Konrad Mizzi still thinks Tonio Fenech is the man responsible for energy

Published: April 29, 2013 at 5:09pm

Konrad Mizzi

Those who watched Bondi+ last week were taken by the fact that the Minister for Energy, Konrad Mizzi, repeatedly called his interlocutor, Tonio Fenech (the former finance minister and minister for energy, who has no current role), “Ministru”.

How does this sort of thing happen? OK, so Mizzi faced Fenech regularly in televised debates when Fenech was the minister and he was just an electoral candidate, but surely working as a minister for these last almost two months must have got him used to the idea that he’s now in cabinet.

Well, I wasn’t surprised to hear that yesterday, the prime minister told his audience:

“The first challenge ahead is to start thinking as a government. Following 25 years in opposition, we criticised and talked; now we must act, think and decide as a government by implementing our pledges.”




43 Comments Comment

  1. canon says:

    Was the Sant Administration 25 years ago?

    • kev says:

      The Sant administration doesn’t count, hi, mela mhux fid-dinja tghix, jew.

      Konrad the Man thinks Tunnu the Fenek is still the Man. So what? Some people live in a matchbox thinking they own a palace, others think they think when in fact they’re just drooling cerebrally.

    • Alexander Ball says:

      Don’t mention the war. I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it.

    • Malta Taghna Biss - PL says:

      Actually, since Labour has forgotten totally that they were in power between 1996 and 1998, then they should say 26 years ago. They were last in power in 1987, which is 26 years ago.

  2. ciccio says:

    Muscat also said that “we no longer have the comfort of being in opposition”, and that perhaps some people in the party were missing being in opposition but this is not the case with him.

    Admission, if one was needed, that the Labour party was not ready to govern, despite what they have been telling us for years while Frankie Tabone was throwing tantrums and Joseph Muscat was making public appearances with slogans like “Stabilta”, “Ghaqal fit-tmexxija” and “Futur li jaqq-ghadna.”

  3. Neil Dent says:

    I couldn’t bear to watch or listen to this guy during the campaign, and have avoided doing so since the MLP were elected to power.

    Mind you I’m tempted to seek out a recording of Bondi+ just to hear his flustered freudian faux pas!

  4. Petrovic says:

    Tghaggel xejn ta hi…

  5. Ta' sapienza says:

    So much for hitting the ground running.

  6. Makjavel says:

    It is a sign of insecurity in what he is doing.

    He is still stuck to his student days.

  7. Catharsis says:

    The worrisome part is the mindset behind Konrad Mizzi’s Freudian slip. Lou Bondi had to remind him that now he was “Il-Ministru” and not Tonio Fenech.

    • Sparky says:

      Bondi actually gave up highlighting the obvious. That’s what happens when the electorate votes en masse for a change in government, a change which was not a necessity given the sound economic status and commendable leadership skills of Lawrence Gonzi.

  8. Dantes says:

    Il-Ministru ta’ l-Energija qisu Harry Potter. Haseb li bil-magics li jbella lin-nies, jimxi l-pajjiz.

  9. Jozef says:

    Two months and they still haven’t hit the ground running.

    Utter bull.

  10. Jozef says:

    By the way, it’s a five year contract now. Liars.

  11. Joe Micallef says:

    When I saw Konrad on Bondi+, I honestly pitied this fool who has no clue what he’s talking about even though Fenech was doing his best not to expose Mizzi’s ignorance.

  12. Riya says:

    Dan it-tifel pruzuntuz u Joseph Muscat ta’ bnieden ghadu zghir li hu bela l’ideja ta’ dan it-tifel u dan ikun il-kagun li jdahhalna gol hajt.

    • Jozef says:

      Agreed. Muscat was duped by his jargon and bluff.

      Konrad Mizzi once stated gas tanks can be buried underground.

  13. d_Riddler says:

    On another note: Lara Boffa got her payment for the billboard as well. Have a look at the Enemalta Board.

  14. taxxu says:

    il-fjask ta’ tnejn u ghoxrin xahar ta’ Sant fejn huma?

  15. Gahan says:

    I think Konrad would have preferred Tonio as minister instead of him.

  16. Calculator says:

    “The first challenge ahead is to start thinking as a government.”

    First challenge? After almost 2 months in government?

    • ciccio says:

      Actually, the situation must be very bad. About a week or so after the elections, Joseph Muscat had already told Reno Bugeja, on Dissett, that his party now needs to start thinking like a government. Two months have passed and apparently things have not changed.

      Half the honey moon is already gone. And it’s like the spouses have not been in bed together as yet and they still think they are living at home with mummy.

  17. anthony says:

    Felipe IV employed hundreds of dwarfs.

    Joseph I of Malta’s Second Republic employed just one: Konrad Mizzi.

    Times change.

    Austerity is the word.

    [Daphne – Except that Konrad Mizzi is pretty tall…]

  18. ciccio says:

    Here is a hot issue for Labour, and for Judge Giovanni Bonello as head of the Justice Reform Commission.

    Facts:

    1. 24 March 2013. Joseph Muscat’s Labour, acting through Junior Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, appoints former European Court of Human Rights Judge Giovanni Bonello to head the Justice System Reform Commission.

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130324/local/bonello-to-head-justice-system-reform-commission-debono-to-receive-24,000.462649

    2. Less than one month later, on 20 April 2013, Judge Giovanni Bonello writes in The Times in which he sets out a series of serious questions about Labour’s proposal to introduce prescription on the crime of corruption for persons in public service. In particular, Judge Bonello questions the effects on fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Constitution of Malta and the European Convention of human rights. He suggests that this will be problematic, and he gives his arguments.

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130420/opinion/Bribery-and-genocide-the-same-.466291

    3. On 26 April 2013, during the President’s Forum on the Constitution, Judge Bonello is a key speaker. According to The Times:

    “He insisted the Constitution was supreme but referred to cases where the constitutional court had declared particular laws as anti-constitutional and this declaration applied only to the person who instituted the case. The law then remained in force until Parliament decided to move the necessary amendments.
    Dr Bonello, who heads a commission to reform the justice system, cited cases where the constitutional court contradicted itself on the validity of a law in similar cases.
    These incidents meant the supremacy of the Constitution was being ignored, he said.
    “We do not have to change the Constitution… but we should read it and respect it.””

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130426/local/-No-rush-to-alter-Constitution-.467139

    In fact, the whole point of Judge Bonello’s speech – broadcast yesterday on TVM2, was a criticism of the fact that laws found to be unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court were not automatically repealed, or Parliament failed to repeal them quickly, despite the supremacy of the Constitution.

    4. 29 April 2013. The Junior Minister for Justice – the same one, on 24 March 2013, announced the appointment of Judge Bonello to head the Justice Reform – has now “proudly” presented in Parliament a bill on the removal of prescription on corruption charges for politicians.

    http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-04-29/news/labour-mp-tables-bill-against-prescription-on-corruption-1490321408/

    Isn’t this bill one that would violate the Constitution?

    Wouldn’t this law be against the supremacy of the Constitution?

    Wouldn’t this law violate precisely those principles which Judge Bonello so passionately (as described by the facilitator at the President’s Forum) defended?

    Therefore, is Judge Bonello’s position on the Justice Reform Commission tenable?

    I expect Judge Bonello to tender his resignation immediately.

    • Last Post says:

      Good write-up, ciccio, but don’t be rash. Judge Bonello is no fool and is known to speak his (intelligent) mind without fear. Let him expose this travesty of a reform from inside. I believe he knows when it’s time to strike.

  19. Johannes says:

    Freudian Slip…”now we must act, think and decide as a government by implementing our pledges.”

    Maybe that explains the recent cock-ups! How about thinking first, then deciding and then acting?

  20. Gahan says:

    It is becoming more than obvious that the so called road map was non existent and just a publicity stunt (too big to be a lie). The only ‘solid’ promise (reducing the utility bills by 25%) seems to be just another expensive pie in the sky.

    The more whining I hear from this crowd of ministers, the more I confirm that they don’t know where to start from.

    There are exceptions of course: Manuel Mallia, Karmenu Vella, Joe Mizzi, Edward Scicluna and Evarist Bartolo.

    Please note that I did not include Joseph Muscat; his role seems to be that of a slave driver whose oarsmen are always complaining .

  21. Giovann says:

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130604/local/mizzi-announces-gas-power-station-providers-short-list.472531

    How can a full environment impact assessment be carried out in 4 months only (when it normally takes 12 months) ? And more importantly, how can it be done BEFORE the preferred tenderer (and his proposal) is chosen ?

    Or is it a case where the proposal and preferred bidder has already been chosen … and the EIA was already commissioned ages ago ? ( and why not ? possibly commissioned before the election as well ? )

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