How Joseph Muscat takes tough decisions
Sent in by Il-Malti:
So Joseph told us that he is not afraid to take hard decisions, and that he does so without fear or favour. Let’s take a look at that.
1. He procrastinates about getting rid of Mallia for three whole weeks during which the country can talk about little else.
2. When it becomes impossible for him to postpone the matter further, he tells Mallia that he would like him to resign, but leaves it up to him.
3. When Mallia stays put, Joseph orders the Department of Information to issue a press call at 10am, summoning reporters to the swearing-in of Mallta’s replacement. He hopes that this will bring in Mallia’s resignation letter. It doesn’t.
4. With the new minister about to be sworn in at 2pm and still no sign of a resignation letter, Joseph asks his sidekick Keith Kasco to tell Mallia that he is being replaced.
5. Joseph then tries to soft-soap Mallia by telling the press that Mallia has many wonderful qualities and that he will be finding another position for him.
6. The Acting Police Commissioner is asked to stop Acting and go back to his former position as Assistant Commissioner, instead of being dismissed from the force or suspended while facing a police inquiry board.
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‘We have scotch’d the snake, not kill’d it;
She’ll close and be herself.’ –
Macbeth
And it took the police a week to arraign the shooter, after having tampered with the crime scene.
Boy Scouts would have done better.
I believe there is a big chasm right now between Mallia and Muscat, and any diplomatic efforts will be useless. It seems that Mallia was sulking throughout Tuesday, but maybe he was only polishing his guns, so to speak.
Mallia’s gigantic ego has just been dealt a blow which he never suffered in his long legal career.
It is clear that already on Monday, Muscat had offered Mallia another job in return for the resignation. It is possible that this kind of negotiation had been attempted by Muscat already on or since 19/20 November.
But it is equally clear that Mallia has repeatedly and steadfastly refused any deal. The setting up of a board of inquiry and the letter to the leader of the Opposition, which bears the marks of Malliaspeak, was an attempt to resolve the matter legally. Mallia must have asked for that, leading the prime minister into a territory where he plays at home.
Mallia had no intention of resigning, and the dismissal by the prime minister must be seen as a betrayal which can only be equalled with political revenge.
After public opinion consistently showed that the trust in Muscat was heading into a territory beyond the point of no return, Muscat’s closest aides must have advised that he should cut Mallia loose and reduce his political losses.
Right till the end, Mallia must have continued to defend and insist on his innocence, and I am sure he will soon see him “jivventila” his innocence in public.
He is not politically innocent, but he is not the only one who messed up that Department of Information press release in which the government covered up the facts which were unfolding on the night of 19 November.
Perhaps Net should give him the opportunity to speak up. An exclusive interview on Iswed fuq l-Abjad should help to bring out the truth about Mallia’s exchanges with the Prime Minister and Kurt Farrguia before they said good night on 19 November.
I am sure that on Tuesday, Mallia was already working on his defence.
I had linked this one before. Shows Muscat and Mallia, with their Glocks Mark 1. It will happen, soon.
http://markwilliamsinternationaldotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/pistols-at-dawn.jpg
correction: “…I am sure we will soon see him “jivventila” his innocence in public…
No, he won’t air his thoughts publicly.
Mallia is cunning and will deal several underhanded blows.
His ego is everything and he has been the fall guy, which I never expected would actually happen.
I expected others at Office of the Prime Minister to fall before him, but if they haven’t it means that they have a stronger footing in the Prime Minister’s eyes. Expect the blows to come slowly but hard in the coming months.
If this doesn’t happen, then Mallia is going to go for the Big Bang approach before the elections in 2018.
Muscat is still taking lessons in obfuscation, evasion of responsibility and blame-shifting, aka lateral thinking, from Shiv Nair’s friend Edward de Bono.
All along he has not shown any understanding of what has happened, any sense of responsibility for the problems he has created, or any indication that he knows what his obligations are.
On the 19th November, without knowing all the facts of the case, he approved a draft press release (u iwa, orrajt, ehe Kurt issa ara mal-kummissarju, orrajt?) and then went to bed.
After three weeks of rubbishing or ignoring criticism and questions, he says it is all someone else’s fault (i.e. the former government) because they failed to invest in talent in the police force for many years.
Who appointed Manuel Mallia as police minister?
Who appointed Zammit as Acting Commissioner?
Who appointed Paul Sheehan and Pawlu l-machine gun as drivers to the police minister and allowed them to carry a gun?
Under whose watch did that happen?
Muscat doesn’t wear a watch, remember?
He always does – but forgot to wear it on the night of November 19th.
He hinted at that himself, didn’t he – and more than once during the famous press conference where he insisted on having all the journalist’s other questions whilst preparing his answer to the core one.
He does. He was wearing it at his latest press conference.
“Fejn jaqbillu imma” to use the Maltese expression. Ask J Dalli BA?
I can vouch that that describes Edward de Bono and the co-residents of Shiv Nair’s London registered addess (Patricia and Richard Hills, aka Paddy and Dick Hills, at 135 Holland Park Avenue, London) to a T.
Unfortunately, Edward de Bono’s son Caspar, was/ is in on all of this, and he sits on one of the Financial Times Boards.
One must constantly assess and reassess the implications.
We came to know that Joseph Muscat prefers to go to sleep and leave the decisions in the hands of others.
I just hope that lessons will be learnt by those people who voted Labour in the last general election. That party never changes. It was the same in the past. They think they own the island and can do as they please.
I take my hat off to Simon Busuttil and his PN team, for their vital contribution to keep our country from going into complete dictatorship.
We are on our way back to the past.
Ex policeman turned lawyer and Labour activist, Andy Ellul (brother to Sharon Ellul Bonici) was on TVAM this morning, venting his anger on those who leaked the 112 recordings to the media.
All this anger is not directed towards the conspirators and their lies but against those unknown who exposed the second cover-up of their first cover-up.
It only goes to prove how the old rot is still in charge despite the new livery.
According to the Scriptures, God gave Moses 10 Commandments. The Labour Party of Malta has added an eleventh which overrides the first ten. It says, “”THOU SHALT NOT BE CAUGHT” if you break one or all of the first ten.
Not surprised at all, as this whole matter has screwed the plans he was working on with Minister Mallia. It is now going to be near impossible for him to justify them with the new Minister.
Well, one would think that Joseph Muscat is Keith Schembri’s sidekick at this point.
Mallia is extremely dangerous. He is a worse threat than Franco Debono, Jeffrey Pullicino or Jesmond Mugliett ever were to Lawrence Gonzi and the PN.
Muscat has created an enemy who appears to be involved closely with the criminal underworld.
If we can draw lessons from organised crime elsewhere, you simply do not mess around with these people.
We’re in for far bigger scandals than the rogue behaviour of Paul Sheehan. He’s just a tiny sucker on the tip of an octopus’ tentacle.