despicable acts by his party hooligans.

        We have been warned, we now have to face reality and the ‘disgruntled’ will have much more to be disgruntled about and will soon wish they had voted responsibly.

        Too late now.

    • Liberta says:

      Both last night’s and this morning’s news on Radio101 didn’t mention this horrible episode. In last night’s news the feast of St. Joseph was mentioned. Why wasn’t the episode mentioned? This is very worrying. What’s the P.N. coming to?

    • Maria Xriha says:

      In addition to whatever else is happening and being ‘arranged’ that we’re not privy to…

  17. Jimmy says:

    Daphne,

    Have you seen this: http://www.inewsmalta.com/dart/20130319-is-sindku-ta-urrieq-dcg-spi-aw-bil-banda

    Note Natius’s arrogance:
    … is-Sindku taż-Żurrieq Ignatius Farrugia qal li hu ffaċċja lil Caruana Galizia aktar kmieni illum fir-Rabat.

    “Iva, iffaċjajtha ta’ kemm-il darba ħadet ritratti mill-Facebook tiegħi u użathom fuq il-blog tagħha biex tirredikolani. Ta’ kemm-il darba użat anke n-negozju tiegħi biex tipprova twassal għall-ħsara,” qal Farrugia.

    Min-naħa l-oħra Farrugia qal li mhux minnu dak li qalet Caruana Galizia li l-pulizija bagħtu għalih. Huwa qal li hu baqa’ barra, ir-Rabat, fejn kien u li l-pulizija fl-ebda ħin ma marru għalih.

    [Daphne – The police spoke to him right there. I know this for a fact because I was watching. And the police officer back at the station confirmed that she had spoken to him. As for the rest, it is just unbelievable that a pubic official can seek to justify his illegal behaviour in that manner. He is a politician and should expect to be written about.]

    • Wot the Hack says:

      Mela Nejxu haseb li jista’ jiehu l-ligi b’idejh ghax hu Laburist?

      Din hija l-istoffa tal-marmalja – jahsbu li huma ‘l fuq mil-ligi.

    • Giraffa says:

      Did you see the comments below the inewsmalta report? What morons. Now we will see the real Labour at work, terrorizing whoever does not agree with them. Hope you bl…..y switchers realize now what you have unleashed on the country.

      • TinaB says:

        They may realize, Giraffa, but rest assured that most of them are too proud and embarrassed to admit how stupid they really are.

    • Sonia says:

      Giraffa, do you really think that these so-called switchers give a toss?

  18. beingpressed says:

    Daphne I know it’s a public holiday but if your gonna go and do an ‘Anne Frank’ on us please take an iPhone or Android with you. Thanks

  19. Pepprina says:

    His resignation should be demanded immediately. People like that shouldn’t be trusted to hold public office. It is very scary and I hope the police will take action.

    • Grezz says:

      Just the police? Let us see if Joseph Muscat is true to his word. He asked for anybody “shaming” Labour to be reported to the police, right?

      The police are now aware of this case. As for how the Labour Party handles their “errant” mayor is yet to be seen.

    • Malta Taghna Biss - PL says:

      Where are the institutions?

      In this case the Mayor of Zurrieq should be reported to the Board of Governanace of Local Councils, and reference should be made to the relative provisions of the Code of Ethics for Local Government.

      • Sonia says:

        Let’s see if the Labour government’s special prosecutor will treat Natius Farrugia specially …

      • Min Jaf says:

        A mental institution would be more appropriate in the case of the instigator of the incident.

        A guy who makes a living from plucking away hairs from people’s rectums and who prances about like a chimpanzee in the street in public while chanting puerile jibes against a member of the public is an obvious candidate for THAT type of institution.

    • Min Jaf says:

      A party machine that consciously covers up drug abuse on its own club premises is extremely unlikely to demand the resignation of the PL mayor who instigated the Rabat incident today.

      Indeed, the PL defences are already up in the form of a distorted version of the incident on iNews published this evening, instigating further malicious and rabble-rousing comment against Daphne who is the victim and the completely innocent party in all this.

      These Mintoffian tactics aimed at silencing dissent are well known to those of use who lived through the the 16-year Labour Party regime, when police arrested the victims of bomb attacks on their homes for generating panic among the public.

      As a ‘protagonista’ of the PL curse that you have brought down upon the nation, Kenneth Zammit Tabona, now mince your way with pride down Republic Street in Valletta.

  20. judy says:

    Oh my God. What an idiot! I have never been more OUT AND PROUD. They never change. Let’s see if anyone from the Labour Party condemns this behaviour?

  21. Wormfood says:

    Who would have thought that this was going to happen? Malta taghna llkol indeed. Hope the Sliema liberals are proud of themselves.

    • Futur mill-aghar says:

      This is EXACTLY what we thought would happen. Maybe not so soon, but it was always on the cards. At this rate, it’s going to be even worse than before.

    • Ghoxrin Punt says:

      Please don’t generalise.

      I am a Slimiza, as is my very large family. And we all voted PN.

      • Sonia says:

        And then there are the 4000+ who voted for Robert Arrigo over more deserving and respectable PN candidates, but let’s not diverge, shall we?

      • aidan says:

        If you voted PN you’re not a Sliema liberal.

        [Daphne – I am a real, true Sliema liberal as distinct from a fake one, and I will never vote anything but Nationalist. The quintessentially liberal value, the mother to all others, is freedom. People who vote Labour are essentially totalitarian in spirit and thought and even behaviour, whether they understand this or not. Just listen to the way they talk, with all that militant rubbish.]

    • Pepe` says:

      Wormfood, it was Birkirkara and Mellieha where PN got a thrashing, not Sliema. You forget that Sliema has been lumped with Gzira and Pembroke, so forget the 4-1’s of the past.

  22. The chemist says:

    Charlie Mangion was right in his comment about the DNA being wrong. Only thing was he was referring to this bunch of neanderthals.

  23. Adrian says:

    All the masks, if there were any, are falling one by one.

  24. Joe and Marion Pace Asciak says:

    We are the couple to whom Daphne is referring. As eyewitnesses, we can vouch that she was repeatedly insulted and provoked. We confirm the veracity of what she has just written.

    We are still shocked (but not surprised), since it was like a flashback to the eighties. Malta taghna lkoll: ghal dawk li lesti jbaxxu rashom, jingarru mal-kurrent u jaghmlu pattijiet mal-poter.

    • Neil Dent says:

      Well done for your not reacting as many would have. It must have been difficult. Prosit tassew!

    • Sonia says:

      Well done. Pity there aren’t more people like you.

    • Min Jaf says:

      Joseph Muscat repeatedly said it himself “Ahna lesti biex nahdmu ma min lest li jahkem maghna”.

      The gullible interpret that as being ‘positive’.

      To those of us experienced in mintoffspeak, the message conveyed is ” Min mhux lest li jahdem maghna, ahna nitnejku minnhu”.

      • Josephine says:

        Hear, hear. Yes, he said it in true Mintoffian style and yet so many people fell for it.

        He even said he wants all feasts to be celebrated in unity (“mhemmx la ahmar u la blu”). Boy, did Natius Farrugia and the medieval baying crowd do Joseph Muscat proud in Rabat yesterday! Isthu, jekk tafu kif!

      • Manuel says:

        And this implies that they only work with those who want to work with them, excluding, by implication, all the others who dod not want to work with them.

        Only the gullible fall for such crap, including JPO, Mugliett, Diva-Debono…

    • I really admire you and thank God that there are some people with real principles amongst us .

  25. il-Ginger says:

    Good luck, but in the mean time try to avoid walking in places where backwater savages roam.

    You don’t want this happening to you? ;)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g

    • il-Ginger says:

      I just read the comments on inews. Daph, hawn il-mard tal-mohh f’dan l-pajjiz. Invest in some bodyguards pronto.

      • Sonia says:

        And those are just the sub-literates. The ones who purport to be better than such people (socially) are just as close-minded and vicious. Facebook is replete with such brainless low-lifes.

  26. nutmeg says:

    Barbarians need a common object of hate to preserve their identity. Deepest sympathies, Daphne.

  27. Wormfood says:

    Have you noticed that these people always attack in packs like goblins?

  28. J Farrugia says:

    Xejn ma nghidlek Daphne. Taqtax qalbek, u ghalkhemm forsi ma tkunx taf imma ahna warajk.

    Ignatius Farrugia, Jesmond Mugliett, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Franco Debono, Robert Musumeci, all whining and sulking about a single woman. When the sad reality for them is that they can’t even compare themselves to her.

    Can you imagine 5 men against 1 woman…

    Having seen this we really need a woman to lead the PN.

    • Catsrbest says:

      That shows how really powerful the pen is, especially when used ingeniously. It is so powerful that consequently, many of those mentioned above met their downfall and they still have not come to terms with what happened to them.

      And they themselves are to blame for what happened to them because they deserved the criticism they received.

  29. Bubu says:

    I had really wished, against all odds and my better judgement, that Labour had changed from the bad times of the eighties.

    I had really hoped that my country wouldn’t be taken back to the gratuitous bullying and violence that was rife back then.

    Unfortunately it seems that it was only wishful thinking.

    I would really like to see a statement by the prime minister about this shameful incident and what he thinks about Labour-branded impromptu lynching parties – it would be only decent.

    Unfortunately I know it won’t happen.

  30. Esteve says:

    This is totally unacceptable. His resignation should be requested immediately.

    If he cannot see where his instigations could have led to, he is not fit to be anywhere near a seat of power (however small). If he did it with the full knowledge of where things lead to when a mob takes control, then it is even worse.

    I am very sorry for what has happened to you, Daphne. It is outrageous but not unexpected, unfortunately.

    • Min Jaf says:

      For all we know, Natius might well have been near ‘seats of power’ on various occasions.

      One of the specialities of his studio is the removal of hairs in the anal region and the general tidying up that place.

  31. Tim Ripard says:

    I am appalled. I was somehow hoping that this time around some kind of element of decency would have crept in.

    I appeal to all PL supporters to condemn Ignatius Farrugia’s behaviour. In particular I ask Kevin Drake and Fred Testa to condemn this cowardly bunch and their mob rule and, above all, to to explain to their fellow Laburisti the meaning of what free speech is.

    Finally, I expect Joseph Muscat to take immediate and decisive action to stamp out this violent intolerance amongst his supporters and party officials.

    ‘Ghax ghandna power’ indeed. Min ghandu l-power, Dr. Muscat? Int jew corma hamalli slavag? Malta taghna lkoll, jew tal-Laburisti biss?

    • Ghoxrin Punt says:

      Tim, Fred Testa was always Labour. Kevin is a very sick person who is not reasoning at all. So do not expect them to say anything.

      Joseph will only do what is good for Joseph. So only expect a comment from him after he sounds out what people (other than us) are thinking and saying.

      if nothing is being said, then he will say nothing. If the press report it correctly then he might deign to say something oblique.

      Let’s see if The Times and Malta Today do what they are supposed to do and report the news as opposed to taking soundbites from people and make it a fact.

      But don’t hold your breath – I am not.

      • Liberta says:

        I hope In-Nazzjon Taghna reports too.

      • Tim Ripard says:

        Gh P, if Fred was Labour in 1987 he certainly hid it well. He was out celebrating Eddie Fenech Adami’s election at the entrance into Castille with me and mutual friends and he formed a quarter of the human protective cage around my then very pregnant wife (our first son was born a month after the election).

        [Daphne – That’s no indication of anything, Tim. In the 1984 anti-government demo which ended in a stand-off with police outside the Preluna hotel, which led to the arrest and arraignment of 11 people including me and some of my friends, we were picked up after being identified from photographs which Anglu Farrugia seized from Eddie Aquilina’s office after turning up at his home at 5am to arrest him. I wondered at the time why Patrick Calleja (Meinrad’s brother), who was with me and clearly identifiable standing right behind me in the photographs, was never picked up as well. Talk about naive: it took me years to discover that the family are committed Laburisti, even though it should have been obvious from his father Maurice’s standing with the government of the day. They all still vote Labour, the difference being now that Patrick boasts about it. Back then, he came to anti-government demos with us to be part of the group, I suppose. People really hid it well in those days because they wanted to carry on socially and they knew that expressing a pro-Labour opinion in the early 1980s (and even after that) would make them immediately suspect given the nature of the times. There was another one who used to be with us every day at Exiles at that time when we assumed that everyone within earshot was anti-government. Only three years ago I discovered that he had been pro-Mintoff all along and is still Labour. He hid it well, while sitting there on the rocks listening to the anti-Labour, anti-government conversations. Kept his mouth shut and carried on socialising while waiting for the moment to stick it to us, I suppose. There you go. Life in the village is so lovely.]

        He hadn’t yet come out then.

        Fred is insecure and usually unhappy – I think he has problems with his oscillating sexuality and lifestyle and, in the manner Daphne has explained elsewhere on this blog, he’s decided to project his unhappiness on ‘the government’ but he’s not a bad bloke at heart, or at least he wasn’t 20 years ago.

        Kevin is very unfortunate and my heart goes out to him. When I knew him he was a great guy with a wonderful sense of humour and terrific acting ability. His ‘bishop’ in ‘Beckett’, where I first got to know him, was sublime.

        I appeal to them to speak up for the simple reason that I know them and have broken bread with them and since they’ve gone public about their support of the PL and how they love the idea of ‘Malta Taghna Lkoll’ I hope they will go public now to explain to their new-found friends what ‘Taghna Lkoll’ means and how there is no place for mob rule.

        Joseph Muscat is ultimately responsible for defending freedom of speech in Malta. He is obliged to stamp down on violent-mob thinking and behaviour without fear or favour. He is PM, the buck stops there.

        He is already too late to be effective but at least some tangible action might just convince me that he is concerned with the welfare of the country and not solely that of his supporters.

        Let me be clear, I didn’t vote for the guy precisely because I don’t think he’s interested in the good of the country but he has every opportunity to convince me otherwise over the next 5 years.

        If and when he ever does the right thing in this time I will be the first to acknowledge it. Indeed, I will be very glad to do so. So get cracking, Joseph, convince me.

      • king rat says:

        Tim Ripard Your writing gives you away as being a decent person ( absolutely nothing wrong in being decent mate ) , you are being extremely naive in expecting such rational behavior from people who switched in public whilst those embedded deep in labour lore have issues withine themselves that are at times in deep conflict with what is considered normal behavior .

    • Sonia says:

      Kenneth Zammit Tabona must be proud to be in (after taking 50 years to come out).

    • Min Jaf says:

      And why not ask the protagonists Kenneth Zammit Tabona to do so as well, Tim?

      • Tim Ripard says:

        Sonia, please see my reply to Ghoxrin Punt, above.

        Unlike Fred and Kevin, I hardly know KZT at all. Of course he’s always welcome to stand up and do the right thing on his own initiative. The other two, I hope, will feel the need to retain my respect.

  32. Paul says:

    Il-hanzir taqtalu denbu hanzir jibqa.

    • Sonia says:

      U il-huta minn rasha tinten. Nistennew li ras il-huta izomm kellmtu, li m’hemmx lok ta’ dan it-tip ta’ nies mal-Labour.

      • Catsrbest says:

        Ras il-huta ilha tinten bil-gideb li gideb fil-kampanja elettorali. Anzi, l-intiena kollha minnu gejja.

  33. edgar says:

    I am sure that Kenneth must be really proud to have voted for these savages.

    This is after only 1 week.

    In a few months’ time I shall have the pleasure of addressing some of my friends and reminding them of their f*ck-up when they voted for a change.

    • Sonia says:

      I wish I too could do the same. Such is their pride at having voted Labour, that at least one of mine “unfriended” me (on Facebook, naturally), to hide the fact that he voted Labour (he previously hid it), and is now all out licking Labour’s arse, perhaps to make sure his lucrative business keeps going.

      • Min Jaf says:

        Yes, I heard it said that arse-licking has reached the stage where it is actually putting in jeopardy the ‘polished rectums R us’ service offered by a mayor who made the news today.

  34. AE says:

    OMG what an afternoon. Is this what the country has come to in just one week?

    A politician heckling an individual and trying to rouse a mob to lynch her. Shame on him and the party he represents.

    The Labour Party should officially condemn his behaviour and force him to resign if their slogan is to be believed. Herrera should do the decent thing and decline from hearing the case. Or am I expecting too much for an element of decency to prevail?

  35. Plutarch says:

    Village idiot. Mayor ta z**bi. Arraign him so he resigns asap. Go on waxing, Plod.

    • WhoamI? says:

      Plutarch, careful with your choice of words. You don’t want him anywhere near your z**b. Seriously, he’s bad news on so many levels.

  36. Paul says:

    Il-Laburisti kienu, ghadhom u jibqghu l-istess. Tnehhilhom il-vandalizmu u l-arja ma jibqghalhom xejn.

  37. Catsrbest says:

    Daphne, Please accept my sincere solidarity in times like these. Also, you have my private email address and if you ever need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. Now, more than ever, we need to stand up and be counted, and for this reason, I’m in, this time.

  38. C. Fenech says:

    Dear Daphne, I’m sorry for what happened to you but I warned you several times to calm down in your comments. I think you should learn how to write constructive criticism.

    • David Thake says:

      I wonder C Fenech, would you also tell your daughter that it was her fault she was gang raped because she went to Paceville in a mini-skirt?

      What a ridiculous and dangerous way of thinking…

    • Stephen Borg Fiteni says:

      So it’s her fault, right?

    • Ghoxrin Punt says:

      No C Fenech, people should learn to distinguish between what is legal and what is illegal.

      Writing a blog is legal, uploadingphotos of politicians making a fool of themselves is legal.

      Harassing people in the street and attacking them is illegal.

      How quickly the words ‘freedom of expression’ and ‘democracy’ have been forgotten.

      • La Redoute says:

        Natius Farrugia uploaded those photos himself. He makes himself look ridiculous and takes offence when someone points it out to him.

      • Sonia says:

        Photos uploaded on Facebook are accessible to all. Perhaps Natius Farrugia thought that only he could see them?

        If he didn’t want anyone to see them, then:

        1) why did he upload them;

        2) if he did not upload them himself, then why did he pose for them, when he knew that there was a chance of them being uploaded anyway?

    • La Redoute says:

      Really? Perhaps you should trot along to Natius’ Ola for a Brazilian. You might learn a thing or two about constructive criticism there.

    • il-Ginger says:

      People should be free to write whatever they want without the threat of violence especially if it is against politicians.

      Fuck the mob who fight words with violence, because they have more brawn than brains.

    • AE says:

      You might not like Daphne’s style of writing but it doesn’t justify their type of behaviour. Freedom of expression anyone?

    • Neil Dent says:

      C Fenech – your comment is quite incredible. Please, be ashamed! You really should be. Because your comment highlights all that is wrong with new/old Labour. You bloody idiot.

    • Peppa says:

      Dan xi Hollywood-waxed pussy minn ta’ Natius? He told you so, Daphne.

    • Futur mill-aghar says:

      And you should learn what democracy and free speech are all about because obviously you haven’t a clue.

      Was Natius criticizing Daphne constructively when he tried to set a mob on her?

      Do you think he had the right to put her life in danger because she had not been ‘polite enough’ in her criticism of him?

      I truly despair of this nation of ours.

    • Catsrbest says:

      C. Fenech. Try and have some lessons in democracy and in freedom of speech. Also, who do you think you are to warn anyone how to write?

    • Liberal says:

      So, C.Fenech, are you saying you “warned” Daphne to “calm down” in her comments because when totalitarian Labour get to govern, it will be the end of free speech and the beginning of Labour thug mob rule? Am I understanding you correctly?

    • Natalie Mallett says:

      Freedom of speech has been practised in this country since the Nationalist Party came to power.

      The PL has been given the licence for a television and radio station which has been exclusively and exhaustibly used for character assassination of anyone that’s not in their fold.

      Has any person threatened Manuel Cuschieri for example? What about the TV programme before the election when they literally assassinated Simon Busuttil’s character? What is it with these Labour supporters? Why are they so intolerant to anyone who differs from their political opinion?

  39. David Thake says:

    Daphne, allow me to express my full solidarity with you and your friends.

    I have tasted Labour’s tolerant attitude towards criticism in the 80s and despite the fact that I was and remain sure that “New” Labour have no clue about where to start running the country, a part of me was hoping that the violent streak had been subdued.

    Here’s hoping that this idiot gets hammered down to size by the rule of law and also by his own party.

    There should be no space for this behaviour in 2013.

  40. Onlooker says:

    Where was Inspector now Superintendent Dominic Micallef when all of this was happening?

  41. Paddy says:

    Let’s see in what time frame will the police bring the culprit to court. I bet it would not be as fast as the last time they acted in bringing you down to Mosta Police Station.

  42. Joe Azzopardi says:

    Were any cute boys hanging around? Perhaps he was trying to impress.

  43. Paul says:

    Ignatius, you had better go back and get a life at the healthcare institute. Find your friend CJ Caruana and have a s**g with him…forsi tistrieh u sserhu.

  44. Ganni Abela says:

    You don’t need to ask the minister to intervene to reassign the case. Thanks to the previous administration, that power is now directly vested in the Chief Justice. All you have to do is ask your lawyer to write in to him since you’re an interested party (you being the victim).

    • ciccio says:

      Have they appointed Consuelo Herrera as Chief Justice yet?

      • Ganni Abela says:

        The chief justice cannot be replaced at random. He would have to resign or be impeached. Knowing Silvio Camilleri personally, I am quite certain that can only happen if he’s hanged, drawn and quartered, which, coming to think of it, I can’t put past Labour either.

  45. Giovanni says:

    inewsmalta

    Eddy Privitera Tue 19-Mar-2013, 19:03
    Oqghodu attenti ghax xejn ma tkun qieghda taghmel apposta biex xi hadd forsi kemm imissha halli tohloq storja, .imbaghad tigi minfuha mis-soltu prezentaturi fuq PBS !!!

    Eddy look into the mirror and you will discover what an asshole looks like.

    • Sonia says:

      Shame on you, Eddy Privitera.

    • Min Jaf says:

      Or else Eddy might consult ‘polished rectums R us’ Natius for a real McCoy description as to what genuine assholes are like.

    • Lilla says:

      X’kienet qed taghmel apposta? Tghix?

    • maryanne says:

      M’hemmx ghalfejn ikabbruha tal-PBS ghax Natius kabbarha bizzejjed. Ghandek kuxjenza, Eddy?

    • Last Post says:

      Hekk tahseb Privitera? Ghax ma rrepetejthiex int ukoll il-qlajja’ li mxiet fuq Facebook li Daphne u Lou Bondi ‘holqu’ l-mandat t’arrest ta’ Daphne biex jaghtu vantagg lin-Nazzjonalisti?

      Jekk din kienet qlajja’ li setghet grat jew le, l-attakk tal-bierah sehh quddiem hafna xhieda, waqt festa jekk joghgbok. Ghalhekk jekk int modern u civilizzat (kif tippretendi) imissek tuza l-ftit influwenza li ghad baqghalek biex tara li l-Gvern il-gdid jibghat “messagg qawwi u car” li veru jemmen fil-liberta’ tal-espressjoni.

      Affarijiet bhal dawn qatt ma saru taht gvernijiet Nazzjonalisti u l-fatt li gara hafna aghar minn hekk taht gvernijiet ohra laburisti m’hi l-ebda gustifikazzjoni jew skuza.

      Dak li gara l-bierah lil Daphne hu tal-akbar serjeta’. L-agharr haga li nistghu naghmlu hi li naccettaw il-fatt li Natius hu stupidu u tac-cajt.

      Ahna li ilna hawn niftakru li qabel inharqu jew gew attakkati l-kazini tal-PN fl-1967, u qabel inharqet it-Times (bin-nies fiha) fil-1979 u qabel giet attakkata d-dar ta’ Fenech Adami u tterrorizzaw il-familja tieghu, qabel gara dan kollu kien hemm l-attakki u ‘harassment’ kontinwu kontra min ma kienx jaqbel mal-politika ta’ Mintoff.

      L-affarijiet hekk kienu jibdew sakemm waslu ghall-vjolenza mill-aktar gravi li rajna u ghixna fit-80-ijiet. Il-gvern ghandu jaghti prova ta’ serjeta’ u l-oppozizzjoni ghandha mhux biss titkaza b’dak li gara imma ghandha tippressa lil Gvern biex jara li affarijiet bhal dawn ma jergghux isiru.

  46. Dott Abjad says:

    Seems like if it’s not immediate economic meltdown which is going to get us, becasue civic unrest and social strife shall be rather prompt to take its place.

    Whichever comes sooner, we’re pretty much f*cked. So much for the floaters; you’ve literally flushed yourselves down the bog, and us with you.

    • Min Jaf says:

      Economic meltdown is already under way, and the totalitarian trend of Joseph Muscat’s direzzjoni gdida is now plainly evident.

      The appointment of Marxist Mario Vella to the helm of Malta Enterprise is enough to scare the pants off any would-be investor.

      Capital is a shy bird. The financial services sector upon which thousands of employees depend, and whose tax contributions underpin the excellent public health and education sectors are at clear risk.

      The hugely inflated cabinet appointed by Joseph Muscat is clearly the result of horse-trading and of dispensation of favours. They are an uninspired and uninspiring lot.

      • maryanne says:

        “The appointment of Marxist Mario Vella to the helm of Malta Enterprise is enough to scare the pants off any would-be investor. ”

        It’s a pity that many Labour supporters are not able to think properly. They don’t take into account that would-be investors and those in the financial sector assess the situation even through initial decisions taken by a government.

        The appointment of Mario Vella would immediately put them on guard. Incidents like that being desribed here won’t help at all especially if it is not outrightly condemned.

      • Pecksniff says:

        With the Civil Service in turmoil and all government appointed boards in limbo, any activity, economic or otherwise, is at a complete standstill.

        We only have to look eastwards at Cyprus and pray that we do not end up in the same mess.

        By the way, the PN has to wake up from its KO.

  47. george grech says:

    Oh what a gay evening you must have had ! Were you perhaps mistaken for a young boy ?

  48. Paul Brincat says:

    Dear Daphne,

    What do you mean by: “Maybe where he comes from, uncivilised behaviour is the norm”?

    Are you referring to the general Zurrieq community?

    [Daphne – No, his crowd, the people he hangs about with.]

    • Neil Dent says:

      Christ, Paul. Keep up and get a life. Are you new on this planet?

    • Jozef says:

      Natius minn ‘qiegh in-Nigret’.

      Labour stronghold weaned on Karmenu Vella’s BBQ’s.

      His family guard closely the monopoly on licenses for boat trip operators at Wied Iz-Zurrieq.

      Remember when Joseph and Jason took a trip?

  49. Min Jaf says:

    One expects that, should the case get to be allocated to Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, she will on her own volition, and as is her duty as a member of the judiciary, to desist from hearing it.

  50. Aunt Hetty says:

    What a dreadful experience.
    :(

    • maryanne says:

      And it happened during a feast in a narrow street choc-a-bloc with people. I shudder to think what would have happened on a normal day.

  51. bookworm says:

    What you had to go through is really sad and frustrating at the same time.

    Such episode would have made me punch decency into their stupid face, and hence ended me in jail. I admire your determination to stay calm and composed and think clearly. May God be with you.

  52. Anthony Tab says:

    Is this a new way of life ? at my age I remember this same way of life in the past , ( ifrah poplu ifrah ) ( skuzawni ridt nghidilkhom , ibki poplu ibki ) .

    • Sonia says:

      It’s old Labour, which never changed. It was commonplace in the 1970s and early 1980s, but, thanks to the peace and quiet we had under the Nationalists, people seem to have forgotten, and voted the same bloody awful lot right back in.

  53. Claire says:

    Shut up you stupid bitch!! Not tired of doing harm and talking shit about people … Wft do you think you are??? Shame on you and all the people that support you!!!

    • Sonia says:

      Claire, you are the epitome of Labour, their entire essence. Oh, by the way, it’s “what the fuck”, not “what fuck the”. Now rush off to your hidey-hole,

    • TinaB says:

      Go and take some tranquilizers, Claire – I’m afraid you need them.

      Malta taghna lkoll.

    • Paul says:

      …min mhux maghna kontra taghna.

    • U Le! says:

      Oh so apart from the majority shooting itself and its future in the foot, it has also voted for people’s courts and summary execution? How low can you go?

    • Kate says:

      Whatever she writes does not justify their behaviour. And do you think saying ‘shut up you stupid bitch!!’ is really going to do much?

    • ciccio says:

      Claire, don’t be a snob, err, I mean a snobbija.

    • Min Jaf says:

      Ara, imnalla issa ghandhom lil-Konrad Mizzi, ghax tghallmu wahda gdida “shame on you”. PL =Partit tal-progress, tassew.

    • La Redoute says:

      Friend of Natius Farrugia are you, Claire? Reverse the charges and give his ego a massage. It’s been badly bruised by a blog.

    • Danni says:

      Classy Claire, typical Labour. Keep it up! People like you remind us how low JM’s followers are everyday.

    • Grezz says:

      I’m not at all ashamed of supporting Daphne. Malta needs more people like her, unafraid to speak her mind. Labour have a L-O-N-G way to go before truly understanding what freedom of expression means.

      Malta Taghna Lkoll sormi, biex tifhem sewwa.

  54. sandy:) says:

    Natius Farrugia
    3 hours ago
    Issa forsi jigi Lou Bondi u jsaqsina ‘Tistaw tghiduli xinu jigri hawnekk ? ? ?
    Like ·

    Roberto Francalanza, Steve Debono and 145 others like this.
    Robert Farrugia kiesha dik l mara u lanqas taf x inhi kelma misthija.bhala kastig nsemmuwla t triq fejn toqod triq duminku mintoff dik
    3 hours ago · Like · 7
    Charmaine Vella lol proset hi u naf fic cert li ma halejtiex bxejn:))))
    3 hours ago · Like
    Carmen Farrugia ilha mqabda mieghek natius dik! u issa taghmel apposta biex taparsi ara l laburisti x’jaghmlu
    3 hours ago · Like
    Nicolette Mallia Sewa amilt jin u manan kin jonqos ax konna ntuwa hasla kif tmiss!!!!!
    3 hours ago via mobile · Like
    Carmen Farrugia ghax ma dendiltix mal bieb tal mdina
    3 hours ago · Like
    Man Utd Sewwa ghamilt dik hadra
    3 hours ago via mobile · Like
    Simon Vella id-differenza bejn Natius u DCG hi li Natius mahbub minn kullhadd filwaqt li s-sahhara joghboda kullhadd. solidarjeta mieghek habib!
    3 hours ago · Like · 17
    Noel Cardona xamlitlek mela?
    3 hours ago · Like
    Gino Tanti Min jafek jasal ghal konkluzjoni wahdu.
    3 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1
    Carmen Farrugia daqs natius mahbuba man nies x’differenza qas toqghod fejn t…. ta sormok
    3 hours ago · Like · 2
    Adrian Busuttil Dil mara vera mahta u qazzet lil kulhadd lili riedet issib ghax butir kont naghmilha
    3 hours ago · Like · 1
    Jason Xuereb Hadd wara Hadd tasal ta’ kullhadd!!! Well Done. Avolja ma nafx x’gara hehe. Imma qed nipprova niehu mill-kummenti tan-nies hawn fuq
    3 hours ago via mobile · Like
    Claire Preca Taroum go natuis-go natuis -go natuis lol
    3 hours ago · Like
    Thomas Hedley Nispera li faqqajtha sew hi,ghax haqqha
    3 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1
    Carol Mizzi natius mahbub ma kulhadd min kull naha ihobbuh ara DCG kasha hadra u kera
    3 hours ago · Like · 1
    JosianneJeffrey Scicluna U ejja miskina halluha kwieta. Natius u int lil dik mort tittanta? HA HA HA HA HA
    3 hours ago · Like
    Stephanie Zammit Mara hadra dik ma fijiex hobz ! Mux bhalek Natius Farrugia hlief imhabba u alegrija ma gorx mijak xxxxxx
    3 hours ago via mobile · Like · 4
    Jurgen Bezzina Proset natius ahna mighek
    3 hours ago · Like · 2
    Lawrence Brincat ahna warajk natius
    3 hours ago · Like
    Darren Mercieca Forza Natius
    3 hours ago · Like
    Cettina Camilleri Nathuis lil Lou ma lahqetx cemplitlu ghax ma kienetx niftemha sabih bhal ma kienet tal jum tas silenzju….din persuna li l-poplu Malti kollhu mxebba biha…u jehtieg li jittiehdu passi bis-serjeta fuq din id demel moqziez…mela jekk tifel jikteb xi haga fuq fb, u l-anqas biss ikun jaf x’qed jikteb …jibaghatu ghalik l-ghassa u jwerwruh, u din alla jbierek tikteb li tried u thameg in-nies + ix-xewqat li tixtiqielhom…jien mieghek ghal glieda kontra dil kerha mahmuga li l-anqas biss taf titkellem bil-Malti…
    3 hours ago · Like
    Ronnie Pellegrini Il-poplu jirrispetta lil Natius ghax kulhadd jaf li ghandu qalbu tajba ! Ara lil haddiehor jghidlu JAQQQQQQQQQQQQ
    3 hours ago · Like · 5
    Tony Farrugia prosett natius iz- zrieraq warajk u ghajdilali ahna imdorrijiejn najtu fil festa
    3 hours ago · Like · 2
    Antoine Vella ejja king ahna warajk
    3 hours ago · Like
    Charlon Caruana ma jitfawwiex gewwa xbajna nisimaw bija.30 sena habs.dejjem bxi haga dil mara.u jekk trid ejdila tigi zurrieq.di qeda tahseb li ha tibqa tamel li trid jew???
    3 hours ago · Like · 2
    Paul Farrugia Iz Zurrieq kollu mieghek Natius, u tlett kwarti ta Malta wkoll
    3 hours ago · Like · 5
    Joe Micallef Biex tiggieled ma Natius trid tkun il-vera …………. maaaaaaaaa ……. NATIUS KEEP SMILING !
    3 hours ago · Edited · Like
    Jayne Polidano halija kugin halli tifga go demmha ghax ghandha dwejjaq biex tbih imma issa alavolja ma ridux li il pl jitla issa hemm qijghad u trid tissaportina
    3 hours ago · Like
    Tony Farrugia miskiena ma tistax tirkupra fuq it tkaxkira li hadet u tra ma min ser tinfex issa[ DIK ZGUR MGHIX TA MALTA ILKOLL ]GHAX TAL MOVIMENT MAHNIEX MALMIEN HEKK
    3 hours ago · Edited · Like
    Karen Spagnol Tih n number tiaj u nwigbu jien lol…mhux avukata tajjeb jkollok bija
    3 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1
    Andrei Bonaci Aw King lol
    3 hours ago via mobile · Like
    Peter Taylor Natius taghna lkoll , ahna nidefendu li hu taghna lkoll, barra minn dan ma nhallux lil min itappan l-ghemil u xoghol ta Sindku ezemplari lil daphne kullhadd jaf x’inhi ma nistennewx affarijiet ta nies f’sensihom minn din
    Natius Zomm f’mohhok din li int mahbub minn hafna ghal kuntlarju taghha ghax mishuta minn hafna
    3 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1
    Wayne Caruana Sewwa ghidtila anzi ragel kwiet int ghax jekk ticcajtila mal hobza tibni ma jaqlawnix min maha!
    3 hours ago via mobile · Like
    Helen Cutajar prosit natius mank kont mieghek jahasra tlifta din e
    2 hours ago · Like
    Charles Bayliss Go Natius Go. Fl-ahhar se sib kapell jigiha?
    2 hours ago · Like
    Tyrone Barbara Ahna warajk Natius !
    2 hours ago via mobile · Like
    Martha Zerafa We love you NATUIS WE DOOOOO XXXXXX
    2 hours ago · Like
    Joyce Muscat kemm nixtieq knt mieghek mejjta biex nara tilbes jew inlibisa xi kappella
    2 hours ago · Like
    Therese Cassar dik ix xitan issa tisparrixxi min fuq malta taghna ghax issa mhux il laburisti ma jahmluiex,izda anke dawk in nazzjonalisti li inghaqdu maghna f malta taghna ilkoll
    2 hours ago · Like · 1
    Ramon Mangion Natius ma nafx kif ghadek qatt ma kunsidrajt libelli l-qorti. Dik il-mara probabli iktar tiehu gost li facjajta ghax issa tikteb xi sotrja u tkabbar l-affarijiet fuq il-blog taghha issoltu
    2 hours ago · Like
    Theo Vella https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tistg%C4%A7u-tg%C4%A7iduli-xqed-ji%C4%A1ri-hawnhekk/476942039040067
    Tistgħu tgħiduli x’qed jiġri hawnhekk?
    ‎”Tistgħu tgħiduli x’qed jiġri hawnhekk? Ee xbin?” Lou Bondi
    Page: 2,278 like this.
    about an hour ago · Like
    Domnic Aquilina nispera li ma ipprofitatx ruhha min xi patri fil kunvent ghax kullhadd jaf li tasal ghal kollox. Issa jekk tohrog tqila madof ……
    about an hour ago · Like
    DjFrank Zahra We love you NATUIS izurrieq kolhu
    about an hour ago · Like
    Orlando Ellul Micallef Wiccek u ximkin iehor listess!! Basta malta taghna lkoll!!
    3 minutes ago via mobile · Like

  55. Il-Marmalia Laburista says:

    The only thing the whole scene was missing was – Pitchforks!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fHt6Jpl2Xk

  56. sandy:) says:

    Christina Sammut
    3 hours ago
    Solidarjeta mieghek Natius Farrugia …
    Lokali: Is-Sindku taż-Żurrieq u DCG spiċċaw “bil-banda”
    http://www.inewsmalta.com
    F’ġurnata mill-isbaħ jidher li s-Sindku taż-Żurrieq, Ignatius Farrugia u l-blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia kellhom l-istess ħsieb, għażlu …
    2Like · · Share

    13 people like this.
    Nathan Micallef Malta ghada tistenna bi hgara biex is-sahhara tal-Bidnijia ssib kappell jigiha.
    3 hours ago · Like · 2
    Orlando Ellul Micallef Meskom tisthu!!
    3 minutes ago via mobile · Like
    Natius Farrugia ??? messa tisthi hi
    2 minutes ago · Like · 2
    Orlando Ellul Micallef Tmur taffacja ..??! Kull ritratt fuq il fb huwa pubbliku… Jekk hassejt li Sinjura Galizia redikilatek bir ritratti toeghek… Dak ghax temmen int stess li ghandek ritratti tan-nejk!!
    A few seconds ago via mobile · Like

  57. Harry Purdie says:

    Now we have it. The Prime Minister returns from worshipping the newly inaugurated Pope, bowing and smiling, Although I think he and Eva were happier smarming in front of Joe Biden.

    And he returns to his rampaging followers, an uncontrollable herd of thugs, and criminals.

    The Pope preaches peace, protect the poor and the environment. Did he listen?

    Doubt that. He’s Prime Minister, after all.

    Sorry Daphne, I must say it again. Little Joey is a hypocritical little shit, Unfortunately we’re saddled with him and his thugs for five years.

    It was right there on the wall, but no one saw it. (except you).

    So sorry you were so sordidly accosted.

    • ciccio says:

      Harry, and we thought that the majority switchers, socialists, thugs and criminals had elected Prime Minister Francis.

      http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2012/03/st-poodle-of-burmarrad/

      • ciccio says:

        …majority OF switchers…

      • Harry Purdie says:

        Thanks for that, ciccio. Was in Switzerland skiiing and missed Daphnes’s post.

        Incredibly, she is always on target. Amazing woman. If she wasn’t happily married, I would propose.

    • Little shit says:

      Ghamilli qahba pjacir, toqodtx tinsolentani billi tqabbel lilJoey Muscat mieghi ghax nghamillek libel. Orrajt.

    • Catsrbest says:

      Oh, come on now Harry, it is not just Daphne that saw it written on the wall. The MLP/PL never duped me either. Never, ever voted for them and never will because like Plato, I believe in binary; that is, if one is in the other is out, if one is on the other is off.

      • Harry Purdie says:

        Caterbest. appreciate your point. Also, very happy you voted for sanity.

        However, may I Platoize Plato: ‘If one is in, they can also be off’.

  58. George Attard says:

    It will be very interesting to see what Joseph Muscat will do about this. He has to react, be it publicly or behind closed doors – by which I mean having Natius Farrugia resign the mayorship.

    During the mass meeting on Saturday he claimed that those who feel any of his cabinet get too big for their boots should go see him personally. This should also include any public figure representing the party, mayors included. So there is a case here.

    On another note, I do feel Joe Muscat can bring about change and ease up the image of Old Labour. It’ll take time but it has to move forward and our prime minster can bring about this change, I’m sure of it.

    • Harry Purdie says:

      George, as a famed American tennis player once said to the referee ‘Are you serious?’

      • George Attard says:

        I presume you mean John McEnroe, or one of the Williams’ sisters? Joking apart, on which part are you asking if I’m serious? With regards to Labour changing? If so, if not now, then when? The Labour Party should distance itself from this man and I already feel that opportunity has passed so regretfully I may feel the need to back down on my claim that Labour can change.

        I have no doubt that the coffee the mayor’s secretary made for him this morning at the council office was not the last…

      • Il-Cop says:

        @ Harry Purdie

        The famed American tennis player was John McEnroe. It was the 1981 Wimbledon finals and what he actually said was not what you wrote which is a question. His phrase was a statement with much more punch. Having seen the match live I remember it very vividly and it goes like this.

        You cannot be serious.

        He repeated this phrase at many an umpire in later matches and became so famous that years later it became the title of McEnroe’s autobiography.

        @ George Attard

        As Harry rightly questioned the seriousness of your comment I will not question it but will tell you

        YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS.

  59. U Le! says:

    And where is the main stream media? Or is such an incident considered irrelevant?

  60. math says:

    ‘Malta taghna Lkoll’ was the theme used by the PL throughout the election campaign. Supposedly a positive campaign where the message had to be one of national unity.

    As expected it is an impossible task for the PL to persuade its followers that one can have different views but can still work with the PL movement.

    Before even trying to persuade the rest to join the movement the PL has first to persuade those who voted for it what ‘Malta taghna Lkoll’ means.

    Some like the thickheads in today’s episode still have the 1980s mentality of ‘Now the power is ours’.

    It is only the merit of the PN’s 25-year stance that today’s episode didn’t finish up any worse.

    The PL movement has already failed in the ‘Malta taghna Lkoll’ issue as incidents like this and the comments written on other blogs are a living proof.

    The PL won the election but ‘Power’ was the goal not national unity. I hope the switchers are enjoying a better way of life. tsk tsk.

  61. GEDE says:

    Anyone trusting these people is simply crazy. Shame on those bright guys at “The Times” who gave more than a hand to give guys like Natius the chance to taste power. We can only expect much worse.

  62. edgar says:

    Daphne, is C. Fenech the same Carm Fenech who lived opposite your parents. Shame on him. He was so anti Mintoff when he was still in his right senses.

    [Daphne – I have no idea but it might be, and I don’t recall him being anti-Mintoff but quite the opposite. They were very anti-EU and voted No.]

  63. Fanny says:

    Please take care Daphne. Malta needs you very badly now and in the hopefully short years to come.

    There are so very few journalists and political analysts of your calibre that it would be terrible if you were no longer able to comment or even go about your daily business without being harassed by thugs.

    I don’t know what more to say except – courage.

  64. taxxu says:

    ‘malta taghna lkoll’……ipokrezzija tboss

  65. Mr T says:

    “Malta Kollha Tagħna” would be a more appropriate slogan for LP I suppose..

  66. canon says:

    You are a very courageous woman, Daphne.

  67. carmen borg says:

    I been telling everybody just give them a BIT OF TIME and you’ll see what they’re capable of. They’re poisoned by Mintoff and it’s been passed down the generations.

  68. malti says:

    I’m a “laburist” as you people call us but this is a shame on all the population!

    Joseph should sack him straight away – everyone is entitled to his opinion but this is irrelevant to politics this is personal .. shame on him!

    Please take action, Daphne so this scum of the earth can disappear.

  69. Herman says:

    Strangely enough he’s got Nationalist candidates as friends too!

  70. maws says:

    gode di immunita ecclesiastica?

  71. edgar says:

    Daphne, I was going back to the early nineties, when Michael Refalo appoint Carm Fenech a director of the Mediterraen Conference Centre. He was very PN then.

    [Daphne – Was he? I don’t recall that at all. He might have been pretending.]

    • Moi says:

      He wasn’t “very PN” then. He was very Eurovision-song festival-y. Remember his on television with Grace Borg? Ho hum!

  72. Edward says:

    I wouldn’t expect much else from these people, personally. The false flag campaign they lead is going to fall apart soon enough and their real intentions will be exposed.

    That’s what always happens.

    • Moi says:

      It fell apart the minute the election results were out, literally, with all the old MLP flags being given an airing, after years of being locked away on The Great Leader’s tacit orders.

  73. Christian Spiteri says:

    Irringrazzja lil Alla Daphne li qatt ma sibt lil xi hadd jghamillek affarijiet aghar. Fejn il-kliem iebes-hamallu-modern li tghid inti, din ta’ Ignatius mhi xejn

    [Daphne – Typical Labour reasoning. So progressive and liberal.]

    • Christian Spiteri says:

      Jien m’ghedtlekx li jalla jaghmlulek hekk imma irringrazzja lil Alla li qatt m’ghamlulek xejn. M’hemmx typical Labour u mhux typical. Jekk persuna twegga’ diversi nies bi kliema ghal diversi drabi ma nahsibx li kif jarawha mhuma se jikkummentaw u jaghmlu xejn.

      [Daphne – I work in language, Christian, and can read between the lines.]

      • Christian Spiteri says:

        Istra prosit e, keep it up! Ghandek bzonn titghallem ftit Logic issa mela…

      • TROY says:

        Christian, just keep it up.

      • Last Post says:

        U ejja Christian Spiteri, gej bil-logic! Kemm kemm ma thossokx superjura ghax tahseb li ghandek intellett fin. M’ghidthiex imma nsinwajtha.

        Bil-logika tieghek jista’ jasal zmien, forsi mhux il-boghod wisq, meta tghidilna nirringrazzjaw lil JM talli jhallina nikkritikaw it-tmexxija tieghu (jew in-nuqqas taghha) minflok ma jitfaghna l-habs bhalma jigri f’xi pajjizi ohra dittatorjali.

    • TinaB says:

      Christian, I envy you – you are one of those who do not need to take the pill to lower your IQ permanently.

      Kulhadd b’xortih fid-dinja.

    • Catsrbest says:

      U int lil min trid tirringrazzja, Chris, tal-istupidagni li ghandek?

    • Fermina Daza says:

      And Christian!

    • Manuel says:

      You are forgetting one important aspect Mr. Spiteri: Daphne publishes on her blog even the insults she receives from your political friends and some of them show only venom and hatred a la Laburista. So much for “kliem iebes-hamallu-modern” you wrote about.

      Have you checked the stupid mayor’s Facebook wall recently? Or maybe would like to be like Mr. Privitera who uses a subtle way – almost diplomatic – to incite hatred against Daphne?

      “Twegga’ diversi nies bi kliema” (should have read kliemha)? Watch Super One and you will find the answer for your affirmation. Truly, typical Labour, Mr. Spiteri.

  74. ted says:

    Sorry if someone already asked but did anyone manage to record a video or audio clip of the mob shouting?

  75. Bellicoso says:

    Well done, Daphne, for controlling the situation.

    Did you manage to take any pictures of this guy prancing around you? Or are we asking for too much?

    Well done once again.

    [Daphne – No, of course I didn’t take any pictures of him. I practise what I preach. He was going about his business and wasn’t with anyone noteworthy, and I certainly wasn’t going to start taking pictures of him while he was hassling me in case he saw it as a provocation. You can’t be too careful with these tramps.]

    • Joseph Carmel Chetcuti says:

      Funny that! How can photographs amount to provocation? I thought that was called evidence! Hilarious.

      • La Redoute says:

        Precisely, so I take it you agree that Natius Farrugia’s actions were out of order, particularly since he published the evidence himself.

      • Paul Bonnici says:

        In such a heated atmosphere, Daphne would have been too frightened to take photos. Taking photos could have provoked the incident.

        Joseph Carmel Chetcuti you seem to take the side of Ignatius, being a Mintoffjan yourself.

  76. sammy says:

    Typical Labour behaviour. Not even a week has gone by. So sorry to read this. And please maybe The Malta Independent can report it properly as I lost all faith in The Times of Malta.

  77. Alexander Ball says:

    I wonder if it will get to court.

  78. Izzie says:

    That jerk is afraid of a woman with brains. Daphne, kompli ahraqhom. You’re our voice in the wilderness that has become Malta.

    MLP never changes… never ever… we’ve been accused of bringing out the stories of “babaw”… the 1970s and the 1980s are not really that far… nor is 1996 … only this time round too many jerks voted.

    Too many fake persons who deem themselves intellectual talked too much and caused too much damage and incited other frail-minded creatures to vote for the mob.

    So what we have is a mob-rule under a Malta taghna lkoll label. L-aqwa li ma Jożef kollox “safe” to be read “sejf” li lest iferi lil min ma jaqbilx miegħu.

  79. Wayne Hewitt says:

    What happens if he is found guilty of instigating violence once arraigned? Will he be jailed or given a suspended sentence?

    • combinaguai says:

      I guess we’ll have to wait and see.But I’m sure Joseph’s Moviment Laburista will do the best in the interest of justice, hux?

      I mean can ANYONE doubt that after the people chose him to replace the nasty corrupt backwards Nazzjonalisti?

    • Makjavel says:

      Daphne will be found guilty of provocating an innocent person with her mere presence.
      Being present becomes a provocation.
      I lived in those times.

      • worried says:

        Not only by being present. A look will suffice to get somebody asking you ‘X’inti thares, ghandi ntik?’

  80. Jozef says:

    They may have an absolute majority, but they don’t have the authority.

    Noticed how every move made is fragmenting autonomy of all possible resistance? Not that it was envisaged.

    A myriad of councils and agencies which won’t have the momentum to exist in their own right.

    It seems the cacophany has to resound over everything.

    He’s just dropped another bombshell this morning. The token holy war to distract the buddha brigade. Move over Zapatero.

  81. Twanny borg says:

    Hamalli kienu u aktar baqghu attaparsi inbidlu……

    • joseph says:

      Daqs kemm inbdiltu intom a qabda mejtin bil guh qas biro ma hallejtu!!! mux ta b xejn gonzi halla 6 biljun dejn!!

  82. Ola ola says:

    Dan Natius Ola ukoll! Imissu jisthi jekk jaf jisthi.

    Issa nissuggerixxi lil Toni Abela sabiex jekk isib xi pulizija Laburist, ma jghidlux ma jmexxix.

    Dan Natius ghadu ma jafx li tezisti l-liberta’ tal-espressjoni, imma li dan ma jfissirx li tista taggreda u tghajjar lin-nies fit-triq? Baqa bil-mentalita ta’ zmien is-Salvatur.

  83. manum says:

    Dear Daphne While I show my full support, I do not think we need to update you regarding the vulgarities that “in-najcis” as he is known, performs.

    He is considered as a menacing clown by a lot of Zurrieq parishioners who still feel that dignity is a great asset for a mayor. He is the classic definition of a hamallu, in the real sense of the word.

  84. Heru Nugroho says:

    Unpredictable future for Malta.

  85. Mandy B says:

    Daphne, I’m shocked. I honestly don’t want to believe that it has come to this.

    Before the election, whenever I mentioned what used to happen in the past, particularly under Dom Mintoff I was told to stop it & to ‘look forward’.

    Everyone was under the impression that because we’ve got an established democracy and live in a supposedly civilised society that this sort of thing would not happen.

    It turns out that I was right, nobody should have trusted them.

    • La Redoute says:

      You were told to stop and look forward because the Labour Party can’t afford to have anyone think about its present, much less its past.

  86. Rachel says:

    Imma int x qed tippretendi? wara l ghodju li hareg u ghadu johrog minn fommok? Li n nies jarawk fit trieq u jidhkulek?? jew jcapcpulek??

    [Daphne – Rachel, in-nies li jahsbu li l-odju johrog minn fommi huma nies li lanqas biss kapaci jaqraw sew, ahseb u ara kemm jafu jaqraw bl-Ingliz u izjed u izjed jifhmu dak li nikteb jien. Huwa l-Partit Laburista li, ghal ghoxrin sena shah, ilu itambar dwari fuq Super One TV u Radio u fil-gazzetti u jpinguni bhala xi xitan. Jekk issaqsi dawk li bdew jghajruni r-Rabat jekk qatt qraw jew fehmu l-artikli li nikteb, ir-risposta tkun ‘Le’. U hag’ ohra: ir-ragunament tieghek huwa kompletament zbaljat. Ahna mahniex qeghdin nghixu fil-Mandragg ta’ mitt sena ilu, fejn tibda tghajjar in-nies fit-triq ghax ma joghgbukx.]

    • Min Jaf says:

      Evidentament qeghdin nghixu f’Malta li grazzi ghall-hmieg u t-tajn li l-Partit Laburista baqa ‘ jxandar tul ghexieren ta’ snin u li xerred il-mentalita tal-Mandragg f’kull rokna ta’ Malta u Ghawdex.

      • Natalie Mallett says:

        U kien il-Partit Nazzjonalista li taghhom il-licenzji ghal stazzjon tat-televizjoni u radju biex bihom ghamlu propaganda kemm riedu u ghajru kemm felhu lil min riedu ukoll.

    • worried says:

      Biex tkun taf kif ikun l-odju, mur fittex x;kienet tikteb Maria l-Maws u Lino Cassar. Jew dawk kienu qalbhom tajba wkoll?

    • Matthew S says:

      Dawn is-snin kollha wara u għadkom la fhimtu kif taħdem id-demokrazija u l-anqas il-ħelsien tal-kelma.

      Nitlef kull tama meta naqra kummenti bħal tiegħek, Rachel.

      P.S Meta se titgħallmu tiktbu?

      • Rachel says:

        Qatt fl opinjoni tieghek m ahna ha nitghallmu niktbu ghax ahna njoranti Matthew S. Pero Malta uriet x riedet u min dejjaqha!!

    • Rachel says:

      Gifieri jien fhimt hazin meta int ghajjart lil Laburisti injuranti per ezempju. Fhimt hazin meta int urejt mibgheda kontra D.Mintoff? Ma nafx ,forsi qrajt hazin u ma fhimtekx!!!

      [Daphne – Oh grow up, Rachel. You really can’t go through life with such an underdeveloped intellect and language skills.]

    • johnUSA says:

      Sa fejn naf jien la Super One TV u lanqas Radio… they never acknowledged your existence. “Mela dik mhux li titkeb ir-ricetti?” .. That must kill you knowing that they will never acknowledge your existence directly.

      [Daphne – On the contrary, it kills them and amuses me no end. You have no idea how indifferent I am to this sort of thing.]

  87. lzammit says:

    Jiena jidierli li Toni Abela l-ewwel jghidilna hu bhala l-bniedem li jiehu hsieb l-Kunsilli Lokali- Ignatius bhala sindktu jghamel stqarija ufficjali lil Publiku Malti-kullhadd jista jizbalja- pero kullhadd jiehu dak li haqqu- Nazjju kelli idea tieghek hafna,hafna,ahjar-imma dawn l-hnizrijiet rraportati huma ta.min jikkundanahom.Ghal lum daqshekk.

    Beda jiddispjacini mil Lum!!!!!!

  88. Kevin says:

    I am sure that many journalists read your blog, yet none would seem to want to condemn this behaviour in public through a scathing article.

    Imagine an Eddy Privitera writing an editorial about this and taking a stand against this sort of violence within the Labour Party. That would be the day.

    Daphne, keep well and thank you.

  89. Jenny says:

    How funny no report whatsoever on ‘The Times’

  90. Mundu says:

    Imnalla qadt ma tltqajt mieghek ghax zgurrrrrrrrr tispicca b xi black eye. Issa qazzizt lil kulhadd bl attitudni faxxista tieghek.

    Coward.

    • Bubu says:

      And he talks about fascist attitudes. Unbelievable.

    • TinaB says:

      Marelli, sahansitra ‘il-Mundu’ juza laqmu biex jhedded li Daphne publikament.

      Taf int, issa Malta taghhom biss, ghandhom il-power u HADD ma jista ghalihom.

      Jahasra, anqas biss jindunaw li aktar ma jaghmlu kummenti bhal dawn aktar qeghdin jaghtu prova cara ta’ kemm il-minoranza tal-poplu Malti ghandu ragun.

      • worried says:

        The police should check on this ‘mundu’ guy.

      • mundu says:

        Lil dawk kollha dojoq. Jien ma jimpurtanix mill-politika.

        Kieku tkunu inthom u jwegghalkom lil tal-familja tibqu cassi. cowards.

        U nerga nfakrek daphne biex dak li nikteb gib kollox u mhux li jaqbilek.

    • etil says:

      Tkellem ghalik – coward int li ma iggibx il veru ismek. Issa wasalna fi stat li ma nistghux naghdu biz-zmien il politikanti – sakhemm ma ikunux tal Labour naturalment.

    • ciccio says:

      Interesting. Mundu first issues threats and then signs off as “coward.”

  91. Min Jaf says:

    No report in The Times this morning, this despite you having been:

    1. accosted by an individual and denied your right of free and peaceful use of a public street;

    2. loudly insulted for holding a particular opinion about a person publicly aspired to, and who currently holds public office, viz Mayor of Zurrieq;

    3. put in jeopardy by the actions and words of that individual inciting other persons in the street to mob violence, which violence was only prevented by the timely intervention of third parties who provided you with shelter until the police were called in to your assistance.

    Furthermore, the incident was politically motivated and also took place at a particularly politically sensitive time.

    The Times is evidently no longer able to recognise the ugly nature and its implications upon the liberty of the individual and of the people in general to hold and to exchange opinion, or its editorial content has now become the slave of the pro-PL bias increasingly evident over recent weeks, or both.

    Whatever the case, I am cancelling my years-long subscription to The Times as of today. The paper no longer lives up to the ideals of its founder, and to that of the Foundation, as defender of true democracy and the attainment and due observance of high journalistic standards.

    • il-Ginger says:

      TimesofKasco

    • Josephine says:

      “Whatever the case, I am cancelling my years-long subscription to The Times as of today. The paper no longer lives up to the ideals of its founder, and to that of the Foundation, as defender of true democracy and the attainment and due observance of high journalistic standards.”

      Hear, hear. I cancelled my decades-long Sunday Times subscription at my newsagent’s as of the day after the election for the very same reasons you mentioned. (I purchased The Times regularly too – without a subscription – but will no longer be doing so.)

    • etil says:

      The Times is falling backwards to try and make out that Labour has changed. Who are they fooling? And they’re still buying most of their supplies from Joseph Muscat’s chief of staff.

    • ciccio says:

      The Times have reached the point where they are better at retyping and re-tabulating emails than at analysing news and facts and reporting information.

  92. old-timer says:

    Wayne. With the present set-up do you think (or dream) that he will be found guilty? At most he will be let loose on the excuse “there were not enough witnesses”. Do not forget – Malta taghna lkoll.

  93. Samuel Mercieca says:

    Minghajr ma nidhol fil-merti tal-kaz, nixtieq noggezjona ghall-kumment li jghid: “Maybe where he comes from (definitely refering to Zurrieq) , uncivilized behaviour is the norm”. Dan zgur li mhux accettabli! Imgieba ta’ persuna wahda, sew jekk tkun tajba, sew jekk le, ma tirriflettix fuq kulhadd!

    [Daphne – Ma kontx qed nirreferi ghaz-Zurrieq, Samuel. Dik l-espressjoni bl-Ingliz hija referenza ghal niesu u mhux ghal pajjizu.]

    • Jimmy says:

      However … Zurrieq voted him as its mayor!

      • Gahan says:

        Natius is chief supporter or rather cheer leader of the Tal-Karmnu feast and Queen Victoria Band Club, that’s why he is mayor in a predominantly Labour village.

        Believe you me, he was the best option for mayor.

        In Zurrieq the feast takes first priority.

      • Natalie Mallett says:

        Ahjar imur jaghmel xoghlu flok idahhaq minghalih, ghax m’hemmx bankina wahda sura ta’nies li tista timxi fuqha bil-pushchair.

  94. mattie says:

    In Malta, people get elected, depending on how popular or good looking these they are.

    And not by evaluing how clever they are and how well prepared they are to work for their country.

    For example, this is a typical example. Whilst waiting in a long queue of people to vote, I heard one man telling another: “Aw Chal, Ok jew? Isma kemm ghandek neputija helwa, lil dik ha ntih”.

    • Min Jaf says:

      Who said he was talking about his vote?

      • mattie says:

        What I meant is: People like to vote 1) min hu ragel sew 2) min ghandu qalbu tajba 3) min hu gustuz/a

        Min jaghmel il-gid / min hu kapaci jgib il-gid, qas tghaddilhom mill-kurituri ta’ mohhhom jemmnu fih.

      • michelle pirotta says:

        LOL classic.

      • mattie says:

        He was definitely talking about the vote. So much that he kept on telling Challie, quote “Kemm hi brava alla jbierek, gustuza, gustuza, le hi, lilha ha nivvota”.

        Note: the candidate, a new face in labour politics, is someone I had never heard of before the elections.

        How the guy managed to justify her intelligence, beats me. Perhaps good looks are being confused with intelligence? Perhaps some Maltese people can not distinguish between the two? Perhaps looks are selling in labour politics?

        If the latter is the case, then I really don’t know.

      • M. Cassar says:

        Mattie I think one needs to explain that ‘min hu ragel sew’ translates to ‘min jaqdini’ and not to ‘sew’ as in moral or ethical.

  95. sunshine says:

    No one should have to go through this. Shame on all involved, and I hope that the PL takes the necessary action.

    Reminds me of some famous words not too long ago: “Min mhux maghna kontra taghna.” Whoever thought these things would change is being proven sorely wrong.

  96. Bubu says:

    I just saw the Independent’s online report about the incident.

    It’s surprisingly low-key and only mentions “labour supporters” in quotes and doesn’t even say who the instigator was.

    Very disappointed.

    • Bubu says:

      Hmm. It appears that the Independent are being very careful what comments they publish under the story.

      I think they are censoring most mentions of Natius. Why?

  97. Chris says:

    Chi semina vento raccoglie tempesta,
    No use hanging onto the law, if your “freedom” to say whatever you wish is impinging on your freedom to roam the streets without having to look over your shoulder. There’s no such thing as peace of mind.

  98. Frans Cassar says:

    I am decent PN Zurrieqi and have always distanced myself from the ‘imbarazz’ mayor that represent our village. But since Zurrieq is Labour dominated, how am I suppose to change this? Can anyone come up with a possible solution?

    Oh, by the way, I formally thank all the switchers who voted PL, they really knew what they were doing! You just fu**ked up Malta…….

  99. Jimmy says:

    Daphne,

    On another note. Have you seen the Times of Malta video at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130319/local/one-million-for-pope-s-ceremony.462049. Go to 1:44, note the ‘first lady’s’ manners. She’s unbelievably playing with her mobile phone while talking to Cardinal Prospero.

    • La Redoute says:

      Michelle Muscat is not Malta’s first lady. That would be Mrs Abela.

      • Carlos Bonavia says:

        In his interview with the PBS reporter at the Pope’s inauguration, I heard Joseph say that the Roman Catholic Church has also felt the need for change.

        My, my – hasn’t our head got bigger in just one week. The insinuation and implication was very clear. God has clearly heeded our own Joseph’s call and decided on a change of leadership.

  100. Jimmy says:

    http://www.inewsmalta.com/dart/20130320-appuntamenti-mo-bija

    Bdejna nsibu l-hofor!! Issa xi jmiss … ‘nissikkaw ic-cintorin’?

    Meta dalgħodu kien qiegħed jieħu sehem fil-programm TVAM il-Ministru tas-Saħħa Godfrey Farrugia żvela kif il-Ministeru tiegħu għandu defiċit ta’ €63 miljun.

  101. Joe Formosa says:

    Daphne I do not always agree with you but I respect you. I respect that you express your thoughts, feelings and beliefs for anyone to read, and anyone can agree or disagree as they seem fit.

    Your weapon is your keyboard, and that is accepted in a civilised society.

    Anybody who does not agree can counter your arguments in the same civilised way, in writing or proper debate. There are enough mediums out there for anybody to do that quite easily.

    Those who resort to other means of countering back are normally the ones who do not have the intelligence and the capacity to reason and debate.

    Now I can accept that from a certain segment of society, and I do not mean that in any disrespectful way to anybody who falls in this category, but certain people can not help it. They feel they have to resort to some form of violence or verbal abuse to express themselves.

    I cannot, though, ever accept this from people who hold public office, elected by the people to represent them in a civilised society.

    If these people do not agree with you, then they should counter back with the same weapon that you have used – writing and proper reasoning. If they cannot do it themselves, then they can get somebody else to do it for them.

    If this is still not possible, then they should not be seeking or holding public office in the first place. It is totally unacceptable to have a mayor act in this manner.

    • Last Post says:

      @Joe Formosa
      I’m not sure who you are but I know a few people who make ‘balanced comments’ (i.e. neither here nor there) by taking a moral high-ground. Take for example this:

      “Now I can accept that from a certain segment of society … but certain people can not help it. They feel they have to resort to some form of violence or verbal abuse to express themselves. (Typical of an immature youngster.)

      I cannot, though, ever accept this from people who hold public office, elected by the people to represent them in a civilised society.” (That’s for balance!)

      The problem with Labour people “who hold public office” is that like you they accept “some form of violence or verbal abuse” from a certain segment of society. That’s how things got out of hand during the Mintoff/KMB years. Eventually, they not only accepted such behaviour but their whole political life and power depended on it – to the extent that we’ve witnessed arson and loss of life!

      Any genuine citizen will condemn similar forms of intolerant violence whichever way it comes from. Even PN has its own “certain segment” but it is only during Labour administrations that they are given full vent.

      Natius wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t know he’d find people to join him in his abhorrent intentions and behaviour. He feels safer in their presence and ‘hamarlagni’ – ghax issa AHNA ghandna l-power!” It’s that slogan and attitude which exposes the underlying Labour sentiment.

      With our vote each one of us has taken a side. Let’s all be consistent and face the consequences of our action … or else admit our error.

  102. Mickey Mouse says:

    I rarely write anything on this blog even though I follow it on a daily basis. I secretly kept on hoping since this unbelievable success of PL that they have changed their old habits.

    Maybe JM wears a mask or maybe with his attitude he tries, very unsuccessfully, to educate his ‘old school’ followers. But I believe that ‘il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizzio’.

    Sitting in a public waiting area I heard someone comment on yesterday’s show in Rabat. The real colours of Malta taghna lkoll were made public by the very intellligent experts sitting beside me.

    They feel omnipotent not only because of the victory but mostly because of the majority of votes they got.

    It is scary to say the least that overnight these experts have multiplied all around us. God help us as things don’t seem to be getting any better then where we left them in 1987.

    “Mara hadra, m’ghandix x’taghmel, imdejqa biha infisha. Jaharquha ghax hekk haqqha! Ahjar toqghod attenta ghax xi bomba jaghmluha!..u jkun haqqha…issa naraw titlaqx minn Malta kif qalet…giddieba u thobb issahhan lin nies…”.

  103. Ronald says:

    I am truly sorry for what happened to you. However, you are just increasing and building hatred towards yourself. You come writing here that who voted PL is foolish. First you tell your story of how scared you were and had to be locked in the convent than you come here calling them foolish. I voted PL but would not never come and bother you. I am sure you did not peak out of a window and called someone foolish that instant. Stop the controversy because Malta needs repairing not farce stories of yours. We must dedicate ourselves to fix what is wrong not read about your drama

    • La Redoute says:

      What is wrong and needs fixing is people’s inability to cope with justified criticism (or even unjustified criticism, for that matter). But what can be done about hopeless cases like Natius Farrugia who felt slighted by the publication of photographs which he had released himself?

      If you are upset at being called foolish for voting PL, ask yourself whether that’s because you feel the assessment is correct.

      • Ronald says:

        Of course I feel right for voting PL. Do you feel right for voting PN after two of your MPs live with security in front of their homes because they brought to light the cliques that rovinated your party?

        [Daphne – They live with security outside their homes because they like to feel important and endangered. They are despised not because they brought anything to light (they didn’t) but because they are knaves. People who vote PN have a very different mindset to people who vote Labour, and tend to take strong exception to knavish behaviour rather than admiring it. However, they would also never attack or assault those knaves because, as I said, the mindset is different.]

      • La Redoute says:

        Oh, absolutely. Where I come from, people have the courage of their convictions. They don’t need to prop up their fragile egos by having their critics forcibly shut up.

        The men you mention are neither my representatives nor, thankfully, are they MPs. I voted for neither of them and never would.

    • Liberal says:

      Ronald, in a free democracy, everyone is entitled to his opinion, and where boundaries are overstepped, there is recourse to legal action. There is no excuse for violence or insults in the street.

      Secondly, if the Labour Party is really about to “repair Malta”, then it would do well to curb the violent thugs among its ranks.

      It is amazing that in this day and age, a mayor on a political party ticket stalks and violently intimidates a private citizen, and his leader does not immediately issue a press release expressing concern, at the very least.

      Thirdly, the fact that you describe serious acts like stalking and mob violent threats as “drama” speaks volumes on you as a person.

      There should be no controversy on this, but apparently we really have two Maltas.

      • Ronald says:

        I referred ‘drama’ to the lou bondi story. I agree in writing what you want. I am just saying that what you write may come back to haunt you for obvious reason that in the outside world there are people who recur to violence.You do not have to be Labour to be violent. that is very close minded.

        About the two maltas, you stand corrected. Two Maltas existed a long time ago. You go for confession in a church in the late 1960s and early 70s, the priest would ask you: “Min ta min int?” If he realizes your father is Labour, you would not be confessed. I am sure you condemn this. But we would say: “But thats such a long time ago?” Exactly and we still have it becuase hardcore opinion bloggers still worship partisanship!

    • mattie says:

      The first thing Malta needs is to rid itself from people like you. A critic with an agenda. You’re another one of those who likes to comment about what people are doing and how people should live their life.

      Live your own. Create your own blogs, don’t come here ranting if you have nothing of true value to say and if you want to see Malta change, do something by changing yourself first.

      Xi dwejjaq ta’ nies!

    • TinaB says:

      Ronald, you have not understood anything, have you?

      So what if Daphne says that those who voted Labour are foolish?

      First and foremost, it’s the truth but even if it were not, in civilized countries they do not go attacking someone physically or threaten with physical harm for writing about and make fun of politicians or others who are in the public eye – I have never heard of anybody involved in politics, outside Malta, doing what Natius Farrugia did to Daphne, yesterday.

      These things happen only in countries like Iran, Ronald.

      When are we going to grow up?

  104. NGT says:

    Not trying to be funny here. It’s a completely genuine question; Why would anyone want to bleach his/her @$$hole? (is it a gender specific thing or commonly done to both?). I mean, what’s the point?

    • Min Jaf says:

      Biex wicchom zgur aktar ikun bhal sormom. Mhux tal-pL dawn?

    • WhoamI? says:

      NGT, don’t be silly, come on.

      Anal bleaching is a beauty treatment, and most popular with people who have dark or darker skin.

      Furthermore, it’s not gender-specific given that both men and women have @$$holes. However, you wouldn’t want to bleach it just because you have it, just as much as you don’t dye your hair because you can.

      You only do it if you were intent on using that hole as an ENTRY point; it’s generally not done if you only want to use it as an exit point. Turds don’t care if the hole is slightly darker than the rest of the body when they’re leaving it. But some sexual partners might.

      So Natius is right in offering this service to his male and female clients – there’s demand and he’s there to sell. I’m just giving a general overview.

  105. Zunzana says:

    Issa bil kemm (il-laburisti ta’ Malta taghna lkoll) mhux qed jaghtu tort lilek ta’dak li gara. Veru imisshom jisthu. Ma’ jistghux ghall-kritika.

    Illum aktar mill-bierah jien kburi li ivvotajt lill-PN.

    Kif dejjem ghidtlek Daphne, ‘”you are a woman of substance”. Jien u hafna ohra (anke Nazzjonalisti li ivvotaw Labour) huma iddusgustati b’dak kollu li gara. Nisperaw li issir gustizzja.

    [Daphne – Min jivvota ghall-Partit Laburista huwa Laburist, u mhux ‘Nazzjonalist li vvota Labour’. Li tkun Nazzjonalist jew Laburist muhiex identita etnika, imma l-vot biss jghodd.]

  106. Spider Jerusalem says:

    You want to know about voting? I’m here to tell you about voting.

    Imagine you’re locked in a huge underground nightclub filled with sinners, whores, freaks and unnameable things that rape pit bulls for fun. And you ain’t allowed out until you all vote on what you’re going to do tonight. You like to put your feet up and watch “Republican Party Reservation.” They like to have sex with normal people using knives, guns, and brand new sexual organs that you did not know existed. So you vote for television and everyone else, as far as your eye can see, votes to fuck you with switchblades.

    That’s voting. You’re welcome.

  107. Karl Abela says:

    Whilst condemning Ignatius, I believe that the ‘power’ is given from within the party. Someone has been hyping up such people rather than calming them down. The labour party to needs to answer for this hooligan activity and fire whoever is responsible.

    If not, PN will only be too glad to get some political mileage to showcase the true colours of Lejber.

  108. Ronald says:

    Clearly I am being criticized for condemning the partisanship that created all this. My point is: Lets stop history from continuing to hindering people develop open minds! I clearly understand that Malta is small and political members may have many civilian friends that vote for them in hope for a return in favour such as a nice decent job. That makes it understandable although I condemn it. Partisanship is recurring in Malta due to personal interest. That is my point. I have no personal interest that’s why I do not like partisanship. On the other hand open minded people would neither vote PL nor PN. I voted PL to put PN aside for the moment and fix their internal problems because in the process they forgot about the people. Out of stock pills : “So what? Even grocers go out of stock!” Imagine a family member was in need of the pills and you here Busuttil say that! as if he said: Memx x’taghmel hux… If there is nothing to do, it is apparent that you have no idea how to solve the problem. So sorry how do you expect me to vote PN?

  109. sunshine says:

    Maybe this professor can shed some light onto the use and abuse of social media in Malta – http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130320/local/social-media-expert-to-give-lecture.462166

  110. Mikiel says:

    Oh Daphne, I’m so sorry you had such a terrible experience. You are truly an admirable woman, strong in values and opinion. Thank you for being of example to many.

    I hope that the new PM JM will take a positive stand against one of his elected Mayors and his aggressive and oppressive behaviour against a free citizen. This kind of machoism, and aggressive behaviour is not acceptable in 2013.

    I guess their PR /Marketing campaign ,the means to this result, has ended. Now is the time for their true colours to come out.

  111. Miskin jien says:

    I was sexually harassed by this same mayor… disgusted by the language he used on a Facebook chat.

  112. Silvio Loporto says:

    I am quire sure you will not print this, but just the same.

    YOU LAID YOUR BED

    [Daphne – Silvio, your fascist roots are on display. No wonder you voted Labour and never forgave the Nationalist Party for leaving its rightwing politics behind several decades ago. You voted Labour. I repeat, you voted Labour. Now bloody well deal with it and stop looking for reasons to make yourself feel better about it. You are so predictable and easy to read that I can even guess to whom you gave your number 1: a rightwing fascist like you, Manuel Mallia. Have fun fantasising about army boots together.]

    • Jozef says:

      Loporto, Tyrrell, Privitera.

      A sum total of six inches.

    • Josephine says:

      Thankfully, not all people think the way despicable Silvio Loporto does.

    • Silvio Loporto says:

      As to the first part:
      And Proud Of It.

      As to your second part.
      You might be right and you might be wrong.

      [Daphne – Yes, well, Silvio, you would be proud to vote Labour. It’s a rightwing party now, in the worst possible sense. As to the second part, I know I’m right. Manuel Mallia embodies everything you hold dear, including his flight from the PN because it is not rightwing enough (read fascist) for him.]

    • Last Post says:

      Don’t know Sivio Loporto but I know a couple who share similar views and attitudes (I love labour coz I hate Daphne).

      Nice and well-deserved reply-comment from D.

      [Daphne – Silvio Loporto doesn’t hate me. He’s been hanging round this site like an adoring dog for a couple of years. Unfortunately, he’s one of those men – there are a few of them about, and they’re all stuck in teen age – who think that the best way to get a woman’s attention is by spiting her or defying her. Silvio isn’t proud of having voted Labour. He’s defiant about it, which is entirely different. This means that even he knows that his motivation was wrong. You’d think somebody his age – he’s 74 – would have a more mature outlook, but no.]

      • Silvio Loporto says:

        Of course I don’t hate you, why should I?

        “Like an adoring dog” if I’m not wrong, I thought dogs adore Bitches.
        Yes I’m still young at heart,whats wrong with that?
        About who I voted for, I think you’re jumping to conclusion, who knows
        At my age I don’t have the need to attract any woman’s attention, but If I had to I wouldn’t for sure do it by “spitting or defying her” I would rather shower her with gifts, They say it works. never tried it.

  113. Joseph Muscat says:

    Daphne, fl-ahhar rajtek f-sitwazzjoni li kont qeghda taghmel tahtek bil-biza. U mhux arroganti bhas-soltu. Grazzi Natius.

    [Daphne – Rest assured that I wasn’t in the least bit frightened. The best way to deal with a situation like that is to remove oneself from it. That’s what I did. Fear did not come into it.]

    • Liberal says:

      This Joseph Muscat sure is “manly”. He believes that a group of thugs stalking and harassing a woman is something to be proud of.

      Inferiority complex sure has a strange way of acting on such scum of the earth.

    • Josephine says:

      Your choice of nickname does your hero no good, but that comes as no surprise.

    • Gahan says:

      Surely Daphne knows that, the bigger they are the harder they fall !

      If she touched him or screamed, we would have seen this on today’s papers: “DCG tattakka lis-sindku taz-Zurrieq” and “Zurrieq mayor violently attacked by DCG” or “Attakk fahxi vjolenti minn Daphne fuq Ignatius Farrugia”

    • Karl Abela says:

      Joseph, if you regard opposition as being arrogant than you are the arrogant one.

  114. Li Ding says:

    Nothing is more terrible to see than ignorance in action. (Goethe)

  115. Kurt Mifsud Bonnici says:

    Still no report of this on the Times. I find that unacceptable.

  116. Bella Kumpanija says:

    Hi Daphne, Ibqa serja hekk. Dawk li ma jistghux ghalik huma nies li mhumiex kapaci jirrisponduk b’mod civilizzat.

    Ma jifihux il-kritika tieghek, ghalhekk nies bhall dawn m’ humiex politici ghax politiku ghandu jkun bniedem lest ghal kritika u mhux jaffaccja lil min jikkritikah bil-mod kif Nazju affaccja lilek fir-Rabat. Ahjar idur dawra mieghu nnifsu ja xkora mimlija bl-addocc.

    Nerga nghidlek ghamel blog biex nibdew nigbru lista tac-cucati u l-hmerijiet li jaghmel gvern immexxi mill-PL u mal-lista nzidu atti bhal dan li gara lilek fir-Rabat.

    Imisshom jisthu waqt festa Kattolika jigru affarijiet bhal dawn. Ma naghmlux moghod li kien fis-sakra hux?

    PL jaqqqq ta’ vera.

  117. Ryan says:

    Although I agree that this was “uncivilised behaviour” I am hurt by this comment: “Maybe where he comes from, uncivilised behaviour is the norm.” I can assure you that these things are not a norm and it is unfair to generalise in such statements.

    [Daphne – If somebody said anything about Sliema, I wouldn’t give a damn, let alone be ‘hurt’. I just don’t get this ‘hurt’ business. Is it a national hobby or what? In any case, ‘where you come from’ isn’t a reference to place but to people, more specifically your social group or family. I’m not such an idiot as to think the place where you’re born influences your behaviour. People do that.]

  118. Mikiel says:

    Just read the comments under The Malta Independent’s report about this case. Some comments really show that many DO NOT need that fab pill you suggested earlier.

    1. If my 14 yr old niece wears a tiny mini and high wedge heels to Paceville, it’s OK to rape her – she asked for it, we couldn’t control our dick.

    2. If a free female citizen like ‘Defni’ blogs (i.e. writes from a PC at home) about her political opinion, about the actions of the now government’s team and other public persons and hilarious photos published on Facebook, it’s OK to attack her physically – she asked for it, we couldn’t control our hands.

    3. If Franco and friends attack their then ‘Kap tal-Partit taghhom fil-gvern’ verbally on all sources of media going agaisnt the opinions of those who elected them in the first place, it’s OK because they were truly hurt jahasra – we need to embrace them, they are men who suffered an injustice.

    Negative attitudes against women are truly ingrained in our society. Daphne, you have pointed this out many times on your blog. Now I truly understand how right you were.

  119. George says:

    See these enlightening comments from Grace Pavia, Godfrey Pirotta and Victor Laiviera

    Grace Pavia Some people are not to be believed. They are pathetic liars and scaremongering harridans. However, they believe they still have the run of the land. Some people need to get it into their thick skulls that they are NOT welcome in most parts of the country. Reason being that bestiality turns people off whatever they are doing, eating or drinking.
    2 hours ago · Like

    Godfrey Walter Pirotta If you sow hate you get back hate. People always reap what they sow. It is as easy as that.
    about an hour ago · Like · 2

    Victor Laiviera Why is it acceptable to insult someone in writing but not verbally? Why is one “protected free speech” and the other an offence?
    about an hour ago · Like

    Victor Laiviera Anyone who helps DCG spread her filth and hatemongering by posting her blogs here just to get a few more ‘hits’ is guilty by association.
    about an hour ago · Like

    Source : Andrew Azzopardi
    http://andrewazzopardi.org/2013/03/20/ignatius-natius-farrugia-dcg-show-down-dcgs-version/

  120. Leanne says:

    Sorry to say, but same old Labour.

  121. Mark Debono says:

    Ifem, I would not expect something better from a CIKKULATINA ikrah u ohxon like Natius. Maybe his looks are not satisfactory to attract a man so he’s doing stupid things to do so. Ma mara jaghmel l-arja… veru cikulatina imma dan ma jtihx dritt jaghmel gharja ma mara.

    Well done Daphne for not falling to provocations.

  122. Manuel says:

    Malta got the government it deserves. It always does. This time round it got the inefficient lot of the taparsi terrimot tal-bidla; including Nazju z-Zurrieqi.

    It is now almost offical: the PL will present the PN’s last budget as its own budget. So much so for “ahna lesti li niggvernaw”, “ghandna rowtmepp”; “ahna moderni”, “zmien il-partiti politici spicca”. They did not even have a budget ready to propose and to present in Parliament. Le, mhumiex copy cats, ma tarax int.

    So the PL will present a budget it rejected in the first place. because, let us be fair, it could have voted in favour of it in December and we could still have gone to the elections in March. But to satisfy its Prima Donna Debono, it voted against it. Now it presents it as “its own”. So the PN supporters or switchers or whatever you want to call them, are going to get a good budget afterall and which is going to be implemented by the party tal-bidla which they voted in to run this country. The irony of it all.

  123. Sharon says:

    I am from Zurrieq and feel ashamed about how our Mayor behaved IN PUBLIC.

    For God’s sake, he should be giving a good example.

    I can proudly say I have never voted for him in the Zurrieq local council elections.

  124. Josephine says:

    It would also be interesting to know whether Ignatius Farrugia formed part of a group of 10 or more people, seeing that – if it was the case – he would also have broken yet another law.

  125. Spiru says:

    Can you expect any better from someone whose rival band club used to throw bananas at ?

  126. TROY says:

    So this low life of a mayor likes picking on women, does he?

    Kemm hu bully.

  127. Brian Ellul says:

    Very clear that there is something very wrong with his DNA…

    • La Redoute says:

      It’s not the only one. The first wrong decision was appointing Mario Cutajar, Keith Allen Schembri and Kurt Farrugia.

      The second was to demand the resignation of people occupying constitutionally appointed positions.

      The third was announcing a cabinet that costs millions more than the previous one, for which no budget has been allocated. The fourth was to invite Toni Abela to sit in on a cabinet meeting.

      And that was just up to Wednesday last week.

  128. Shocking! In the Biblical sense.

  129. Doriette Rizzo Naudi says:

    Just like the cases of the paedophile from Marsa and the white block of dangerous ice in Lija, this incident is an opportunity for Joseph Muscat and his Labour Movement to demonstrate on which side of ‘right’ they really stand.

    Through their (in)actions in incidents ‘one’ and ‘two’, they have cast an indelible shadow upon themselves….fuq tlieta toqghod il-borma is a common saying in Maltese.

  130. JoeS says:

    Today I said goodbye to a friend I no longer wish to be associated with because this friend has changed beyond all recognition.

    We no longer see eye to eye on many important issues and this friend has been debased.

    I am finding it difficult to understand why this has happened. So farewell to a once true, trusted and reliable companion. Here’s to happier and more faithful (The) TIMES.

  131. Ola ola says:

    Biex inehhi s-suf tajjeb Natius! B’kull rispett lejn il-poplu Zurrieqi, tihdux ghalikom imma DCG ma qalet xejn kontra z-Zrieraq.

    Issa biex turuna li intom vera poplu b’qalb kbira aghtu l-1 lil Nazju.

  132. michelle pirotta says:

    Daphne
    I think I found a theoretical explanation of Labour’s victory.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_M._Cipolla

    Basically, this is incredibly (Funny but) true:

    These are Cipolla’s five fundamental laws of stupidity:

    1.Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.

    2.The probability that a certain person (will) be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.

    3.A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.

    4.Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.

    5.A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

    There you go.

  133. Dr Francis Saliba says:

    It did not take long for the Labour Party to prove that history repeats itself while trying to create the false impression that this is a new changed party, different from the MLP of the 70s and 80s, and that we should not be looking back but only forwards. The future that beckons is reminiscent of that ignoble past. The names and nicknames of the louts may be different but the methods are the same.

    Let us hope that the culprits will be brought to justice and receive the punishment at law that they deserve, not excuses and, in public, a tiny slap on the wrist, accompanied by hidden endorsements as used to happen when they burned down The Times, ransacked the Curia and the home of the leader of the opposition.

    The Times is no longer printing my comments on the subject and has even removed some telling comments that had been posted.

  134. kram says:

    Can anyone make head or tails out of this from inews.com
    “FRANCE
    Wed 20-Mar-2013, 08:43
    SKUZI TA LIL PN TA’ XBIEX WARA DGC HEMM X’ ERBA INDANATI BHALKOM U NHUX AHNA TA’XBIEX DAK OGHQODU WARA KEMM DRIDU GHAR RIHA DINTEN LI TARMI U IL HDURA LI TARMI MIN FOMMA.”

  135. Lupin says:

    Reminds me of Jodie Foster’s movie ‘The Accused’.

  136. Catherine says:

    I’m very sorry that this has happened. It’s unacceptable that someone should treat someone else this way, especially when the someone in question should set an example.

    The only thing I wish to point out is that ‘where he comes from’, people are much more civilized than our shameful mayor has portrayed.

    I’m from Zurrieq and even though we’re from the South, and considered to be lower class, I can assure you that most people here are highly educated and wouldn’t dream of doing such a scene. I apologize once more for the mayor’s behaviour and sincerely hope that this never happens again to anyone.

    [Daphne – That wasn’t a reference to his village, Catherine. It was a reference to his family.]

  137. Joe cassar says:

    Natius is always happy and acting stupid everywhere you see him, and what he does not understand is that people are making fun of him and not liking him.

    What he did to you is a hamallata sfrenata a la Natius, totally unacceptable, tal-misthijja and the few idiots joining him are no less.

  138. Gahan says:

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130320/local/malta-has-safest-roads-in-the-eu.462160

    Kevin J Drake
    Today, 15:49
    This fact is significant & most Posi+ivE, albeit in practicality irrelevant. It is not a judgement call, either, simply an obsevation of facts. Fact is what facts Are, period. Malta IS a Safe(r) Haven – It has a reputation borne of Millennia for being a RefugE too – a naturally Safe Harbour…Islands of Hope,(pardon the drama). it’s just TAMA, pure&simple. it’s Maltese Hope, All Natural, ALL Good

    This guy clutches at straws.

  139. Joan says:

    When are these people going to learn to respect different opinions from theirs?

  140. terry says:

    you should go and live on filfla daphne

    • TinaB says:

      Had I been running the country in the last 25 years it would have been you and your ilk that I would have sent to Fifla, terry.

      You need to be taught about civilization.

    • mattie says:

      You go to Filfla and live with the lizards there :)

  141. Malta taghna ilkoll says:

    Giddieba…dak li int ja sahhara!

  142. Amanda says:

    Heq, what goes around comes around hux hekk.

    Some taste of your own medicine!!

    Ma nafx ghala qed tohodha daqshekk bi kbira, wara li xbajt tajjar u taqbad ma nies.

    Kif jajdu xi darba tmiss lil papa u din id-darba misset lilek, jiena kontra kull tip ta vjolenza imma wara li qrajt hafna mill- blogs tieghek u mill kummenti tas- segwaci tieghek inhoss li haqqek aktar min hekk.

    I bet all my money, which to be honest I don’t have much li jekk ikollna naghmlu referendum biex tigi mibghawta f’pajjiz li hadt ma jaf bih jaddi zgur u qed inkun hannina mieghek ghax ghamilt hafna u wisq hsara bla bzonn.

    Nispera li minntiex xi wahda li tmur tiehu l-ostja kull filghodu ghax jekk dan hu l-kas il-qassis li qqarbnek haqqu jinharaq f’ l-infern aktar minnek.

    • Martin Borg says:

      And here we go again….. references to “nies li jiehdu l-ostja”, “qassisin jinharqu”, people who should be exiled, vengeance…

      Why do I get a sense of deja vu of stuff I thought we left behind almost 30 years ago? Yawn, yawn. History does, after all, repeat itself, dear Amanda. Malta taghkom ilkoll.

  143. RJG says:

    Dawk hekk kienu, ghadhom u hekk jibqaw Partit Laburista:never ending story!

  144. il-Ginger says:

    Just thought of this. They must be pretty insecure about their own beliefs if they have to mob someone in public just because they disagree.

    Some Laburisti on FB reasoned like paranoid methheads and said that you went to Rabat for the sole purpose of provoking the mayor of Zurrieq.

  145. RosanneB says:

    This incident was reported on NET TV this evening, bringing witnesses as well.

  146. Marie-Antoinette says:

    I cannot believe what I’ve just read, well actually I can. What I find hard to understand is why if a person supports a particular political party, s/he cannot voice his/her opinion, but if another person supports the one ‘having power now’, s/he is free to say whatever one wants.

    Did we go back in time, around 40 years ago? Why is violence still tolerated and instigated in 2013? The following is found on p. 159 on the Labour Party electoral manifesto 2013: ”Demokrazija u Trasparenza: Nemmnu f’politika u f’politici ta’ responsabilita’ u kontabbilta’. Politici li jirrispondu ghall-ghemilhom u li jaraw li ghemilhom ikun trasparenti”… p. 161 ” Ghaqda Nazzjonali”…”Pajjizna jixraqlu bidla ghall-ahjar” etc…

  147. paleblue my foot! says:

    We really should not be surprised. Anyone with a little common sense would have realised that it was never about Malta taghna Lkoll or “nixtieq inservi” hogwash….it was always all about POTER….

  148. MARIA VELLA says:

    IGNATIUS OLA – VERU BUFFU TAL-KUMMIEDJA.

  149. One for Natius says:

    Taken off Facebook just now:

    “Ruth Bonnici, 25 minutes ago

    jiena nazzjonalista miz zurrieq kif ukoll klienta tas salon ta ta natius , nafu lin natius u kont nahsbek iktar ragel natius ! Ghalkemm il kulur politiku ma naqblux bhall sindku veru tahdem u tahdem sewwa PERO x’gharukaza ! Ma jixraqlekx , inti sindku suppost ma taghmilx dawn il kumidji ! SHAME ON YOU . u ghandek titlop apologija ! Il hazin dejjem hazin Natius veru disgustajtni ghaliex jiena kelli rispett kbir lejk !!!!!!” http://www.facebook.com/nazzjonalisti.tavera/posts/308726245923568?comment_id=1351210

  150. apia says:

    Not related to this subject, but what is the matter with Chinese ships calling at our ports on request by the AFM? Are we heading back to the 70s with China taking Libya’s place or what?

    we had Muscat visiting China and striking deals or signing agreements whilst still in the opposition, appointments of commies to the helm of theGovernment’s investment promotion agency, now we’ll have the Chinese navy paying a visit.

    What’s next, a Mus visit to the PDRK by Muscat with the troops chanting “ma taghmlu xejn ma Joseph taghna”?

  151. Ken says:

    The Times and journalism in general is finished in Malta and the PL managed to neutralise it. Daphne you have been well above the rest of your colleagues a couple of years ago with your innovative witty style of writing and your now famous blog. The PL marketed your style as partisan and their systematic attack slowly neutralised your otherwise extremely effective reporting. You have been constantly mentioned on tv by PL activist and as you rightly said most of the low iq individuals never read your Blogs or column. You where even slammed on a billboard associated with what PL make believe where the evil clique. The times fell to the same trap. Not only but if the times reported against PN then the effect on the readership is multiplied exponentially by what I believe are infiltrated PL reporters, mostly under 25 who have no clue of 80s and 96-98 and think they are cool. What happened to you in your above report is extremely dangerous and only proves to show the mega PL marketing campaign which substance is limited next to zero.

    But this brings change and innovation as the number 13 always brings. PL is not the real change of 2013. It is the end of a cycle of how politics are done. PL was the last to use an otherwise old and boring style of campaigning initiated by PN. Necessity is the mother of invention. Systematic blogging, reviews, social media performed by 100s of non famous individuals that will cover the web. A tsunami of true bloggers. We do not need to re invent the wheel. Just look what a clown comic in Italy managed to do with blogging in just 3 years. My only fear remains the elements within the Pn. Some shady individuals are still there.

    Btw I find you sometimes verging on the rude not to say that you go overboard too at times but that doesn’t mean I will stalk and rouse a mob against you. Having said that I respect your courage and fight for freedom of expression. I conclude with EFA’s famous quote; it – tajjeb jirbah dejjem.

  152. ray meilak says:

    It would make it more interesting if you had to hold a press conference in front of the Labour club in Rabat expressing what these thugs, bullies and street hookers did to you.

    Going through this abuse just because you’re a columnist and blogger and express your opinion in what is a supposed to be a free country, shows that Malta never really became democratic in the first place.

  153. ray meilak says:

    Did I read right when in his statement he said that you uploaded his photos from Facebook and you posted them on your blog?

    What is this dick-head ranting on about? Doesn’t he have the basic knowledge that what he’s posting on Facebook has no copyright, is no longer his and subject to ridicule.

  154. Lord Lucan says:

    It’s all rather ‘Monty Python,’a peasant rabble mob whipping itself into a frenzy vying for the blood of a witch, then the mob is quelled by the police before they get their way.

    Did you get any pictures of the incident? I guess you did, so please publish, or are they police evidence?

    The picture of you being accosted by that anal bleaching madman would be priceless.

    [Daphne – No, I didn’t. At some point I must have lost my camera, because my friend turned up with it later.]

    • Silvio Loporto says:

      .The camera riddel
      1. They made it impossible for me to use the camera.

      2. Did not want to seem to be provoking them.

      3 I must have lost the camera.

      Time to decide. No wonder the Times didn’t rush in printing the event.

      [Daphne – Silvio, you make it sound as though all of this took place in an instant. It didn’t. Over the course of the entire incident, I 1. was pestered so much that I could no longer move about and take photographs, 2. retained my camera in my hand but would never have dreamt of taking pictures of them lest it be seen as provocation, 3. lost or let go of my camera when I entered the convent, and didn’t even notice until my friend handed it to me later. You are not amusing, Silvio. And malice is (particularly) unbecoming in a man of 74.]

      • Silvio Loporto says:

        Be assured that no malice was intended from my part.

        What I wanted to say is, that in the heat of the moment you might have become confused and you only stated remembering the facts after you calmed down. It happens, I know some who even wet themselves in circumstances like yours.

        And by the way I’m 71 not 74. Wrong again, or you might be confusing me with someone else, like for example Charles Bronson or Rambo.

        [Daphne – I was with several other people, Silvio. Two of them gave an interview to Net News yesterday evening, I’m told. I’m not in the habit of wetting myself whatever the circumstances. Didn’t you say some time ago that you were in my father’s class at school? He’s 74, and he certainly wasn’t a ‘repeater’.]

  155. old-timer says:

    I will also be cancelling my subscription to The Times. I think I had expressed this decision somewhere else. Regretfully, The Times has been hijacked.

  156. Dr Francis Saliba says:

    To Natius

    Natis (translated from the Latin) = rump, buttocks, sorm (bil-Malti pur)

  157. Alexander Ball says:

    The fact is that you are the most famous woman in Malta.

    You are a celebrity.

    Whether you want this or not.

    Whether you exploit this or not.

    If I were you I would take this as a life lesson.

  158. Caroline says:

    U ejja come on why all this hama about Natuis.He’s a nice guy (used to work with him)and I also like you Daphne because you really say the truth although like the saying goes truth hurts.And for those who are saying that the PN supporters who voted PL are traitors you are wrong ta.Me and my family had rabbits thrown at us(in the 80’s that is)gas ta dmugh,my dear father was a police sargent got transfres everyweek even was sent to Gozo etc etc but times change and its its no use dwelling over the past.In my opinion (and 36 thousand others:)we needed a change because the corruption was too much.And also what really upset me is that after all my family had been through under Mintoff we didn;t even get what was rightfully ours(long story) under the PN so after all these years voting PN and getting more frustrated I decided to vote PL.

  159. mattie says:

    To all those who don’t understand anything, Daphne dared to do what no one else has had the courage to do in Malta for decades: challenge a slow and a mixed up country into a radically new way of thinking.

    Her straightforward, direct way of putting things, so unusual for a blogger, earned her a few enemies but made for a refreshing contrast with the hypocrisy and vacuity of the accepted political discourse.

    At times, she probably overdid it because it is so difficult for people to understand. But she has something, not one single person in Malta has: her strength.

    Regarding politics and the changes 2013 has seen so far, Lawrence Gonzi may have lost the elections, but he left a country with an intact economy.

    May I remind you all that it may be the cock that crows but it is the hen who lays the eggs.

  160. Andrew says:

    Just one question. This is obviously a very serious incident in which a politician is directly involved with a “lynch mob”. So why is there no story on the Times of Malta? Am I assuming that the Times is so under control by the government that all negative stories towards the Labour Party are completely vetted?

    I’ll be sharing this story around Facebook anyway. I think as many people as possible need to see this disgusting incident.

  161. Darren says:

    Hasra ma gejtx taht idejh. Ivga f’demmek issa.

  162. carmen Gauci says:

    Dear Daphne,

    In Zurrieq there are very good people,, many are labourists but there are nationalists.

    The labourists of Zurrieq only need to see some attention or
    protection from the opposition and they change their political
    opinion instantly.Just see how Dr Simon, Dr De Marco and Dr Fenech Adami were warmly welcomed at the fish feast last Sunday and now they promise in their hearts to start loving them. All they need is friendliness and attention and no more south associated with red.

    Ignatious could have kept silent after a victory, and he
    should have never shown fury. As many labourists are doing, instead of celebrating their victory, they are attacking nationalists.This is a very stupid and incredible
    thing.

    His was an abominable act and it harmed the reputation
    of this present government. We all well know, that their
    reactions are morally destructive.

    So, I hope that I set a picture for you. Do not let this one
    person ruin the factor influence you in no way beacause a good thing is going on, that many of the labourists at Zurrieq are already being attracted to the opposition and in many shops you hear,’ the labour party will never get our vote
    again.’

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