Comments on: Maltese head of state congratulates Azerbaijan dictator; hopes that “thriving cooperation in oil and gas will continue to be strengthened”

By: Tabatha_White

Tabatha_White — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 20:35:00 +0000

How servile.

By: Jack Bean

Jack Bean — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 15:39:00 +0000

I recall reading that Malta and Azerbaijan have signed a cooperation agreement in education and culture.

The Zonqor ‘university’ project could well fit in such an agreement.

I wonder why the President forgot to mention this.

Well, if she’s speaking on behalf of the Maltese people, she thinks they would be more interested in the “25% reduction in energy bills” than in education and culture.

By: Rumplestiltskin

Rumplestiltskin — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 15:31:00 +0000

If she had to send a message to Aliyev as Head of State of Azerbaijan, she could have found a seasoned diplomat (not one of the Johnnies-come lately) to write a polite, formal letter to fulfil the diplomatic requirement, without sounding so subservient.

“…heartfelt greetings and felicitations…” and “….good health and serenity…” indeed!

At least our Madame President should remember that she represents ALL the Maltese, including a large percentage who would certainly not agree with her.

By: Rumplestiltskin

Rumplestiltskin — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 15:21:00 +0000

Agreed. It is wierd to have to long paragraphs without a single comma. It must be from the ‘U ijja mhux xorta’ school of language.

By: John Doe

John Doe — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 14:02:00 +0000

Not in my name. Dare I say, not in the name of any Maltese who cherishes his or her democratic rights, who abhors corruption and deplores inhumane and unjust treatment.

This is as bad as sending her best wishes to Adolf Hitler after all the misery he single-handedly created.
It is shameful and deplorable.

By: Arnold Layne

Arnold Layne — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:48:00 +0000

Apart from the fact that the English is abysmal.

By: Millie

Millie — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:36:00 +0000

I do not wish any dictator serenity and the President of Malta should be ashamed to do so.

”He [President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan] is also hugely corrupt, and his authoritarian regime has one of the world’s worst records on human rights.

Last month, continuing a crackdown on independent media and nongovernmental organizations, police officers raided the offices of the United States-financed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Baku — known locally as Radio Azadliq — taking away computers and documents and sealing the premises. A dozen R.F.E./R.L. employees were detained and questioned.

A few weeks earlier, the government jailed a well-known investigative reporter, Khadija Ismayilova, who had worked for the broadcaster and had reported on the lucrative business dealings of Mr. Aliyev’s family. The government first tried to frighten and blackmail her, then hit her with the Orwellian charge that she had pushed a lover toward suicide. Another critic of the regime, Leyla Yunus, a prominent human rights activist, has been in jail since April along with her husband, Arif Yunus.” The New York Times JAN. 11, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/12/opinion/the-two-faces-of-azerbaijans-mr-aliyev.html?_r=0

By: PShaw72

PShaw72 — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:03:00 +0000

No wonder these amateurs campaigned against Malta’s EU membership.

They do not see Malta as being at par with other European nations.

More crucially, they do not want to be hindered by European checks and balances. Their view of Malta and the Maltese is downright insulting.

They see Malta as their personal fiefdom where they can do as they please without any accountability. The Labour Party has been that way since Dom Mintoff.

They identify not with the free world but with dictatorships to whom they behave in a servile manner. They are comfortable with autocratic and corrupt regimes.

By: Sliemarian

Sliemarian — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 12:53:00 +0000

I too would like to be excluded from the president’s greetings until there are better times for the people of Azerbaijan and Ilham Aliyev and his family are gone.

By: Frances Abela

Frances Abela — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 09:01:00 +0000

H.E. finds the time to congratulate but no time to give us her opinion about the environment situation in Malta. I guess she has to please her boss. You know the Maltese saying ‘iddardar l-ghajn li tixrob minnhu’ or something to that effect.