Like lambs to the slaughter: Malta’s delegation to Azerbaijan

Published: December 15, 2014 at 8:32pm

You have to look at these pictures. Our four-man delegation composed of a Super One hack (Kurt Farrugia), an IT employee at Enemalta (Konrad Mizzi), a Super One man and one-term MEP (Joseph Muscat) and a paper/printing supplies merchant (Keith Schembri) lined up against a massed rank of sharks from one of the world’s most corrupt dictatorships, looking completely out of their depth and like they’re about to be eaten alive.

That’s not a negotiating team. That’s a paper-bag of hamster babies that’s just been thrown into the boa constrictor’s tank.

And Kurt Farrugia isn’t supposed to be there. The prime minister’s spokesman does not join the prime minister at the negotiating table. He should be sitting away from the table at the back of the room, or waiting in another room altogether for the information that will go into the press release.

Our puppet prime minister is wearing his customary blank stare, the one he puts on for the cameras when he doesn’t know what’s going on and can’t be fagged to find out, though it doesn’t matter because he’s in the presence of money and he can feel the force.

Keith Schembri never seems to know what’s going on and is there to make up numbers. It doesn’t help that he habitually wears the facial expression of a primate that’s just fallen out of a tree and received a hard blow to the head.

We can’t see what Konrad Mizzi’s face is looking like, because he’s sunk so far back in his seat that he’s concealed by his boss.

Kurt Farrugia’s the only one on whom it seems to have dawned that they’re right out of their depth.

Miskina Malta. This is nuts.

delegation 1

delegation 2




169 Comments Comment

  1. Mila says:

    Priceless.

    • Spock says:

      I’ve been a teacher for a very long time, and I can read facial expressions and body language more accurately than I can a book .

      Believe me when I tell you that these guys are up to no good. The nervous energy caused by intense guilt emanating from them is palpable, as if they are on the verge of committing a serious misdemeanor.

      Muscat has the veiled, expressionless look we have grown to know so well, and which we have now come to associate with his scheming on some low or heinous ‘kunnink plen”.

      You have to hand it to him – the guy has honed the art of cock-ups, f*ck-ups, cover-ups and frame-ups to perfection.

  2. Socrates says:

    Kif Alla jridhom: cassi, bla pjan, sfukati u lesti ghal tkaxkira.

  3. Banana republic ... again says:

    Muscat needs to take some time off to grow his hair back again.

  4. Karlu Manju says:

    Judging by the bottles of water on the table, the Azerbaijani delegation seems to have been expecting a few more Maltese faces.

    • ciccio says:

      We may be underestimating the situation.

      If you focus on the left hand side of the first picture, there is another row of microphones and another one-sided table at the back.

      Are we sure there isn’t another row of another 10 or more Azerbaijanis on that side?

  5. tinnat says:

    Make no mistake. The man behind Joseph Muscat is Keith Schembri.

  6. The Interrogation of the Muscateers says:

    The accused listen attentively as the charges are read out.

    • ciccio says:

      The charges? I think this was the time their sentence was being read out.

      • Tabatha White says:

        Gonzi and Eddie stood tall, and deservedly proud, with the best of them.

        Muscat sits – when he’s not 100% asleep -, shunned by Merkel, and condemned by the worst of them.

        Qabza l-quddiem?

        What a TOTAL joke.

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        Simon Busuttil carries himself extremely well, down to the correct level of warmth in his handshakes (Gonzi always overdid it).

        Unusually for a Maltese politician, he also keeps the perfect personal distance.

        He’ll make a terrific prime minister on that score alone. 2018, bring it on. Give us Busuttil and out with this shambles.

      • Xjim Purtani says:

        Kuwl bil-pride……..

      • Tabatha White says:

        @Xjim Purtani

        Mela bil-haxi taghkom.

  7. Two says:

    KonRat wore his gold Rolex for the occasion. Or was it a present?

  8. davidg says:

    So, no technical advisers or consultants joined the delegation? That’s why they seem at a loss.

    • Neo says:

      What advisors? Are there any, to start with?

      And who they can trust to be on a ‘secret’ mission?

    • Anacletus says:

      That’s the point.

      Where are the technical advisers?

      This is not a mission about technical agreements. The agreements being done here are of a completely different nature.

    • High Tea says:

      Muscat’s adviser is on his left. His name is Keith Schembri.

      The other one was in Lourdes, playing with holy water and praying with his drug-trafficking brother.

  9. Colette says:

    Kurt is actually biting his hand and probably saying, ‘ohh f*ck!’

  10. Il-Bambin Jitlob Ghalina says:

    Malta’s delegation: a coconut, a prick from the sticks, a neurotic and an ebete.

    Tista tahseb kemm tajru sparks u hareg gherf. Nahseb dawk ix-sharks kieluhom hajjin.

    Shouldn’t Azerbaijan have come here if we have the upper hand, as Muscat likes to make out?

    Another dictatorship that’s got us in its pocket. What are the odds China and Azerbaijan have worked things out between them and are tightening the noose round Muscat’s balls?

    http://m.azertag.az/en/xeber/Azerbaijan_Malta_sign_documents-818305

  11. ciccio says:

    Who is representing the executive arm of government here?

    I do not understand why they should be negotiating about oil or gas at all, and especially with the corrupt state of Azerbaijan, given that this should now be the responsibility of Electrogas.

    But if we set aside that concern for a moment, why is there no one from Enemalta? Or no top civil servant from the Energy Ministry?

    This is a crisis management visit. They do not wish to trust anyone with the desperate situation they find themselves in.

    Kurt Farrugia seems to be having a panic attack. The Energy Minister is hiding behind the Prime Minister.

    They seem to have messed things royally this time.

    • Tabatha White says:

      As Arnold Layne says, not even George Vella is there.

      What did they need to hide from him?

      Or is he warring against them and is that a reason for their sense of loss?

      Shiv Nair couldn’t make it?

      All this just a pre-Christmas face-saving stunt? So that the adoring masses return to the fold over the Christmas Turkey?

      Losers.

    • Confused says:

      I think that there is no one technical for the simple reason that they are so overcome with paranoia that they feel that they can trust no one.

      The release of the police control room recordings to the PN media only reinforced this paranoia.

      Now they’ll go it alone and when there is the next leak, they’ll start to doubt each other.

      Then the backstabbing will multiply, driving more deals underground.

      • Il-Bambin Jitlob Ghalina says:

        And before long, Muscat will be taking a Thermos to work and refusing to eat in restaurants unless it’s a buffet – just like Mintoff and his paranoia about being poisoned.

      • Francis Saliba M.D. says:

        Nitolbu lill-Bambin ghalina ghax ghandna bzonn kbir!

  12. Arnold Layne says:

    Kurt: “Haqq ghoxxha Joseph, ghidtlek li jmissna gibna ‘l Gorg Vella ghax dak jaf imur maghhom.”

    Konrad: “Oh no, ma rridx nidher ma’ dawn.”

    Joseph: “Ara biss xi hadd jitniffes, ghax jien naf niehu decizjonijiet iebsin.”

    Keith: “Tghid jindunaw jekk nizzerzaq mal-art u nahrab ‘l barra?”

  13. The Phoenix says:

    They all look like a calculator with Aspergers – smelling the money somewhere, counting it up, but not knowing exactly how to tap it.

  14. Anacletus says:

    What are their ages? Between 36 and 42?

    These idiots are 10 years too young.

    You are either Alexander the Great, or else you wait.

    These are presumptuous idiots.

    [Daphne – Kurt Farrugia is around 32, Konrad Mizzi 37, and the PM and Keith Schembri are 40/41.]

  15. Salvu says:

    Their expression says it all. We’re ****ed.

  16. Mike says:

    The expression on Kurt’s face: “Oh God, we’re f@cked.”

    They look like four elementary kids in front of ten school superiors because they were up to some mischief.

    I wonder sometimes if Labour is on a suicide mission for party, government and country.

    • H.Galea (NRK) says:

      Four Maltese geniuses glaring idiotically at hundreds of years of experience and wisdom. What a spectacle to remember.

      • vanni says:

        This scene is reminiscent of when a sudden flash of light exposes four rats huddling together for protection from a pack of ravenous wolves.

  17. C Falzon says:

    If I didn’t know any of the people in the photo or the context and seeing only the photo it would look to me like the four on the right are the subject of some inquiry and they are terrified that they’ll be found guilty.

  18. pablo says:

    Somehow their faces tell the story.

    They went begging for help with their energy road map with about 50 Maltese passports in their bags.

    They’ll come back with an open-ended piece of paper calling it an investment agreement.

  19. Gahan says:

    And that’s what they call a friendly discussion.

    The worst thing for anyone visiting a country is not to know the language.

  20. albona says:

    One irrelevant point. Muscat is officially bald. Time to shave off what is left of that bum fluff.

    • Gahan says:

      That’s the “medical condition” when he sprained his ankle at the Ball of the August Moon some four or five years ago. Those implants on infertile soil, cost him a fortune.

  21. anthony says:

    I would prefer the title :

    Thrown to the lions.

    So out of their depth.

    It is a pitiful scene.

  22. george says:

    What’s that in front of them? Is it mayonnaise?

  23. Alexander Ball says:

    Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

  24. Not Sandy:P says:

    The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists fights corruption worldwide. When the Offshore Leaks investigation exposed the corruption at the heart of Aliyev’s government, including his family’s offshore accounts, Aliyev said “my daughters are grown up and have a right to do business”.

    Aliyev expressed regret that he can’t suppress ICIJ journalists as he does in Azerbaijan. A prominent Azeri investgatve journalist was arrested on dubious charges and is still being held. The ICIJ is campaigning for her release.

    The ICIJ is non-profit, non-partisan and privately funded. See here for details: http://bit.ly/1EpiMnM

  25. majmuma says:

    In one of the photos shown on TVM, Mr Coconut is actually fiddling with his mobile. What else could he do?

    [Daphne – Probably catching up with what the Azerbaijan news was reporting, via this site, following which he rushed out a DOI press release.]

    • CiVi says:

      Checking the Azerbaijan news reports to see what’s being said in the meeting. He’s sitting there but not understanding one tittle.

  26. Gahan says:

    After checking my emails and browsing the papers, I came back to have another close look at these pictures.

    First of all they’re material for a billboard. Secondly the dramatic scene in the close-up photo of our four-man delegation on a secret mission is Caravaggio-esque , with Kurt biting his hand in despair, Konrad hiding behind the staring Muscat and Keith Kasco looking right out of novel ideas.

    A picture is worth a thousand words, in this case we can make it ten thousand words.

    Shuddering.

  27. Asclepius says:

    “IT employee at Enemalta (Konrad Mizzi)” – one day someone should investigate why he was kindly asked to leave.

  28. Toni Borg says:

    Looks like the Maltese delegation lost four members on the way to Baku.

    Seems like another of Muscat’s concoctions, shrouded in mystery having the whiff of a fu&k up as he only knows how to do.

    Probably they tried to sell the Azerbaijan delegation some Maltese passports at a discount too, to pay for their fares over.

  29. Makjavel says:

    They were told they have just had their bank accounts emptied.

    Their facial expression reflects a death sentence or something that serious.

    • ciccio says:

      It was the moment when the Azerbaijanis told the Maltese delegation that the best they can do for them was to sign an MOU, but not a concrete agreement for the supply of gas at the requested price.

  30. C C says:

    Boots (dora’s monkey) has a more alert look than Keith in fact.

  31. L.Gatt says:

    Kurt Farrugia is desperate because he must come up with something in writing. He probaby used his mobile to google “Azerbaijan oil”. What a sorry lot.

    They remind me of those nerdish students who always sat in the front row at school and nevertheless always stared blankly at the teacher and the blackboard and came up with the most idiotic question at end of the class.

  32. bob-a-job says:

    Kurt is eating cookies, Konrad lost the flow and the other two lost the plot altogether.

  33. Mk says:

    Four nerds trying to play sharks just because they finally wear a Rolex and can fly first class fully paid by others – there they are, begging the Azerbaijanis or Chinese to please, please give them some money and call it business.

    What are they trying to prove? That we don’t need the EU because we have them? That they are better then their predecessors in their negotiating skills?

    Are they f*cked up crazy? How presumptuous. And how scary for us.

    Daphne, thank you for exposing all this. The question is, though, what are we to do?

    • C Falzon says:

      “That we don’t need the EU because we have them? ”

      Actually they desperately need the EU because it is the only thing they have to sell to such despots, be it passports, back doors into the EU’s markets or whatever.

      Haven’t you ever wondered why Labour suddenly became so pro-EU a some three years ago or so.

  34. bob-a-job says:

    ‘Meta l-makku jitħakkek mal-balieni’. Kitba ta’ Alfred Sant

  35. Salvu says:

    Those four are looking at THE WALL they crashed into.

    They refused to accept that they were driving at full speed into that wall.

    That photo must be splashed on all newspaper headlines tomorrow.

  36. Pictures from Azerbaijan says:

    Joseph Muscat stands in awe before the Azerbaijani flag:

    http://azertag.az/files/galleryphoto/2014/3/750×500/1418664281290649986_750x500.jpg

    Kurt prepares to get his musket out as the Muscateers are challenged to a duel by President Aliyev:
    http://cdn.trend.az/pictures/2014/12/15/president_qebul_151214.jpg

    The Prime Minister inspects the Azeri infantry before embarking on their campaign against the Cossacks of the Don:

    http://azertag.az/files/galleryphoto/2014/3/750×500/14185968994309834186_750x500.jpg

  37. Tabatha White says:

    The face of the begging bowl.

  38. Gez says:

    When one looks at the people from Malta sitting at that table in Baku the absence of any experienced adviser is conspicuous, yet Joseph Muscat was reported to have claimed that the Azerbaijani trip was intended to ‘secure’ a supply of gas.

    None of those people representing Malta at that table are qualified to survey a deal with its full activity in all its ramifications.

  39. canon says:

    Kif qala Alfred Sant. Qishom makku f’qalb il-klieb il-bahar.

  40. Edward says:

    I dedicate this song to our crack team in Azerbaijan, and perhaps all switchers:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xgPB9QtknU

    (Warning: Song contains F word)

  41. Issa Daqshekk says:

    Mulej , hu pacenzja u erga’ ahfrilhom ghax verament ma jafux x’ inhuma jaghmlu.

  42. Joe Fenech says:

    I don’t know what protocol these meetings are following. Is it normal for the PM to have his head of secretariat and his communications officer present with him?

  43. Tabar says:

    ‘Haqq’, said the keychain while biting his hand, ‘Don’t they know that there are no more rooms available in Villa Messina? The last one that was vacant we had to give it to the puppet’s in-laws.’

  44. pocoyo says:

    Erbat icwiec.

  45. Mila says:

    But if anyone asks Joseph Muscat what time it is, he will not be caught out this time. He has a wrist watch.

  46. Mila says:

    Seeing what they are doing to the country and our peace of mind, lambs is not the term which comes to mind, but we get your drift.

    May I suggest, cornered rats?

  47. Tal-Malja says:

    Hangover IV

  48. Joe Fenech says:

    Shouldn’t the PM be accompanied by advisors and ministers especially those in charge of the economy, international affairs and technology?

    • Tom Double Thumb says:

      What do they need advisors for?

      They are not there to discuss anything but to have the terms dictated to them, take it or leave it.

      Or they are like four boys with ten cents between them trying to buy an expensive tablet to replace the one they lost after it was given to them (as promised) when promoted to Year 4.

  49. Mila says:

    What happened, hasn’t Muscat hit his sales targets? Is he and his tijm being told off? Azeri news was boasting about Muscat’s sales pitch back in March but has he not performed?

    ‘EU`s choosing Azerbaijan as main energy source positive factor for Malta too’
    Mon 24 March 2014 13:05 GMT

    ‘Speaking to journalists in Brussels, Muscat hailed the energy projects carried out by Azerbaijan`s state oil firm, SOCAR, in Malta.

    Maltese Enemalta Corporation chose Electro Gas consortium, part of whose shares belong to SOCAR, for construction of a new power plant, AzerTAc reports.’

    http://www.news.az/articles/economy/87269

    The photo with this news item shows a non-follicly challenged Muscat.

  50. P Shaw says:

    These people survived the worst of communism, the USSR, and the war with Armenia.

    They are expert crooks, and if they managed to survive the Soviets, KGB, etc, they can eat anyone alive without the victim being even aware that he/she is being eaten.

  51. Il-Kajboj says:

    Qishom il-kumitat tal-kazin tal-banda (sezzjoni armar) qed jiddiskutu x’se tkun is-sorpriza tal-marc ta’ filghodu.

  52. A. Cremona says:

    I can count at least ten Azerbaijanis, some old and experienced, versus our four callow young men.

    They’ll be eaten alive.

  53. Jozef says:

    That picture is iconic. The shape of things to come.

    I don’t like this.

  54. Dumbo says:

    From the look of their nostrils they are trying hard to smell the coffee.

    Just because they took the Maltese nation for a ride, they believe that they can export their shallowness, but unfortunately they don’t know who they are dealing with. The only person missing to complete the delegation is Sandro Chetcuti.

  55. A. Charles says:

    I would not be surprised that after reading our national treasure’s blog and comments, that one of the conditions for the supply of Malta’s energy requirements by the Azeris will be the harassment and closure of Daphne’s blog.

  56. Jojo says:

    Unbelievable!

  57. Fred the Red says:

    No idea of protocol whatsoever. Malta’s ambassador should be at the table and the prime minister’s spokesman should not. And of course, these goons need no technical expertise. They know it all.

  58. Freedom5 says:

    Definitely a crisis meeting, and not proceeding well.

    He should have pulled out his form V report.

  59. Back to the 70's says:

    I think those extra seats were for others in the delegation. For some reason they wanted to stay in the background.

  60. Freedom5 says:

    Since the Maltese media have not been invited on this trip, will any Maltese journalist call Jurgen Fenech or Mark Gasan and ask them some pertinent questions.

    I don’t expect Ariadne Massa to do this, because she only processes government press releases (official and unofficial) for the Government Gazette.

    • censu says:

      Someone at a wedding recently dared ask Joe Gasan what’s cooking with Electrogas. He was neither amused nor nice about it. In fact he lost his cool and sent his friend packing.

  61. Banana republic ... again says:

    They’re like four boys in sixth form presenting their Young Enterprise proposal to potential investors

  62. il busu says:

    The look on Kurt Farrugia’s face and his knuckles clenched between his teeth say it all.

    They couldn’t deal with a simple road accident and bungling a cover up.

    Imagine them dealing with these corrupt sharks.

    MULEJ IDHOL GHALINA INT.

  63. aidan says:

    Jista jkun li vera kien hemm aktar nies fid-delegazzjoni u ma qablux f’ xi haga u qatluhom? Xi haga gara daqs kif iccassaw.

  64. RF says:

    Very pretentious of them not to be accompanied by the real experts and professionals in the field. Even Mintoff who believed he was a good negotiator always took the Attorney General with him at least.

  65. Candy says:

    Borat’s siblings star in Cultural Learnings of Azerbaijan for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Malta.

  66. Anacletus says:

    In the meantime, an entire navy of tankers is parking off Malta’s territorial waters. Loaded to the brim with crude, that is.

    Are we sure nothing can be done about it?

    Is there no rule of international law which gives us the right to protect ourselves from possible eco-disasters?

    Where is the Prime Minister to reassure us about this new disaster waiting to happen? This particular one won’t be like Malliagate, dear Prime Minister. You won’t need a super-cover-up but a mega-mop-up. Are you/we ready for this?

  67. Bottom says:

    Or perhaps they had just been informed that a man had ‘escaped’ from police custody. St Julian’s, again.

  68. Joe says:

    Does anyone think they got out of there with their underpants still on?

  69. Wilson says:

    While half of the world’s secret services are working on Azebajan, Malta works with.

  70. Baffled says:

    I presume we did not take independent translators either.

  71. just me says:

    L-aqwa fl-Ewropa gabna. Ezatt. X’biza. F’xiex gabuna.

    Igri jerga jkun hemm in-Nazzjonalisti fil-gvern. Maghhom vera kelna serhan tal-mohh u l-politika konna ninsewha sakemm ma kienx ghal xi mignun bhal Franco Debono jew Pullicino Orland.

  72. Pu says:

    The lonesome hairs on Muscat’s head (whats left of them) seem like they are soaked in sweat in that picture. Worried much?

  73. High Tea says:

    Excuse me, but how did that sorry lot learn anything about international negotiations on behalf of a country, rather than themselves?

    By selling gunpowder to fireworks factories from Burmarrad?

    By importing sugar to sell in Ryan Schembri’s supermarkets and storing it at Super One’s premises?

    By cross-dealing with shady types in Libya?

  74. Xjim Purtani says:

    While I agree that more details on the deal need to be forthcoming, Joseph Muscat is not the only EU prime minister to meet Aliyev in the last couple of years, when his notoriety as a semi-dictator was already known.

    http://www.thetoc.gr/eng/politics/article/samaras–aliyev-meeting-today

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-on-prime-ministers-meeting-with-president-aliyev-of-azerbaijan

    (there may be more)

    So yes, you can legitimately criticize the lack of details or the delegation makeup, but unless one’s intelligence in realpolitik is highly challenged, there is nothing wrong in the meeting per se.

    While Azerbaijan has a real issue in human rights and freedom, it is a member of the Council of Europe.
    Gas and energy were also high on Cameron’s agenda. Human rights issues, apparently not.

    And unless there are political sanctions, the EU cannot prevent bi-lateral meetings between its members and any other country.

    [Daphne – Missing the point as usual in your determination to be the devil’s advocate. Nobody is criticising the fact that Muscat met with Aliyev. It is the framework, context, method, purpose and secrecy that are being criticised, and justifiably so. Can you imagine Angela Merkel or David Cameron in the exact same scenario? Well, then. You might, at a push, imagine Berlusconi, or any one of his several equally corrupt predecessors.]

  75. Mila says:

    Image 3 here shows us Mizzi as Muscat’s wingman always two steps behind the master.

    http://azertag.az/en/xeber/Maltese_PM_pays_respect_to_national_leader_Heydar_Aliyev_and_Azerbaijani_heroes-818201

    ”Joseph Muscat also laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame monument”. Did he suggest to the Azerbaijanis that they could save energy if they skimp on the eternal flame?

  76. Ah well.. says:

    The worst thing about the general behaviour of our dear prime minister & Co. is that he either doesn’t believe that the day will come when he will be held accountable, or he just doesn’t care.

    I’m not sure which is worse.

    This is not the behaviour our country deserves, but then again, perhaps, blinded by fake personal promises, we are not mature enough to see through dishonesty, deceit and corruption and we have no concern at all for the plight of this country.

    What we need is full transparency and accountability to avoid the gross mess we now find ourselves knee-deep in.

  77. rf says:

    Qishom erbgha ccassati.

    Ma nistax nifhem kif hafna nies ma ndunawx bl-inkompetenza ta’ dawn il-qlafat meta tidher tant ovvja.

    L-iktar haga li tinkwetani hi li f’dan il-pajjiz ftit baqa nies li jafu jiggudikaw.

  78. Żaren says:

    Fejnhom dawk is-suppost Nazzjonalisti li vvutawlhom lil dawn?

    Issa qed jintebħu li kollox tajjeb sejjer.

    Niftiehmu biss mal-kommunisti u l-agħar dittaturi, mal-korrotti u dawk li ħatfu l-poter.

    Wegħda oħra tal-Lejber qed isseħħ quddiemna: MALTA – L-AĦJAR PAJJIŻ FL-EWROPA.

    Tagħna lkoll….tagħna lkoll….tagħna lkoll.

  79. Christopher says:

    Labour`s definition of “meritokrazija,u nippremjaw il bzulija”

  80. Oops says:

    Dictatorial Christmas Convention 2014

  81. mcassar says:

    I don’t know whether it’s my perception, but it looks like there’s something in Muscat’s ear.

  82. matt says:

    It will be a perpetual mystery to me as to what the people saw in Muscat in March of 2013.

    Clearly, he has no clue of his position. He feels like he is meeting the GWU or MUT.

    But what is truly bewildering is that people still approve of Muscat as the MLP was able to raise half a million euros in just a few hours.

    Does not make sense to me at all.

    [Daphne – That’s probably because you weren’t around in 1992 to see 45% of the population vote to make KMB prime minister instead of Eddie Fenech Adami – and this when those 45% had had their first taste of normality, freedom, basic human rights, lack of fear, and consumer choice. So no, I am not surprised that people approve of Muscat, not at all.]

    • A+ says:

      Daphne, to follow up on your reply, do you believe that there is hope that the PN can win the next election? My logic tells me that this lot should not be re-elected, but is a shift of more than 18000 votes possible?

  83. Candy says:

    Seta’ tella zewg nisa mieghu ghal daqsxejn gender balance.

  84. WhoamI? says:

    L-aqwa in-notepett ta’ Joseph – qisu qata xi ftit pages mill-pitazz ta’ Etoile kemm jinqeda.

  85. Jozef says:

    And if we’re partners signing agreements, then why are the flags are set apart rather than placed together?

    Why is the table at which they sit a vast expanse of nothing and the real focus that bronze icon towering over everyone?

    Aliyev’s protocol is not one for friends in this particular case, just serfs. Joseph Muscat’s is a delegation of soft-soaped serfs.

    Imagine Merkel’s advisors accepting to submit her to that kind of humiliation.

    Basta Mintoffjani.

    • Lizz says:

      That bust serves the sole purpose of reflecting a phallic shape on the table. But it’s not looking good either, because it’s pointing downwards.

  86. Gahan says:

    All we need now is a steady supply of Azerbaijan gas and total dependence on the Chinese-owned BWSC plant for our electricity, then when the general election comes round, we’ll have Muscat throwing the Mintoff/Gaddafi veiled threat that if the PN comes to power we will have to stop buying Azeri gas at “preferential” prices.

    I hope the Opposition stipulates that the BWSC plant must also work on diesel and HFO.

    We’ve been in this situation already and have seen Russia using these tactics.

    • Jozef says:

      Gahan, the real deal is the interconnector.

      • Gahan says:

        I know, but Labour can’t make a veiled threat about that, like “If you vote PN, the Sicilian Mafia will chop the cable connecting Malta to the rest of the European power network”.

        Labour is binding itself to purchase only 20% of our electricity, probably off-peak power.

        Malta will be totally dependent on LNG supply depicted to be at favourable (read political) market prices.

        If the LNG tanker does not arrive, we will be doomed.

        So much for Konrad’s reliable “energy mix”.

  87. Max Cavalera says:

    Amazing description of each character on Malta’s side – made my day. Thanks.

  88. anthony says:

    They could, at the very least, have taken Deborah Schembri along with them.

    Her 180% would have pushed the average to 100% between five.

  89. Ismail says:

    hey! In the interest of full disclosure, I am Azerbaijani. My partner is Maltese. He sent me the url, and I gotta tell you, I haven’t laughed this heartily in a long time. Partly, because I know she’s right (I don’t know your politicians, but did I mention I am from Azerbaijan?) and I also thought she should have been on the Maltese negotiating team. Then the rabbits would have put up some token resistance, I feel. :-) I love the author and I want to meet her after this.

  90. Issa Daqshekk says:

    GODDAM BUNCH OF DILETTANTI, PRUZUNTUZI INKOMPETENTI U MGIENEN IPPATENTJATI!

  91. Bartolo says:

    Ahhh Joseph and Keith wear the same watch.

  92. I find the absence of the newly appointed ambassador of Malta to Azerbaijan rather odd.

    On such occasions his presence is a must.

    Was he informed of this meeting, or was it a personal rather than an official one, at least as far as Malta is concerned?

    Was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs involved in any way in this official visit?

  93. Banana republic ... again says:

    It must have been incredibly stressful for Muscat considering that just 20 months ago the largest purchase he had made was a hand bag for his wife, and now he has to negotiate hundreds of millions of euros. Of course, now it’s not his money but ours.

  94. decimus says:

    What a contrast.

    On the Azerbaijani side, one is addressing the meeting, whereas the rest are politely either jotting down notes or about to do so (ready with the pens at hand).

    By contrast, the Maltese delegation of four, three are listening, all attention with a stone face and palms clasped (mohhom mistrieh li hemm Kurt inizzel in-noti), whereas the only one supposedly writing down notes appears to have lost track and is doing some very hard thinking.

  95. dudu says:

    What an arrogant lot. This Barolo socialist is setting very high standards with his behaviour:

    http://maltarightnow.com/news/2014/12/16/ritratti-glenn-bedingfield-immultat-tliet-darbiet-fi-ftit-sighat/

  96. Be-witched says:

    And as usual according to the news reports of One and PBS of yesterday all the ‘four wise men of Malta’ got from Azerbaijan was a Memorandum of Understanding, just as they got from Libya before it practically degenerated into civil war.

    Guess what the international news agencies are saying today? Massive protests about human rights just outside Baku.

  97. Tutti Frutti says:

    Lanqas temmen li cwiec bhal dawk ghandhom Malta f’idejhom.

  98. Nistaqsi says:

    It seems that the PM and Keith have the same wristwatch. Were they his ‘n’ his gifts?

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