Surely it’s not a coincidence

Published: August 13, 2013 at 1:44pm
They called him a 'zobb go bott', but it looks like he's done a Houdini and slipped out

They called him a ‘zobb go bott’, but it looks like he’s done a Houdini and slipped out

Robert Musumeci

Robert Musumeci

Jesmond Mugliett (centre) with Karen Mugliett, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Carmen Ciantar (back to camera)

Jesmond Mugliett (centre) with Karen Mugliett, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Carmen Ciantar (back to camera)

Franco Debono

Franco Debono

Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando
Robert Musumeci
Franco Debono
Jesmond Mugliett

What do they all have in common, besides the obvious? Labour women, that’s what: Carmen Ciantar, Consuelo Herrera, Vanessa Grech, Karen Mugliett.

So you have to ask yourself what came first, the chicken or the egg (unfortunate metaphor, but there you go). Did they pick their women because of their innate attitude and real political sympathies, as distinct from those they espoused simply because they grew up with them?

Or did they change their political sympathies under influence from their women?

Quite frankly, I think it’s the former. Their attitude and outlook are typically Labour. They just didn’t recognise it because they were raised pro-PN. But then they picked women they got along with, even politically, and it all took off from there. Or it was downhill all the way, depending how you look at it.

The reality is that it is impossible, when you are heavily involved in politics, to share your life, bed, kitchen and bathroom with somebody who disagrees with you completely and hopes that your efforts will not succeed.




28 Comments Comment

  1. Kevin says:

    “The chicken is only an egg’s way for making another egg” Richard Dawkins. Therefore, they picked their women because of their real political leanings.

  2. ciccio says:

    Ah, the ‘nisa ta’ success’ behind ‘the most feminist government’: Carmen Ciantar, Consuelo Herrera, Vanessa Grech, Karen Mugliett et al.

  3. TinaB says:

    As they say in Maltese, “dbielet”.

    Re your last paragraph, I agree – having said that though, it does happen in other countries, and it works, but definitely NOT in Malta where the majority of people support a political party or contest an election solely for personal gain.

  4. Volley says:

    So fate was written on the wall all along. It had to happen sooner or later.

  5. A Attard says:

    In an interview with John Bundy, Karen Mugliett stated she was active with the PN from a young age. Is she Labour or not? Also she stated she had studied overseas and is a lecturer at university. What exactly are her qualifications?

    • Lorry says:

      Karen Mugliett is a Home Economist and University lecturer in Nutrition, Family and Consumer Studies within the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta. She has lectured in a variety of courses: B. Ed.(Hons.), Masters in Health, Family and Consumer Studies and the Diploma in Gastronomy in topics which include : Nutrition, Gastronomy and Culinary skills, Childcare, Family and Parenting and Pedagogy for the past 20 years. Karen has been constantly training and adding to her expertise in these areas particularly through courses abroad, affiliations with foreign organisations in the field of nutrition education, culinary techniques and research. Karen holds a doctorate from Sheffied University UK, in the use of ICT as a pedagogy in the teaching of Home Economics.

      Dr Mugliett is also a keen promoter of the traditional Maltese diet, Slow Food, culinary techniques and Wellness and shares her knowledge with the general public through her website and various regular articles, demonstrations and courses. Media is another sector where Karen has contributed through the production and presentation of various radio and television programmes, magazine and newspaper articles.

      Karen is an established food journalist, with her own pages on the Malta Today and the Malta Today portal. She has also contributed regularly in different magazines such as the Alive and Health (A & H) magazine and the Eating and Dining ( E & D ) magazine and Gourmet magazine. In December 2010 Dr Mugliett launched a book ‘Seasonal and Sustainable – Cooking for healthy living’ – a book which emphasises the need to eat seasonal and local produce and promotes dishes with these fresh products. The book also includes various sustainable and health tips besides information on how to budget, shop wisely and organise oneself and plan weekly menus to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This book is now in its second print.

      In February 2010, Karen launched her website: http://www.culinariaandwellness.com where she shares her holistic philosophy on sustainable living with the wider community

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        Who are you, her agent?

      • Manwel Camilleri says:

        There is no such thing as “doctorate from Sheffied University UK, in the use of ICT as a pedagogy in the teaching of Home Economics.”
        EdD first of all is inferior to a PhD, and her final dissertation is in the use of ICT as a pedagogy in the teaching of Home Economics which is a fraction of the EdD itself.

    • Josette says:

      I think she is from a Labour family but she used to be active in PN. I remember her addressing the PN Kunsill Ġenerali quite a few years ago when Frank Portelli was still its President.

      • Rosa Luxemburg says:

        She may have been, if it suited her. I’ve seen her do more U-turns than a box of paper clips.

    • La Redoute says:

      PhD in home economics. Specialised in nutrition.

  6. Lorry says:

    Take a look at her reading the whole message
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ClqPChkEf8

  7. Josephine Gatt says:

    Daphne, you are implying that these three changed political belief under pressure from their partners. Well let me say this…. it’s a case of the kettle calling the pot black cause if i remember you correctly from primary school your surname was Vella. Am i right? and your family were staunch Mintoffians you only started defending the PN after you married Peter and only started using the English language after you changed your surname to Caruana Galizia. Excuse me if my english is not as good as yours, so please don’t make fun of my english!

    oh btw… my maiden surname is vella as well…. perhaps you remember me!

    let’s see if you have the guts to show this message and hopefully reply to it.

    [Daphne – “If I remember you correctly from primary school”: well, I certainly seem to have burned myself into your memory, haven’t I? That was four decades ago, and I don’t remember the surnames of most of the other children, or even their faces.

    “Your surname was Vella” – indeed it was, and it was one of the saddest days of my life when I had to change it, because in 1985 under Mintoff/KMB’s progressive government, we didn’t have the choice of keeping our name. I never changed my signature, though: it’s still D. Vella.

    “Your family were staunch Mintoffians”: most definitely not. To a man (and woman) we despise the vicious psychopathic bugger who is now, fortunately, dead and buried. Your confusion arises from the fact that both my mother’s and my father’s families were supporters and activists of the Strickland Party, which makes us Nationalist voters by conviction, not habit or family tradition.

    “You only started using the English language after you changed your surname to Caruana Galizia” – given that you profess to remember me at primary school, that’s a very strange statement. I was raised bilingual: English and Maltese, as was consonant with my parents’ pro-British, Progressive Constitutional Party, socio-economic background. The Caruana Galizias were Nationalist, and hence, not Anglophile. The second, sometimes even first, language for Nationalists of that socio-economic background was Italian, not English. Also, my husband is my cousin: the architect Emmanuel Luigi Galizia’s wife was Victoria (named after the queen) Vella, which is how he got his connections. Her father Giovanni and brother Francesco were both the equivalent of today’s (unelected) cabinet ministers.

    “You started defending the PN after you married Peter”: I have been with my husband since I was 19. I come from a politically-engaged family; he does not.

    “Please don’t make fun of my English”: I will not, but I shall say that it’s a pity you didn’t bother to start speaking it to impress the person you married. It would have served you well by now.

    “My maiden surname is Vella as well, perhaps you remember me” – sadly, I do not. But never mind, you’ll get over it.]

    • La Redoute says:

      A most unfortunate and badly informed conclusion, born out of idle gossip, no doubt.

      Mintoff’s reign of horror – including the takeover of the National Bank – started in the early 1970s, at the same time the 45+ generation were in primary school.

  8. Jar Jar says:

    Is that guy in a suit and tie and wearing lime green specs?? Mulej hudni issa!

  9. Edgar says:

    Qualifications of Karen Mugliett are building bridges, helped by her husband, Jesmond. Now if she was active in the PN I do not know, but I do not remember her defending her husband when he was accused by the PL of corruption during the building of the St. Julian’s bridge.

  10. P Shaw says:

    Shouldn’t the caption for the first picture be “pesisa go bott”? I think that is the temrinology used in the north. Maybe Charles Buttigieg can confirm.

  11. francesca says:

    Another thing all these men have in common is that they are all WEAK. They may think with their head, but it isn’t the one on their shoulders.

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