A pearl of wisdom from Labour’s new head of communications, Nigel Vella

Published: April 2, 2013 at 10:46pm
Nigel Vella, the Labour Party's new head of communications

Nigel Vella, the Labour Party’s new head of communications

Nigel Vella on Facebook:

Arguing about whether the glass is half full or half empty misses the point, which is this: the bartender cheated you :)

A typically core Labour sentiment: not half full or half empty, but ‘iss hej mhux fier, dak tieghi!




38 Comments Comment

  1. the saint says:

    Just finished watching Bondi +, with special guest Raymond Bugeja.

    I was impressed with his performance.

    The PN is in need of new blood /faces with no luggage.

    Can we have more information about his past and background.

    [Daphne – Baggage. You can find all you need by Googling him. There was an interview in The Times.]

    • Antoine Vella says:

      The PN has plenty of new blood that is more trustworthy than Raymond Bugeja.

      Only yesterday we were all saying how selective the PN must be and how prospective candidates should be carefully vetted. And now some of us are seriously considering a total unknown as party leader.

      • Josette says:

        What the PN certainly does not need is some self-proclaimed “salvatur” being parachuted in. If Mr Bugeja wants to become the party’s leader he should first work within the party and understand the way it works and the people working in it. Simon Busuttil is the perfect candidate – he knows the party, has worked in it and for it but is still fresh blood in the context of Maltese politics.

    • Shengel says:

      Mr. Bugeja must have a lot of luggage because he worked abroad.

    • H.P. Baxxter says:

      I can’t understand this blasted country. You can’t get newer than Simon Busuttil.

      • Harry Purdie says:

        YOU can’t understand it. Met the guy years ago, even then he was cool, calm and collected.

        Trouble is, you ‘misunderestimate’ the rock, my friend. OK, I know you know that.

        You and I both understand the ‘Night of the Long Knives’. Be prepared.

      • maryanne says:

        Go figure. After two months in Maltese politics some already want change.

    • La Redoute says:

      Raymond Bugeja spoke to Muscat about possible opportunities for him with the Labour Party. If he were truly committed to the PN’s values and principles, he wouldn’t have done that. He also said that he wants to stay with the PN because it is his ‘tradition’ and his ‘family’. Party leaders don’t talk or think that way: it’s about ideology, principles, shared values, beliefs, policies and attitude.

  2. Matthew S says:

    Where are all the journalists who were so interested in Tonio Fenech’s home-made clock?

    Now we have a woman who has publicly stated that she will do whatever the minister demands. For free. For five whole years. Because she shares his bed and Joseph asked her to.

    That’s the equivalent of a thousand home-made clocks.

    And where’s Tony Zarb with his precarious work mantra?

    Surely he thinks that such high profile jobs should be filled by highly qualified people, and that they should get paid for doing their job.

    This ‘volunteer’ business is wrong on so many levels.

    There’s no such thing as a free meal. Marlene Farrugia is not just contributing to the ministry. She has taken over the ministry. The minister’s body language during yesterday’s disconcerting press conference says it all. She’s the boss, and he toes the line.

    Just what Malta needs: a pussy-whipped health minister with his wife running his office, led by an even more pussy-whipped prime minister, with his wife in his office.

    With such a pedigree, it’s no wonder at all that Labour have always been infatuated with and so easily overpowered by the alpha-male characteristics of dictators like Muammar Gaddafi and Kim Jong Il.

    It’s no wonder either that Labour were so intimidated by the EU’s size.

    In the Labour shower-room (nice imagery, that), size really does matter. As Toni Abela, 55, Labour’s deputy leader, infamously told Simon Busuttil on TV in the run up to the election: “Simon qisu jrid jgħid li l-banana tiegħu ikbar minn tiegħi.”

    A whimsical psychologist should look into Labour people and their wives:

    Dom Mintoff and his runaway wife.

    Alfred Sant and his…well, best not go there.

    Joseph Muscat and his incredibly pushy wife.

    Franco Debono and his mother.

    Consuelo Scerri Herrera and her abandoned husband.

    Robert Musumeci and Consuelo Scerri Herrera.

    Cyrus Engerer and his nudely photographed ex-boyfriend.

    Kenneth Zammit Tabona and his 45 year old closeted itch.

    Kevin Drake and his spite.

    Manuel Mallia and his mail ordered wife.

    Silvio Parnis and his creepily young wife.

    Anthony Zammit and his mysterious BDSM escapades with masked men wearing size 38 shoes.

    Jeffrey and Marlene.

    Marlene and Godfrey.

    Jeffrey and Carmen.

    We have been saddled with a bunch of freaks using public office to deal with their personal and emotional issues.

    • pale blue my foot! says:

      You forgot to mention Chris Cardona and the pole.

      • Redneck Rabti says:

        What? Cardona has a wife from Poland?

        [Daphne – No. Pole as in pole-dancing. Next question: Oh, Cardona pole-dances? No, he just likes to watch.]

    • Harry Purdie says:

      Matthew S, so well summed up. Tried to suppress a smirk, with great difficulty, since the situation is so sad.

  3. Tesla says:

    Ah, the old-time optimist or pessimist riddle.

    Personally, I prefer: The size of the glass is twice the size as it needs to be.

    It’s sad that not even this realistic approach can define the size of the new cabinet.

  4. H.P. Baxxter says:

    Labour are the best advert for Norman Lowell’s eugenics programme. No wonder he endorsed them.

  5. Antoine Vella says:

    Like all things Labour, this quote is copied. In Malta we usually say barman, not bartender.

    http://static.someecards.com/someecards/usercards/1339619225998_5580201.png

  6. sky blue says:

    I believe the Nationalist Party needs to shake all this lot, especially Joseph Muscat at the core. The only way to do that is to elect a strong woman at the helm.

    • H.P. Baxxter says:

      Such as? I mean really. It’s like “let’s try anything we haven’t tried before, as long as we haven’t tried it before.” In five years’ time, PN will have to face Labour at the polls. Who would you rather see leading PN?

      • Village says:

        Tonio Fenech is the best politician in the PN ranks in my opinion and Simon Busuttil follows. They should be entrusted with the leadership of the party.

      • sky blue says:

        Baxxter I am not in favour of change for the sake of change, but JM cannot relate to women, so the best way to rattle him would be to put a strong woman at the helm. What about Joanna Drake?

    • Alexander Ball says:

      Frankie in drag.

  7. Augustus says:

    As Burl Ives sings to his wife:

    I’m the boss, there’s no doubt of it,

    I’m the boss, and I’m proud of it,

    I make the decisions and mine is the final one,

    don’t tell me how the dishes should be done.

  8. the saint says:

    As every body is aware the PN is at present passing through a bad patch.following the collapse of electoral support coupled with financial bankruptcy. Not even after their third electoral defeat in a row was the MLP in such disarray
    PN In need of a strong leader/ financial guru and but he/she must also appeal to the people.
    On first impressions R Bugeja seems to have all these assets and can fulfill all these functions.
    I am fed up of being presented with the same old faces.
    Any comments !!

    [Daphne – Yes. You sound like you have a vested interest in Ray Bugeja. This is not a bad thing in itself, but it would be a lot better if you were straight about it rather than putting on this disingenuous act. Your remark about the Labour Party not being in “such disarray” even after the third electoral defeat is ludicrous. The MLP was in gross disarray, and had absolutely no money, even after its second consecutive defeat in 2003. I know this for a fact, because to obtain from them a court-mandated payment of Lm750, I had to slap on a garnishee order after the the formal demand elicited no response. Absolutely no money was found in any of the MLP’s bank accounts, not a sou, just a gaping red hole. Arrangements were made to send in the bailiffs to seize items from the party HQ, and then a cheque arrived. That’s how bad it was. And for years, Super One staff worked for a pittance that often wasn’t paid or paid late, and many of them worked pro bono.]

    • Harry Purdie says:

      No probs now, Saint. The reds are robbing the coffers. Handing out dosh to the loyals. Who would have guessed? The dumb voters?

      Nah, they now have their pound of flesh, as they slowly realize that, Jeez, I’m being eaten alive by this weird bunch.

    • Village says:

      All political parties in Malta would be techinically bankrupt were it not for the collections from the faithfully and the interested support coming from business entrepreneurs.

      The Labour Party is asset rich because it usurped a lot of immovable property under the Mintoffian regime.

      The Nationalist Party will survive and come through.

    • Joe Micallef says:

      All this despite the fact the PL in government unlawfully misappropriated valuable public property for its own use.

    • Antoine Vella says:

      It’s significant that the PN has financial problems despite being in government for so long. This is something Labour cannot understand: they only had such problems when they could no longer plunder the country to enrich their party (and themselves).

  9. Philip Camilleri says:

    The PN should elect a strong woman at the helm. I was very pleased when I heard that Dr Ann Fenech was being considered as a prospective leader. Unfortunately she declined.

    • rjc says:

      Hear hear!

    • Kevin says:

      Sad really. I always found women to have that extra ‘je ne sais quoi’ to get things brilliantly organised and back on track when problems mount up beyond any man’s comprehension.

      Love or hate her, Margaret Thatcher was among the greatest Prime Ministers in recent history.

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        Why do people always bring up Margaret Thatcher when we talk about women in politics? For every Thatcher – and the jury is still out on her – I can find you a Marcos. Or a Kirchner. Or an Agatha Barbara.

        Women do have a je ne sais quoi, but I’d rather not specify in which field.

  10. old-timer says:

    I hope Paula Mifsud Bonnici will come forward.

  11. David Meilak says:

    I don’t agree with all this talk where it is suggested that a woman should lead the PN on the basis that she’s a woman. Either a person is chosen on actual merits or not at all, the person’s sex should not come into this.

  12. L.G says:

    I agree with David Meilak. Why would a woman make a better party leader than a man, based on gender alone?

    I believe that the right choice is Simon Busuttil.

    He will however need to pep up his public and general communication skills. He will also need to put together a top team of people under 35 with fresh ideas together with a top of the crop marketing team. This last one is quite a challenge with empty coffers.

    I think this together with the inevitable Labour faux pas and unkept pre-election promises made to all and sundry could translate into a chance for the Nationalist Party in five years’ time.

    • H.P. Baxxter says:

      Simon Busuttil needs a lesson in Maltese politicking. This isn’t the EU parliament, with its freshly-showered, bright-skinned, courteous, well-meaning bureaucrats from Mitteleuropa.

      Labour is the not a “colleague” with whom “we hope to work together in the country’s interest”. Labour is the enemy.

      Repeat: Labour is the enemy.

      They hate Simon Busuttil and want his head on a stick. He is the Gizwita mnezza, dak l-imnejjek, dak tal-burden sharing, dak il-pastizz tal-haxu.

      When facing that mindset, you fight back, and you fight dirty.

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