This is so true
Simon Busuttil is fighting breach of privilege proceedings brought at the complaint of Joseph Muscat, after Busuttil said that the police did not charge John Dalli because of political interference to save him.
Busuttil is standing by that assertion and fighting back on it.
At the same time, he wants the police, the very same police he knows (for this is the essence of his case) to be subject to political interference to save somebody from prosecution, to investigate his man George Pullicino.
If the police take political orders not to prosecute a politician, then it follows that they will also take political orders to prosecute one.
Not only is George Pullicino now wholly exposed to politically-motivated police harassment and prosecution, but Busuttil has weakened his own defence in the breach of privilege case.
What is he going to argue now – that he is the sort of man who will hand his colleague over to police he knows to be vulnerable to political orders?
47 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Jien qarrej regulari tal blog tieghek sinjura galizia, pero tmaqdar wisq lil kap taghna simon busuttl. Jien attendejt il konvenzjoni idea malta, u fi diskors tieghu fil femha tieghi u ta hafna, simon kien eccellenti. Nammirah ta sincerita tieghu u ghal responsabilta li dahal ghalija, seta facilment baqa brussel pero ghazel li jigi u jmexxi il partit. Jien niftakrek tikkritika lil Eddie fenech adami ( bicca avukat min b,kara ) u success ta Eddie rajnih matul iz zmien. Nitolbok f’gieh is sewwa ikkritika fejn ghandek tikkritika pero tih cans jahdem lil dan ir ragel. Nipreferi kap tal PN sincier milli jkollok gvern giddieb u ma tafx fejn int mieghu.
Daphne, I’m not sure that i follow your (and David’s) line of reasoning. What is, just for the argument, George is actually guilty? Would you still not think that the PN put him out to face the flak, or are you expecting the Police to look elsewhere, just to balance the books?
[Daphne – Guilty of what? I’m trying to understand how this could possibly be a police matter. To get the police involved, criminal law has to be allegedly broken. We have had all this talk of police and no indication of what the suspected crime is. ‘Fraud’ one newspaper tells me, because there was a strange bank letter among the documents, without a signature. Because it has no signature, it is taken to be false. It would be false if it had a signature on it pertaining to be somebody else’s, as a bank letter without a signature is not a bank letter at all. But even so – is the suggestion here that Pullicino falsified the letter? No, because he didn’t produce it.
Your comment here, and the doubt sown in your mind, is EXACTLY what I mean about the damage done. We don’t even know what we are talking about here, but two known, confirmed liars have said that Pullicino is guilty of something and so we suspect that he might be. We don’t believe them on a massively important thing like the power station and we believe them on the subject of Pullicino, or think we might need to.
I don’t believe the story simply because it came from Muscat. If Muscat really thought there was wrong-doing HE WOULD HAVE GONE TO THE POLICE HIMSELF BECAUSE HE IS THE PRIME MINISTER.
With this kind of reasoning, why are we not saying that Muscat himself is in collusion because he failed to report the matter to the police? The reason he failed to report the matter to the police is because there is nothing to report.
I wish people would think more clearly about things. Muscat finds it all so easy precisely because people don’t.
Busuttil, in his position, should be fit and able to make a truth-and-character assessment of this person he has known for years and also assess the facts available to him. This is not a major complicated thing requiring forensics – it’s completely straightforward.]
Isn’t it the court that can judge whether a person is guilty or innocent? I can’t understand why the PN didn’t take the matter to the court.
[Daphne – Groan. In the criminal court, there is a prosecutor and this is the police. In the civil court, Pullicino’s only option was a libel suit, but not for what was said in parliament because that is privileged.]
Than George Pullicino should have challenged Konrad Mizzi to repeat the accusations outside parliament and left it at that.
[Daphne – I completely agree.]
I must admit I only followed the debate while popping in and out of the room, but at that point, hadn’t Con-Rat already passed the matter on to the police, or claimed as much?
The point about Busuttil possibly undermining matters with his declaration may be a valid one, but at the time I saw it as a ‘we have nothing to worry about here’ strike at outing the truth, with ‘Rat eventually to end up with egg all over his face.
Yes Neil you are correct.
Konrad stated that he had passed all the information on to the Police Commissioner.
George replied that Konrad could pass all the information to whoever he wanted because he (George) was cleaner than all the opposition put together.
How utterly sad. The one place where our decisions are made is the only place they are allowed to lie and not be punished for it.
“Busuttil, in his position, should be fit and able to make a truth-and-character assessment of this person he has known for years and also assess the facts available to him. This is not a major complicated thing requiring forensics – it’s completely straightforward.”
Indeed. I find it quite weak of Simon Busuttil not to stand up and whilst defending his own man not call a spade a spade: we have a desperate government not knowing how to proceed on the energy matter and hence they resort to – yes you’re right – character assassination.
More alarming, is that besides being weak and not suitable for the cut and thrust of politics, Simon Busuttil is also naïve .
We are also missing a very valid point here.
The company which won the tender was the ONLY one tendering for the project.
“Fejn spiccat itenderjat kumpannija wahda biss” Konrad Mizzi in Parliament.
Where does this take Konrad’s conspiracy theory now?
If it was the only company tendering for the project I doubt how legal it would be to annul the process at this stage.
I suspect that the MLP have one of their boys lined up already possibly with some Italian group which has been making headway in the sector in recent years.
if, not is
Imagine Eddie Fenech Adami or Guido de Marco saying “If the police find a case against Pietru Pawl Busuttil, we will expel him from the party.” Times (to some extent) have changed, true, but the equation remains the same.
For yet another time Simon Busuttil has shown that he doesn’t have what it takes to lead a political force, against a well-oiled machine like the one Joseph Muscat is running.
Although I cannot see the ideal leader in sight, the talent pool is resourceful.
I detest conspiracy theories. The reality to my mind is that, as implied recently by fomer Assisant Commissioner Michael Cassar, there was a lack of evidence to convict Mr Dalli.
[Daphne – That is NOT what he said, David. Michael Cassar thought that John Dalli should have been prosecuted, but that he should have been arraigned together with Silvio Zammit rather than separately.]
Why do you bother with this moron? he is clearly trying to irritate you.
He has an IQ that is more or less the same level as the Kitten’s IQ.
[Daphne – He is not a moron. Please don’t be rude. He is only able to understand things very literally. It is a syndrome. You have to take his comments as sportingly as he takes the replies he receives.]
He is definitely pulling your leg. Nobody can be that simple in trying to understand things so slow and literally.
[Daphne – I know who he is and I have met him. No, his idiosyncratic style is not faked. It is so authentic that he was easily identified by those who knew him (not that he minds).]
Thanks Daphne. Well I think its better to have a kitten’s IQ than no IQ. Regarding Mr Cassar’s comment I used the word implied previously. If there was strong evidence against Mr Dalli why should the case against him collapse if he is arraigned alone, as suggested by Mr Cassar?
[Daphne – I wouldn’t know. That’s a question for a criminal defence lawyer.]
I find David quite interesting on that score: always well informed, though with a positioning of elements that seems quite deliberately different.
With the patience and deliberation of someone who has seen much more than he lets on.
Probably so that second cannot build his defence on the results of the first case.
The only reason an arraignment could have held water as described by Michael Cassar, was passing the muster at the first evaluation of the case being the Prima Facie decision, does not mean there could have been a conviction, only that there seems to have been indicative evidence. This is where the all important circumstantial evidence comes in, but it is enough to break anyone, yet never enough to convict, as the level of evidence in Maltese criminal law practice is factual evidence of a level held to be beyond reasonable doubt.
[Daphne – Not really. If that were the case, that man would never have been found guilty of breaking into Anthony Zammit’s home, tying him up and robbing him.]
It was George Pullicino who went to the police to investigate and I am sure that the PN’s stand was definitely agreed between Pullicino and Simon Busuttil. Who knows something might be in the pipeline with Konrad the main actor.
Tend to agree with Giovanni.
Furthermore, Malta Today and others including Malta Labour Party politicians are describing the famous unsigned letter as a “bank guarantee’, which in fact is definitey NOT. Have they ever handled a “bank guarantee” ? I wonder.
As you rightly said Daphne, it is just a piece of paper. Had it been fraudulently signed, then there would be the attempted fraud.
There is no such thing as an attempted fraud. I honestly wish that people would refrain from commenting on what they know nothing about… or preferably at least have the decency of checking things out. It’s not as if it’s something too difficult nowadays.
Perhaps a “letter of comfort” which in banking circles are known to be of no comfort at all. when it comes to the crunch.
Dear Etienne,
There is no Offence of attempted fraud, but in real life this happens all the time.
Simon Busuttil is convinced that George Pullicino is not guilty. He has already labelled Konrad’s detractions as “mud-slinging”.
[Daphne – The correct and proper course of action, when you believe your man to be innocent, is to stand up and say so unequivocally, and not to insinuate it by accusing his accuser of ‘mud-slinging’. I would also like to see an end to the use of that term by people in politics whose understanding of idiomatic English is not as strong as it should be. What the Labour Party/government does is not mud-slinging. It is CHARACTER ASSASSINATION. ‘Mud-slinging’ is used in much tamer circumstances.]
Busuttil did the right thing. He challenged the prime minister that if Pullicino is not found guilty then it would be the prime minister who should ask for Konrad’s head on a platter or else the prime minister takes the responsibility and resigns instead.
[Daphne – Oh right. And the prime minister will obey. The prime minister will laugh in his face, ignore him, hug Konrad Mizzi on a podium, and Busuttil will look like an idiot left tilting at windmills.
What is this catastrophic inability to understand Muscat’s methods? Muscat actually builds and strengthens his image by DEFYING the constraints of correctness, and in the process making those who oppose him look silly and plaintive. Not only will hug and embrace Mizzi, but he will probably also do something like promote his wife.]
We are not on the eve of an election, people have the luxury of having enough time to see how Labour works.
On the eve of the 2008 election, the PN had no other alternative but to defend JPO, on other occasions Michael Frendo was not elected because of the bus ticketing scandal in which Alberta was also involved and in which Frendo was completely alien.
Hermann Schiavone had to step down because of an anonymous letter written by some fellow candidate from Ħal Għaxaq on the eve of the “EU election” which was followed by the referendum.
Simon Busuttil is basically saying “Let’s leave the investigation in the hands of the police, if Pullicino is found guilty we’ll dump him, but if not, Konrad or the prime minister have to resign. Having said that we have the eyes on the ball and still want to know what’s going on in the power station project, contracts and all.”
As an observer all I can say is that Muscat has not much space left where he can move. He’s cornered.
Time is on Simon’s side, he can wait.Joseph has to keep up dishing more lies to alienate the public from the power station issue, but at the end, his house of cards will surely fall.
Who cares about Muscat’s methods. It’s public opinion which counts. If Muscat brushes off Simon Busuttil’s challenge it will be back to haunt him in election time.
“Dr Muscat you hugged Cyrus Engerer and the your minister who was found guilty of defaming one of our boys”.
People tend to forget but they will be made to remember.
I tend to agree with Gahan, Mizzi was evidently mud slinging as he normally does to get himself out of hole of his making. He is like a baby….it wasn’t me, it wasn’t me…..
He stated that the information is at the police, George Pullicino has nothing to be scared of and neither does Simon. It also stops anyone (read that Muscat and his machine) from accusing Simon of hiding things, especially when we get closer to an election.
We know what mud slinging did at the last election, labour will try to repeat this, PN have to show that they have nothing to hide and have never had anything to hide.
Ironically they call them “Terrinati” because once, on the eve of an election, Ettore Bruno known as Terrinu, swore under oath in court that while serving at the Sei Sette Masonic Lodge of Marsamxett he saw Gerald Strickland wearing the masonic apron.
Alfred Sant did the same thing with Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s Mistra case.
There was a lot of truth in both these cases.
On one side we have our PM who opens his arms to the likes of Cyrus and the man with the caged birds and defies everyone’s line of thought about them. He embraces them as he believes in their character.
And than we have Dr Busuttil who doesn’t seem to understand that in this era of faded dinosaurs, we need to feel that come what may the Opposition is there to protect us and not throw anyone of the PN’s circle, whatsoever, to their mercy.
Simon Busuttil is a very correct person – maybe too correct for some militants in the PN, and he will not be snared to defend anybody, unless it is proven that that person is innocent.
[Daphne – No, I have to disagree with you there. There are some relationships in which you have to start from the standpoint that your associate is innocent, because the mere suspicion of anything else makes the relationship untenable. The suspicion makes it untenable. If I were falsely accused of something in a very public manner like this, I would expect my friends, my colleagues and my family to know without question that I am innocent and to stick by me from that standpoint. It stands to reason that if even one of them expresses doubts, or entertains the slightest suspicion that the accusations might be correct, I myself will end the relationship immediately because in that one hint of suspicion you see the relationship for what it is: he or she sees me as somebody who just might have done this.]
The JPO Mistra story is still fresh in everybody’s mind.
[Daphne – It isn’t. There’s a whole new generation of people who don’t even know about it. There are countless more who don’t give a damn, which is why they listened to that scoundrel when he was wheeled out on Super One TV and TVM. It was six and a half years ago. Nobody cares anymore except for those who formed an opinion of him back then and kept it.]
That doesn’t mean that the PN will not support George Pullicino to defend himself from, as you rightly term, character assassination.
[Daphne – It is not supporting him already. It is helping the Labour Party in hanging him. This may be difficult to understand from a conceptual/factual point of view, but it is as clear as day to people who do my sort of work.]
At the same time I agree that the PN must not allow this to divert their focus from the failed power plan of the PL, and should strive by all means to uncover the secret deals with China which Muscat agreed before the elections.
I have the impression Dr Muscat would never allow one of his wilted and faded dinosaurs, fags, wags, nerds or pimps to be hanged by the Opposition. Can imagine what the One media machine would do.
As a not Taghna LKoll subscriber, I expect the Opposition leader to strongly stand up for me, the PN media and all those I vote for should the need arise. I would do the same for him and his team with my vote and my opinion.
According to the letter shown in this article :
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/1000000227/mfsa_enquiry_uncovered_suspected_fraud#.VE57_yLF98F
the Bancaja banking business was transferred to Bankia prior to Feb 2012.
According to this link :
http://www.eyeonspain.com/forums/posts-long-15590.aspx
bank transactions in Bancaja were stopped in April 2012.
I wonder which is true.
It is true that the merger was announced in early 2011 :
http://www.libertaddigital.com/economia/rato-anuncia-el-nacimiento-de-bankia-fusion-entre-caja-madrid-y-bancaja-1276415937/
However, that does not mean that the actual merger did not take time.
My premise is that I do not doubt, for one single moment, that Pullicino is innocent of whatever mud Mizzi and his ilk are trying to taint him with.
However, this is absolutely irrelevant. The point is not whether Pullicino is dirty or otherwise. The point is that Busuttil cannot, for no reason whatsoever, undermine his own men. Fact is that Pullicino is his own man. He is his own MP.
Simon Busuttil is suffering from the same malaise afflicting the members of government: he needs to understand he is in Opposition now and hence, the strategic rules which govern when one is in government are different to those when one is in Opposition. Whilst government are totally behaving as though they were in Opposition, Simon Busuttil is behaving as though his party were still in power.
When one is in Opposition, one can only gain from accusations such as the ones made by Mizzi et al. Busuttil should say, boldly and clearly:- You see? Just because Mizzi has no idea how he going to have a power station in a few short months, he is fabricating all these lies to deflect attention.” THIS is the point.
Whether Pullicino is “guilty or not” is absolutely irrelevant. What is relevant, however, is that TODAY we still do not know what will happen in a year’s time on public land, with public money and for public use with respect to the generation of energy, so crucial for our economy and economic advancement.
Busuttil, inexperienced as he is, fell for it hook, line and sinker. I would not EVEN put into question Pullicino’s innocence. I would render it a given – the starting point is that they are so desperate because they know nothing about the energy deal and how it will happen, that they have to resort to mud-slinging to attract attention.
Quite frankly, and many will not agree with me, I’m sure, I do not give two hoots as to whether Pullicino is corrupt or otherwise, or whether he is a fraudster or otherwise, because he is not in government. If he were still a Minister, then the honourable thing would be for an investigation to be launched (if there were prima facie evidence of criminal acts – which, in this case, are totally absent, from what I’ve read in the media).
However, since the PN is in opposition it has to rally its forces, defend its men and show that the government’s main strategy is to try to divert attention from the REAL issue of the day.
Again, as I said yesterday on this blog: PN: Partit bla ideat.
Just imagine how Muscat and Mizzi managed to spin the public attention and point it directly at George Pullicino. This is incredible. What’s more incredible than this is that Dr. Busuttil seems to be obliging.
The PN should be pointing to this and calling on the police to investigate.
‘Unknown firms win €356,000 hub contract’
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141027/local/unknown-firms-win-356000-hub-contract.541471
Two years ago I said after the elections I would just sit back and enjoy the show.
Well I think it’s time to buy the popcorn.
And what about the police investigating how Gasol plc – a company on the verge of bankruptcy – won the bid as project leader of its consortium for the power station, with the Minister for Energy describing the consortium as “world class”?
And how about Shell – one of the original interested “Big Names” which withdrew from submitting a bid – now being mentioned as the company that will supply gas to Electrogas?
That is what should be referred to the police.
Can I beg the PN enough to continue and put pressure on the power station saga?
There are strong rumours in certain quarters that the commercial deal has stalled and that that is why Konrad Mizzi went to Beijing and not to Shangai. He was seeking a political solution to the failed commercial one. is this true> We need to know.
Please, dig deeper. There lies the PN’s pot of gold and Labour’s downfall. Do not forget that the election was fought mostly on the energy issue..
One day soon I think we need to meet and compare notes, ciccio
@curious They are not rumours. The deal has indeed stalled. It was supposed to have been signed off last spring. Now Mizzi says give him a few weeks and he’ll come up with a deadline.
Qed ninsew li George Pullicino stess talab li jsiru l-investigazzjonijiet mehtiega. Nahseb li kieku Simon Busuttil jaghmel dikjarazzjonijiet assoluti favur George Pullicino jkun qed jilghab l-istess loghba li laghab il-Partit Laburista permezz ta’ Toni Abela meta ddefenda l-kaz tat-trab l-abjad.
Dan ma jfissirx li l-Kap Nazzjonalista qed juri dubji fl-agir ta’ George Pullicino, anzi nara fiducja shiha.
Sfortunatament qed issir hafna enfasi fuq l-ewwel parti ta’ dak li talab il-Kap tal-Oppozizzjoni u ninjoraw it-tieni parti.
Lesti jilqghu l-isfida Joseph Muscat u Konrad Mizzi jekk l-akkuzi taghhom jibqghu biss tfigh ta’ tajn?
“Dan ma jfissirx li l-Kap Nazzjonalista qed juri dubji fl-agir ta’ George Pullicino, anzi nara fiducja shiha.”
Naqbel 100% ghax Simon Busuttil qisu qed jghid “Halluhom ha jinvestigaw kemm iridu ghax ahna m’ghandna xejn x’nahbu ! “
Was it just me who found comment from from Muscat just incredible?
“…I think they had better get him (Busuttil) consultants to teach him on how to choose the people around him and who to defend,”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141026/local/58c-not-enough-prime-minister.541344
Busuttil is lost in translation: he hasn’t realised he’s no longer an MEP and that’s he’s fighting a dictatorial party.
Was it not George Pullicino himself who asked to be investigated by the Police? Simon Busuttil’s stand follows logically from that statement by Pullicino.
[Daphne – That’s not the point.]
Everybody agrees that the vague accusation against George Pullicino is a diversionary tactic. The PN was expecting this and should have had a planned response in place.
As you say, Daphne, Joseph Muscat is so predictable that he’s transparent in this if in nothing else. It’s easy to see, for example, his strategy for next year’s local elections.
They will be held in spring, just weeks after the supposed inauguration of the new power station. This will be on everybody’s mind and the failed completion of the project could well influence how people vote.
Muscat has found a way to overcome this. The interconnector cable will be in place by February at the latest and in March they will finally shut down the Marsa power station. No doubt there will be much pomp and circumstance and much boasting of “keeping promises”. Muscat will say that he is closing down the “cancer factory” as promised and people will forget that when he spoke of a cancer factory he was not referring to the Marsa plant but to the BWSC one, using heavy fuel oil.
This, together with the reduction in tariffs for businesses will balance out the disappointment of the failed Electrogas power station and constitute the basis of the entire propaganda campaign for the elections. Who cares where they find the money? They will think of something.
There is also the possibility that, by then, things will have been smoothed out with Shangai Electric and the BWSC plant transferred to the Chinese government. This will be presented as another achievement and people will forget that the agreement with China has already been supposedly finalised and signed – again, with much pomp – in early 2014.
Incidentally, the interconnector should also have been ready by March of this year, so the shutting-down of the Marsa power station will have come a year late.
The PN is forewarned; it cannot allow these delays to be forgotten and presented as triumphs of the regime.
Could it be that Simon Busuttil actually thinks that George Pullicino is not as innocent as Pullicino is claiming (at the top of his voice) to be? My first reaction was that Busuttil washed his hands of this.
If he thought Pullicino was squeaky clean wouldn’t he have backed him to the hilt?
[Daphne – I hope Simon Busuttil’s advisers are reading this comment, because this is exactly what I mean.]
Why is everybody taking the standpoint whether George Pullicino is innocent or not ? I understand that that is beyond the point.
The only point which is to be made clear and hammered, is that both Muscat and Mizzi are both proven liars beyond any reasonable doubt.