The EU Observer picks up on John Dalli's Libya connections
It was only a matter of time before the European press picked up on John Dalli’s connections. It wasn’t me, I promise, even though Mister Paranoia will think it’s part of a kumplott fahxi u moqziez kontra tieghu minn agenti mhallsin ta’ gOnzIpN.
It was him, because this morning he gave them the news peg they had been waiting for, for the story they had researched before if the level of detail is anything to go by.
The delusional fool forgets he is an EU commissioner and that anything he says is going to be picked up at that level in Brussels and elsewhere.
It’s time for a resignation. And if, like his man Gaddafi, he won’t go of his own accord, then it’s certainly time for the prime minister to ask for it.
EU COMMISSIONER GOES OFF-MESSAGE ON GADDAFI
By ANDREW RETTMAN
Today @ 13:57 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Maltese EU commissioner John Dalli has made comments which appear to support Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi and which flatly contradict those of Mr Dalli’s boss, Jose Manuel Barroso.
Speaking to press at an event organised by the Malta Business Bureau on Friday (5 March) morning in Malta, the EU health commissioner, who has a long history of commercial links with Libya, said he “didn’t think [he] had the right, or anyone else, to make a statement on whether he [Gaddafi] should step down.”
He added: “I think Gaddafi should make his own decisions. He has the assessment of the people, as he has said on TV … I think Gaddafi has made the first attempt towards conciliation.”
Mr Dalli said he is “in no way” a defender of Gaddafi and condemned the violence in Libya. But he then repeated the Libyan leader’s own line that outside forces are manipulating media coverage of protests.
“The US admitted that they have lost the race for information in Libya – this, and the way information is getting out, is problematic,” he said. “Sometimes doubt creeps into one’s head when seeing people speaking perfect English and hoisted up by a group of people made to look like a crowd. I wonder if they might be shots ‘created’ for journalists.”
Mr Dalli’s comments flatly contradict the position taken by Mr Barroso in a speech in Brussels two days ago.
“It is time for him [Gaddafi] to go and give the country back to the people of Libya,” Mr Barroso said. “It is our duty to say to the Arab people that we are on their side.”
A Dalli spokesman told this website that he had not seen the Friday morning quotes, but that anything Mr Dalli might have told local press in Malta is not necessarily his official view as an EU commissioner.
The 62-year-old Mr Dalli has built up close personal links with the Libyan regime over the past two decades.
In 2004 he set up John Dalli & Associates, a consultancy firm which specialised in opening doors for Maltese businessmen in Libya and which had an office in Tripoli. He also worked as a director in the Azizia Glass Manufacturing Company (AGMC), which has a multi-million-euro factory in the north African dictatorship.
He quit AGMC and John Dalli & Associates when he became a Maltese minister in 2008. But he kept John Dalli & Associates in the family by handing the business to his daughters and he still owns a house in Tripoli.
In his own online biography posted in 2008 he spoke about his work for the Libya Maltese Joint Commission in the 1987 to 1996 and 1998 to 2004 periods when Libya was under UN sanctions.
He said that “levels of economic activities between the two countries increased” despite the UN measures. He added that he had “established a strong network at the political and executive levels of that country.”
At another business event in Valetta in 2007, he said: “Malta had served as a gateway between Libya and the outside world during the days of international sanctions … Business with Libya means business in Libya and face-to-face contact is essential.”
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It may not take long before the BBC hears about the EU Commissioner’s comments.
“…but that anything Mr Dalli might have told local press in Malta is not necessarily his official view as an EU commissioner.”
Where this Dalli find this spokeperson? In what capacity does he speak in Malta, then?
Amazing. He can speak out of both sides of his mouth at the same time. I must assume he has two cerebellum. Head’s big enough. The spokesperson must have been talking to Saviour.
Soon to be broadcast in the “No Comment” programming on EuroNews:
“A Dalli spokesman told this website that he had not seen the Friday morning quotes, but that anything Mr Dalli might have told local press in Malta is not necessarily his official view as an EU commissioner. “
Oh Oh! ‘Open mouth, insert foot, open mouth, change feet’.
Are Dalli’s public speeches/opinions not monitored by his bosses at the EU?
They sure are, and I hope he will be censured. Serves him right. Seems to me that the NP always ends up making good decisions as they did when they elected Dr. Gonzi leader of the party and eventually Malta’s prime minister.
Compare the MLP (close friends to Dalli). They had a choice of electing a person of experience and integrity but instead they elected Joseph Muscat who has no foresight but a lot of hindsight, can make no promises but relies on a relic of the 70s and 80s to write a 2013 election programme.
Well, perhaps Luciano Busuttil will proof-read the document to make sure that spelling and grammar are correct.
[Daphne – We shall C l8tr.]
BBC’s most recent updates – maybe EU commissioner Dalli thinks they’ve been set up and manipulated by Hillary Clinton and CNN.
1348: The BBC’s Wyre Davies says there have been incredibly violent scenes on the outskirts of Tripoli. “This is significant because, of course, Col Gaddafi insists that everybody, especially in the country near Tripoli, loves him and that there are no protests,” he says. “What we saw after Friday prayers was a vocal and vociferous protest by anti-Gaddafi protesters. Then, just all of a sudden, these pro-government militia and police came in vehicles screeching into the centre of the suburbs firing dozens of tear gas canisters and baton rounds. The scene was chaotic as people ran away but then they came back, shouting anti-Gaddafi slogans.”
1355: The Associated Press reports that more than 1,500 people marched out of the Murad Agha mosque in Tajoura, an eastern district of the Libyan capital, chanting “The people want to bring the regime down” and waving the red, black and green flag of Libya’s pre-Gaddafi monarchy. The protesters also tore down posters of Col Gaddafi in a nearby square and spray-painted walls with graffiti saying: “Down with Gaddafi” and “Tajoura will dig your grave”.
It is significant that, while Dalli talks of “business with Libya”, this report describes his connections as being specifically with “the Libyan regime” not with Libya in general.
John Dalli does not have an honourable bone in his body. Of course he won’t resign of his own accord. Come on, Prime Minister, do your thing.
My thoughts go to Gonzi. Apart from the extremely difficult situation, which he is handling superbly, now he has to ask Johnny to resign, and it will not be easy to convince him.
The Times –
“Castro backs Chavez mediation plan for Libya”
Tajjeb, issa kull ma jonqos il-KMB u il-Bord ta’Dixxiplina u Vigilanza tal-MLP biex naghqqdu l-borma.
And still, gaffe or no gaffe, it remains a fact: the corporate media ARE manipulating news coverage of protests in Libya.
As for Barroso, I’ll say it again, he parroted Chairman Mao in the 70s, now he’s parroting the Western line. He’d be parroting Lafy Gaga if he thought it suited his prospects.
Kemm int tedjanti, Kev. Ghandhek xi hotline ma’ Saif al Islam Gaddafi?
Manipulation or no manipulation, people in LIbya are being bombed, shot at, taken into custody, tortured and killed. And, no, I did not hear that from the ‘corporate media’.
As for Barroso and what he had to say about Gaddafi, only anti-EU bores would miss the wood for trees.
Jeez, Kevvy. I can think of only one ‘person’ more dillusional than you. Guess who?
Kevin, so the media are manipulating news coverage. So what?
I’m not being flippant here. For the first time in half a century, something is happening to distract us from our MTV/internet/Facebook narcolepsy. It may not seem important to you, because you’ve lived through much of the last century. But to the younger generation, who knows nothing but boring peace and mind-numbing prosperity, it means a lot.
And Kevin, stop going on about the mega-corporations and their nefarious plans. You belong to a mega-corporation yourself, with attendant perks and pay cheques. When one is up to one’s jowls in lucrative careers, one should shut up. No, really. And yes, you can call this a leftwing sentiment if it makes you feel better.
Oh and I too would be parroting anyone if they suited MY prospects. That’s the way it goes, and when all is said and done, what is left if not the bottle, the needle, or a bullet in the chest?
So bring on the revolution, and may it cross Homer’s “wine-dark sea” to spread havoc in our lethargic lives. Man’s natural state is not peace, but war.
Baxxter, I’ll be brief for the alternative would require a whole volume:
I’m looker at the wider picture. You’re clearly appreciating the white lie and the odd exaggeration here and there, all for a ‘good cause’, and I won’t blame you. But in my book Gaddafi is already gone, even if it looks like it’s going to be a protracted civil war.
The media will see to that. And the governments will respond accordingly. The rebels will become a real opposition. The skirmishes will become real battles. The whole area will be inflamed.
So, to cut it short: if you’re appreciating the lies because they suit your cravings, I’m sure you wouldn’t do the same had you known what other distortions exist on a grander scale.
As to your lament, I’m afraid you’ll have to face your own problems yourself. But I didn’t quite get why I should shut up.
Proponents of mediation in Libya so far include Hugo Chavez, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Daniel Ortega, John Dalli, and now, Fidel Castro.
The Prisoner of Brussels is in exalted company.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110304/local/castro-backs-chavez-mediation-plan-for-libya
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110304/local/castro-backs-chavez-mediation-plan-for-libya
KMB, Chavez, Dalli and now…………..Castro!
No comment.
All we need is Kim Jong-il to join the club
The problem is that the European press will not refer to him as Commissioner Dalli but to the Maltese Commissioner. After KMB, AST, now we have got our own representative in Brussels who makes us cringe and puts Malta’s name to shame.
[Daphne – Well, he’s actually the health commissioner not the Maltese commissioner, but I see exactly what you mean.]
He is not our representative in Brussels. Our representatives are the MEPs and, as the name implies, the High Representative. If Dalli’s head were to roll, it’s Barroso who has to ask for it.
Will he go down as the second European politician this Arab revolution claims?
I meant Permanent Representative.
Time is showing us what a good thing it was when Gonzi was chosen over this man to lead the PN.
If he still has hopes of making a political comeback after his “exile” in Brussels, then surely this is another nail on his political coffin – unless he changes parties of course.
”A Dalli spokesman told this website that he had not seen the Friday morning quotes, but that anything Mr Dalli might have told local press in Malta is not necessarily his official view as an EU commissioner”
So in Malta he has one view and in Brussels another. Tal-biki.
The person who said that was, most probably, Harry Vassallo.
Keep your head in the same, advises David Gatt.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110304/local/prime-minister-attending-meeting-on-libya-crisis-in-finland
David Gatt
Ahjar tara l-bzonnijiet urgenti li ghandek f’pajizek sur PM
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110304/letters/arms-to-libya-in-transit
Update and clarification.
Are Jose Manuel Barroso and John Dalli singing from the same hymn-book? Is John Dalli’s position on the EU Commission tenable?
[Daphne – That’s what ‘off-message’ means.]
Issa imiss lil Libjani biex jigi iggassjati min min suppost qed imexxi il-pajjiz.
This BBC article is very relevant to the Maltese EU commissioner John Dalli saga with the Gaddafi regime in Libya:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12626320
Ralph Cassar
Sharing David Friggieri’s status:
It’s high time that our generation told the coterie of 70s and 80s politico-journalist cabal that THEY DON’T GODDAM OWN THIS PLACE
February 27 at 7:24pm •LikeUnlike •
[Daphne – What’s their problem – arrested development? Somebody please tell them that the age difference between me and Lou Bondi is the same as the age difference between me and in David Friggieri (in either direction), but I don’t even think about it. And I certainly don’t think of David Friggieri as young, because he’s middle-aged – just like me. And Lou. I don’t know how old Ralph is and I don’t give a damn, but it seems to me that I’ve been reading his name in connection with AD or one thing or another roughly as long as I’ve been writing – 1990, not the 1970s or the 1990s. I don’t know why, but they remind me of the freaky boys on the school bus.]
Why don’t those losers just start up their own website instead of bitching that yours is too influential?
Oh, that’s right, they did already. And nobody looked.
The same thing will happen if they get themselves an interview show on TVM. Jekk ikun brillanti daqs Reporter ta’ Saviour Balzan….
The first thing they need to get is a personality transplant. And then some talent. But don’t hold your breath. If it hasn’t happened by now, and as you said they’re middle-aged already, it ain’t never gonna happen.
I think politically speaking, Dalli’s appointment in Brussels was Gonzi’s biggest political blunder.
John Dalli is a disgrace to Malta. In one sentence he demonstrated his lack of sensitivity. His absolute ignorance and lack of judgement in such a tragedy makes me thank Christ he is not a member of government.
His remarks were an insult to the reporters of Reuters, Al Jazeera, Sky, BBC, Euronews and that’s to name a few who have been risking life and limb to bring us the facts (which according to Johnny ta’ Hal Qormi is a mise-en-scene). But most of all he let down the very same people of Libya he’s obviously been making money on with his various business interests (oops sorry, read that as ‘his children’s).
Wecannot forget the 180,000 people who have evacuated Libya, leaving work which I doubt very much can be replaced when they finally get back home. Shame sir, if you have any dignity you should resign from your from EU post. I for one am disgusted that you are representing me in Brussels.