You are right. Some people simply have no idea how to act like gentlemen. They first get themselves and others into embarrassing situations due to their insensitive and imprudent behaviour, and then when they are offered a decent way out, they come back with a retaliation.

More discrimination on the basis of colour, I would say.

Sackcloth and ashes.

If we followed this kind of political ethics, half of Muscat’s Cabinet of Ministers would have already resigned. Mallia would be covering himself in ashcloths instead of buying new shiny suits.

Mr. Barroso thought he was dealing with a gentleman. Given the circumstances, he tried to give Dalli John the best way out. Barroso even added ‘by his own writing’ the sentence which stated that Dalli denied the conclusions of the report.

With hindsight we can safely say that Barroso should have called Dalli to his office and fired him. Explanations and deliberations would have followed afterwards.

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-07-08/news/pm-on-his-way-to-china-with-selected-media-malta-independent-left-out-5763563520/

To some extent they are right to complain, but I will try to console them.

The Malta Independent must go down to this level of “gurnalismu laghqi” in order to be included with “the small press delegation accompanying the prime minister” – see here:

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/40968/muscat_heads_to_bejing_to_sign_maltachina_agreement

1. “Muscat heads to Beijing to sign Malta-China agreement.” Just look at that headline. Why, haven’t read about it in the Chinese media. They only reported that Muscat is invited to an Eco Forum in one of China’s slowest developing provinces – Guizhou. Was the headline provided from the Auberge de Castille, with the travel tickets?

2. “Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is leading a high-powered delegation to Beijing,..”

“The Maltese delegation includes deputy prime minister Louis Grech and the PM’s chief of staff Keith Schembri. ”

Is that BS’s (Saviour Balzan’s) understanding of a high-powered Maltese delegation? I thought there would be the best minds in the private sector, some bankers, financial services experts – “il-mutur tal-ekonomija.” Where are our entrepreneurs?

3. “The purpose of the visit is to sign a five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Chinese government. It will be the longest ever agreement signed with a European Union member state, according to government sources.”

Did BS think why other countries do not sign such long-term agreements? Maybe because they are not banana republics which allow other countries to plan, control and interfere with their economies for 5 years?

Let’s wait and see if there are any loans in the MOU. No country in the democratic west would accept a bailout loan from China, be it for 1 year or 5 years.

4. “The small press delegation accompanying the Prime Minister was not yet given an insight into the finer details of the memorandum of understanding.”

Ah, so much for the independent media travelling with the prime minister to see him sign an MOU, then.

So The Malta Independent has not missed anything, then. It knows about the MOU as much as the media delegation travelling with the prime minister. And it is more likely to know more from Chinese media, than from the prime minister and his delegation.

The signing event in China is looking like a rehash of the “big news” press conference of 30 April, except that this time it will take place in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, in what, according to BS, will be “a highly formal event, with little or no improvisation from either the Maltese delegation and the Chinese representatives.” Which I take it to mean that the media will not be allowed to ask questions but only to look on, take pictures to send back to Malta, and to appreciate the beauty of the Great Hall.

Oh, the Great Hall of the People. It sounds so impressive and powersful. But what BS did not tell us is that the Great Hall of the People is located at one end of Tienanmen Square. Pity the signing was not scheduled for 4 June, because BS and the other media would have been invited to the commemorative events of the 1989 revolution which ended in blood.

Maybe the media can ask for a 1 minute silence after the signing. That’s the power of the media.

5. After the signing, the delegation heads to the Eco Forum at Guiyang. “Muscat is one of the few head of state at this ‘international’ forum.” This is made to sound like something big and exclusive, rather than an indication that no other head of state accepted the invitation. There is of course no mention of who the other “few” heads of state are, to put things into context: the President of Ethiopia and the Deputy Prime Minister of Vanuatu – both friends of China. And they will be in the company of Putin’s chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, who has been included in the list of Russian officials subject to US sanctions following the recent aggression and interference by Russia in the Ukraine/Crimea.

6. Oh, and the delegation includes also “head of government communications Kurt Farrugia.” Now that surely makes it high-powered, then.

You sad man.