Do the Gaddafis count as charity? I think not. It’s crucial to remember that Dalli was an EU Commissioner when he went messing about with money in the Bahamas.

Published: July 1, 2013 at 3:14pm
John Dalli in Gaddafi's tent, 1987: the relationship goes so far back that he used to wear white socks.

John Dalli in Gaddafi’s tent, 1987: the relationship goes so far back that he used to wear white socks.

I’ve just read the International Herald Tribune report again.

Nowhere does John Dalli say that the tens of millions allegedly in his control in the Bahamas are for charity. That’s what everyone’s assuming he meant, including his landlord there.

The IHT reports him saying that the money is “to help people in Africa.”

That’s not quite the same thing, is it?

We forget that the surviving members of the Gaddafi family are in exile in Africa, that Libya itself is in Africa. Only the eldest son, Seif, is in custody.

If, say, the money was to pay for them to be kept in dictatorship levels of comfort, that would count as helping people in Africa.

But it would hardly be charity, would it.

And here’s the point we’re all forgetting. JOHN DALLI WAS STILL EU COMMISSIONER FOR HEALTH WHEN HE TOOK THAT TRIP TO THE BAHAMAS, LIED ABOUT IT TO HIS BOSSES, AND MESSED ABOUT WITH TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

This is enough for the European Commission to open a fresh investigation/case against him.

And quite frankly, they should sue us for inflicting somebody so substandard on the Commission in the first place. Damn shame he got through the grilling.




18 Comments Comment

  1. caflisa says:

    point taken.

  2. Rbugeja says:

    Why would $100 million be hidden in the Bahamas in the first place, whoever put them there?

    • ciccio says:

      We still need to understand which money was involved here.

      Was it the money from the snus scandal?

      Was it Gaddafi money?

      Was it other money?

      • Min Jaf says:

        Or maybe from that GM thing that Dalli had approved earlier on along the line?

  3. Gigi says:

    This whole story is really smelling worse than the stench we used to have a few years ago whilst driving near Maghtab.

  4. Calculator says:

    I’m not one to usually read Dalli’s interviews in full or listen to them, but does Dalli usually play with words like this, telling a small bit of the truth, but enough to misdirect?

  5. Depressing says:

    The unfolding political scenario is depressing to say the least.

    First we were subjected to years of mud-slinging by the PL marketing machine, enough for the electorate to vote for what was marketed as a positive change to meritocracy and even after the election it is more of the same: corruption scandals.

    It feels as though we are still in election mode and nothing much has changed. The media is still dominated by political scandals as is every day life.

    If this is the way politics is done in Malta by slinging mud, engaging in smear campaigns and spin, it is truly back-firing on both parties as in my eyes they have all lost credibility and I’ve stopped caring who is innocent and well-meaning and who is truly corrupt as we are now entering the realm of conspiracy theories which is a very dangerous game to play with people’s psyche.

    My disgust towards Maltese politics grows by the day. It seems it’s just about the money and I cannot fathom an honest person who truly wishes to be of service stomaching the scheming and conspiracies supposedly going on behind the scenes.

    Our police serve as waiters, the judiciary has been shamed. Is it possible to still retain an iota of faith in any of the institutions?

    This is absolutely sickening, makes me totally ashamed to be Maltese. Gives new meaning to the old saying ” Ghall-sold iqaxxar qamla”. That is how low the country is sinking. It feels like living in a Mafia run Sicily: allegations of conspiracies and frame-ups. Spineless bunch they all are all grovelling at the altar of money!

    • Snoopy says:

      Yes BUT not all of them are on the same level, and we have to be governed by some. So one has always to try and choose the best of the lot otherwise we risk ending up like Italy where 30% or so voted in a party that does not want to govern.

    • Jozef says:

      No, the current mess we’re in is down to one individual. His ambition forced him to it, and now he’s trying to convince us it’s fine.

      The PN was sent packing when the rule of law was taken to mean oppression by foreign powers.

      The keyword seems to be ‘nirrangaw’, something which GonziPN refused on a national level. Labour worked at the grassroots, make that the prejudice attached to the word, and will try to maintain it as the all enveloping range of society. A mental shift downwards.

      Claustrophobic, unsustainable and entropic, making this place turn critical much faster due its size.

      Just hope the PN manages to intercept the unease before it’s too late. We’ve seen it happen, twice.

      I say things couldn’t get better.

  6. Antoine Vella says:

    What about the people from “church groups in the United States” who were guests of Dalli’s family?

  7. Pandora says:

    Dalli’s behaviour and all the things about him published on a regular basis would be the cause of a huge outcry in any country.

    However, here in Malta you still get people defending him, just have a look at the timesofmalta comments boards.

    And why is Daphne Caruana Galizia the only journalist who is reconstructing the various past occurrences and putting these things into context?

    A substantial group of people in Malta think of themselves as journalists: come on do your job!

    I have lost my faith in the authorities that should be dealing with this. I have a feeling Dalli will just get a away with this as he did in other circumstances in the past.

    All he should do now is lie low for a while, if he is capable of that. Disgusting.

  8. Gahan says:

    That money could be of the World Islamic Call Society founded and funded by Gaddafi.
    Libya is in Africa and this society worked under the veil of a charitable institution.

  9. Joe Vella says:

    FYI, have a look at the following link. There are other several links within the article. They might be of interest, if one keeps in mind that SNC-Lavellin is involved on a number of projects with Sargas the company John Dalli has allegedly represented in the past.

    [Daphne – No link.]

  10. Calculator says:

    I hope the EU comes down on Dalli, and hard. Joseph Muscat Labour Government approval and defence of Dalli be damned.

    This scandal could somewhat undermine the EU’s democratic credentials should one of its Commissioners be proven to have provided (and may well still be providing) direct aid to a dictator.

    So as a matter of principle, and to make a good point both within and outside the EU, Dalli needs to be taught a lesson. Such help to dictators should not be tolerated.

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