Upside-down logic
We have had two cases of spectacular upside-down logic in these last few days. The first was the convoluted reasoning of the president of the republic who concluded, because the prime minister gave him a highly partisan speech to read at the state opening of parliament, that the time-honoured constitutional practice should end and that presidents should write their own speech for the occasion.
This is like saying that when somebody breaks the law or breachs the rules, then we should avoid having the same thing happen again by repealing the law or changing the rules.
It is not the practice of having the president’s speech written by the prime minister which is wrong. It is the prime minister. The problem is not the constitutional practice but the fact that we have elected a prime minister who flexes his power muscles, in exactly the same way Mintoff did (but with a smile and a couple of ‘English’ words in this case) by demonstrating contempt for procedure, protocol and institutions.
The second spectacular case of upside-down logic was the prime minister’s, today. His parliamentary secretary for the elderly, an ophthalmic surgeon called Franco Mercieca, has carried on seeing and operating on patients since being appointed to the cabinet, despite the rules which say that all cabinet members must give up private practice whether it is done for remuneration or pro bono.
Journalists finally challenged Mercieca about this and he admitted it – quite frankly, it’s not as though a medical specialist can hide the fact that he is seeing hundreds of patients.
The prime minister, today, was asked why Mercieca is being allowed to carry on with private practice – and even with operating on patients at the state general hospital.
His reply? That Franco Mercieca’s skills as an ophthalmic surgeon, which are in short supply and high demand in Malta, should not be wasted. I agree with him entirely on this.
But that’s not argument as to why Mercieca should be permitted to carry on operating in public and private hospitals and seeing patients at the public hospital and private clinics while still sitting in cabinet.
It’s an argument as to why HE SHOULD NOT BE IN THE CABINET. He has greater value outside it, and he cannot do both jobs well.
There is absolutely no reason why he should be parliamentary secretary for the elderly. He is entirely replaceable in that role. He is not replaceable as an opthalmic surgeon, not unless some other ophtalmic surgeon is shipped in to make up the numbers.
If Franco Mercieca thinks himself so indispensable as an ophthalmic surgeon, then the refusal to sit in cabinet should have come from in. But the offer should not have come from Muscat in the first place, if he too thinks him indispensable in that field.
But these are people who want to have their cake, eat it, and have it again, with cherries on. And they get away with this blatantly offensive behaviour when PM Gonzi and his people were subjected to routine gunfire for much less.
Rest assured that Mr Oligarchy and the drunken dentist won’t be saying anything because these are their choices and their bread has been buttered on this particular side.
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Is the foreign minister still seeing patients as a Zejtun GP?
If he is, we know what happened to the honoraria.
Sweet, Frankie was hell-bent on making parliament a full time affair and Joseph turns into a hobby.
I expect the attendance thingy to have some disclaimer to ‘unavoidable circumstances related to professional ethics’.
Do you prefer someone like Agius Decelis or Parnis instead in charge of the elderly care?
[Daphne – Why them, exactly? Why not a normal person?]
I have an inkling that from the present group they are the most likely to get the job if not Mr Mercieca (he is a surgeon) though I can see someone else more acceptable that the 2 I mentioned.
Being appointed to cabinet gets him to jump the queue at Mgarr Harbour. Clockwork.
These people don’t have a clue. Lawrence Gonzi on Bondi Plus yesterday looked as serene and was articulate, but no doubt his masterful performance will be interpreted as arrogance by the Gonzi haters and the Labour press.
I interpret it as a jellyfish spine. The man is incapable of showing disgust or anger, the two emotions which should be stamped all over PN at this very moment.
He should only be given to see patients at state hospitals and for FREE. Why should rich people get preferential treatment, Sur Muscat? I was expecting better but alas was fooled.
[Daphne – Payment isn’t the issue here. Time constraints and personal access to a member of cabinet are the issues.]
It’s not only time constraints and personal access. Is he still seeing patients privately and maybe operating privately? That could be a massive conflict of interest if say cabinet is discussing outsourcing of health services.
Payment is the issue here, Daphne – I’ll explain myself.
Just imagine a person like Eddy Spiritiera who was all out against the “zieda li ha Gonzi” for a 24/7 “job”. How can these same persons reconcile the fact that this bloke is earning all those different ‘wages’ (as they see it) – that of an MP, the other of a “full time” PS and the other as a surgeon at Mater Dei Hospital and yet another as a surgeon at Saint James not to mention his private practice in Gozo?
My conservative estimate would be that before joining the cabinet he was making around Eur20,000 a month.
Allura halluh jaqla’ lira miskin!
If this muddled logic of “Iz-zieda li ha Gonzi” goes out of control, people who voted against Gonzi for the wrong reasons will vote against Labour for the same wrong reasons.
[Daphne – No, they will vote against Labour for having wound them up maliciously about something Labour in effect agreed with and saw as nothing wrong, because it isn’t wrong. If there is one thing we all find unforgivable, it’s being lied to and made a fool of.]
Farrugia has a choice before him: his political career or his medical career. He can’t have both right now. And if he is not capable of taking this decision, then he is not fit to be minister, a role which requires many decisions every day for years.
Aahhh, its not upside down logic for them, me thinks. It is a Labour tradition and way of thinking. Why change it?
Censu Moran – minister for health, if you please – used to remove tonsils at Karen Grech Hospital operating theatres in the early 80s (Tuesday mornings if I remember well) and he was not even an ENT surgeon. But then doctors were in short supply at the time.
It’s not whether he is better being a surgeon; it’s that it should be one or the other, and if the latter was on the cards, then arrangements should have been in place to get a replacement immediately.
The law is the law is the law, and flaunting the law can set a bad precedent, not to mention abuse of power.
[Daphne – It’s not actually the law; it’s the code of ethics for members of the cabinet. But anyway, I agree with you, and that’s exactly what I said. The difference is that I start off from the point that it should have come from him to have turned down that cabinet post on the basis that his skills are needed elsewhere at a medical care level – which they are. ]
Being in a hurry to please all those who contributed to his victory, our amateurish PM has swapped roles to ministers / parliamentary secretaries, as in the case of Dr. Michael Farrugia, a medical doctor practising as a per/sec for Mepa.
Re your first part and the speech by the President at Parliament’s opening, Dr Fenech Adami this morning clearly stated that he had asked for amendments to be made to the speech he was presented to read in 2008.
Dr George Abela could easily have done the same, but obviously he didn’t. He’s only speaking out now after receiving a lot of flak.
According to the media this evening, it was revealed that Franco Mercieca is NOT the only ophthalmic surgeon in Malta. Such operations he is performing now were already being done in Malta years ago by other eye surgeons. MALTA TAGHHOM BISS.