The example holds in the sense that Busuttil the individual and Busuttil the leader of the Nationalist party are not two separate persons, but one and the same.

Therefore, for him to declare that he is voting Yes as leader of the party when he is not personally for spring hunting is nonsense.

If it were a case of the common good (as Gonzi should have done with divorce – he is against but the common good demands that he should have voted for it) then that’s another thing.

But Busuttil never said that spring hunting is the common good (and in any case, it’s quite the opposite). He only explained his voting choice in terms of a misguided and peculiarly PN form of loyalty (to a lesser evil and a desperate measure when circumstances were desperate).

Others, as is reflected in the above comments, seem to have understood perfectly well, my dear Daphne .

It mystifies me how you interpreted that Joseph is the leader of the uneducated masses, and Simon of the educated rest. My statement was just about Simon Busuttil – I did not even mention Joseph Muscat. Your interpretation of my statements are a result of a bipolar blue and red state of mind.

[Daphne – No mystery at all. And it is fact, not speculation. Serendipitously, it emerges from Malta Today’s fabled surveys: http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2015/01/joseph-muscat-top-choice-of-those-with-primary-education-only-simon-busuttil-top-choice-of-those-with-university-education/ ]

I did not mean that Simon is the leader of the educated and Joseph of the uneducated. I did not mean the opposite, that Simon is the leader of the uneducated and Joseph of the educated. I meant that those who vote according to the edict of a political party leader, will unfortunately follow Simon’s irresponsible statement and vote Yes.

It stands to reason that you will be voting Yes.

[Daphne – I will be voting No. Not only have I said so clearly, but anybody who has been reading me regularly for the last 25 years will have been able to use reason to work that one out. And my vote is based on reason and conservation, not emotion.]

Your example does not hold. Simon is an individual who is leader of the PN. If you have to impose your opinion on a group you lead, that is dictatorship.

Democracy demands otherwise.

As far as I know, the Sheena Queen and yourself are not connected let alone the same individual.

The educated masses, whatever party they chose to vote in the last election, are the ones that vote with their brains rather than according to some leader of a party edict. Busuttil’s statement has created an edict, and the uneducated masses will as always dutifully follow. Hence, the unexpected act of irresponsibility from Busuttil’s side.

[Daphne – That is why it is so important to write well, in a manner that leaves no scope for ambiguity. If I failed to understand you, the fault is yours and not mine. I can hardly be accused of not knowing the language. And there really is no need to be so hostile and touchy.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX7UELG9Y5E

Tgħidli jekk Simon qal li se jivvota iva, u probabbilment Jeremy se jivvota iva, għaliex qiegħed tistaqsini ma min se nżomm?

Simon se jivvota għal-kliem preċiż u il-legaliżmi tar-referendum fuq it-tneħħija ta’ deroga.

Il-poplu se jivvota jekk fil-prattika iridx jibqa’ jiġi imkeċċi u imgerrex mil-kampanja fir-rebbiegħa minn nies tosti bħal-Jeremy li jibqgħu iridu iktar kull meta tasal elezzjoni.

Li kieku ma kienx hemm deroga, kieku din il-“laqgħa sorpriża” qatt ma kienet tkun.

Jekk tivvota IVA se jkollok titqanna b’dawn ix-xenati kull tant żmien:

http://www.newsbook.com.mt/artikli/2014/9/21/l-appogg-tal-kaccaturi-lejn-joseph-muscat-%22miet%22-ilbierah.22405/

In fact, the letter falls flat precisely because the uneducated masses do not use Dr Busuttil as their role model – and this has been amply proven in the last two electoral tests.

Dr Busuttil has done no harm to the party he leads.

What absolute rot. I am speaking here, of course, not as myself but as Sheena Queen Of The Jungle.

In other words, a castrated, scared PN. Exactly the kind of message it should seek to avoid. Gonzi II and all that. Vorrei fire Jeff and Franco ma non posso.

If? They always do. And we are a lost cause.

Sometimes it feels like Busuttil is still thinking of himself as just another MEP.

Absolutely.