Absolutely appalling. APPALLING. And utterly shameless. Switchers, is this really for what you voted?
The new head of the army injustices commission with his son, convicted cocaine trafficker Meinrad Calleja, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Manuel Mallia appointed the first and defended the second.
The amoral cynicism of this government is beyond disgusting. It is repulsive. It was clear from the outset that power was the sole motivation, and now they are using that power to revolt us with their unsound behaviour.
Maurice Calleja has been appointed – by Army Minister Manuel Mallia – the head of a commission to “review claims of injustices suffered by soldiers and officers”.
Calleja was head of the army when, in December 1993, he resigned after being given to understand that if he did not do so himself, his resignation would be demanded of him.
The shocking thing is that he resisted it, and even more shocking is that he saw no reason why he should resign.
His daughter Clarissa Cachia had just been caught by the police with a kilo of cocaine, and she told them that her brother Meinrad Calleja had it at their father’s house and gave it to her there.
That’s right: the army chief’s son and daughter, passing each other a kilo of cocaine at the army chief’s house, for trafficking on, and the army chief doesn’t see why he has to step down.
Shame alone would have done it, with somebody less shameless.
For that crime, Meinrad Calleja was sentenced to FIFTEEN YEARS in prison. Who was his defence counsel? MANUEL MALLIA, the man who has just appointed his father head of this commission.
And when Meinrad Calleja was tried for conspiracy to murder Richard Cachia Caruana, then the prime minister’s personal assistant, who was his defence counsel? MANUEL MALLIA.
And there’s something else, too. Maurice Calleja is 80 years old – well, actually 79 this year. Though you won’t find his age in any bio anywhere, I happen to know the exact age of a couple of his former classmates at St Edward’s, and he’s unlikely to be 20 years their junior, is he, especially not with two sons who are in their 50s themselves now.
If he stays on at the head of this commission until the next election, he’ll be 84. And switchers voted for young, liberal progressive government. It’s taking on shades of a gerontocracy.
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You would be forgiven to think that these people would stay away from publicity. But no, given the first opportunity, they are back in the limelight so that everyone and his uncle will revisit their glorious past.
Are they so naïve to think that such a move will rehabilitate them?
Qisu m’ghandhomx ghalfejn jisthu.
Will this commission full of Laboristi have the final say on who of the soldiers and officers will get an iced bun?
Will they be handing out iced buns to fellow Laboristi? Who will be paying for these iced buns?
Don’t worry. Remember Joseph Muscat’s promise that he will not bulldoze over the Nationalists in spite of the 36,000 majority. To be believed.
I thought that there were proper structures in place for those who suffered injustices. But no, GuziPL appoints a three-man commission of Laboristi.
At this rate there will be no need for the Ombudsman – the proper place to complain and try to get remedial action for percieved injustices.
Could be that is the intention of the PL government? All that is going on is a case of deja vu.
During Mintoff’s times we were all saying every day – what next. No more peace of mind and stability with this PL government because we are all worrying what is going to happen next.
I have a feeling many of these commissions (to reform, investigate, recommend, etc) are just a marketing ploy (“irridu nibghatu messagg car”) to appease the hundreds (or is it thousands?) who spoke (or wrote) to Joseph Muscat before the election about their personal grievances under the Nationalists.
What actually comes out of them for the common Joe is still to be seen. On the other hand these commissions would be a good justification for more ‘iced buns’ for the ones close to the inner circle of friends.
Blokka silg………
It looks like the 2nd 100 days have started: wahda ahjar mill-ohra.
This is really, really bad. It’s not just the Pink Mafia that are in, but the White, the Grey and the Black.
Just when we thought there was nothing left for Lejber to scrape off the bottom of the barrel…
What type of ‘icing’ will be on their iced buns?
Maurice Calleja can always get his son to ice their buns.
Talcum powder I’d expect.
……or crushed ice.
You are the expression of the collective memory of 3 or 4 generations of this island state. This is not just opinion but one based on FACTS.
Anyone who rejects this logic is mentally blindfolded. Your commentaries are as good as any newspaper.
Allow me to repeat part of your opening paragraph which, I agree, is an apt description of what we are witnessing this government to be:
THE AMORAL CYNICISM OF THIS GOVERNMENT IS BEYOND DISGUSTING. IT IS REPULSIVE…
THEY ARE USING THEIR POWER TO REVOLT US WITH THEIR UNSOUND BEHAVIOUR.
Well done, thanks, and keep it up.
With every repulsive decision the 36000 majority shinks – perversely sabotaging themselves, but as long as Joseph says he’s knows what he’s doing…
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Assistant-Commissioner-Neil-Harrison-to-head-Visa-Central-Unit-20130620
U ghala hemm Owen Bonnici ma’ Manuel Mallia? Ma gewx separati dawn iz-zewg dekasteri? U tpogga taht il-Prim Ministru.
Oh good. Now if Maurice Calleja’s son ever gets caught with another kilo of the white stuff, he can ring Toni Abela to find him a nice Labour policeman. And isn’t it lucky that his defence lawyer is Minister for the Police as well as the army.
Perhaps we should have understood by now that the trafficking of cocaine is nothing to be ashamed of, or made a big deal of, with the Laburisti.
Look how they handled their own ‘blokka silg’ problem.
At least we are assured that up to 1993 there were no injustices to be investigated unless of course Brigadier Calleja was just a puppet.
If you don’t like what is happening in Malta go out in the streets and protest peacefully. That’s what people do in other countries.
Here’s another problem Malta could be facing in the future:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=07b_1368058553
Any kind of extremism destroys a country.
Mr Ellul-Grech,
Are you the same person who had a major problem with Dalli some years back and who has a blogspot dedicated to this?
I’m curious, how do you feel about the Labour Party now that John Dalli is within its fold because of his qualities rather than despite them?
Your ordeal must have been an extremely devastating one in many respects.
Yes, I am the same person. My blogs are supported with documented evidence. In all the years my blogs have been on line no one has started proceedings against me.
Should anyone wish to do so they have to use the UK courts. I live and publish from the UK where freedom of speech is respected, the police and courts are impartial.
I, like many others am very disappointed with the Labour Party and the previous administration for neglecting to investigate my allegations against John Dalli.
John Dalli’s qualities are very dubious. He is an expert at covering his tracks and switching sides to protect his personal, financial and political interests. I do not make any allegations unless I have evidence to support them.
Yes, my ordeal has been devastating over the years. The way things have developed it is obvious that there is one law for those with money and influence and another for the man in the street. I doubt if I will ever get the justice I truly deserve.
You should read my blogs in detail. Then make your mind up. http://ec-eu-john-dalli.blogspot.co.uk/
Many thanks for your reply. I appreciate that revisiting the ordeal is like re-grating raw wounds over which bleach has been thrown.
I carefully read all your blogs and had a look at your You Tube postings before making my first comment. I think what you have done must have required first overcoming a progressive sequence of steps that were intended to demoralise you primarily, eat up at your financial resources to get you on to your knees, harass you, ruin your reputation and then get you out of the way.
It is a shame that these injustices are not the ones focused on. You have had to restart your life, alienated, away from home and your family had to suffer with you. Malta being what it is, and financial resources not infinite, nobody else has the time or motivation to go into cover ups of this nature that involve a politician or now, a public person or protected businessman.
Yes, I can understand that a foreign jurisdiction offers guarantees and protection, whilst the man in the street will conveniently say ‘ara dak,… harab,’ whilst others will be planted to mislead the general public, desperate for gossip, with false accusations.
I may not agree with your description and belief in Mintoff, but I can respect that as a different political opinion once your principles remain steadfast.
I understand why you would say ‘go out in peaceful protest.’ Even being against something for a valid reason requires action. One cannot just talk.
In your case it is unlikely that the political party that insisted on the Whistleblower Act is going to go any distance in offering anything more than lip-service support once it has aligned itself with the whitewashing of the perpetrator.
If there is no support for whistleblowers, the law will act as a warning or barrier rather than an open channel. It will be a hypocritical farce.
There is too much whitewashing going on under this Government already, even with other appointments, a minute number of which might appear to be based on merit.
There are sites that gather information on Ponzi Schemes. Ponzi trackers. These generally treat cases, mainly in the US, where several victims have been cheated of a very grand total. In such cases the FBI builds up profiles of people and irregular business dealings but you would have to provide them with a detailed dossier. The US Embassy in London would be able to handle such an approach. This does help in preventing create other victims, or, should the person chose to operate similarly in the US, for example, then the profile would have been established and pre-advised.
To my knowledge, there is nothing really which offers easy and immediate access within the EU of protection against scams or the full devastating effects of whistleblowing such as in your case where the basic prerequisites of fair treatment are stacked against the victim.
Now that Barroso and Kessler know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of such treatment, the EU might decide to have some independent set-up of recourse similar to an International Criminal Court where persons may be brought to trial, irrespective of their position in society, business or politics.
The expectation that the victim’s own country will serve justice is insufficient, where that country holds that particular person in esteem as a national asset and all the necessary hands are twisted in order to achieve this. In Malta, especially, there are no guarantees that no conflict of interest is present.
Such persons have a knack of finding others to whitewash smokescreens they can hide behind and they continue their business unpeturbed.
You explain that, as a person, you have been a means to an end.
You might have chosen to look the other way, but in doing what is meant to be the right thing, you were punished for it.
You are no longer the same person you were before. Your career was detracked and your reputation and life were hijacked. You were helpless. Your ‘fault’ is that you didn’t play ball or look the other way.
You see, the reason why I don’t share your opinion about Mintoff, is that he did this to us on the other side. That is why I can understand you, or think I do, so well. Now Joseph Muscat is collecting an army of these people, all suitably qualified in this manner in one way or another, for the job.
When economic powers and political powers are joined it is not only the competitive factor in the country that suffers – as Milton Friedman warned, but the personal human rights aspect that is ruthlessly trodden on.
In our context, there is nothing to protect us, except if the EU decides to do something about it fast.
@ Fast track visas……Thank you for your comprehensive reply. I was a young person during Mintoff’s years and my family were always PN supporters. The man was no angel but he did do good. My family was never penalised for our political and religious views.
In the eighties I used to spend most of my time at PN headquarters and we worked very hard to bring about the change that was needed.
My concern is that I have been let down by both political parties. I tend to agree with you that the way politics are being handled at present is very disappointing and an indication that nothing has or will ever change in Malta.
As for the Whistle-blower’s Act it is the politics of hypocrisy. Malta has been cheated and defrauded of its democracy and it could be heading towards a dictatorship disguised as democracy. Only time will tell.
Shameful! I’m so demoralised I just can’t bear to read or hear anything anymore.
That’s how Joseph Muscat wants you and us all to feel and be – dejected by his (new) way of doing politics.
We have to learn to take it all in (despite the bitterness) and react, each in his own small way, on a day-to-day basis, until more and more people realise that mediocrity can only breed mediocrity and finally failure.
Maybe you say we (Malta) deserve(s) better and I agree. However, this is the democratic game – sometimes you win, at others you lose. In spite of its ups and downs no other system, so far, has proved superior.
The bombardment is also a manner of sowing confusion. It will be repetitive and also misleading. Its intention is to make the electorate so dizzy that it gives up. Or busy getting heated up on what has been planted as the LP word of the week “incitement.”
The main focus will be kept hidden and off the public agenda.
Until it’s a done thing.
One thing is certain – the PL government is certainly going all out to place his supporters in commissions, boards, etc. Next will be the employment of PL-leaning persons, once the top jobs have already been given to well known Laborites.
Can the PN ask in parliament how many PN people were approached to take up positions?
In 1780 Edmund Burke stated in the House of Commons: “The people are the masters. They have only to express their wants at large and in gross. We are the expert artists; we are skillful workmen, to shape their desires into perfect form and to fit the utensil to the use. They are the sufferers, they tell the symptoms of the complaint; but we know the exact seat of the disease and how to apply the remedy according to the rules of art. How shocking would it be to see us pervert our skills into sinister and servile dexterity for the purpose of evading our duty and defrauding our employers, who are our natural lords of the object of their just expectations.”
Peaceful protest is in order.
Possibli li min Malta kollha m’hemm hadd aktar kapaci biex ikun il-kap ta’ din il-kummissjoni.
Issa Sur Konrad Mizzi ghandu il-poplu bir-ragun kollu jaghajjat “SHAME Mr. PRIME MINISTER……..SHAME DR. MANUEL MALLIA.
Although this piece of news utterly disgusts me, I am not surprised.
Of Joseph Muscat’s government I never expected better.
This is only the beginning.
No wonder Patrick Calleja and all his family voted Labour – Patrick’s son was actually bragging about it.
There’s no doubt about it: 36,000 people can be wrong.
OMG. Yet another commission.
This is seriously disgusting…They’re shameless. How do they dare to go in public is beyond me!
So 36,000 voters can’t be wrong, eh, Simon Busuttil?
Of course they can. Don’t 120,000+ vote Labour every time?
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2009/09/06/t2.html
Once upon a dream … (Taken from a UK govt website)
“The Government believes that it is important that people from a wide range of backgrounds take up public appointments so that the Boards of public bodies reflect the rich diversity of our society and better understand the needs of the communities they serve. Appointments are made on merit and applications are welcome from all sections of society.”