Oh the irony. And Il-Guy gets through unquestioned.
Published:
October 3, 2014 at 11:02am
Maybe it’s because fisheries and the environment are not considered anywhere near as crucial as the financial services for which Britain’s Commissioner will be responsible.
Or maybe it’s because the full extent of Il-Guy’s copious and multi-faceted shortcomings are unknown outside Malta, and unsuspected too – because outside Malta, nobody would believe it possible that somebody like that would be nominated in the first place, or that the Maltese government has a tendency to regard this important official post as a convenient dustbin for inconvenient politicians, no matter the risks they pose to the European Commission.
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141001/world/european-parliament-holds-up-confirmation-of-britains-commissioner.538058
The EPP and Socialists had struck a deal to protect their own candidates. This meant that Commissioners-designate from other parties – including Lord Hill – would be more vulnerable. Moreover he was lucky to be among the first, because in the meantime the deal is under some strain, with the Socialists putting pressure on the Spanish EPP candidate.
Welcome back, Daphne. I did miss your posts over the past month.
The PN made a serious mistake in backing Karmenu Vella. I’d have raised hell about his “copious and multi-faceted shortcomings.”
There again, due to the low level of critical engagement among the Maltese, the Nationalists would have been branded traitors and verbally abused for “washing our dirty linen” in the presence of “the wicked imperialist foreigner.”
The Nationalists failed its core voters again in the hope of gaining a couple of points among the skittish bunch.
I agree fully that the Nationalists are failing their core voters. The Nationalists except for a few like Tonio Fenech and Jason Azzopardi, are failing do their duty in opposition every single day. Sometimes I suspect that ten years of PL power is a foregone conclusion in the PN’s mind. When in fact judging by the mess the country is facing in all sectors, if the opposition did its duty, Muscat should already be in opposition.
For example, at the moment there is a huge traffic problem in the north. It takes at least an hour to reach the central part of the island from the north. Huge traffic jams never experienced before in Burmarrad, St Pauls Bay, Coast Road on to Birguma and Tal Balal. This week a part of the Ghajn Tuffieha roads was flooded and inaccessible forcing drivers to drive through Manikata. The road from Piscopo Gardens to Alla w Ommu, being used regularly by drivers as the alternate route to the Coast Road is in a mess. Transport Malta did not even have the foresight to surface this road before starting works on the Coast Road. At the beginning of this week this same roads was also flooded with drainage.
The St Pauls Bay main road right up to Xemxija and Mellieha hill are in a disastrous state.
All this huge traffic is undoubtedly being caused by the mess in public transport. By the time that PL came to power, Arriva had settled down, particularly in the north and commuters were on the increase. And then Joe Mizzi messed it all up and forced Arriva to leave. The result is that Maltese commuters are not trusting the shoddy public transport service again and have reverted to using their own car. Cars carrying only the driver are again a regular occurrence in the morning rush hour traffic.
And all this mess in an area, which was once considered to be a PN stronghold, and not a single word from the PN. They have a golden opportunity of highlighting the frustration drivers in the north face every morning and start to regain slowly the trust of votes in the north. They are also losing a golden opportunity to highlight the shortcomings of such an incompetent minister, Joe Mizzi and of the Prime Minister who races through these same roads every morning with his big entourage of motorcycles, landrovers and alfas.
Just after the MEP elections, Muscat declared that PL intended to gain more votes from the north. If the people up north are happy with all this mess, I must say that hope is lost on our island.
I agree fully that the Nationalists are failing their core voters. The Nationalists, except for a few like Tonio Fenech and Jason Azzopardi, are failing do their duty in Opposition every single day.
Sometimes I suspect that ten years of PL power is a foregone conclusion in the PN’s mind. When in fact judging by the mess the country is facing in all sectors, if the Opposition did its duty, support for Muscat should be worn down already, just as it was with Sant in 1996.
For example, at the moment there is a huge traffic problem between central Malta and the north of the island. It takes at least an hour to reach the central part of the island from the north.
Huge traffic jams never experienced before are the order of the day in Burmarrad, St Paul’s Bay, Coast Road on to Birguma and Tal-Balal. Yesterday a part of Ghajn Tuffieha road was flooded and inaccessible, forcing drivers to turn back and drive through Manikata.
The road from Piscopo Gardens to It-Telgha ta’ Alla w Ommu, being used regularly by drivers as the alternate route to the Coast Road, is in a mess. Transport Malta did not even have the foresight to surface it before starting works on the Coast Road. At the beginning of this week it was also flooded with drainage.
The St Paul’s Bay main road right up to Xemxija and Mellieha hill are in a disastrous state.
All this huge traffic is undoubtedly being caused by the mess in public transport. By the time that PL came to power, Arriva had settled down, particularly in the north and commuters were on the increase.
And then Joe Mizzi messed it all up and forced Arriva to leave. The result is that Maltese commuters do not trust the shoddy public transport service again and have reverted to using their own car. Cars carrying only the driver are again a regular occurrence in the morning rush hour traffic.
And all this mess in an area which was once considered to be a PN stronghold, and not a single word from the PN. They have a golden opportunity to highlight the frustration drivers face every morning and start to regain slowly the trust of voters in this part of the island. They are also losing a golden opportunity to highlight the shortcomings of such an incompetent minister, Joe Mizzi, and of the Prime Minister who races through these same roads every morning with his big entourage of motorcycles, Landrovers and Alfas, cutting through the stalled traffic.
Just after the EP elections, Muscat declared that PL intended to gain more votes from the north of Malta. If the people up north are happy with all this mess, I must say that hope is lost on our island.
WB
Il-Guy got through unquestioned because Simon Busuttil didn’t have the guts to tell the Centre Right in the European Parliament to vote against him.
As far as I have been following this issue, not even the European Socialists are happy with his nomination. Serves Busuttil right the next time, Joseph Muscat humiliates him as he has done during this year and a half.
I’m dumbstruck. I expected so much more of both Juncker and the MEPs. My conclusion is that they thought he was the best that this small island could provide
Naive conclusion, if I may. Have you forgotten the useless hullabaloo by the Euro Parliamentarians about the IIP scheme? What has come out of all that noise? Nada.
The conclusion should be that all, or at least most, of the Euro Parliamentarians do not want to rock the boat. They are happy with things as they are. They just create some noise occasionally to justify their perks.
I do not think that Joe Borg, the first Maltese EU Commissioner was sent to the “dustbin” of Brussels as a matter of convenience, though the manner in which he was replaced amounted to his being treated very badly to accommodate a replacement fit for a…….. (Let’s say “to get him out of the local scene”).
Neither did Tonio Borg fit the category of a discarded object, though it is true that he was gently side-lined from the deputy leadership of his party.
Having said that, I tend to agree that, with a few significant exceptions, Maltese candidates for elected offices in Brussels are chosen for reasons that are far from clear.
[Daphne – I was not referring to Joe Borg or to Tonio Borg, but to John Dalli and to Karmenu Vella, both of whom were put forward for the post of EU Commissioner because their prime ministers wanted them out of the cabinet and if possible, also out of the country.]
Daphne, when I read your splendid article about il Guy (who ironiclly was considered by the gullible as a nice guy) my mind kept wandering back to the nasty era of Mintoff and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici,but one thing stuck out, il-Guy was actually part of a government that labelled Western Europe as the Europe of Cain. What would he answer to that if he was asked now?
It seems that it has not yet sunk in Simon Busuttil & Co.’s brains that being ‘nice’ to this bunch of crooks will not get them anything nice in return.
What did Busuttil and the Nationalist Party gain by agreeing to back Karmenu Vella’s nomination? Nothing – zilch and maybe less than zilch.
These bandits should be treated exactly as they deserve. No more, no less.
The ‘grilling team’ must have run out of charcoal because other than a few raised eyebrows and a few blank expressions from those asking him questions, one could not detect the slightest attempt to nail him down even when he evaded questions and couldn’t give straight answers, and when he pinned some issues on other Commissioners.
His monotone and choreographed gestures must have lulled them into a slumber.
If Busuttil endorses Karmenu Vella’s appointment, he would make his initial misjudgment worse.
Nice people usually finish last. In politics, it has always been the survival of the toughest and ‘tough’ Busuttil has to be, or he will relegate the NP to the Opposition benches for decades to come or until he changes tack.
“I think” – three or four times in every answer.
“we have to wait” ……. and see?
“Had I to study that dossier at University, I would have obtained my Ph.D within a week”
“That falls within the remit of another Commissioner”
Pretty little beyond that – but approvato con dieci e lode just the same.
Daphne, please never again leave the picture of Guy staring at us on your front page for a whole month. It was torture.