Extracts from yesterday’s debate in the European Parliament
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January 16, 2014 at 8:56am
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This morning, Claudette Abela Baldacchino was interviewed on PBS. She said that there were ONLY thirty-five MEPs present for the debate. “Jien hsibtu se jkun hemm kulhadd prezenti.”
Even if one sane person discussed this sale, it would have been enough.
Unless I am mistaken, when the Citizenship 4 Sale bill was being discussed in the Maltese parliament, the opposition called for a quorum 2 times.
“Jien hsibtu se jkun hemm kulhadd prezenti.”
That’s all we needed, hundreds of MEPs each putting in their two minutes’ worth.
Perhaps she could tell us how come the most sardonic were her PES colleagues, and don’t give us the ‘barrani’ spiel Claudette.
Hamsa u tletin kienu dalghodu.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-01-16/news/ep-to-vote-on-citizenship-for-sale-resolution-today-3699769344/
560 kontra, 22 favur, 44 ma jafux. Kieku kellu jghodd l-astenuti xorta jigi ghaxra b’wiehed. Kapolavur ghamlu Kurt u Glen.
Yes Claudette, there were ONLY thirty-five, BUT all were against the sale of citizenship.
For the voting there were 616 in attendance and ONLY a dismal 22 voted for sale of citizenship (against the motion, that is) with 560 voting against selling citizenship (for the motion) and 44 abstentions – and references specifically identifying Malta retained in spite of the anticipated socialist attempt to protect Muscat’s bum.
What will Claudette have to say, now?
Claudette will say that she expected there to be “950+” members in attendance. That’s the last count of MEPs according to Marlene Mizzi.
Hallina Claudette. Mhux ahjar tkompli tomghod dak ic-chewing gum?
Min jaf kemm dam jipprattika l-priedka tal-Milied Joe Cuschieri. Waiter tal-Magic Kiosk jiddefendi paprata bhal din. Fiex gejna.
Labour supporters have been instructed to think that selling citizenship is a stroke of genius by Joseph Muscat and the rest of Europe is envious because they did not think of it first.
In actual fact, other countries offer residency but do not sell citizenship, not because it did not occur to them – Muscat is hardly the only amoral and mercenary politician in Europe – but because they realised it would be going too far.
Muscat has no such inhibitions and is not bothered by trifles like international obligations.
The contrast of quality between Metsola and Cuschieri is huge.
My thoughts exactly.
Their flawed thinking also led them to believe that there was no problem to start with, and that therefore the shame we all experienced yesterday (well, at least the ones who watched the debate) was brought on by the ones who are actually trying to stop this madness, and not by the ones who started it.
Not quite true, Cyprus have a citizenship-for-investment scheme that has been running for a couple of years. They have beefed it up this year and I suspect that the PL govt based their amended IIP on the Cypriot scheme.
[Daphne – They did not. It was devised by Henley & Partners and replicated wholesale from their Antigua and Barbuda scheme.]
I suspect Cyprus will have to revisit their scheme as it is also all about selling a passport, albeit with more onerous conditions attached.
Metsola gave a fantastic speech. Calm, measured & correct. The antithesis to the hysteria of Labour in Malta.
After the EP vote, we’ll see if this government is a government which wants to listen: “gvern li jisma”.
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2013/10/joseph-kert-mario-and-keet-gvern-li-jisma/
I don’t want to look pedantic but in Maltese “gvern li jisma” means “a government which hears”.
“Gvern li jaghti widen” is the correct expression in Maltese for a government which listens.
It seems that this was a Freudian slip describing a government which is not deaf but doesn’t want to listen .
Counting the number of MEPs is not Labour’s strong point. A few days ago Marlene Mizzi said that there were 950+, when in fact there are just over 700.
Claudette Attard Baldacchino could not count well as she was chewing gum all the time.
On TVAM, Joseph Vella Bonnici, head of Identity Malta, thinks he can insult our intelligence with impunity. He explains that its not a “sale”, its an “acquisition”. My mama is not a whore, she’s a service provider.
And then, in a Freudian gaffe, he assured us that if “the applicant is an Arab and has a son who has not reached 21 yet and we find out the son is a terrorist, we will take it away from him.” So much for his personal confidence in the scheme’s due diligence and Henley and something partners.
Makes us good material for an ‘Achmed the Terrorist’ parody.
prosit fantastic comment
Apart from the fact that the thinking behind such a scheme is selfish and malicious, I cannot understand how arrogance can go this far by having a government of a member state come up with a price of his own to sell someone else’s stuff.
The least he could do (apart from scrapping the scheme totally) is consult with all the other member states for their fair share.
You should have included the bit where the camera panned on Claudette Abela Baldacchino at the end of the debate. Well worth watching:
http://vimeo.com/84292644
U le , u le, u le, x’misthija. F’hiex giet Malta li jien tant kburi li jien binha bi dritt.
The EU should do the same and offer citizenship at €600, 000.
So the EP has just approved the resolution condemning the sale of EU citizenship.
It would be good to compile a list of adjectives used yesterday by MEPs to describe the scam.
We can then pass them on to Henley & Something to put them in their brochures about the scam.
X’mistħija kien fih Joseph Cuschieri dalgħodu fuq TVM.
Mela ħaseb li qed jagħmel xi corner meeting fis-70s, jew qed jindirizza xi ċorma nisa jilgħabu t-tombla?
Apparti l-fatt li ħsibtu aktar qed jindirizza pubbliku tan-North Korea milli lilna l-Maltin.
Faqar ta’ argumenti infantili (ax EPP kellhom 17-il minuta u Soċjalisti 7 minuti – l-importanti is-sustanza li tgħid Sur Cuschieri).
U erġajna bl-istess kantaliena li kull ma jgħidu l-PN biex ixewxu lill-barrani (tiftakruha l-liġi tal-Indħil Barrani li ntroduċew iil-Gvern Soċjalista Malti?).
Ara wkoll fiex ġabuna dawn l-inkompetenti.
560 minus 44 equals 516 that’s a 92% of the votes cast who were convinced by 2 “makku”(small fry) MEPs coming from the stables of a financially bankrupt Opposition party on a small rock in the middle of the Mediterranean.
I thank them for supporting 72% of the Maltese population who are like them, against this crazy passport sale scheme.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=670217963030700&set=a.447019692017196.112092.447015295350969&type=1&theater
The vote speaks for itself.
The EU has certainly smelt Joey’s coffee and told him what it thinks about it in no uncertain terms.
A pathetically incompetent so-called government has got exactly what it deserves.
All-round condemnation. An unqualified political disaster of the first order.
Issa mohhu mistrieh Joey, ghaliex jghaffeg kemm jghaffeg ma jistax jaqa’ ghan-nejk aktar minn hekk.
More posts for the boys
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140116/local/plans-to-open-embassy-in-doha-pm.502883#.UtfQOPRDtqU
is it just me to feel that never ever before in Malta did we have such controversies, scandals, outright nepotism, international condemnation going on at the same time?
It feels like a never-ending bad dream for Malta out of which, it would appear, that we have a long way to go before we wake up.
[Daphne – Never before? My dear, you can’t possibly have experienced the years 1971 to 1987. We had all that PLUS no press freedom, no constitutional court, no recourse to the European Court of Human Rights, and extreme violence and wanton corruption.]
Simca is right, in that never before has there been such a confluence of knavery, corruption, bad government and evil, plus instant communication and social networks. The Boyd loop of cause and effect, as it were, is much tighter now.
Wow! THIS is what it’s all about. Those barbs about the crocodile tears and solidarity are just priceless.
As for Joseph Cuschieri, please will someone put him out of his misery?
Mrs Metsola showed great courage and determination and mostly practical in her address . Well done Roberta .
hi Daphne. you are of course correct. i should have made it clearer that the current continuous mayhem was never experienced during the NP years in government.
L-Ewropa xammitulu sew il-kaffe lil Joseph. Jaqbillu ma jitkessahx izjed. Veru pruzintuz jahseb li l-pajjizi shabna se jibzghu minnu.