Another typically spiteful gesture which most of us missed initially
Published:
April 7, 2013 at 1:14am
The prime minister picked Deborah Schembri Tad-Divorzju, out of all his MPs, to take up the offering at this morning’s mass at St John’s Cathedral.
He truly is Mintoff’s disciple – a nasty, manipulative piece of work just like he was, who gets a kick out of putting people in a situation where they have to eat dirt, and uses gestures like this as a way of negatively establishing and flexing his power.
Really unpleasant.
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Did she eat all the wafers ?
This actually passed through my mind when seeing the photo, but to be honest I wasn’t quite sure whether it was indeed Deborah Schembri (imbasta tad-divorzju hej, she was only elected by means of the casual elections) or otherwise.
She seems to have put on even more weight over the last few months.
Gosh she’s corpulent.
Just to rub the Archbishop’s nose in the divorce victory.
We can expect more of this. There is nothing that can stop him.
I think they tried to create some sort of Church-State incident with Deborah being legally divorced and considered still married by the Church.
The move was unnoticed and now Joseph has to try harder.
Just a small reminder; Mintoff stopped the Candlemas ceremony where all the parish priests of Malta would visit the Prime Minister and present him a candle.
Joseph wants to make one better than Mintoff and wants a red-herring to alienate public’s attention from his plans. So if he starts some issue, look elsewhere.
My guess is that he’s worried on how to go about managing the economy.
Telghux jitqarbnu ukoll?
She will be better off exercising some self control over her eating habits.
She is one person I think I would consider using the divorce option with if I hadn’t had the foresight to see the eventual ballooning of her ego and waistline.
We should all bring up this instant in time in the future when we will be made to remember this occasion.
Nobody insults the Church.
Being an ex-St Aloysius student myself, I can pity the situation in which the PM grew up as a kid, since nearly all of the St Aloysius students were staunch PN loyalists.
I presume the PM as a kid stayed mum, and felt anger and pain as he could not express his opinion.
Obviously this pain will be released now, which coupled with intelligence and a cunning mind will be weird to say the least, and such cases mentioned above are such a result.
Envy is a terrible thing. Take one look at Franco. Now he is his former nemesis’ puppy dog.
Yesterday, Joseph Muscat tried to snub and humiliate the President of the Republic, the Leader of the Opposition, the Speaker of the House and the Archbishop of Malta.
This morning the criticism is directed at him and his government. He came out the loser.
The tide will turn. There were many others who thought they were all superior to everyone else but they have been scrapped to the dustbin of history.
I agree 100%. History is full of characters who thought that they ruled the world (and were within a whisker of doing so) but where there is the light of democracy, however dim, it will eventually prevail.
Iva jien innotajta ukoll din il-mossa biex ippoggi lil arcisqof f’pozizzjoni infelici waqt li minghalih jghati x’jifhem li l-knisja taqbel mad-divorzju. Il-veru Zapatero Malti.
Usually it is the whips who take up the offerings.
This is the first time that this proceedure has not been followed.
This confirms that you were spot on. Dr Deborah Schembri, who campaigned forcefully for the introduction of divorce, was picked specifically to spite the archbishop.
Usually it is the whips who take up the offerings. This is the first time that this proceedure has not been followed.
This confirms that you were spot on. Dr Deborah Schembri who campaigned forcefully for the introduction of divorce was picked up specifically to SPITE the archbishop.
JM’s strategy seems to be that of exerting his power by defying others. I find that picking Deborah Schembri to take up the offerings when she had such a leading role against the church believes on divorce, goes to show that JM chose this with the sole aim of defying the Archbishop.
Same as he humiliated Dr. Abela by making him read the speech at the opening of Parliament. My conclusion at this early stage of JM’s legislature is that he is an extremely dangerous person.
It was probably also an exercise in embarrassing Deborah Schembri by asking her to do that ‘catwalk’ walk down the aisle in front of the scrutinising congregation. Miskina.
Miskina? Mela hemm xi hadd qed jisfurza biex tiekol?
There are some of us who worship at the altar of the ‘fuller figure’, indeed a whole industry caters to our whims.
Are there no ‘chubby chasers’ in Malta?
Could she be the Minister for Hagar Qim?
Regarding today’s article on The Malta Independent: even the President of the Republic has strings attached, if he resigned or took objection for that speech , the President’s son’s (Robert Abela) office would not secure the MEPA contract.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-04-07/opinions/shame-on-you-mr-president-1342078977/
Where’s your dignity , Mr President?
[Daphne – He doesn’t need to secure it because he did so more than a decade ago.]
Where is our dignity, Mr. President?
If that is what Muscat intended, then it really says a LOT about the prime minister. And none of it is encouraging.
There is one word that sums our PM as a person, DIRT!
I agree with Daphne’s interpretation. These things are not trivial.
JM has said he wants to ‘change the way we do politics’. He sees himself as Emperor Napoleon (that traitor of the French Revolution) who disregards and makes mockery of protocol, procedures and traditions.
As these and similar things evolve he will be seen in his true colours – an ‘evil’ schemer. Franco Debono, John Bencini, Anglu Farrugia and his other appointments will be seen not just as pay-back compensations but as politically spiteful retributions.
Unfortunately, these will have long-term negative effects on the social and economic future life of our country. Hopefully, people will see some light and learn from the experience. These things have happened in other countries. Pity that the harm would have been inflicted already.
Such is life and we have to be continually vigilant to help stem the tide of deceit leading to eventual disaster. We’ll do it not just for ourselves but more importantly for the (inexperienced) younger generations and the ones coming up in the future.
Looks like she ate the offerings on her way to the altar.
It was very easy for Mr. President to act in an impartial manner under the PN.
But on the first occasion under Joseph Muscat’s dictatorship he failed miserably. Shame on you Mr. President.
This serves for an eye opener for those nationalists who were already advocating for his second term. A Labourite is always a labourite no matter what post he occupies.
You make an important point. The President failed on the first occasion of the state where the opposition was involved, soon after the change in government.
They had been speaking of the Nationalist government being arrogant for the last 5 years. Admittedly an element of arrogance probably had crept in and is one of the reasons why the PN lost, but Muscat’s government is being arrogant from day 1.
Over and above he then says that the PN has learnt nothing from the electoral defeat when reacting to his arrogance. The Labour government and its followers want to ride roughshod over everyone because of their margin of victory.
I’m sorry but I don’t know anything about these things. Can anyone explain to me why this was a spiteful gesture?
[Daphne – Deborah Schembri campaigned for the introduction of divorce, in conflict with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church (this is not a value judgement; this is a statement of fact and a description of the situation). She was barred by the RC Church from representing spouses before its marriage tribunal in petitions for declaration of nullity of marriage, because of this. There was a big palaver about it. Selecting her to take up the offering at mass, and hand it to the archbishop with whom there was this problem, was a spiteful act of defiance best summed up in Franco Debono’s favourite expression, ‘Hekk, hu go fik.’ So one day Muscat sits with the archbishop and is photographed smiling and laughing with him and being nice, and on another day he does something like this. Good manners dictate that one does not place other people in embarrassing and/or compromising positions, or make any gesture which they might deem an insult. The point of this is to smooth situations over and not make them worse.]
She was also employed on a part time basis to help the judges of the Church tribunals with the compilation of evidence. She resigned. Afterwards she spread lies with the same people she interviewed about the tribunals… That they ask for a sum upfront to ensure a good outcome.
Imbaghad ittella’ l-offerti lill-Arcisqof wara li ppruvat thammgu.
Did this loophole escape MFSA or not? Was this a glaring EU birdseye opportunity seized by Joe Borg? Is this why the launch was calculated the way it was? Had the Cyprus disaster not come to light, would it have remained obscurely encouched in small print, until the next banking disaster? How many other institutions function on the same basis?
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-04-07/news/bank-opened-by-pm-and-chaired-by-former-eu-commissioner-attracts-negative-comments-in-europe-1342373889/
I was on the look out to see who will do the readings and who will take the offerings, go to communion etc.
I was disgusted to say the least to see Deborah Schembri Tabone with the offerings. It said, “You may have chucked me out of the ecclesiastical court but I am in parliament now.”
Listening to the opening lines of the President’s speech in Parliament yesterday, I thought that Frankie Tabone was back in Parliament and that he was reading the speech from the throne.
The language used, including the references to “pique”, “arrogance”, “clique”, was straight from his previous speeches in and outside of parliament.
Is it possible that the Prime Minister had some help from the former irrelevant MP in penning that speech?
The opening part of the speech itself sounded like an extract from the address of a Generalissimo to the Central Committee of the Workers Party in Pyong Yang. It was like “now we will tell you how this is done.” The choice of propagandistic words bears the stamp of the Kim dictatorship. Just read this extract:
“We have opened a new chapter in the history of this people. The time for pique, partisanship, arrogance in leadership, at all levels of administration, must become a part of the past. This will be a Government that looks towards building the future, rather than copying the past. This will be a Government which will lead with a sense of humility and will be ready to take decisions.
With the sign that it gave in the last general election the Maltese public has made it clear to all of us that it is tired of the politics of the past. It is a message to the political class and to all those who will form part of this administration and of this Parliament.
This is the beginning of the legislative work of this new Government. In all its parliamentary work, this Government will keep in mind that Malta does not belong to one part of the population or the other. It does not belong to a clique. Not even to a politician nor to a party. That time has passed.
As from today, from this Parliament, we will begin to serve our people. We will start to build on the positive and bring about a change where it is needed. This will be done carefully.
As this Government already had the opportunity of doing in its first days, it will work with serenity and tranquility so that our country will keep striving ahead with no jolts while steering towards the targets which will lead the country to success.”
Which leads to the next question. In one year’s time, the position of the President of the Republic will be up for grabs. Is Muscat thinking to nominate Frankie Tabone as President of the Republic? Muscat can always say that Tabone is a “nationalist.”
Abela will have his stay extended for a further 5 years.
Funny how most people didn’t pick this up. My mum yesterday texted me and the tone of the sms was one of disgust – along the lines of: what brazen necks they have (kif ma jisthux?).
Lawrence Gonzi’s days of triumph are yet to begin, and I say this with no irony. But to prefer Joseph Muscat to Lawrence Gonzi is like preferring a hungry, blood-thirsty wolf to a cute springer puppy.
The difference is so obvious, so stark that in the few days after the election I was wondering whether I was the one in the wrong. A mere few days and I – and so many of us – were proved right.
JM is a puppet of the puppetmaster, you should all have your gaze focussed on the puppetmaster.
Pardon my obvious blindness but who may that be?
Alfred Sant.
It’s interesting how these schemes may be highly regarded short sightly as brave moves of a (humble) prime minister who wants unity between religion and divorce; between PN and PL.
He will not stop grabbing at every occasion and leave the people to interpret them according to their IQ.
He chose her rather than a man of faith like Carmelo Abela.
.
Two questions about Abela’s (the president) speech. First: Was he obliged to read the speech prepared by Labour? Secondly: Were the opposition members (Nationalist) “obliged:” to sit there listening to the insults or should/could have walked out of the Chamber?. If they could/should have, then they deserved all that was flung at them.