Our finance minister suggests that we pick the carrion off Cyprus’s bones (then pretends that he never said it)
Cypriots are facing terrible times, but to our finance minister, embarrassingly, they’re just carrion to the Maltese vulture.
When Edward Scicluna addressed the seventh annual international taxation conference earlier this week, he summed up the economic turmoil in Cyprus as “an opportunity for Malta to build on its success story in the financial services sector”. Scicluna’s unwise remark was the news peg in a story that appeared on timesofmalta.com and then was hastily removed. Google “issues in Cyprus present an opportunity for Malta” and you’ll find the stem of two versions of the story. The links are dead as the stories are no longer online.
Now the DOI has released a transcript of Scicluna’s address. The text is a sanitised version of the one timesofmalta.com reported. There is no trace of Scicluna’s comments about Cyprus.
The finance minister’s remark calls to mind Joseph Muscat’s declaration two years ago, as Tunisia and Egypt were undergoing a very real historic revolution, that this was a great opportunity for Malta to boost its incoming tourist traffic, and that if it were up to him he would have reacted to the revolution with a massive tourism advertising campaign.
The remarks should not have been made in the first place, but once they were indeed made, they should not have been deleted from the official DOI record. This government, still barely into its third week, has shown itself to be overly fond of Stalinist tactics.
The finance minister also brazenly told Bloomberg TV, in a live interview, that the controversial levy on bank deposits below EUR100,000 was Cyprus’s idea, and not one imposed by the other Eurozone members.
Bloomberg TV’s interviewers hadn’t raised the issue themselves. It was Malta’s finance minister who indiscreetly volunteered the information. I think the problem here is that Scicluna hasn’t yet made the mental shift from (pseudo) independent adviser to minister of state, and more crucially, to his key role as the finance minister in a Eurozone country with obligations to his fellow finance ministers in the rest of the Eurozone and outside it.
Bloomberg pounced on Scicluna’s indiscretion, of course, as any good interviewer would.
Digging himself in deeper, Scicluna explained that the information didn’t emerge from the formal discussions at the meeting of Eurozone finance ministers, but from conversations during one of the meeting’s break-out sessiona. That makes Scicluna doubly indiscreet.
It doesn’t help that when Joseph Muscat, then still Opposition leader, said that Malta should follow Cyprus’s economic example (when Malta’s economy was buoyant and Cyprus’s was about to implode), Scicluna never said that Muscat was wrong. Perhaps he told him so privately.
Eurozone finance ministers met again tonight in a final bid to find a solution for Cyprus before the money runs out tomorrow morning and the country’s banking system and economy collapse.
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timesofmalta.com news stories: http://tinyurl.com/ctm8qxm
DOI speech transcript: http://gov.mt/en/Government/Press%20Releases/Pages/2013/March/23/pr0441.aspx
Bloomberg TV interview: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/cyprus-will-find-solution-maltese-minister-says-kIu2mazgQxOcu0WJLFWz1Q.html
TMID report of Scicluna’s remarks to Bloomberg TV:
http://www.independent.com.mt/mobile/2013-03-22/news/cypriot-bank-deposit-levy-put-forward-by-cyprus-not-eurogroup-1231060999/
Scicluna obliquely admitting that Joseph Muscat’s economic thinking about Cyprus and Malta is perverse: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_21/03/2013_489220
Here you go:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/view/20130322/local/cyprus-issues-present-opportunity-for-malta-scicluna.462507
Cached TOM version: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130322/local/cyprus-issues-present-opportunity-for-malta-scicluna.462507
di-ve.com still has the article showing what Scicluna really said about Cyprus http://www.di-ve.com/news/malta-should-learn-cyprus-scicluna
Malta should learn from Cyprus – Scicluna
Article By:di-ve.com news
The economic turmoil surrounding Cyprus presents an opportunity for Malta to build on its success story within the financial services sector. This was held by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna.
Addressing the seventh annual international conference organised by the Malta Institute of Management this morning, Prof Scicluna reiterated that countries have to listen and learn from the issues faced by Cyprus.
He confirmed that the government will do its utmost to create and push forward incentives to allow greater economic growth. The Finance Minister also explained how the government is ready to evaluate any economic investment or initiative irrespective of how ambiguous they might seem while calling for greater diversity in Malta, stating that the Mata’s possible risks have been highlighted by the IMF and the EU.
The conference was also addressed by MIM President Reuben Buttigieg who called for further tax reform and the restructuring of Finance Malta. While congratulating the Minister for his appointment, Mr. Buttigieg insisted that the MIM is ready to collaborate when required.
So this means that the news as initially reported by The Times is confirmed and corroborated by another Maltese news agency.
The first question that comes to mind is very obvious:
Why did The Times remove the news item?
But a further question comes to mind if we take the Minister’s version on Dissett, where he said that The Times had reported what he said incorrectly and then withdrew the report:
Did The Times – a news organisation with more than half a century of news reporting, and now with ‘direct’ links in cabinet – really make such a terrible mistake of reporting so wrongly what the Minister of Finance said in an international taxation conference organised by the Institute of Management?
‘Gonzi ‘ashamed’ of Muscat’s Egypt comment
Lawrence Gonzi said he was ashamed of the Labour leader’s declaration that Malta should take advantage of instability in north Africa to attract more tourists.
“Joseph Muscat’s comments should be condemned because they show his superficiality and lack of understanding of what is in the country’s best interest,” the Prime Minister charged, accusing the Labour leader of failing to see the bigger picture.’
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110207/local/gonzi-ashamed-of-muscat-s-egypt-comment.349007
So The Times has no reason to take offence when someone suggests they are toeing the PL line. They’re not much better than Kurt Farrugia’s DOI.
The Sunday Times has taken deep offence. Today’s editorial says they are not indebted to the (unnamed) owner of the company that supplied their print machinery and paper, and that no shareholder has any say in editorial decisions.
So it’s worse than I’d thought. The editorial line falls in with what Keith Allen Schembri might expect, even though the paper doesn’t owe him anything.
We have now confirmation that the Editor of The Sunday Times reads this blog.
I just love it when the media is brought to account, considering how they expect to hold others to account all the time.
Although The Sunday Times did not mention the name of the owner of the company which supplies its print machinery and paper, it did identify him as the chief of staff of Dr. Muscat.
Are the Times puppet-masters starting to get worried that their edginess to get rid of Lawrence Gonzi (and Simon Busuttil) in order to push the candidature for the PN leadership of a particular politician might blow up in their face?
The PN councillors are not equivalent to, and not as gullible as the MLP councillors.
P. Shaw, Mario de Marco’s close association with an anti-PN newspaper might actually become a liability at this point.
The Times will obviously start pushing for Mario Demarco as PN leader.
[Daphne – I don’t know about that. I don’t think he’s going to contest, somehow.]
Good, three minutes of his mumbling and I’m snoring on the sofa.
Of course Mario de Marco is not going to contest. It is quite clear that he does not enjoy enough support from the executive committee and the PN councillors. Pity, because he seems to be the “people’s choice”.
Stop buying this newspaper.
Cheap paper and no fears of being burned to the ground. What more could a newspaper want?
‘Borg critical of Muscat’s comments on Tunisia, Egypt
Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said today that calls by Opposition leader Joseph Muscat for Malta to unleash a tourism publicity campaign in view of the unrest in Tunisia and Egypt were ‘insensitive and immature’.’
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110131/local/borg-critical-of-muscats-comments-on-tunisia-egypt.347975
Min jitwieled tond ma jmutx kwadru.
Jien f’ta’ Tunes ftakart.
This man is a pompous ass.
The page might have been removed but not the cached version:
http://static.anonfiles.com/1364164535184.pdf
Scicluna was very excited to be on Bloomberg, and – like a child in the presence of an adult – he just said all that he knew. What a joke of a person.
Google Cache Link:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Smb2DaLiIj0J:www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/view/20130322/local/cyprus-issues-present-opportunity-for-malta-scicluna.462507+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk
Google Cache Screenshot:
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/7894/googlecache.png
In addition to my previous comment, these are links to the desktop version of the article:
Cache Link:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2PNh5pz1nSQJ:www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130322/local/cyprus-issues-present-opportunity-for-malta-scicluna.462507+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk
Cache Screenshot:
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/5456/desktopcache.png
Fookin’ amateur. …now let the show begin.
Besides being an amateur, even on the personal level Scicluna is the kind of man who finds it difficult to keep his word.
His indiscretion shows that he lack moral stamina.
The electorate felt this on an unconscious level. Despite the fact that it was amply clear that the Fearless Leader wanted him on board, the electorate of two districts did not flock to vote him in.
Compare and contrast with (i) Konrad (ii) Louis (iii) Edward Zammit Lewis (iv) Franco Mercieca. Here the electorate responded to the subliminal (okay, not quite) messages. But in the case of Scicluna, the lack of charisma and (more importantly) of the politician’s quintessence was perceived by the electorate and reflected in their vote.
Do not think that the people are stupid. They might be gullible, but not stupid. Just like a herd of ruminants is not stupid.
You’re not suggesting that Konrad, Louis, Edward and Franco were voted in because of their amazing potential and impeccable credibility, are you?
Minghand il-ministru tal-finanzi u bniedem li jzomm ruhu fil-gholi ma tantx tista’ tistenna pjaciri.
Dan mhux se tghidlu “naqqasli l-bolla jew il-PAYE bi tnejn fil-mija”.
Another loose cannon among the battery of little Joey’s cabinet. Useless idiots, all, including the Prime Idiot.
I have already begun receiving emails from associates in the international economic community asking for reassurance about the viability of Malta’s economic prospects.. Sheesh!
Just received message saying an agreement has tentatively been reached on Cyprus crisis. ‘Popular Bank of Cyprus’, ‘Laiki’ to be shut down., and small deposits to be transferred to ‘Bank of Cyprus’. Large deposits ‘Russians’ to be raped.
No reaction yet from Russia or Cypriot legislators.
Tomorrow should be interesting.
Kurt Farrugia’s in full coconut mode.
The Di-ve.com and timesofmalta.com stories start with the same citation.That means there was a Scicluna press release that was later withdrawn.
Scicluna is just another cold mathematician like Sant was.
This is just their third week in office – someone should start keeping a register.
There are several online groups who are doing that. Here’s one of them:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tracking-the-PM-Dr-Joseph-Muscat-in-keeping-his-promises/382840745156821?ref=ts&fref=ts
Watch out for Russan banks trying a move from Cyprus to Malta. Such an attempt was already averted in the 90s by our then diligent and careful Malta Financial Services Authority.
To be fair to all concerned, it was the Times mis-reporting Prof Scicluna. Indeed the report was removed for this reason.
Proof again that The Times has gone to the dogs.
Most unfortunately the erroneous report was also picked up a German newspaper.
Veru imbarazz ta’ gazzetta.
Di-ve carried the same story.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-03-25/news/eu-finance-ministers-approve-cyprus-bailout-deal-1249411072/