Can there be anything more pathetic, false and ridiculous than the government’s oil agreement with Libya at a time when Libyan oil is in crisis?
I really cannot believe the Nationalist Party’s statement ‘welcoming’ the government’s agreement with Libya to buy oil at a favourable price.
It should have torn the thing to shreds and pointed out how effing ridiculous it is to announce a thing like that the very week when Libya and its oil are all over the news – because it doesn’t have enough production even for domestic consumption (and hence can’t sell Malta any) and now, because armed groups are making production next to impossible.
Is the Nationalist Party going to carry on like this, being ‘positive’ about total rubbish that should be slagged off to hell and back, dancing to Muscat’s tune because it is too scared of being dissed as ‘negative’?
That abusive toad, the Police Minister – defence lawyer to Malta’s worst criminals, murderers and cocaine traffickers – sits in on interviews for new recruits to the Secret Service along with his ghastly sidekick Silvio Scerri (a man who makes his living by selling and installing lighting equipment, and who has delegated the running of that business to a member of, if you please, the Police Board) and the Nationalist Party leader is photographed coming out of the prime minister’s office, with a smug prime minister, telling us that he is satisfied everything is all right with the Secret Service because Joseph told him so.
And now we’re being polite and positive about the oil deal, instead of pointing out to normal people with brains and to those without them (all the more reason why they need to be told) that there can be no deal because Libya doesn’t have any oil to sell us.
And in any case, isn’t the new power station going to be run on gas? Isn’t that actually the point?
Will the Nationalist Party please – for God’s sake but more pertinently for this country’s sake – start devoting some time and effort to looking beneath the surface of things.
Here’s the guiding principle: ALWAYS ASK YOURSELF WHY. Why did Joseph Muscat feel the need to announce this false deal now? Why did the Libyan ministers – with all those massive problems they’ve got back home – feel they had to take time out to fly to Malta and accommodate our prime minister?
Instead, the Nationalist Party got tangled up in point-scoring about how the Libyans gave us a good deal because the Nationalist government helped Libya so much two years ago.
For heaven’s sake – how is that the point? How can they miss the point so badly? LOOK AT THE DEAL ITSELF, YOU NUMPTIES, INSTEAD OF TAKING THE DEAL AS READ AND CLAIMING THE CREDIT FOR SOMETHING THAT IS 100% MEANINGLESS.
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/03/libya-oil-supplies-tripoli
Simon Busuttil should fire his pathetic team of advisers. Idiots to a man. I doubt he even reads the stupid statements they’re making. He’s too busy touring village fiestas.
Fire his advisers and then resign post-haste.
I just caught a fleeting glance of the Bla Kondixin poster near Burmarrad with someone (Elvis?) pointing Simon Busuttil towards the EP with the heading “return to sender”.
Or at least, that is what I think I saw whilst steering at just under 70km/h. Either way, I felt it to be quite appropriate.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/view/20130902/world/libya-imports-fuel-to-keep-the-power-on.484579
http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?v=91&c=ly&l=en
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/27/us-libya-oil-idUSBRE97QOTT20130827
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/28/us-libya-oil-pm-idUSBRE97ROQW20130828
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/01/us-libya-oil-stability-analysis-idUSBRE98009Q20130901
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130902/local/pn-welcomes-libya-oil-procurementdeal.484590
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130902/local/malta-strikes-oil-procurement-deal-with-libya.484551
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/09/02/libya-oil-stability-idUKL6N0GY0XM20130902
It seems that the Libyans promised Joseph Muscat a pie in the sky. Meanwhile, I would like to know what they took for it. For instance, when they agreed to joint exploration, is that in our territorial waters?
The Times published a piece on the same day saying that Muscat better rates were the priority over the pressing on Malta’s claim over the Medina bank.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130902/local/libyan-pm-in-malta-for-talks-with-joseph-muscat.484504
I think that Muscat traded the claim on the bank for the better rates. I tried posting that comment on the Times board but the paper didn’t publish.
I also find it strange that in the morning Muscat says the deal is far off then within a few hours makes the magic announcement. I also find it strange that the announcement is made the day after the 3c increase in petrol. Too measured.
Unfortunately it is a mistake to believe that politicians do not know what they are doing.
The problem is that we can not make them accountable.
If they are looking the other way there must be a reason. It’s either fear of retribution or desire for reward.
The Libya Herald – Oil Production at Virtual Standstill.
http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/09/03/oil-production-at-virtual-standstill-says-energy-committee/
So Libya is giving us fuel at a preferential price but the Libyan government has already notified its citizens that all subsidy on fuel will be removed. This means that fuel at the pump will increase by at least 600%.
Libya is not giving us fuel at a preferential rate. The agreement will take effect if and when production returns to normal levels.
Breaking News: Simon Busutill has also been given GM plates for his car.
Joseph’ll be inviting Simon to bed next.
Oh FFS.
Net did point out Libya’s problems quoting Reuters yesterday.
The journalist then went on to read the PN’s statement.
Yes, NET did – and expounded the item intelligently enough to make the PM’s ‘feat’ look almost utterly inane – if not outright ridiculous.
This is truly baffling because the news reports on the PN media made the connection and were exactly aware of the reports on the situation on the ground in Libya.
http://www.maltarightnow.com/?module=news&at=Iffirmat+ftehim+ta%E2%80%99+provvista+ta%E2%80%99+fuels+mal-Libja&t=a&aid=99850326&cid=19
The Nationalist Party continues to make the cardinal mistake of assuming that the electorate is intelligent when a majority of voters swallowed uncritically the hook, line and sinker of multiple “pie-in-the-sky” impossible propaganda lies of the Labour Party.
The PN media must learn that the gullible uncritical voter must be continuously spoonfed so that the truth would finally sink in by the time of the next general election.
I do not agree with as we cannot say that good agreement ( memorandum of understanding) is bad. The Nationalist party couldn’t say other wise but they know that it will not materialise and they will be driving this point within a year or two. This is going to be PL’s Smart City.
I sincerely hope you are right, Giovanni. Every time I hear the Radio 101 news I keep telling myself that the PN is biding its time to strike at the right moment but for now it is coming across as sterile as my recently neutered dog.
If they know it cannot materialise then they can bloody well say so, in as many words, can’t they? Or is the Nationalist Party made up of opportunists who are mute as well as dumb?
From what I read, the oil deal at preferential prices will kick in when the security situation has stabilised in Libya.
That could be years down the line, so the deal is probably meaningless.
What should have been said was that we will be renouncing to our drilling sites under dispute and going into partnership in exploration with Libya. This is were the Nationalist party should have criticised.
The PN is behaving as if it ‘lost’ the last election.
The PN has to wake up to the fact that it did not ‘lose’ the last election and act accordingly, if necessary even changing its leadership once again.
The last election was not a run-of-the-mill electoral defeat for the PN.
It was a rout. A Dunkirk.
To reverse a Dunkirk the party needs a Winston Churchill not a Simon Busuttil.
After Dunkirk Winnie did not waste time attending village fairs.
He went straight to the Commons and delivered his iconic ‘we shall fight on the beaches……we shall never surrender’ speech.
Manana!
That’s exactly what Britain – and the whole free world for that matter – was expecting him to do. He did, Britain did, the whole free world (including tiny Malta) did fight on the beaches and never surrendered.
We’ve had many such promises over the years. Anyone remembers Kuwait?
I was ecstatic when Simon was elected leader. Unfortunately, his performance since then has left much to be desired.
When is the man going to start leading? When the village festas are over?
I don’t know what I would do without your blog, Daphne. It’s the only source left where one can get an excellent, in-depth analysis of the local political scene.
As if to drive the point deeper, they want to have their usual Independence Day mass meeting.
What for? So Simon Busuttil can waste an evening getting cheered by people who don’t know better?
Meanwhile, his erstwhile colleague Joseph Muscat is slapping his thigh and cracking jokes about “dak il-pastizz”.
What does it take to make Simon Busttil realise that Labour DESPISE HIM. Shall I send him a signed postcard, or what?
When Eddie Fenech Adami started his political career and then become prime minister he was a quiet and unassuming person.
In fact the Labour Party labelled him as ‘vavu’. Then he turned out to become one of Malta’s best prime ministers.
Can the same be said of Simon Busuttil? More importantly, can the PN afford to wait until Simon Busuttil becomes what Malta sorely needs, a leader of the Opposition with (the Italian word comes to mind) ‘grinta’ – to rein in the PL before they cause more harm to Malta. That is the question.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130903/world/Libya-now-imports-fuel-to-keep-the-power-on.484666
Expect more of this from Simon & Co.
How did Simon “kick out“ the scum from the PN? He answered a question about the relations with the PN of Pullicino Orlando, Franco Debono and company by stating that he respects the free choice of all those individuals who supported Labour.
Why shout insults, when a simple statement like that can do the trick?
At work, the usual knob-head (I like Kev’s fitting description) today started to throw snide remarks about “THE GREAT OIL DEAL WITH THE LIBYANS”.
My stock answer was “GREAT!” He was not convinced with my answer and kept bringing up the subject in all the lunch breaks.
A colleague asked me “Why didn’t you tell him that the Libyans cannot even provide fuel for their own power stations, and that petrol prices rose by 3 cents a litre?”
My answer was “He wants to ‘fight’ with the usual nonsensical political arguments against the corrupt and inept GonziPN, let him drown in his blood”.
I think Simon Busuttil knows the ex-Super One journalist more than you do, Daphne. He’s not giving Joseph’s public perception department ‘arguments’ to which it can deviate our attention.
[Daphne – He does not know them more than I do. I have had to negotiate around them since they opened their foul radio station in 1991. I think you forget how long I’ve been around. Nor does he seem to know the basic maxim of political communication: that when people who read newspapers diligently every day are getting sick of your repetitive message, that message hasn’t even begun to percolate through to the next level and it requires months more of tedious repetition before it reaches people who pick up their information only through talk, face to face or via social media. And worse, while you’re busy talking about the facts, perception is wiping the floor with you on Facebook. Every election is a communications war and the years between are a series of communications battles. This needs to be understood. The Labour Party understood it very well this time.]
What will happen if this agreement materialises? People would say that the PN was in favour of this agreement. Good for PN.
[Daphne – Oh for heaven’s sake. You see, this is where we part company. I start off from the point where I expect and demand that the Opposition be able to assess at the outset, based on intelligence (as in information) and analysis, whether the agreement has potential or not. You regard it as a form of magical thinking: it may or may not materialise depending on our luck. That is not what is required here. It is patently obvious that the Labour Party announced this ‘deal’ for public relations purposes and that the deal is empty. You can see that it is empty by putting it in the context of the news. By the time Libya has enough oil to sell us, the people who signed the deal will no longer be in office. Who is going to honour the deal then? Libya does not know or acknowledge what we take for granted: that the government is the government whoever the incumbents are. Had that occurred to you – that you are measuring an anarchic state by the norms of, say, Italy or China?]
What will happen if this agreement does not materialise? There would be only one person at whom the voters can point their fingers, and surely it will not be Simon Busuttil. And another good one for PN.
[Daphne – Again, I shall have to differ. There will be many people, most of them like me, accusing the Nationalist Party of actually believing the deal was possible and not having the nous to work out that it was not – just as they didn’t have the nous (and I apologise if I seem to be rubbing this in) to work out that Libya was going to blow up when it did, even though Tunisia and Egypt were already in revolution on either side of it, hence Gonzi’s HUGELY ILL-ADVISED visit to Muammar Gaddafi. I mean, for God’s sake, even I worked out that Libya was going to blow up in days, and when I wrote about it, I got scathingly patronising criticism from ‘the Libya experts’ whose only contact with the country was through Gaddafi men and other agents of the regime.]
When parliament reconvenes from the summer recess, Simon Busuttil will ask the prime minister to table the agreement.
More importantly I, like many others, will be waiting to see what’s in the FIRST Labour budget in fifteen years…the last one was presented by Leo Brincat in which there was a tax on drainage on every household better known as poll tax.
[Daphne – Sixteen years, actually. The last one was in 1997.]
Give them enough rope to hang themselves and don’t give them opportunities to which they can clutch. Most importantly: KEEP CALM.
[Daphne – There is the world of difference between being calm and being perceived as half asleep.]
My thoughts exactly when I heard the news.
When will the Nationalist Party grow a pair?
Simon Busuttil has been a big let down so far.
I think you are being too harsh on Simon and the rest of the team. If on the off chance the deal materializes the PN can claim some credit.
If on the other hand it doesn’t, the pomp surrounding the announcement will return to haunt Labour big time, a bit like the White Rocks presentation and Smart City came back to haunt the PN, even if undeservedly.
On the eve of the election of the leader of the opposition, I believed that Simon Busuttil would make a firm and resistible opponent to Joseph Muscat as Prime Minister.
I’m sorry to say that I am thoroughly disappointed with his attitude with regards to his constructive criticism.
I would not be surprised if the PN supporters would loose faith in this ‘once-glorious-political-party’ and end up supporting AD.
That would be a big blow for all those past prime ministers who strived hard to keep their party on its feet. Simon please take heed.
The memorandum of understanding (it’s not even a real deal) states that Libya will sell LPG to Malta at preferential rates.
But “Malta” does not buy LPG. This is bought by two private companies who make their own arrangements and their own purchase deals.
Agree entirely with you, and if there is some sort of agreement can we see the fine print please.
On Super One news Joseph Muscat said that Enemalta would be through a restructuring which does not affect employees. Is that part of the Libya agreement?
The PN definitely need to wake up.
It is clear to all that this agreement cannot materialise, at least not for some years, but what are we going to give them in the meantime?
Joseph Muscat mentioned help in education and health. What exactly does that mean? What help? How?
And what exactly was the agreement regarding the drilling for oil?
Why is not the PN crying out for more information and details?
Who do the ‘Libyan ministers’ who came to Malta represent? There is barely a government in Libya, or at least one that bears legitimacy or longevity.
Numerous sectors including Islamist extremists, armed militias, disaffected oil workers, and marginalized minorities are challenging the state. Instability is on the rise as a result of weak institutions, the proliferation of arms and increasing mercenaries.
Violent incidents, including car bombs, assassinations, and attacks on security and oil facilities, are on the rise. Several ministers have left the Cabinet and there are growing calls for the dissolution of both government and the legislature.
The country may split up as well, more or less similar to Iraq that does not have full control over the oil produced in Kurdish areas.
It makes me wonder, why did these politicians come to Malta in the first place, given the precarious situation at home and that they might be gone at any moment?
It might make sense for the MLP to try to fool the people, given that the Maltese are not that sophisticated, not well informed, and are easily fooled. But the PN? It is worse than we thought. They are not only devoid of financial means, but they are also devoid of political instinct and political stamina.
I thought I was imagining things when I heard that the Nationalist Party “welcomed” the deal with Libya.
Not only the deal is not doable because of the oil production in Libya is at a standstill, but what good oil (at any price) is to Malta when El Supremo has vowed to have the power stations run on gas?
Joseph and Konrad had better show us the ten year gas supply agreement at a fixed rate they boasted so much about during the election campaign.
Strikes and lawlessness bring Libya’s oil industry to its knees – Financial Times this weekend
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f13cad2a-1163-11e3-a14c-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=intl#axzz2dt76oOR8
There is more than meets the eye about this pie in the sky.
1. Whatever the favourable rates, and assuming we decide to produce energy out of it with the new power station, when the 3 year fixed price term expires, we will have to buy energy based on the international market price of gas (which is set to be exceed the price of oil products) for at least 25 years.
2. This is a clever move by the Libyans who will now keep us on the leash with this pie in the sky. They need something at EU level and they will dangle this carrot.
The PN statement was more than just congratulating the government for the agreement signed. The statement made reference to the sterling work the PN did during the Arab Spring – acknowledged by the Libyan PM himself during the news conference.
[Daphne – I mentioned that too: totally irrelevant and out of place. The PN’s role was to examine that agreement and rip it to shreds in the light of current news about Libyan oil, and not hark back to past glory.]
Also, the agreement itself cannot be wrong if it guarantees ‘preferential’ prices.
[Daphne – This is post-revolution Libya we’re talking about, Infurmat. They have armed bands going about taking control of whatever they wish to control. An ambassador was killed a few months ago. It is dangerous to travel about. There is no rule of law. And you’re talking about an agreement which “guarantees” prices? Please. Have some perspective. Any agreement signed with Libya now is barely worth the paper it’s written on.]
All we need to know now is ‘by when’ and ‘by how much’ is Malta likely to benefit. Antoher PN statement to remind us of this 6 months down the line will be appropriate.
You are improving. A far cry from the utter non-sense argument that ‘we should help them instead of them helping us’.
But you would think that France and other powers will leave Libya unproductive for a long time. You’d wish.
If the PN wants to become competitive again, they should hire you for strategic advice, and do the opposite.
Appearing cynical in a deal that gives the perception of improving the spending power, is what the PN needs right now! No wonder you were attributed for part of the loss.
Your impatience and impulsiveness not to see people hope for something better, fortunately for the PL, is also damaging your Party. For I know people, uneffected by whoever will govern, that will vote PL just not to see you jubilant again.
[Daphne – Yes, I know. They did the same in 1996 and told me so. It makes absolutely no difference to the way I think and behave because I have never let the bullying stupidity of others condition my thoughts or behaviour, not even in childhood, let alone now.
That’s one of the reasons how I know that there is a massive problem with low intelligence in Malta. They have an IQ low enough to reason that way and low enough not to realise that owning up to that reasoning gives others evidence of how low their intelligence is.
“Unaffected by whoever will govern” – more evidence of low intelligence. It is impossible not to be affected, directly or indirectly, by a government’s policy choices in a country with a population of less than half a million.
They don’t vote Labour not to see me jubilant. They vote Labour because they hate my guts, and they hate my guts because I make them feel uncomfortable. I make them feel uncomfortable because, purely by doing my job, I force them to confront the truth that they are stupid and shallow, when they wish to feel deep and wise (which Labour, by comparison and flattery, makes them feel).
They are stupid and shallow enough to judge me by their own standards, and imagine that I support a political party like a football team, hence ‘jubilant’. Irrational people cannot acknowledge or even identify rationality in others.
Fortunately, I am not a politician and don’t have to accommodate the irrationality and stupidity of Malta’s low-IQ gene pool and general lack of education. I am columnist and a blogger and my competitive advantage is precisely that: that I am free to upset backwoods bunnies.]
On the other hand, people like myself whose enthusiasm for politics had waned, and seriously couldn’t bother to go to the polling booth, were shamed into doing our duty by this blog which reminded me of why I had hated Labour’s guts and that a choice is necessary for the better party to be in government.
There’s another point which the media and the Nationalist Party have not looked at: the legality of a trade agreement between an EU member state and a third country which is not even a WTO member.
Well this really is the pits from the Nationalist Party:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130904/local/pn-asking-employees-to-forfeit-their-salaries-for-two-months.484717
If we don’t have a decent credible opposition there really is no hope!
Dr Joseph Muscat and Dr Konrad Mizzi deliver what they promise.
By next year Dellimara power station will be running on gas.
In the meantime the people can’t be subjected to high fuel prices, thus the special agreement to procure cheap fuel oil from Libya.
Next budget will be showing a substantial reduction in fuel prices.
To my knowledge, government no longer fixes the fuel prices. Isn’t that the job of the Malta Resources Authority and hasn’t the fuel market been liberalised?
By next year Delimara will be running on gas. How?
They haven’t even taken one bobcat to that site yet.
Cheap fuel oil. Wasn’t that carcinogenic?
A substantial reduction in fuel prices.
Yes, followed by a substantial downgrade in credit ratings.
You’re coming apart, and you don’t even see it.
What fuel? Did you read the links above?
The Libyan government barely controls Tripoli let alone the rest of the country.
This promise will be as deliverable as the one where people will have medicines delivered to their homes. They can’t even get them in the pharmacies.
Insolja – do you understand that oil production in Libya is at a standstill? do you know that the Libyan people have been told that subsidies on fuel are being removed? do you know what all this means? If you do, your contribution is only another Labour gimmick
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/special-report-we-all-thought-libya-had-moved-on–it-has-but-into-lawlessness-and-ruin-8797041.html