Comments on: How ironic – it was Alfred Sant and Joseph Muscat, leaders of the anti-EU-membership campaign, who targetted the votes of non-Maltese EU citizens

By: J. Borg

J. Borg — Fri, 30 May 2014 02:11:31 +0000

You have to hand it to the current Labour party — they leave no stone unturned. The PN, on the other hand, are streets behind on the PR front.

Unfortunately there is very little substance when you squeeze Labour, but most people don’t have the wherewithal to see that. Hence this hugely discouraging result.

The is a saying in Chinese: “To beat the dragon, you have to become the dragon”. Until the PN adopts the same weapons, I’m afraid the results will be very slow to change…

By: El Cardinero

El Cardinero — Thu, 29 May 2014 00:02:20 +0000

The irony in all this, is that people like these two are now benefitting from what sane citizens chose ten years ago.

By: Challie

Challie — Wed, 28 May 2014 23:32:57 +0000

You fail (purposely or not) to see the general European trend. People don’t want to elect MEPs who are happy to keep things as they are. That’s the reason why the far right and other independence parties are rising.

By: Mark Thorogood

Mark Thorogood — Wed, 28 May 2014 23:26:18 +0000

As one of the non-Maltese EU citizens entitled to vote, I was disappointed that only 5 or 6 of the candidates (out of 30?) sent me a leaflet in English. It was only those I voted for, as I didn’t know what the others stood for.

By: Evarist Saliba

Evarist Saliba — Wed, 28 May 2014 17:36:27 +0000

I agree fully with your comments, especially the last sentence, but I cannot but ask why was the previous government so hard-headed to insist on a measure that was clearly discriminatory, and a free propaganda present to its successor?

By: orapronobis

orapronobis — Wed, 28 May 2014 15:47:15 +0000

It gives me the impression that the non-Maltese EU citizen is no better quality than the Maltese version. Cheaper bus fares and cheaper utility bills?

Is that all it takes to get their votes, rather than policy and ideology?

By: observer

observer — Wed, 28 May 2014 15:00:33 +0000

Obviously the individual names and addresses were obtained from the electoral register and not underhandedly.

The persons concerned, one should think, had Maltese ID cards – entitling them, among other things, to reduced bus-fares on Arriva. If that is so, Sant’s boasting about cheaper fares were obviously inane.

As regards utility tariffs, one has still to come to terms with the adjective ‘lower’ – even for local consumers.

What I am sure of, however, is that very few indeed of the non-Maltese voters can recollect Sant’s shenanigans of March 2003. Hence, his fooling them about Labour’s benefits and handouts could have been very easy going.

And, no wonder, given that tens of thousands of locals have so readily forgotten what happened eleven years ago – if, that is, they then had enough brain material to know Sant’s strategy from the real thing.

By: Gre

Gre — Wed, 28 May 2014 14:56:39 +0000

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05/26/far-right-europe-election_n_5391873.html

By: verita

verita — Wed, 28 May 2014 14:11:02 +0000

Are settlers impressed by cheaper bus fares?

By: Michelle Pirotta

Michelle Pirotta — Wed, 28 May 2014 13:42:32 +0000

Daphne, I would not call it ironic, even though it is.

It is simply “what they had to do”.

Rather, the pertinent question is, why didn’t the PN do that job?

I understand that Helga Ellul did actually try to do that – but still, she is not the PN.