Gordon, Malta, as member of the EU and even before, shine in the workings of the EU. Look at what the PN Government achieved after membership – remember 1.2billion euros? This was before March 2013. What did we really achieved after that? If you are well set up, as we were before the election, size does not matter.

“We” – just like with football teams. Malta, not ‘we’. We have no part in it. We don’t work for the government or for Dar Malta.

It’s not a matter of being positive but of being realistic.

How bloody typical! No wonder it’s so difficult to improve things in Malta: so many of us are not in pursuit of excellence, but merely of “rising to the occasion” or “making a good effort”.

Just because Malta is small and has limited resources it does not have to mean that we are all mediocre. It means that we have to work harder at it.

Unfortunately too many of us preface every thought with, “but for such a small country…..”. That is such an insult to those of us who have made it irrespective of where we happened to be born.

People working under her say she’s as hard working, and one for details as he is. In fact, the graph shows that ambassador wise Malta is powerful, but leadership wise we are lacking.

What are you saying? The graph is perfectly clear. Malta has an ambassador whose personal clout is at 60% of the golden standard and a leader and country reputation that at a miserable 25% is lower than that of Cyprus, of far-right Austria, and even lower than the two more advanced Baltic states, at a par with Romania, and only higher than the Balkan paupers and cowboys. It is a disgrace.

With Gonzi at the helm, especially after Malta reprised its Nurse of the Med role during the Libyan conflagration, we’d have been in the strong quadrant or at least alongside Spain and Ireland.

Clout, authority, integrity do not depend on the size of the nation otherwise Denmark would be alongside Ireland not up there at the top.

“Be positive”