Artists to demonstrate against Il-Guy in Valletta on Saturday

Published: November 19, 2013 at 12:15am

Artists March

Except that they won’t be mentioning names, of course, because this is a Labour government and you can’t get too personal in case you end up dead under a truck or subjected to some more insidious form of abuse, and in any case most of them voted for it and are, my goodness, shocked to discover that Il-Guy and the rest of them are exactly as I said they would be.

Why should they be surprised, given that most of them are old enough to have experienced the fossilised sods in their first incarnation as cabinet ministers.

Look, I don’t want to be too cutting. It’s a good thing that they’re marching against the government’s decision to scrap plans for moving the Museum of Fine Arts from its current home in South Street to the auberge across the road from the foreign ministry, which means that Il-Guy the increasingly doddery and possibly also semi-senile tourism minister will have to leave his office. And he doesn’t want to.

The government has tried to appease the angry artists and hasn’t succeeded. Maybe those angry artists have understood too late that liars are liars however much they smile when they want your vote.

In any case, this is the message on Facebook:

BACK HOME performance STILL ON
It is evident that the widespread, negative reactions to the official statement a week ago that the National Museum of Fine Arts would not be moved to the Auberge d’Italie have left an impact and are being seriously considered by authorities. BUT we DO NOT have a clear commitment from authorities yet, so the plan to hold the event on Saturday 23rd November at 10 am in Valletta is STILL ON.

Perhaps the new Public Broadcasting Services Ltd director, Claire Bonello, might wish to turn up with a witty placard that says: VOTE IL-GUY, AST AND LEO, GET IL-GUY, AST AND LEO. But somehow, I don’t think so.

Funny, really, how it’s taken just eight months for Labour to be hoist more or less simultaneously by all of its appeasement and vote-buying petards.




13 Comments Comment

  1. Min Jaf says:

    PBS and ONE media will give the event scant coverage, if any.

    Anything that reflects badly on the Muscat led government, such as the world wide adverse image brought about by Muscat & Mallia’s knockdown Malta Citizenship Sale, as PBS Head of News Reno Bugeja put it, is Not News.

  2. ciccio says:

    Back in 2011, when Joseph Muscat appointed Karmenu Vella to write Labour’s electoral programme, Muscat had described Vella as “one of the best ministers of all time.” We know that’s not the case, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

    Besides, at his age, and given his stint as Minister in the Mintoff and KMB governments of the Golden Years, Vella is a “senior minister” of the current cabinet and deserves the respect of his colleagues, not least because he also qualifies for a KartAnzjan.

    If it comes to Vella having to move his office, then this is going to send ripple effects throughout the other ministries. Someone else will have to move to make way for Vella’s ministry. This is going to be interesting.

  3. P Shaw says:

    Will the Kitten from Malta volunteer as mediator between the artists and the government?

    He might be perfect choice since he still believes in ‘Joseph’, or using straight-talk, he still has a major crush on him, quite late in life.

  4. canon says:

    Is the Kitten of Malta going to attend?

  5. U Leeeee says:

    Minn jaf jekk Ray Pitre’ tal-billboard hux se jattendi?

  6. Robert Barathian says:

    Of course the Kitten will not attend. He’s still not been given the apartment opposite St. John’s Cathedral and for sure he’s not going to jeopardize that chance now.

  7. pesu says:

    Kitten is certainly not purring. It is actually taking lessons from Tom (Jerry) how to hiss and spit.

  8. xmun says:

    Heard that the kitten will no longer honour us with his delightful articles in Times of Malta. Can anyone confirm?

    [Daphne – Yes, he’s been dismissed.]

    • Joe Fenech says:

      It was an embarrassment to have him as a critic in the first place. The fact that Kenneth Zammit Tabona is into Edwardian aristocrat role-playing does not make him cultured or artistic.

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