Such meritocracy. Such a great roadmap.

I beg to disagree. I know one or two things about protocol. In this specific instance, you either organize a dinner (not lunch) or you send out written invitations and those who cannot attend, for religious or other reasons, would return a Regrets Only. What you do not do is close the meeting and escort everyone to lunch.

Protocol is supposed to be sensible isn’t it?

[Daphne – So many people confuse protocol with good manners. A knowledge of the latter informs the former. When the meeting is closed and everybody is escorted to lunch, those who may not eat because of their religious rules should properly excuse themselves at that point, and leave. Embarrassment is not caused by holding the normal lunch when some guests are fasting. Embarrassment is caused by fasting guests not leaving before the lunch, and going along and making everyone else feel awkward by not eating.

And no, you do not inconvenience the majority to accommodate the minority by bringing everyone back again for supper after 8pm. The Maltese foreign ministry is not expected to behave by the rules of Ramadan, nor should it do so.]

On the other hand, to be fair and square, it isnt like the Nationalists did not commit any diplomatic/protocol blunders either. Example:

Some time in the last decade (i dont remember the exact year), in January, all ambassadors accredited to Malta (both those residing here and those based in other capitals) attended the traditional New Year’s Greetings and met with the then Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, President of the Republic… A lunch was offered at the Phoenicia to the ambassadors. Guess what ? Some diplomats ate, others didnt. Do you know why ? Because, the Moslem ramadan (fasting month) fell exactly in January that year…

[Daphne – How is that a diplomatic blunder? A diplomatic blunder would be NOT holding that lunch because some of the guests were fasting. The correct protocol is hold the lunch party, to invite everybody and then it’s up to them to accept or not for their own private reasons.]

You can easily add Mark Camilleri and the National Book Council too.

We can also add in:
– state sponsored muscat family outings
– the death of pbs & the attempted takeover of the BA
– mass removals of “permanent” secs
– running out of boards, chairmanships and now looking to gieh ir-repubblikas
– Mr pop goes the weasel
– generally ignoring the running the country but instead engaging in pitch fork & torches hunts. Love to know the cost of all these enquiries

The list goes on and will most likely continue.

Names, please. They’re on the public payroll, so there are no excuses.

Well, it must be money well spent because it was reported that the Finance Minister said that this will ‘improve the cultural product of the country’. I wonder who the main beneficiaries will be.

Love to hear his opinion on Dalli’s latest shenanigans. Any reporter worth his salt out there?

I am having a field day.
Never in my wildest dreams did I foresee that the PL landslide victory would be the cause of so much merriment for all those who did not contribute towards it in just eight months.