The progressive and liberal deputy PM in waiting leads a ceremony of remembrance for Lorry Sant
Facebook can sometimes be a source of information – even if it is discovered after several months – on significant events that the standard news media have missed.
Lorry Sant, cast in bronze, standing in a Paola Square.
Like this, for instance: a ceremony of remembrance for Lorry Sant, held at the foot of his monument in Paola by Forum Zaghzagh Laburisti, where Anglu Farrugia, deputy leader of the progressive and liberal Party of Joseph and minister of the interior/deputy PM in 18 months’ time, led the proceedings.
Anglu Farrugia lays a wreath at the monument to Lorry Sant
Oh, and liberal and progressive Owen Bonnici, the picture of wide-eyed and fresh-faced reasonableness, was present.
Lorry Sant – the progressive and liberal icon.
Owen Bonnici and Anglu Farrugia at the ceremony of remembrance for Lorry Sant
Anglu Farrugia speaks in praise of Lorry Sant at a ceremony of remembrance held near the Lorry Sant monument in Paola.
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The link (thanks to the reader who sent it in):
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150090516798385.294285.87139893384&type=1
I really do not envy the residents of that square waking up every morning to a reminder of one of the most corrupt and violent specimens of our political history.
I suspect that the minute the monument went up the value of their property took a nosedive.
A more appropriate place for that monument would have been at the newly renovated square in Sliema since he had ‘friends’ in the general area who were beneficiaries of this greedy monster.
Disgusting! Basta kollu quddies Owen!
It would be horrible to have Anglu as a minister but that is what will happen, unfortunately.
However one good thing that you are saying is that we will have two separate ministers for the interior and for justice – Anglue Farrugia and Jose Herrera – unlike the present situation where Carm Mifsud Bonnici is minister of both.
A very silly ceremony to my mind, attended by “erba’ qtates” and sending out the wrong message to the electorate.
Shows Anglu Magna-Cum-Laude Farrugia’s IQ.
I wonder why, in the second picture, the majority are giving their back to iron-fist-anglu
The refreshments arrived.
“Tajjeb ġejt f’tal-girlanda? Ara, ħudli ieħor ġasdinkejs!”
I don’t think this person deserved a monument.
[Daphne – Most people would agree, but Ronnie Pellegrini thought otherwise and the planning authority allowed it.]
And there is more to come, you wait and see. There seems to be a plan to name the Hibernians Stadium in Kordin after “the Minister who made it all happen”.
The appropriation of public space by politicians is really getting to me.
The quality of the work is, at best, wooden.
As if Lorry Sant went around wearing a suit and tie. Nor would he have stood on a plinth. What is he doing? Waiting for the bus?
If they have to remember him, they could at least put in some resemblance. And Iif it’s the same artist who inflicted Zurrieq with a similar lump depicting Carmelo Caruana, nowhere’s safe.
Xi kruha.
‘Anglu Farrugia speaks in praise of Lorry Sant……’
Make that ‘Anglu Farrugia strikes a pose for his monument….’
Some bright spark would include a water spout.
Hard to make a spout aim at both at the same time.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150090517848385&set=a.10150090516798385.294285.87139893384&type=1&permPage=1
Look at the comments beneath the photo, especially Anglu’s response.
Facebook:
Robert Musumeci
Id- dar ta’ Noel Arrigo tisfa fil- mira ta’ attakk kodard matul il-lejl li ghadda. Tali agir huwa ghal kollox kundannabli. Nittama li hadd ma jiggustifika dan l- agir.
Share · about an hour ago via BlackBerry · Privacy:
Jekk jigik xi dubju, ahjar wahda zejda…..
From FB … Aaron Farrugia “I will be giving a lecture on the global financial crisis: impact, responses and way forward later on today at the Aula Magna – University of Malta, Valletta”
Need I say more?
[Daphne – Unbelievable. You really have to be super-thick to have that level of self-confidence.]
Is the University renting out the Aula Magna to stand-up comedians?
The monument to Lorry Sant is actually a monument to PN tolerance.
Tolerance of what? Corruption?
Is there any way to have the monument removed? The Labour Party can put it in its own backyard if they want it.
It is despicable that there is a monument to such a person and that a political party representing almost 50 per cent of the population commemorates him.
With commemorations like these, it seems that Labour are doing their best to loose the elections.
If he was half as bad as I know he was, then it’s a testament to our cowardice.
A statue of a human rights violator.
I wonder, will we still be craven when the Labour government decides to build a statue of Mintoff (if there isn’t one already)?
Then will there be an information war or a civil war?
“I wonder, will we still be craven when the Labour government decides to build a statue of Mintoff”,
It depends which side wins, the Salvatur side or the Traditur side.
Misplaced tolerance – the associates who made big bucks in cahoots with Lorry Sant during his reign are still in business, the messy money from land deals having set them up as brilliant stars of the Maltese business community.
If the dead could speak! Judge Herrera comes to mind.
If the PN had a hand in allowing this statue of the golden boy from the golden years to be put up then it is pure genius: a permanent reminder of the king of Labour crooks, cast in bronze.
Mr. Musumeci, you are right. I for one do not approve of such behaviour. But on the other hand I do not condemn it.
Remember that evry action has its reaction.
I hate having to repeat all that I went through when Lorry Sant was Minister of the interior. They were the worst moments of my life ever.
In 1980 when I returned from Italy in a brand new Alfa Romeo which had been bought from Malta, prior to my departure, I was stopped by Customs Officer (L&WHO) (Anthony Fleri) who had recently been promoted from Customs Guard (Lorry’s pets) asking me what I had to declare, if anything. Since I knew them to be Customs Guards before I left Malta I told them that what I had was cargo and that I needed a Landing & W’housing officer to get the goods released. It was obvious that they were annoyed when I told them so. As if I had degenerated them. Little did I know that they had been promoted to L&WHO. Immediately I told them so they opened the car which was loaded with clothes which were meant to be sold from my retail shop and began searching under the goods giving the impression that they thought there could be somne thing else other than clothes. When the ship finished discharging at about 1 am I was told to drive to Customs House in Valletta and warned to drive directly there and, also, to see to it that i wouldn’t throw anything out of the car because they would have me arrested. As soon as I arrived in Valletta the car was sealed and I was told to return at 8 am to talk to their senior. I was never given a chance to even explain what my intentions were. The following morning I went to Mr. Miceli, their senior, who told me as soon as I went to his office, ”ridt taghmila tal bravu l-bierah ghux?”. When I tried to explain to him what had happened the only reply was that the Minister (Sant) knew about it and I was going to be accused of doing a false declaration. While trying to explain what happened Mr. Miceli didn’t even bother to hear me except that he repeated that Lorry Sant was the only person I could deal with. I went to Lorry Sant’s office in South St Valletta and asked if I could talk to him. After leaving me waiting for an hour or so, I was near Piu cammilleri and Anthony Previ, I was told I could leave when all of a sudden Sant’s messanger came to me in a hurry to tell me that Sant wanted to talk to me. As soon as I knocked the door and went in Lorry Sant rushed towards me saying in a loud voice, ‘do you think Malta is a public convenience’. I suppose he meant that anybody could walk free in and out. He had some other 3 m3n witrh him in his office si I decided to run away because i thought they wouls beat me up and accuse me of trying to assault Lorry Sant.
In short I was going to face charges in court. Which I did for 4 times once in the criminal court and appeal and another in the commercial courts and appeal. I won all 4 cases but that wasn’t enough for Mr Bully Beef. During the court proceedings (the case being sub judice) my car was used by Mintoff’s bodyguards;it followed him wherever he went. Besides it was used during 1st May celebrations in a carcade by Mintoffian supporters. Luckily a friend of mine who lived in Valletta noticed it and took the pictures of it. The photographs were exhibited in court.
I had tried talking to K.M.B. who had done his best but, to no avail,with mighty Lorry. I also spoke to Leo Brincat who was the only one who tried to help me besides Cettina Darmenia Brincat who told me that she would love to help but wherever Lorry was concerned whe never got it right.
Finally I claimed ny goods and the value of my car which was a complete loss. All I got was a few hundred Lm for the car and nothing for the clothes. Apart from being out of fashion they were stolen from Customs w/houses. I was told that the police have nothing to blame for the damage to both the car and the clothes since that happened during investigation. Neither did Lorry bother whether I could lose my job. It was thanks to Godwin Abela, my general manager, that all was kept secret until i won the case.
Later on today at the Aula Magna….
Is he prudently waiting for Jeremy Rifkin’s flight ETA?
The monument should have been mounted on the Sliema front. He had more apartments there than anywhere else. Admittedly none were in his name.
@ Atoine Vella
Sorry I beg to differ.
That monument is an insult to all those who suffered both physical and mental violence by that scum.
Whereas people throughout the world have destroyed monuments to despots of his like, upon attaining freedom and democracy, we in Malta erect them.
Shame on whoever sanctioned the monument.
Herbie, as you say, the monument is an insult and a provocation but the fact that it is still standing unscathed is in itself a show of tolerance (misplaced or otherwise) of PN supporters.
The fishpond near the statue should be topped up and a small shark kept there; it would be far more symbolic of Lorry Sant than a lump of bronze. Or maybe they could keep gobies (imzazen) to represent a Labour crowd.
Your government sanctioned the monument. This is what we’ve come to.
In the late 80s Lorry Sant had named the bypass leading from Mellieha to Ghadira after his father, and a football stadium somewhere for his mother, or the other way round. A monument to Lorry Sant – I cringe because when I was a child his name would run chills down my spine.
Yes, that statue is a monument to this government’s tolerance and to the tolerance of those who vote PN, just as it is a monument to the Labour Party’s bad taste. Maybe we should put up a monument to Ceaucescu and Gaddafi next to it to have a series of monuments with the same theme.
Shame the Yanks with a combat engineering vehicle could not do to that statue what they did to Saddam’s in 2003.
The blind leading the blind, putting us all in a bind:
“.. u tghid mhux sejjer ma nemminx lill-Prof. Scicluna biex nemmen lill-Prim ?!”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110917/local/moody-s-report-refutes-government-spin-on-malta-s-economy-edward-scicluna.385082
Wasn’t he kicked out of the Labour Party? And if so, did Anglu Farrugia attend as deputy leader?
haha …you only got to know about this now? It happened ages ago. I thought you knew about it..
LOL! How bad was this guy? I’m not saying he is not, i mean he is from 80’s labour but cannot find much info about him on the net.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I think he was found guilty of violating human rights.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101012/local/echo-of-the-1970s-as-court-rules-lorry-sant-violated-human-rights.330931
Perhaps the statue was erected in recognition of Lorry Sant’s concerted efforts to preserve Malta’s neutrality status.
The unveiling of the statue could not have been more timely, just a few months before Libya flared up.
Back in 1982, when he was the Interior Minister, he travelled to Tripoli, at least twice, cap in hand, looking for handouts from the Gadhafi regime. Successfully, as it turned out.
As he told reporters at the time: “We rely on this aid to continue the policy of neutrality and to deny opportunities to the enemies of Malta and of the peoples in the region.”
Why exactly would the Interior Minister, rather than the Foreign Minister, be performing this act of diplomatic prostration? I have a few theories.
That the future Interior Minister should be paying tribute to this petty crook is a chilling reminder of quite how vacuous the country’s leadership is about to become.
@Chris Mifsud
Trust me, he was. You do not seem to be looking very hard, since the web is littered with info about this paragon.
Just go to Malta Today’s archives (before it became a rag) and you will have an eye- and belly-full.
Disgusting ! So they will be as corrupt as well !
Chris
Ibqa cert illi ghandek grazzja minn Alla li ma taf xejn u ma sibtx xejn fuq bniedem tiran u bully bhall ma kien.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vTNocceOeY
He wants judges to attend mass but then commemorates thugs and defends literature that is far from moral.
Liberal or not?
@Charles
Actually when Dr.Bonnici ‘defends literature that is far from moral’ is the only occasion when he does not put the proverbial foot in it.
Baxter, unless you are not Maltese, it is our govenment.
Maybe not the party you support.
Anyway shame on WHOEVER sanctioned such an awful deed.
@J Abela: Yes I have known about it for a long time and I like many others have been bitter ever since, just as bitter on seeing that perpetrators of atrocious acts in the 70s and 80s, though well known, have got away with it scott free.
When I said “your government” I meant “our government” of course.
The subtext to my comment was that since 1987 we’ve been seeing all sorts of monuments and plaques and busts erected to honour the worst dregs of Labour’s days in government, all with the blessing of the government, in the name of national reconciliation.
If this is reconciliation, here’s Baxxter’s proposal for a Monument to the Good Relations between Malta and Germany: a life-size statue of Adolf Hitler.
In keeping with the now institutionalised practice of using the old Maltese coat of arms for monuments to Labour politicians, the plinth should not bear the coat of arms of the Federal Republic, but of Nazi Germany.
Does this mean that the central government gave its blessing to the erection of a monument to Lorry Sant? Can I just apply to place a monument anywhere I deem appropriate? Who decides who is worthy of a monument or not – on public land?
Were the “Magic Kiosk” people at the Paola ceremony? Perhaps the sixth-seat aspirant can tell us.
That’s not a monument. It’s a bronze statue, which represents what it really shows. That makes it even harder to swallow.
We saw the statue-toppling of despised figures such as Stalin and Saddam. Here, we lay flowers. Incredible !
Lorry Sant is the ultimate symbol hate and greed.
Without doubt he went down in history books as an extremely corrupt politician ever. He lived to hate anyone who didn’t approve of his evil methods.
I can’t believe after all these years the MLP paid homage to the politician who permanently damaged that party.
The MLP wil never heal until their supporters rise up and blow this statue to pieces.
X’jippoppa l-puppatur!
If the PL is truly liberal, and has honestly turned over a new leaf, then why is it still celebrating the memory of such monsters?
Instead of letting us forget the past, as they often suggest, they continuously bring up the horrors of the 1971-87 regimes.
They never stop shooting themselves in the foot.
Chris,
Lorry Sant had his canvassers distribute blank exercise books with the covers serving as his personal propaganda leaflets in state schools.
My father refused to distribute these in his school and was promptly transferred.
Civil servants were made to gather outside their offices in Beltissebh and instructed to cheer with little red and white paper flags whenever Lorry Sant decided to hold an impromptu meeting.
That bad.
Too bad no one mentioned Agatha Barbara as Minister of Education addressing students at the Hamrun Lyceum and swearing at them when some cat-calls were aimed at her stalling speech! And, remember, Labour-leaning teachers were spread around purposely in order to prevent such incidents but, in defiance the students reacted to the incompetency of the ‘minister’.
THAT was really bad.
It seems that even then, the start of the ‘golden years’, the MLP had a paucity of suitable men and women able to head a ministry. Let’s face it, Lorry Sant was not an academic, either.
The only person they regarded as an icon was il-Perit and often referred to him as the brilliant Rhodes scholar who went to great pains in ensuring his degrees and diplomas were printed after his name.
Too bad years later he disappointed many followers by declaring that ‘degrees and diplomas were mere pieces of paper one would wrap anchovies in’. I hate to say it, but his works attest to his statement.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8730134/Libya-Gaddafi-forces-accused-of-multiple-war-crimes.html
Why does Gaddafi have such a bad haircut? Even KMB can give him a better one.
That monument should be placed in Sliema where dog-owners can take their dogs for a piss against it