Joseph Muscat – king of ethics
What follows is an email exchange between Stephanie Chircop, the mother of Silvio Scerri’s children, who had just recently left him because of vicious abuse, and Joseph Muscat, then leader of the Opposition.
It is the summer of 2011 and Ms Chircop has just been told her popular show is no longer required on the Labour Party’s television station.
She emails the party leader to say that this is her only source of income, she has two children to support, and her summary dismissal means she now has to pay everyone for work already undertaken for the forthcoming schedule – aside from the fact that she had already sold most of the airtime.
She says that she heard the decision to kick her out came directly from him.
Muscat replies with a terse message.
But meanwhile, Silvio Scerri has replied to her already, before the party leader did – I haven’t seen that email, but it’s self-explanatory in Ms Chircop’s second one.
She tells Muscat that she emailed him privately and in confidence, and what does she get but an immediate reply from the estranged father of her children, telling her where to go and that Muscat told her (via him) to stop sending him emails because she’s getting on his nerves. “This isn’t right,” she says. Of course it isn’t. It wouldn’t be right in any context, but in this particular context, when Muscat knew the situation between them, it is despicable.
Once Ms Chircop had been deprived of her income, Scerri began the battle for custody of their children, on grounds that she had no income and couldn’t support them. When she found alternative employment, he took the opposite tack: that she was at work all day and couldn’t look after them.
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What is this obsession Joseph Muscat has with saying that he never has a problem jerfa decizjoni, when he clearly has.
He protests too much. Which I do actually know to be a fact, given a comment passed once by a friend who was for a time in his inner circle. He is quoted to have said that he was scared shitless as the buck stopped with him.
The obsession is because he knows he has this defect, and so keeps trying to convince people otherwise.
U l-kobba tkompli tithabbel….. issa ma jistax jghidilna li lil Silvio ma jafux u m’ghandux x’jaqsam mieghu.
Eh, Daphne kemm int mara kapaci. Minn jaf kemm jarawk xewka f’ghajnejhom.
Sewwa qed tghid, Ms. Micallef.
Kieku jistghu x’jamlulha lil Daphne, jibaghtuha x’mkien fejn ma jarawhiex izjed, mqar l Awstralja, halli tkun il boghod kemm jista Jkun, ghax il vera xewka, u qed tonqorhom
There are a few men who have an abnormal hold on Joseph Muscat.
Perhaps one day we’ll discover what it is but whatever it is it’s not a natural friendship.
The more time passes the more it is looking like a local brotherhood.
Yes, I believe that Jason Micallef is one of them. Probabbli jaflu xi qrun.
Ghalhekk minghalihom ibezzghu, jheddu u jghajjru lil dawk bhal Daphne juru/jghidu l-verita. Ghax huma qed jghixu bil-gideb u min jghix fil-gideb fl-ahhar jiehu tisbita nobis.
What a dick.
Also, what was the link between Silvio Scerri and Muscat back in 2011? Clearly, they were already very much buddy buddy with one another.
money,money, money
I think his streak of meanness has him thinking the strategy, facilitating it and orchestrating it, but not hanging around to get pinned with any blame or responsibility.
Cowardice.
Someone will pin him down for this one day.
Track records produce behavioural patterns.
Do you know w̶h̶o̶ ̶I̶ ̶a̶m̶?̶ who’s next to be betrayed?
“Look into my smirk: I’m a ruthless twat with power.”
It’s unbelievable what a total mean and spiteful person he is.
She writes to him such a heartfelt email in July, and he replies with just two sentences tell her that it will be discussed in January!
He was and is clearly in cahoots with Silvio Scerri.
The man is a schemer and it is quite scary that he is our PM. The sooner people open their eyes and understand what we are dealing with here, the better for all us.
Scum – unworthy of the power that a naive trusting electorate put in their hands in a moment of temporary insanity.
Well she was certainly wrong about him being a man of principle.
As for him saying he has no problem to take responsibility for this, how does that solve the problem he caused her. Taking responsibility means paying off the debts incurred and the lost profits she would have earned had the program gone through.
It is really worrying and disappointing that our country found itself being run by such a bunch of hypocrites, ruthless and unprincipled politicians.
When all this information is glaring violently in our faces, I cannot but confirm how vicious and evil one can be. And we are obliged to call this our government.
Anton Attard did tell us of Silvio Scerri’s expertise in television programmes.
Perhaps he consults with him on the non-renewal of contracts.
King of tossers.
I meant ‘Kings’.
I don’t hold the view that mothers are always the better parent, but imagine children being raised by Silvio Scerri. Piddly, pathetic 1/8 of a man.
No wonder JPO, Franco Debono , Salvu get on so well with Muscat. They all have nasty character.
What a ruthless and heartless bastard this Muscat is.
Muscat should know that politics is not only about power, it is also about serving and empathising with people.
Prosit Daphne! You are the only source of news reliable in this country but take care because these rogues will stop at nothing to silence you. Keep up your good work. You are the only person with guts in this island to speak the truth.
People keep asking who’s got a hold on Muscat. Let’s look at the facts.
He is an only child of older parents, brought up by an overbearing grandmother. The woman he married (there is no indication of any other girl before her) has a history of dating gay men. She is liked by a certain type of effeminate working-class gay man.
Muscat hates the guts of men who make him feel emasculated. He made Mallia the most powerful man in the country, and Mallia, too, has something effeminate about him, in that jackboots kind of way.
Mallia is privy to some of the dirtiest secrets in the country. The post which could have served to keep Mallia in check – that of justice minister – was assigned to an ineffectual 34-year-old novice with many skeletons in his own closet.
Muscat demonstrates a certain type of envy and has a very obvious cruel streak which he uses to hurt those whom he might perceive as his betters.
No wonder that Debono, JPO, Mugliett and Dalli and so many others of their ilk, are comfortable with the Great Leader.
When it comes to unethical behaviour and direction, these cronies are experts.
Interesting. And a salutary lesson for everyone who believed that Malta Taghna Lkoll tripe.
Why does he come across as a camp chauvinist?
Daphne jien certa li int ser tinvestiga x’hemm wara certa hbieberija bejn Muscat, Mallia, Silvio Scerri, Kurt Farrugia u ohrajn.
Hemm xi haga zgur ghax jidher car daqs il kristall b’certu skiet bejniethom u xi min daqqiet certu tahwid bejniethom.
Hemm xi haga tinten zgur.
X’differenza minn meta kien ghadu kemm lahaq kap tal-opposizzjoni u dawwar lilu nnifsu bin-nisa’.
Marlene, Deborah, Marisa, Michelle, Jackie, Miriam, Astrid, il-magistrat, Carmen, kollha protaginisti kienu.
Illum skont hu, n-nisa’ ma jistghux jirrifjutaw imorru jahslu l-art ta xi fabbrika bin-night shift. U tort taghhom jekk thabblu.
Apparti li l-istess nisa suppost jibqghu d-dar jistennew il-van tal-iskola jghaddi aktar tard halli ntaffu t-traffiku.
L-iktar prim ministru femminist fl-istorja kostituzzjnoali ta’ Malta l-ewwel u qabel kollox. No, really.
Perhaps he meant effeminate?
That Silvio Scerri is a mean bastard. During his son’s Holy Communion ceremony last summer he, his girlfriend and his daughter sat in the parents’ section while Ms. Chircop sat at the back.
I hope Simone, his current partner, knows what she’s doing. Once an abuser, always an abuser.
Gvern li jisma………li jrid.
Off topic, but can somebody please tell that insufferable Andrew Azzopardi that just because he presents a current affairs programme, he is not “the anchor”?
An anchor is the main reporter in a news programme who is in the studio while other reporters are out in the field.
He/she is the anchor that binds the various stories together. Andrew Azzopardi is simply a presenter or interviewer at best, and a rather mediocre one at that.
Is this the same Andrew Azzopardi that the Church has just entrusted with scandal investigation efficiency?
I was beginning to have some hope for a new direction in internal matters that would lead to a stronger Church.
This man seems to be worming his way forward and would do better to invest in self-development rather than pontification.
His views are half-developed and third rate.
I really can’t understand why The Malta Independent retains such columnists.
Mediocre really is the word.
Of course he is not the same person.
No, it’s somebody else worth the same name.
He is not the same Andrew Azzopardi.
The church appointed expert is a real expert and not a self appointed know-it-all
http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/safeguarding/dealing-with-concerns
Thank God for that.
Thank you for the clarifications.
Important People love him, Tabatha. He’s a fixture at every convention, conference, and “ideas” session.
To me it’s as though a half-baked cake or pie is being paraded as the most delicious thing to hit the market.
And one is expected to say oh I love gooey pastry and gosh isn’t it interesting that the cake is still drippy.
But of course no one says anything, and we still get served gooey and drippy, and no one on the serving end bothers whether it’s eaten or not. It all goes into the bin.
Note I said nothing about the same at University, where Mark Montebello also lectured.
There’s that word again , ethics.
Is the Muscat photograph reproduced above an authentic unretouched photograph or has someone edited it by adding epicanthic folds to the eyes?
[Daphne – The photograph is untouched.]
I feared as much.
I hope the PN media take up this issue. Stephanie Chircop should be invited on Newsfeed and other programmes.
No that is not right, she should be supported and not exploited. I hope she has a good lawyer, and she uses this experience to realise how bad labour are.
Ethics are to Muscat as unnecessary as the truth.
His three retired judges accepted to form an ad hoc panel charged with investigating and making recommendations as to who should shoulder responsibility in lieu of Mallia.
The fact that these three gentlemen were once judges, and one a former Labour MP, is purely incidental.
I say nothing of their reputation or integrity but it is an undeniable fact that by accepting the delegated role of a prime minister, they are now everyday political commissars tied to a political agenda.
Their failure to grasp this is surprising and their future decision is therefore, in my opinion, already prejudiced.
What a great leap down a crevasse from judge to “bajjad”,
Ghax tista ma taqbilx maghna… imma tadem maghna. Lanqas jekk taqbel maghhhom ma tista tahdem ahseb u ara.
Its not about agreeing or not agreeing with them, its all about bending over for them.
Hadd wara hadd tasal ta’ kulhadd kien jghid l-iggant tal-basezzi Lino Cassar, u ghal dan il-hatba ta’ Silvio tasal ukoll. Jum il-haqq jasal ghalieh ukoll. U iktar ma jahseb li jkun kbir ikbar it-tisbita li jiehu mal-art.
Joseph described as a ‘persuna ta principju’. What a joke.
Minghand persuna ta’ principju bhalek…. lol
Zgur mhux ghal Joseph Muscat qed tirreferi. Tant hu persuna ta’ principju li qabad u bghatt l-email lil exs taghha…
Impressjonajti Jo!
This was a serious breach of trust. You write to someone in confidence asking for help and he just relays the information to the very person with whom you have an acrimonious dispute.
Anyone who does anything like that should never be trusted.
Dak nghidulu wicc b’iehor.
Nahseb id-domanda ghandha tkun jekk irridux ghaxar snin sejrin hekk.
Jekk jew hekk, bih u minghajru xorta.
Pogga lilu nnifsu fic-centru ta’ kollox bhal perit, pero’ flok jaqdef aktar minn kulhadd jitfa’ la genba.
Mbaghad ghidli ghalfejn Bormla jibza’ jersaq.
The way Joseph Muscat treated Ms. Chircop is disgraceful. This was (and probably still is) a person in serious difficulty – a single mother in need of income to support herself and her two children.
Not only did Joseph Muscat and the Labour Party not help her, but he made her life infinitely more difficult by removing her source of income.
He also divulged to third parties – worse, the very man who was intent on harming her – the contents of a confidential letter.
Is this the way Muscat treats people in difficulty? Has he no empathy? If he failed to empathise with Ms. Chircop in 2011, he will empathise far less with people in difficulty now that he is PM.
He was only concerned with what she thinks of him.
There is no DOI statement yet on this issue.
Did he have Ms. Chircop in mind when in the budget speech he said that single parents are not professional people? I wonder who ordered him to say that. Glad that Dr. Simon Busuttil picked up on it and showed him for what he is.
What made the other contestants for the leadership of the PL fail to beat this kind of person?
Is it possible that with all the legal minds in the country, there is not one constitutional or legal safeguard from mob rule?
Not one way in which this daily damage can be limited, curtailed and stopped?
Haven’t ever seen ONE I didn’t even know she was on tv.
Now that we have proof of ‘Gvern li jisma’ will she vote Labour again?
I have never seen this lady or her program on ONE but she seems to be a good, reliable and strong woman who is not afraid to stand up for her rights even with the leader of the PL, who not surprisingly did not listen to her complaints and did nothing to ease her hardship.
Thanks again, Daphne, for exposing Scerri for what he is.
Kieku kien zewgi ili li kxiftulu sormu u kienet tehles lill Malta min kesahlu. Some women needs to grow a backbone.
A woman with children is much more vulnerable than you think.
Pure cruelty. A pity such facts weren’t publicized before the March 2013 elections.
This does not have to do with the post here but it is related to Franco Debono. Way back in 2004, law students had to do prattika with an experienced lawyer inorder to be able to sit for the warrant exam. My friend, unfortunately, did this prattika at Franco’s office. After a whole year of prattika, which mainly consisted of work he did not want to do but which my friend carried out in his stead, Franco did not want to certify that she indeed practised the profession at his office. She was miserable and had to sit for warrant exam the following year.
Two points stick out in the last email.
“kelli ftehim verbali”
“ikolli nghid l-istorja kollha”
Why is everything connected with Labour always in the grey area. Why did she not have a written contract for her work? And what is she hiding exactly?
Daphne, my admiration. You give ear and space to the hearts that throb at Muscat`s door and he blatantly and arrogantly opts to ignore as if they do not exist.
I do understand that Ms Chircop is going through some rough times in her life and that pain is not amiss from her heart.
In the most humane manner our solidarity goes to her and those who like her have to bear such misfortunes.
Our strong condemnation goes to all those male chauvinist narcissitic pigs who in the most yellow of cowardly colours express their inhibited violence on innocent people. From this evil, Lord, deliver us and our beloved nation.
I heard that neither Joseph Muscat nor the Labour party can do anything to remove Silvio Scerri as they have loads of dues with Nexos.
We should not forget that Nexos were and still are providing tents, apparatus, speakers, lighting fittings etc; etc for the PL activities.