Oh look, Muscat doesn’t want 16-to-18-year-olds to vote in the referendum on spring-hunting
Published:
January 12, 2015 at 7:46pm
He knows that this core demographic is likely to vote against spring-hunting, in significant numbers. The referendum vote will take place concurrently with local council elections in those places where council elections are due this year.
People aged 16 to 18 will be allowed to vote in local council elections, for the first time ever. But they will not be given a ballot-sheet to vote on the referendum question.
Muscat’s excuse is that the “referendum process began against a set of rules which should not be changed”. What?
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http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-01-12/local-news/PM-turns-down-Opposition-s-suggestion-to-allow-16-year-olds-to-vote-in-spring-hunting-referendum-6736128584
I actually saw it the other way.
Don’t you remember the hunters petition to ban the referendum where most of the signatures were from family members and children (could include 16yr +) of hunters ?
Don’t get me wrong, I will be voting with all my heart against spring hunting and I will be urging everyone I know to do the same.
Bezziegh. Giddieb. Mibjugh. Carlatan.
Je suis Charlietan.
Hi Ciccio.
CharlieTaghna
Kemm jilħaqlu moħħu! B’mod jew ieħor irid jara kif jagħmel biex il-vot ma jgħaddix.Kemm hu makakk! Qed jibża’ r-raġel, għalhekk qal kif se jivvota biex il-mogħoż ta’ warajh jimitawh u la sa jaqbeż, jaqbżu huma wkoll.
What does one expect from Joseph Muscat.
“Un Charlot.”
The manipulator as always.
Guzeppi mibjugh minn hutu
I think it’s a formal admission – a rather belated one if you ask me – that he is no longer a lijter zaghzugh.
And those voting against spring hunting have to vote “No.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150112/local/referendum-question.551635
So I can already see one of the campaign billboards looking like this:
“Spring hunting?”
“Thanks, but NO thank you.”
Veru clown. Irid jintghogob ma kulhadd, minn ghalieh. Ara tahseb li mghux ver li hawn hafna Laburisti iddispjacuti illi ghandhom lill Muscat bhala mexxej?
How do you explain the fact that our PM is still so popular in all the surveys and polls?
polls and surveys can be manipulated, just like statistics
Falz, giddieb,u opportunist.
Youths aged 16 and 17 should organize a peacefull protest in Valletta and present a petition to all members of Parliament except the PM to allow them to vote in the 11Apr referendum.
These political zombies need the blood and soul of die-hard Mintoffians to survive.
Spot on.
And will Norman Vella issue an apology for having Musumeci on Net discussing the shadow cabinet?
Ann Fenech, never, ever again sit next to that one. please.
I mean, what next, Jeffrey?
[Daphne – I believe Norman Vella and Robert Musumeci are first cousins, though I might be wrong there.]
Is Musumeci now a “kummentatur”?
Even the wording of the referendum question has been written in a way which favours a YES vote, meaning no ban on spring hunting. Muscat is a scheming nasty person and he will ensure that his friends, the bird killers, get their vote’s worth.
http://zoosmatter.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/hypocrite-1.jpg
A clay pigeon shooting enthusiast once told us that the Muscat’s paternal family business not only includes importation of fireworks but also the management of space leasing for bullet and ammunition importers. Can someone verify this.
Now I’m no expert in the subject. But I can conclude that the more hunting or shooting there is, the more ammunition is needed and as such storage rental space and profits for said type of business
Incidentally, Lately the price for storage has been increased too.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-12-16/local-news/Importers-up-in-arms-over-ammunition-storage-fees-fees-affecting-sport-shooters-6736127413
He is continuously changing the goal posts, and yet nobody raises hell, not even the Opposition.
Muscat marched spalla ma’ spalla with people who were silent in July 1987 when the Palestinian cartoonist who created Handala was shot dead by Mossad agents.
http://www.handala.org/handala/
I was always of the opinion that until total peace in the Middle East was achieved, there will still be terrorism and where there is no justice there is no peace. I still have a dream that this will happen before I hit the bucket but until then it will still be a dream.
Are you for Malta joining the European Union?
Are you for the introduction of divorce in Malta?
Are you for the legalisation of recreational cannabis?
Are you for Scotland’s independence?
Referenda questions should neither be loaded nor convoluted but simple and straightforward. The standard design of each referendum question is always FOR CHANGE or AGAINST IT, and with good reason.
Referenda are always spearheaded by people who want change. Those who don’t want change are not interested in referenda being held in the first place. It is therefore natural and fair for referenda questions to be for change or against it.
Those who want change vote ‘yes’. Those who don’t vote ‘no’.
Bizarrely, those who want the spring hunting law to change are going to have to vote ‘no’ and those who don’t want change are going to have to vote ‘yes’. This is shocking and I hope that columnists everywhere will take Joseph Muscat to task over this.
Some will dismiss this simply as semantics but it goes far deeper than that. There are three main reasons why Joseph Muscat has chosen to word the question in a way where those who want change have to vote ‘no’ and those who want the status quo have to vote ‘yes’.
1) He is a really, really spiteful individual. This is Joseph Muscat’s way of getting back at those people who stood outside court a few days ago with placards saying the word ‘Yes’ (yes for abrogation of the law). I wouldn’t even put it past him putting up billboards of Bird Life and Alternattiva Demokratika members holding the ‘Yes’ placards.
2) By inverting the question, he’s hoping to win the votes of confused and semi-literate individuals.
3) A yes campaign is somewhat simpler because the word ‘yes’ is intrinsically positive and Joseph Muscat doesn’t do negativity.
If I were Joseph Muscat’s spouse, friend, acquaintance, colleague, party member or voter, I’d be livid right now because, make no mistake about it, this goes far beyond spring hunting. Here is a man who will barefacedly scheme and cheat and screw you over thrice in order to win. Joseph Muscat’s ability to use democratic and legal tools in order to subvert the standard order of things is flabbergasting.
Can you imagine the uproar had David Cameron asked Scots whether they want Scotland to remain in the United Kingdom instead of whether they want Scotland to become independent? Can you imagine the uproar had Lawrence Gonzi come up with a question asking whether people want families to stay together instead of a straightforward question about the introduction of divorce?
The fact that he goes to such lengths to get an advantage exposes Joseph Muscat for what he really is; a conniving, sleazy scoundrel who will cheerily sell his own grandma if he knows it will give him an advantage.
The man has no scruples or sense of fairness. Look at the way he left 16 and 17-year-olds out in the cold without even bothering to come up with a decent excuse. Everything he does is part of a dirty, psychological game he loves playing with himself.
Just listening to him speak makes me want to go and have a shower. If I knew him personally, I’d be rubbing out his telephone number off my phone book right now. The man is a fraud and a cheat. Shame on him. Malta, a supposedly democratic member of the European Union, deserves better.
“The fact that he goes to such lengths to get an advantage exposes Joseph Muscat for what he really is; a conniving, sleazy scoundrel who will cheerily sell his own grandma if he knows it will give him an advantage.”
Write that paragraph in gold and frame it.
Prosit ma stajtx tpoggi l-kliem ahjar.
Maybe it will work in favour of the birds; the confused and semi-literate are more prone to like killing birds and may inadvertently vote “No”.
Agree with you 100%. The question as posed (could one expect otherwise from cunning Muscat) is bound to confuse unless the anti-hunting lobby puts up a massive campaign that this is after all a matter of ‘conservation’ and not illegal hunting in spring. Hopefully the PN will take up this stand too otherwise we are in for a surprise.
I totally agree Matthew S. It’s all very strangely worded, and I might say deliberately so.
Call me cynical but with the way Muscat wants the question to be worded, and with him consequently wanting to vote “Yes”, I m sensing a “think positive- PN always negative” element to all this.
I wouldn’t be too convinced that the demographics of this age bracket oppose hunting. Also retrospective application of a law always creates an uneasy precedent.
For once I have to agree with Muscat’s decision. Though I oppose spring hunting, at least I know how he will be voting. I hope Simon Busuttil and the other MPs will express their voting intentions.
And do you really believe what Muscat says? After all one is alone in the polling-booth.
I think you missed this, Daphne:
“Appella biex il-kampanja elettorali titwaqqaf fi żmien l-Għid, li jaħbat ġimgħa qabel id-data magħżula għar-Referendum, u qal li l-Gvern tiegħu se jkun qed jirrispetta d-deċiżjoni tal-poplu kif se tkun espressa.”
Our Charlie Hebdo prime minister manoeuvred to keep everyone’s mouth closed during Holy Week. How clever.
There will only be four weekdays left for campaigning, two Xarabank programs will inevitably be discussing people’s suffering, while we have to stay put in respect of Holy Week from Our Lady of Sorrows to Easter Sunday, because it is convenient for our Charlie Hebdo prime minister’s plan.
What a hypocrite.
[Daphne – Nobody has to do anything. You can’t tell people to stop campaigning for any reason.]
http://www.newsbook.com.mt/artikli/2015/1/12/referendum-kacca:-il-mistoqsija-se-tkun-ghandhiex-tibqa%27.26396/
http://www.inewsmalta.com/dart/20150112-min-favur-il-ka-fir-rebbieg-jrid-iwie-eb-iva-dawk-kontra-le
So now Muscat got it his way to confuse the electorate. Where Yes means No and No means Yes.
People should be forced to pass an IQ test before being allowed to vote.
[Daphne – Which means that Alfred Sant would have a vote but somebody not particularly bright, who voted for EU membership, would not. Come off it.]
It’s just annoying knowing that there are people who will vote in favour (yes) of spring hunting, even if they disagree with it or do not really care about the issue simply because the great leader intends to vote in favour.
People with high IQs are not immune to phenomena like hysteria or mistakes. High IQs, whatever they are, do not make anyone naturally knowledgable or wise. It just means that their brains work faster.
If rubbish is put into that brain, the brain will process the rubbish faster than average. It all depends on what is put in.
Plus, IQs are a social construct, as far as I know, and their use are highly controversial.
Edward, soon you’ll be saying that HIV and diabetes are social constructs as well.
So sixteen-year-olds have the maturity and intelligence to vote for politicians but not for the environment which has been ingrained in their brains throughout their scholastic years.
They are also responsible enough to engage in sexual relationships, according to the new government whip.
whip.http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-01-13/local-news/Government-Whip-Godfrey-Farrugia-says-age-of-sexual-consent-should-be-lowered-from-18-to-16-6736128607
Imma fl-ghasafar tal-ajru ma jifhmux.
What a pussy. No character.
It should be clear to everyone that Muscat only does things to meet his own ends.
A week ago it was proposed that the President’s salery should go up from 56,310 euros to 95,000 euros annually – a rise of 68.7%. He pretended to be against all pay rises after it was he who started the ball rolling, but that’s another matter.
Only days later Muscat completely ignores the President, the Laws of Malta and observance of rules of convention and announces the date of the referendum himself.
The man has no respect for anyone or anything bar money.
I would add …bar money and power.
Whilst this Spring hunting issue is important, the government is conveniently using it as a smoke screen which may mask the utter incompetence of this government in attracting investment and running this country for the first four months of 2015.
We should also be discussing fuel prices, Autobuses de Leon, the sale of citizenship scheme, Chinese investment in Enemalta, and other serious issues.
The best thing the Nationalist Party can do is to give little or no importance to this spring hunting issue while encouraging people to vote with their minds rather than as Muscat expects them to vote.
The Nationalist Party has to show that it respects the intelligence of the electorate.
Let us not play into Joseph Muscat’s hands. We should be discussing Henley & Partners, China, Azerbajan, Employment in the public sector, the ballooning of the national debt, the fact that the restructuring plan was on target till March 2013 and was torpedoed by Labour so that Air Malta will have to go bust, fuel prices, etc.
I am eagerly expecting a clear statement from ex Alternattiva stalwart Toni Abela who is now in Labour’s ranks to support the campaign against spring hunting to show his true environmental credentials.
A new t-shirt idea for 16 to 17 year olds;
“Je suis Disenfranchised”
The question for the referendum as put cunningly by Joseph Muscat is to bring the Nationalists party in a difficult situation how to vote. On one hand it was the Nationalists Party in government that fought tooth and nail to obtain a derogation on spring hunting. On the other side there is collusion of the Labour Party with the hunters.
Both the PN and the Malta Labour Party should keep out of this referendum without reservations.
This is their golden opportunity to unshackle themselves once and for all from being blackmailed by the hunters during election campaigns.
But Joseph Muscat has already committed himself in favour of the hunters.
Why is an atheist free to criticise Islam or any other religion but a cleric cannot comment on on his own credo?
This should have been posted under another article. Please ignore.
If anyone can get confused with a simple YES or NO answer then they shouldn’t be allowed to vote in the first place.
It is now the job for the next 6 months of anyone with a conscience to make sure that people vote a resounding NO to the destruction of innocent birds.
The placards, billboards and adverts should be a simple VOTE NO. That will get the right message across without any confusion.
This is the only chance we will get to end spring hunting once and for all.
The billboards should be graphic and really hit home the brutality of spring hunting.
The hunters will be using the argument about ‘minority rights’. Hunting is not a right but as they themselves say, it is a privilege. Going by the hunters rights argument we might as well give pedophiles rights as they too are a minority.
Times of Malta is running a story about a vox pop on the referendum. It says several people were scared to give their opinion on camera, with one person being afraid that someone from Castille (the office of the prime minister) will be taking note.
This says so much about how we have regressed.
Is there a term which describes a person who does not make the decisions he should be making but instead makes the decisions which are not his to make?
”Spring hunting: Referendum date only official once President announces it.
”So much so that there is nothing stopping the President from ignoring the Prime Minister’s advice since in fact one could also argue that if the President does not follow the Prime Minister’s advice, according to 85 (2) there would be no remedy in a court of law. The only solution would be political by removing the President.” – Franco Debono, TMI
Franco Debono must be proud!
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-01-13/local-news/Spring-hunting-Referendum-date-only-official-once-President-announces-it-Franco-Debono-6736128602
Youths aged 16 and 17 must give Muscat a lesson in the local council elections. Either I’m good for voting in all sorts of elections or I’m only not good whenever Muscat pleases.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150113/local/vox-pop-how-keen-are-people-on-the-spring-hunting-referendum.551645
What cloud do these people live on?
http://markanthonysammut.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-presidents-abrogated-duty.html
The President will announce the date for the spring hunting referendum during the Citrus Festival on Sunday…