I hope to goodness that he doesn’t do anything quite as demeaning as this
The Malta Independent reports that Lawrence Gonzi is considering standing for election to the European Parliament. I hope for his sake that those of his advisers who have let him down so badly in the past will use this chance to redeem themselves a little and talk him out of it.
Let’s hope they are not the ones talking him into it.
The appropriate exit for an outgoing prime minister who retires from parliament is a superior one in politics (in Malta, there is none), a senior position in international relations or academia, a chairmanship in industry, or spending time with family.
Anything else is demeaning.
It is not only demeaning to him; it is demeaning to Malta. The European heads of government with whom he sat at the table as a highly respected equal will still be in office and Gonzi will be in his Brussels cubby-hole, with a seat in the European Parliament among all the strange creatures that member states other than Malta dispatch to the European Parliament (and we have a couple of those too).
Can you imagine David Cameron, when he is voted out of office and resigns from the party leadership, becoming an MEP? Or Angela Merkel? And is Nicolas Sarkozy considering it?
It was only Silvio Berlusconi who did that, because he didn’t have enough other ways of making a fool of himself.
The sources who spoke to The Malta Independent think it’s a great idea because Gonzi’s presence on the PN list “will counter” Alfred Sant’s presence on the Labour list. But the fact that Sant, of all people, has chosen to do something so demeaning and embarrassing should have told those sources all they need to know about the questionable judgement required to take a decision like that.
So Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil go from member of the European Parliament to party leader, and Sant and Gonzi take the reverse route, but worse than that, via being prime minister and head of government, the one for just 22 months, the other for nine years.
That Sant has appalling judgement is something we have long known and learned to our cost. But Lawrence Gonzi should not now go out of his way to give his harshest critics a reason to say they were right.
19 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-06-26/news/gonzi-considering-contesting-ep-election-1914306565/
Precisely my thoughts. A very bad choice both for the person and for the country.
If he’s not elected, and there’s a big chance of that happening, it will be a double blow in such a short time, and an embarrassment from which he will never recover. I hope he’s not really going for it.
MC – that is not the point. It is as if an outgoing chairman of a company decides to come back to the same company as an ordinary employee.
Hopefully Dr. Gonzi will not go ahead with what he is ‘considering’.
He has given his best to the country, although some ungrateful twerps may think otherwise and now he should concentrate on other matters.
It’s like retiring from the Army as a colonel and reenlisting as a private. Utter desperation.
Nahseb ta’ Sant inqas gravi (nassigurak li m’ ghandi ebda interess niddefendih).
Pero, bl-elf difett tieghu, u inkompetenza bhala PM, fl-ahhar 5 snin segwejtu hafna bhala MP li minkejja li l-Partit tieghu stess injorah, kien attiv hafna fil-Parlament fid-debates marbuta mal-loans tal-Grecja, ecc, il-mekkanizmi li dahlu ghall-banek, fil-eurozone, ecc. Ghadda z-zmien – xejn ma jnehhi mill-fatt, kif ghedt tajjeb int, li kien PM, imma nahseb il-kaz tieghu hu differenti. Fuq livell uman, nifhmu. Jidher li familja m ghandux, hlief it-tifla, u forsi jfittex skop ulterjuri fil-hajja.
Fil-kaz ta’ Gonzi, li mexxa ‘l pajjiz f’tant diffikultajiet ghal kwazi 10 snin shah…vera jkun pass lura.
I totally disagree with you regarding Alfred Sant. Apart from having acted as Prime Minister of Malta, he was the one who froze Malta’s entry into the EU when he became Prime Minister and the one who eventually waged a total war on Malta’s entry.
So his standing for election to something he openly despised makes him a worst fool than I ever thought he was.
With regard to Dr Gonzi contesting, I fully agree with you Daphne. Let us hope that common sense will prevail.
It would be completely ridiculous. But then we haven’t seen any proactive thinking coming out yet. Just imagine, to add insult to injury, if there was also Norman Lowell as a counterpart. Dalle stelle alle stalle.
The NP will forever lag behind unless the thinking aims higher and actions are more efficient.
Nobody could have expressed my thoughts better than you did.
This “rumour” has been doing the rounds since after the weekend. I would not be surprised at all if this advice is being given to him by some “adviser” who wishes to gain something him/herself should Lawrence Gonzi take up this wrong advice and contest and be elected.
I sincerely hope for Dr Gonzi’s sake that he has learnt his lesson that some of his so-called advisers first effect a check as to what they stand to gain should their advice be taken.
I appeal to Lawrence Gonzi not to embarrass himself.
“Dr Lawrence Gonzi jiċħad li se jikkontesta għal MEP”
http://www.newsbook.com.mt/artikli/2013/6/26/dr-lawrence-gonzi-msemmi-ghal-kandidat-fl-elezzjonijiet-tal-meps.7624#.Ucq1aPnSt8E
Berlusconi actually did consider it, only to renounce his seat to another unsuccessful candidate after being elected.
[Daphne – Well, there you go.]
Hopefully it is not true. Dr. Gonzi served the country well. It would be a massive step down for him if he were to contest.
http://www.newsbook.com.mt/artikli/2013/6/26/dr-lawrence-gonzi-msemmi-ghal-kandidat-fl-elezzjonijiet-tal-meps.7624#.Ucq11T5gb8E
Hear, hear! Well said, Daphne.
Aġġornata bl-Awdjo: Dr Lawrence Gonzi jiċħad li se jikkontesta għal MEP (Newsbook.com.mt)
Aktar dettalji fuq: http://bit.ly/12oY3L3
Prior to moving to the Auberge de Castille, one of his advisors was a business/trade consultant in one of the major Maltese embassies.
All this person did was collect business cards and attend little business fairs trying to sell Maltese tea biscuits and a fizzy drink. I remember being contacted by this person.
Now, my business – which I don’t run myself any more – has been running successfully for 40 years, so you ask yourself: if they target the wrong people and their business strategies are questionable, what on earth do these people achieve?
I have advised several contacts to steer clear of investing in Malta until Muscat gets booted out. I said they had two chances of doing well under Labour: little and none.
I agree with you perfectly Daphne.
Dr. Gonzi would be very appropriate in a post much higher up in the EU. Considering the huge economical success Malta had under his leadership, the EU should offer him a post as a consultant to other governments, especially to the ones who have been faring so badly. Some advice from him could help countries like Greece, Cyprus and Spain to get back on their feet.
Becoming just an MEP would be a demotion and humiliating for him. It certainly would be adding insult to injury. Those who have proposed this idea certainly have still not realised his huge worth and potential.
Some of you need a good bash with the hammer of normality.
Lawrence Gonzi a consultant to which governments? A quite ordinary man from a tiny country with a not particularly brilliant intellect?
If your kind of advice is the kind that is followed by the EU, no wonder it’s in the shitter.
Just let the man retire. He’s done enough damage with his obstinate nature. Let him retire.
If a former Maltese PM or President were to become an MEP he would certainly not be the first European PM or European Head of State to do so (as Guy Verhofstadt, Mario Soares and Emilio Colombo)