Hamalli United update (2)
I can’t believe that our prime minister has gone and put ‘K.U.O.M., Ph.D (Bristol), M.P.’ after his name on the plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary of independence.
I don’t know whether to howl with laughter or weep.
That must have made a funny story for Prince William to take home with the Swarovski-crystal encrusted minaudiere emblazoned with the emblem of the Order of St John.
“Ara ftit, Mer, Joseph he has the ittri wara ismu and the Prince William he doesn’t ghax ma marx l-universita.”
What a farce.
And as an important aside, this business of putting ‘M.P.’ after a prime minister’s name really has to stop, in whatever context. You can’t be prime minister – quite obviously – if you do not have a seat in parliament. So ‘Prime minister’ suffices.
All the letters after the name should go, too. This is the General Idi Amin Complex. If you are the prime minister of an EU member state, you don’t need to tell the world that you have a doctorate or put ‘Bristol’ (or whatever other university) in brackets. It’s embarrassing.
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“You can’t be prime minister – quite obviously – if you do not have a seat in parliament.”
Are you sure?
[Daphne – Yes. It follows from the constitutional fact that the government can be formed only of members of parliament. The leader of the Opposition, too, should not have ‘M.P.’ after his name, because you cannot be Opposition leader without a seat in the house – hence the palaver when Muscat was elected party leader despite not being an MP.]
My comment was meant as a reminder that in Malta, these democratic and political practices do not always hold. After all KMB was prime minister and he was not an elected MP.
[Daphne – Of course Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici was an MP. He had been coopted into parliament. That prime ministers have to be members of parliament is not a ‘democratic and political practice’ but written into the Constitution.]
Daphne, you are absolutely right.
I should have been more clear: What came to mind when I read your comment was that Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici was Prime Minister without standing for general election.
Ask Joseph Cuschieri, Kevin, and he’ll explain.
Dak li qatt ma ra xejn jara kollox kbir.
Everybody knows who the prince is, and always will . People today know who Joseph Muscat is now, but I am sure many people in the future would want to forget.
Kalancc MA (Cantab) likes this.
What no age, height, weight and inside leg details?
What, no mention of Mrs Muscat on that plaque, when it was unveiled in her presence too? What was she wearing this time – vintage isfar?
It’s all there, beneath the inscription.
9 years, 20 stone, 2014 inches.
Maybe he is not so proud of his vital stats.
Spare us the inside leg details please .
For those who don’t know the name of the Duke of Cambridge is Prince William.
Should Muscat’s name even be on that plaque in any event? It was Prince William who unveiled it, not Emperor Joseph.
Qed niskanta kif ma nizzilx l-address ukoll.
Daphne, it’s high time that using the titles Prof, Dr, Perit etc. should be dropped from any correspondence relating to PM, leader of the Opposition and MPs.
[Daphne – Well yes, except that those are not titles.]
We really need to get to the bottom of that PhD.
Instead of Bristol in brackets the engraver majteżwel have written Mario Vella together with an OBE (Other Bastards’ Efforts) after it.
Apparently there is another, besides Mario Vella, in the Labour Party who has.
‘In the presence of’; xi dwejjaq ta’ nies, biex jissemmew. Did Ġowżef catch something from Franco Debono long ago in class at Sejnt Alowixis?
Min qatt ma ra laham s*** ommu hasbu xaham.
@alexander Ball.A very good one.You made me laugh.At least today is Sunday.Daphne you are the one who inspires us,more like the Holy Spirit.Thanks .
He should at least have checked what degrees his pal William holds.
My daughter has a BSC,MSC,AND MBA and now pursuing a PHD?And all from different universities ,local and abroad.So if she becomes a prime minister she has to drop all titles?Pity.It is better if she remains as she is.
I’d be worried if you have to ask us if your daughter is pursuing a PhD…..
Your daughter is one of millions. Next.
Is the name of HRH The Duke of Cambridge left out in line with protocol?
Our prime minister used to say, “What you see is what you get”.
And that’s what we got. A Super One journalist made prime minister.
TROY. A.B.Z. ph.D (burarrad UNI) M.P.3.
A+ cum laude.
Taf x’ kien jonqsu jnizzel, is-size tal-underwear.
Even in an academic setting these sort of titles are uncalled for. I had a particular lecturer who used to head all lecture notes with the following:
Chev. Dr xxxxxx xxxxxxxx B.Sc.(Melit.),M.Phil.(Melit.),Ph.D.(Edin.),MSB(Lond.),C.Biol.,EurProBiol.,M.I.B.M.S.,F.R.S.P.H.(Lond.),K.L.J.,C.M.L.J.
I assume the lecturer wished to portray a sense of grandeaur and so buy our respect. Needless to say this resulted in the complete opposite.
Renald Blundell.
https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/renaldblundell
Name and shame, please.
Dr. Emmy Bezzina would disagree with your first sentence but wholeheartedly agree with you in your penultimate sentence.
Ah yes. That’s another amusing string of letters
‘Prime Minister of Malta’ should suffice.
I do not see any other names.
‘Min qatt ma libes qalziet l-ewwel darba li libsu h*** fih.’
Welcome back, Daphne.
Min qatt ma libes qalziet, jordna wiehed vintage orange u bil-kristalli Swarovski jimlih.
Ahjar le, Baxxter ghax il-kristalli jistghu jisolhulu l-linfa!
Insejt is-salib tal-kavallieri Baxx.
http://www.spreadshirt.com/red-maltese-style-cross-underwear-C3376A4518680
Ghax ahna wertit.
Sorry to deviate.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-10-05/local-news/Six-months-to-deadline-for-new-Delimara-power-station-ElectroGas-partners-still-to-invest-6736123153
The article linked here states that:
“The actual contract with project developers ElectroGas Malta Ltd was only signed in May of this year, with the government refusing to publish the contract details.”
First of all, the only contract of relevance involving ElectroGas Malta Ltd and the public of Malta is the contract for power purchase (Power Purchase Agreement) and gas supply (Gas Supply Agreement). That was the contract specified in the Expression of Interest and Request for Proposals issued by Enemalta in 2013 soon after Labour came to power. That contract underlies Labour’s promise to lower the electricity tariffs by an average of 25% and it is worth billions of Euros of business, because it refers to the purchase by Enemalta of electricity from a 200MW plant (new gas plant) and to the purchase of gas for a 150MW plant (BWSC is about that size) for 18 years. In fact, that contract has nothing to do with the infrastructure cost of the new plant of about Eur 400 million, because that will be dealt with by ElectroGas Malta Ltd with its suppliers.
Secondly, the parties to that PPA and GSA contract have to include, at least, Enemalta and ElectroGas Malta Ltd.
It is not right for journalists to refer to “the contract” without specifying which contract they intend. It has happened before with the journalists of The Times.
If they intend the PPA and GSA they should be clear about that. The parties could have signed any other contract back in May, and that is what they actually did: they signed the Share Purchase Agreement – we know it from Gasol (they had published a statement to the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market), and now we have it confirmed by Siemens, because the article quotes Siemens as saying:
“An acquisition of the shares in the company by the members of the Consortium in line with the tender requirements took place in May 2014.”
Siemens – a German company with global presence, and hence a company which means what it says and says what it means – has also told The Malta Independent that:
“In order to further support the project and subject to final financing conditions, the Financial Services unit of Siemens (SFS) intends to invest in this project along with other third party equity providers.”
This means that the financing of the project is not finalised, and ElectroGas Malta Ltd does not have the finance in place for its intended business, which involves an 18 year commitment with Enemalta.
Let me explain to journalists that the directors of ElectroGas Malta Ltd cannot make any commitments to Enemalta or to the Maltese government for a contract worth billions unless they have the backing of the finance providers for the entire contract, and this will have to be in writing. To do otherwise is to carry out a serious illegality, and a crazy act, because the directors would be exposing their company to commitments with Enemalta or the Maltese government without themselves having the commitment by providers of finance to the company. Imagine if the directors of ElectroGas Malta Ltd commit their company with Enemalta or the Maltese governemnt first, and then the providers of finance back out before they put the ink on the paper: the directors would have bankrupted their company and would let Enemalta and the Maltese government down.
So please stop telling us that “the contract” has been signed in May.
Clear questions about the PPA and GSA should be asked of the directors of Enemalta, because they have no option but to reply clearly.
Meanwhile, as I had commented before, Enemalta continues to state on its website that:
“Enemalta is working on the finalisation of a power purchase agreement (PPA) and a Gas-supply Agreement (GSA) with ElectroGas Malta Consortium, for the building, owning, operating and maintaining of a new LNG delivery, storage, re-gasification and natural gas supply facility, as well as and a new natural gas-fired 215 MW combined cycle gas turbine electricity generation plant together with all necessary infrastructure connections to Enemalta’s electricity distribution network, at Delimara.
The contractor will enter an 18-year agreement to supply Enemalta with electricity and liquefied natural gas. This is consistent with the Government’s strategy of meeting the Islands’ energy demands at the lowest long-term cost, taking full account of safety as well as environmental and other related responsibilities. This new investment will enhance Malta’s efficiency in generation to approximately 53% and reduce emissions by 50% and particulate matter by 90%.”
The status of the project, and the contract, cannot be clearer than that:
“Enemalta is working on the finalisation…”
“The contractor will enter an 18-year agreement…”
Otherwise, well done to the journalists of The Malta Independent for continuing to report regularly on this subject of public interest.
Link to Enemalta about gas project.
http://www.enemalta.com.mt/index.aspx?cat=3&art=218
http://www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/view/20141005/local/update-4-flights-diverted-as-sudden-storm-lashes-malta-some-damage-reported.538552
“At the Freeport there was some tension as a ship broke some of its moorings. ”
The super LNG tanker crossed my mind after reading that sentence.
In today’s Sunday Circle magazine, there is a sort of competition on page 49. Guess what the prize is. It is a Sunita Mukhi Malta Cross Clutch similar to the one given as a present to the Duchess of Cambridge by Michelle Muscat. And I thought that Michelle Muscat gave the Duchess something unique.
This gets tackier by the minute.
Next question: If the prize purse was made by the same Sunita, and since Mrs. Prime Minister’s gift to the Duchess of Cambridge was not a ‘one off’ gift, will there be a discount for multiple orders?
Has anyone asked someone at Sunday Circle what their prize is worth?
£495.00
http://shop.sunitamukhi.com/flag-collection-36-c.asp
It really annoys me that this little island is riddled with con artists and scam mongers who hi k above their station. People should keep within their own area of knowledge…..that way they are safe.
Min qatt ma libes qalziet, l-ewwel darba li libsu …… fih
This is not funny at all.
It is a serious matter.
The Prime Minister should not be made an object of ridicule (even though he happens to be Joseph Muscat) for generations to come because the morons around him are unfit for purpose.
The Duke of Cambridge is just that. His Scottish MA in Geography (upper second class) from the University of St Andrews does not come into this at all. His dozen or so other titles as listed in Debrett’s are irrelevant here.
The Prime Minister is the Prime Minister.
Posthumously, it would be acceptable to add K.U.O.M. but not just yet.
The PhD and the MP are a hamallata.
Hanzir taqtalu …….
My daughter works as a consultant, but not in Malta. When my husband once suggested that she should put down the letters after her name, she laughed her head off. Her answer to him was, ‘Dad, ONLY IN MALTA.COM.’
Halluhom imsieken.Kemm ma tahmluhomx.Hawn min jghix bil hobs u min bit titli.Uliedi Lanqas kienu halluni nghid li ghaddew u x’gabu fl-ezamijiet.Imma mhux kulhadd l-istess.Joseph tifel uniku .U int ma tax xifisser tkun uniku fix- sens li ma hawnx bhalu
Bad taste that reflects badly on the Prime Minister himself who should not have allowed such immature self exposure.
The guy clearly feels inferior and that he needs to prove quite a lot to the world.
K.U.O.M., Ph.D (Bristol), M.P, (Jixro)B.A