I see that the Libyans themselves aren’t that crazy about the promise to sell Malta cheap oil, either
Funny how old habits die hard. We spent four decades disregarding the existence of the Libyan population and thinking of the Libyan despot and his hatchet-men as being the sole voice of Libya.
Now two years after Gaddafi was lynched by a mob here we are, still forgetting that yes, there are Libyan people beyond their leaders and while they always had an opinion they now also have a voice.
Catching up on things, I see that the Libya Herald reported some days ago that the country’s prime minister, Ali Zeidan, is facing harsh criticism on the home front for promising cheap oil to Malta and Egypt when Libya’s political situation is highly volatile.
The newspaper quotes the comments of Libyan people, one of whom said that the prime minister is trying to turn Libya into “a charitable organisation called The Libyan Zeidan Charity”.
Zeidan is under heavy pressure and strikes at Libya’s oil export terminals have already caused Libya losses of more than $5 billion.
Another person quoted in the report accused the Libyan PM of “selling Libyan oil to Malta at a low cost and assuring the Maltese people that their electricity bills and petrol prices will start falling from March of next year”.
One angry woman said that Zeidan and his oil minister should be prosecuted for “laundering Libya’s wealth”.
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The memorandum of understanding signed by Joseph Muscat with China and Libya are two examples where fools rush in where angels fear to thread.
I would love to form a view on these MOUs.
If only there were details available.
How can you say something is good or bad if have nothing on which to base your view?
[Daphne – That’s not a very clever statement. There are two immediately obvious aspects to this: whether it is a good idea to give 35% of Malta’s power monopoly to a totalitarian Communist government, and the terms and conditions of the sale itself. You don’t need to look at the latter to form a view on the former. But you do need to consider the former even before you have the facts on the latter, if you are going to form a view in context. Start by asking the question: what’s in it for China? Do they want Enemalta or Malta’s veto in the European Union?]
I think China may well want something that Malta can’t give them but that they will try to make it look like they are giving them but they aren’t really.
Show me the money.
There’s no ‘may well’ or ‘I think’. Both parties get something out of a deal and there’s no question that it’s the political leverage of a foot and vote in the EU that China gets out of this deal, and the many others to come.
For many years, I have often wandered if we, as a nation, ever had any really good deals with our neighbours from the south. The standard reply is always that we get imported oil cheaper than spot prices. If this is really true and by how much, very few people know.
http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/09/08/general-strike-and-mass-protests-do-not-happen/#ixzz2eQTn9PMA