What a mess: altogether now, Taghna Lkoll, Taghna Lkoll, Taghna Lkoll.
Franco Mercieca with Jo
The health minister has resigned and the parliamentary secretary for the elderly says that he is waiting for the prime minister to accept his resignation.
Somebody should tell Franco Mercieca that when one’s resignation is entirely voluntary, as in his case, acceptance of that resignation just doesn’t come into it.
You wait for your resignation to be accepted or rejected when you don’t really want to leave your post but think it is expected of you.
What is Franco Mercieca saying here: that if the prime minister does not accept his resignation, then he is somehow obliged to stay on as PS for old people even if he doesn’t want to?
Come off it.
Mercieca has already said that he is resigning because “ophthalmology is my vocation” (and his vast income, too), so it’s 100% his decision and not the prime minister’s to accept or reject.
This cannot be compared to, say, putting your girlfriend on the public payroll, as the chairman for the Malta Council for Science and Technology has done (a resignation matter which requires the formality of acceptance, neither of which ever happened).
Godfrey Farrugia has resigned, and that’s it. He didn’t do it in secret, as Mercieca now said he did weeks ago, and then hung around for ages waiting for a reply. He’s gone. And his companion Marlene Farrugia has, quite inappropriately I think, uploaded his resignation letter on her Facebook page, which is how the news was broken.
This must be the first Facebook-directed government/administration in the history of the world. Life in Malta is becoming weirder by the day.
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” Facebook-directed government/administration”
This is not just in Malta although the Maltese always cross the line.
Marlene Farrugia is part of a minuscule, dissatisfied and decent faction that lives within a parallel Labour world. Only time will tell whether this faction will grow and lead to an implosion, or whether it will simply get diluted with the muck.
Partit Maghqud.
Well, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca also sent her resignation during the divorce debate. It didn’t take her long to retract it. You never know with Labour.
Quite obvious that Godfrey Farrugia purposely preempted the Prime Minister. He refused to play ball and leave quietly. Good for him. With Dalli breathing down his neck he stood no chance.
Jekk fhimt sew, Godfrey Farrugia irriżenja għax kien kostrett (imġiegħel?) jagħmel hekk mill-Prim Ministru, wara li dan tal-aħħar neħħielu l-Ministeru tas-Saħħa u offrielu dak tal-Politika Soċjali. Farrugia m’aċċettax l-offerta u bagħat ir-riżenja mill-Kabinett.
Rowd-mepp fuq ir-rubini… tarax!
Can one technically resign from Cabinet? I couldn’t quite figure out what he meant by that. I would have thought he should simply have resigned from the post of Minister for Health. As far as I’m aware, you are not appointed to Cabinet – it comes with the job. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
What is unusual is the fact that Farrugia has resigned just days before the reshuffle was due, and in doing so he has made the PM reshuffle his plans for the reshuffle by a few days (six Privitera exclamation marks here).
But what this means is that the Minister did not wish to go through the humiliation of having to privately say ‘no, thanks but no thanks’ to the Prime Minister who was offering him the Social Ministry – which the PM probably knew Farrugia did not want – and then, when the reshuffle is announced, it would appear that Farrugia was left out.
So Farrugia has wisely decided to resign before it becomes evident that he was left out and sidelined.
But the finest bit about Farrugia’s resignation is this here:
“Dr Farrugia said in his letter to Dr Muscat that when he became Health Minister, he saw this as a golden opportunity to strengthen his services for the dignity and needs of patients and said he was convinced that in the year he had been in office he and his colleagues had created the basis for the sector to become sustainable.”
Anticipating that the PM will take on the Health Ministry, Farrugia has taken the credit for the basis laid for the health sector, telling the PM in advance that any success in this sector is Farrugia’s, not Muscat’s.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140329/local/update-4-cabinet-reshuffle-likely-today-as-minister-parliamentary-secretary-resign.512635
Joseph Muscat will take on the Health portfolio, but the de facto minister will be John Dalli, for that is what the Muscat’s change in ministerial responsibility is all about.
See my other comment below. Muscat is now in a corner of his own making.
Konrad Mizzi – Minister for Health and Energy. With the power station project at full blast, how can he possibly deal with the Mater Dei Hospital crisis?
What a man Godfrey is. Personally always liked him. Now he has enough courage to say that his mission is in ameliorating the lives of the sick – true to his oath. He could be part of Partit tan nemel because he will always have my respect.
Godfrey Farrugia’s communications coordinator had no idea Godfrey Farrugia had resigned:
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/37449/im_staying_in_labour_to_make_malta_tagna_lkoll_a_reality_farrugia_#.Uzbi1c7TdWE
There must be an important political implication after this event.
The Prime Minister had said that it was Dr. Godfrey Farrugia who had requested the services of Mr. J. Dalli BA as advisor to the Health Ministry.
Now that Dr. Farrugia has resigned, there is no reason why J. Dalli BA should remain an advisor to a Minister who isn’t a Minister any more.
So if the PM becomes the Minister of Health, and if the PM keeps J. Dalli BA as advisor on health, then the PM cannot hide behind any more excuses and it becomes obvious that he is the one who wants J. DalliBA as advisor to the government.
Expect some tricks to cover this up now.
But the PM has painted himself in a corner here. If the PM has no trust in the Minister for Health, why should the PM have any trust in the Minister’s advisor when it was the Minister himself who requested that advisor?
Coleiro will be to the Social Services Minister what Dalli was to the Health Minister. Godfrey saw this coming and got off the looney bus.
Well said.
Joseph Muscat keeps giving Godfrey Farrugia ministries in which he is immediately undermined with an unofficial second minister.
Too many cooks spoil the broth and when the broth is inevitably spoilt, it’s the official minister who ends up taking the flak.
In the health ministry, he had to put up with John Dalli barging in and in social policy he would have ended up with the president doing likewise.
Good thing Farrugia got out before things got uglier.
– Government by politics via Facebook and Youtube
– Drama Teacher via self-exhibitionism on Facebook and Youtube
– 90’s singer via Facebook likes and Gensna Concerts
– Biology Teacher via self-exhibitionism on Facebook and modelling competitions
There’s too much ‘hemm hu ara kemm hu tajjeb is-sir’ going on.
Are they ruining Facebook or is Facebook ruining them?
Frustrated teachers who are frustrated for reasons which make some more frustrated than others.
I’d say there are two extremes:
Too much SEX going on or a lack of it.
Karmenu Vella EU commissioner – cant wait for the EU parliament grilling where he will expose his golden old days with all EU.
I’m ready to bet he won’t make it through the hearings. Another embarrassment waiting to happen.
Karmenu Vella will be the next EU Commissioner.
His daughter-in-law will probably be an MEP. All in the family in Brussels.
And these people were all against joining the EU though now they say that they were not against, just that it was too early. I am sure they have changed their mind.
I have just read the changes that Jo is expected to announce in parliament (unless he makes use of the typical Sunday small PL gatherings) on Tuesday.
The problem is Jo himself. A stubborn political leader will make his own structures collapse and disintegrate. Jo has already given us ample proof of his political weaknesses.
Two resignations have further illustrated his unsuitability to govern this country: he’s simply ruining not running our country.
The new moves are even worse than what he has done so far. Karmenu Vella’s move as the next EU Commissioner shows that he’s cornered and obviously wants to kick out of his cabinet an incompetent MP.
I’m sure that Edward Scicluna is irritated and let down. He will have to keep complaining about his missed EU salary.
Dissenters league. PL 2. vs. PN. 2. And its not half time yet.
May we live in interesting times.
Karmenu Vella …. nominated as next EU commissioner . Can’t wait for the grilling.
Konrad Mizzi is Minister for Health and Energy.
What does Health have to do with Energy? Chris Fearne will be the real Minister for Health.
Jo is not interested in the well-being of the nation but is overly concerned with the problems in his own party and with dishing out thank yous for services rendered.
Any others throwing in the towel? They are all welcome to.
Competence, merit, patriotism, where are you?
If Franco Mercieca is a brilliant doctor, going into politics was simply a very bad choice.
Franco Mercieca can now start charging €30 for every patient visit at clinics all over Malta and Gozo 5 days a week; not to mention the incredible fees for operations at private hospitals.
I hope that all this income, estimated to be over €400,000 a year, is reported at income tax time and that he does not keep the cash at home like some other notorious (and fat) politicians we could mention.
You got to give Godfrey Farrugia credit: that even if he was constantly being buffeted by strong waves, he did manage to hold on to the last minute until he could hold on no more.
He lasted longer than expected by his enemies, who pretended to be his friends.
Edward Scicluna will be replacing EU auditor Louis Galea.
At this rate we will soon have Silvio Parnis as minister of health.
John Dalli has to be co-opted instead of Coleiro Preca or Scicluna and made minister.
I hardly recall the first lineup of ministers and PSes.This is a big mess.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mctdHpFKS70/Tsl1YXXHw4I/AAAAAAAAALw/scf5xc5qft0/s1600/DefianceMouse2Fingers.gif
Gonzi did say that Jo will regret appointing John Dalli and it’s happening already.
How long will it take before Dalli takes a shot a Joseph Muscat himself? In the meantime we can expect more intercepts of Italian Mafia phone calls referring to Dalli as the prime minister of Malta.
I bet John Dalli and Saviour are pretty happy this evening. But watch out you two … your cover has been blown.
The thing I don’t understand about the EU is that since they have evidence of fraud and corruption happening on their territory – why did they not arrest Dalli? Why expect the banana republic he comes from to do the job?
There are Senators and presidential candidates in prison in the US. How many European politicians (in a far more corrupt environment) are behind bars? Then they wonder why people have had enough of this BS.
Can you clear something up for me? On television there was something on the forthcoming European Parliament election candidates and one of the people who showed up was Jean Pierre Sammut.
Is he that Jean Pierre Sammut of Frans Sammut the novelist? If yes, I can’t believe it, I honestly CAN’T.
[Daphne – If it was he, then yes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTQx92TyAYc ]
It is unbelievable – this morning he looked much larger than the clips on Youtube, not that the new size has something to do with what I asked.
Has not limits like Kon Rad Mizzi.
Dawn it-tip ta’ nies jikkonvincuk li l-ahjar ghazla -> il-PN.