Who does the prime minister think he’s fooling?
The Malta Independent reports from parliament tonight:
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that he was still investigating claims “made on the internet” that government consultant Shiv Nair has been blacklisted by the World Bank.
Oh, come off it. This is a man with whom he’s had lunch, tea and supper for the last few years, a man he met practically every week when he was Leader of the Opposition, a man who networked for him and made his contacts with non-democratic states, a man whose job it is to continue to do so.
It wasn’t Alex Sceberras Trigona who pulled the strings for that ‘bilateral meeting’ in China in 2010. It was this man.
Even if we are expected to believe that Joseph Muscat never knew that Shiv Nair is permanently debarred by the World Bank for fraud and corruption, does he seriously expect us to think that he is unable to pick up the phone, summon Nair to his office, and ask him point blank for the details?
Of course we can’t be expected to believe that.
Joseph Muscat knows that Nair is debarred permanently by the World Bank, and he knows why, too – it’s on their website.
The real mystery is something else entirely: why he thinks it such a great idea to dispatch as ‘an envoy for Malta’ a man who’s known internationally as a shifty dealer, with his name right there on the World Bank blacklist – for fraud and corruption.
You know what? If Muscat isn’t careful, people are going to end up thinking the obvious: that the methods that got Nair debarred permanently by the World Bank are the very methods that gave him such a stranglehold on the Malta Labour Party and now, the government.
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The only phrase that comes to mind at this time, is : MISKINA MALTA FHIX GIET!!
Allegations “made on the internet”…amazing. The way the PM is talking you’d think it was some numpties who said some nasty things on Facebook, not the World Bank blacklisting him.
I believe the word ‘hmerijiet’ was used in the interview by Saviour Balzan..
That’s what I’m thinking already. Muscat is shifty and slimy, and something like this is totally up his street. Il-qasba ma ccaqcaqx ghalxejn.
Skuzi l-espressjoni vulgari, imma x’qasba, l-ostra? Din kolonna tal-konkos miksi bl-azzar, stampata WORLD BANK.
This country has yet to learn how to distinguish between FACT and CLAIM. Our ginger Wunderkind goes one step further in his evil path of mystification, calling it an “internet” claim, fully aware of the implications of the adjective.
Internet claims are lower down than claims on the scale of credibility.
I used to think that Mintoff was the most evil man ever to have governed Malta but it looks like he’ll be pushed off the podium by the current PM.
“This country has yet to learn how to distinguish between FACT and CLAIM”. And how.
This is an ugly fact we are dealing with, on many levels. A legacy handed down to us by the religious ranks. Centuries of indoctrination, brainwashing and emotional blackmail inflicted on us from when we are at our most vulnerable, young and fragile.
We have been raising flocks of sheep and now we suffer the negative consequences – one being the ease with which malicious manipulators the likes of Mintoff and Muscat can get away with their unacceptable behaviour.
“Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that he was still investigating claims “made on the internet” that government consultant Shiv Nair has been blacklisted by the World Bank.”
Phew. Case still OPEN.
On TVM news we were told the usual ‘He’s doing the envoy stuff for free’. Free? I doubt it. Maybe no monetary reimbursement but loads of perks and commissions on other deals.
Free, mela. Just like Johnny DalliBahamas services. And the consultancy for the Malta-Gozo bridge.
Kollox free
Haven’t they ever heard that nothing in life is free? if Mr Nair is truly offering his services for no monetary compensation, then he must be getting some other form of compensation – maybe some credibility even as he ruins what little credibility we have left.
Nair works for China. That’s why his remuneration from Malta itself is minimal.
Well done, Daphne! You have unearthed this lurid story and it’s beginning to be noticed.
We, the people, have a right to know why Joseph Muscat, as leader of the Opposition and now as the head of government, has chosen the services of such a character.
One of the very first measures that Joe Muscat made – if I recall correctly it was within the first 2-3 weeks he was elected as prime minister – was the creation of a special projects unit in Castille headed by himself and Keith Kasco.
Is this another special project?
This is not a discussion worthy of parliament. The counter-arguments, if they can be called that, are childish and inappropriate.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-10-08/news/government-still-investigating-internet-claims-on-shiv-nair-blacklisting-2834628609/
So what Muscat is implying is that NO ONE in his government is aware of this man’s antics and World Bank blacklisting. Are these the people leading this country? Do they know what due diligence is?
You just do not deserve to be there, but the people get the government they deserve. Unfortunately we are lumbered with them as well.
Unbelievable, Joseph Muscat befriends this rogue, lets him into the Labour Party’s inner circle and the inner circle of government, and doesn’t bother to dig into his past and present.
If he is that naive, he is not fit to lead this nation.
The alternative possibility, that he knew and doesn’t care, makes him still more unfit.
This man is extremely dangerous.
Gawdu switchers, ja qatta idjoti. Il-hazin hu li maghkom ha jbati il-pajjiz kollu kemm hu.
All the idiots he’s already fooled into voting for him … hopefully a few of them have now have opened their eyes (or smelled the coffee)
May I ask Joey whether he is also investigating claims made on the internet that he himself is a moronic asshole.
Who on earth does he think he is kidding?
Joey, just admit that you fucked up big time with Nair.
Then close the case a la Twanny Bronka and Gozo Channel.
Ah! So the World Bank’s secure website is just a nondescript internet according to our prime minister. Indeed enlightening. As always!
[Daphne – I believe that reference to ‘the internet’ was to this website, not to the World Bank’s.]
But why would he need to check this website? The proof of debarment is on the World Bank website in plain English for all to see.
Daphne you are probably right.
In Joey’s microcosm the be-all and end-all of the internet is daphnecaruanagalizia.com.
Can somebody please tell him that The World Bank does have its own website, totally independent of and unrelated to Daphne’s.
In a typical Labour elve’s world, one would probably believe that the evil, manipulative Defni was the one who told the World Bank to permanently blacklist Shiv Nair.
I am speechless. I am embarrassed to have Joey Muscat as my prime minister. But then… I was also embarrassed with Karmenu Zero and Freddie Sant as prime ministers…….
Is this fat red-faced kid ever going to leave the school playground and debate like an adult?
http://web.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64148989&piPK=64148984&theSitePK=84266&theSitePK=84266&contentMDK=64069844&querycontentMDK=64069700&sup_name=NAIR&supp_country=