How ridiculous, honestly – how can he?
Edward Scicluna has chosen the very apt forum of Norman Hamilton’s Super One Saturday evening show to announce that he will contest the general elections on, of course, the Labour ticket.
Scicluna is a strange fish.
You can have a perfectly normal and interesting conversation with him, but then he goes off and behaves in ways that are totally disengaged from the reality of his surroundings – like announcing his candidacy on a chavvy Super One show watched mainly by the white trash to whom he is going to have to appeal (ghax professur u jaf l-iskola).
Obviously, Joseph hopes that by including him, he will attract the floater’s vote – you know, because Edward Scicluna will drown out and obscure all the junk and trash about him, the inane remarks and the crass idiocy of people like Anglu Farrugia and Toni Abela.
But this is my point: how can Scicluna stand it? How can he stand to work with those people, to be associated with them?
Something’s not quite right here. It doesn’t ring true.
He must either be totally oblivious by nature or have no self-respect and dignity at all, if at his age and in his situation he is prepared to be a minister in the cabinet of a Super One hack young enough to be his son.
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Professor Scicluna probably taught elementary economics (words like investment, demand curve, inflation, employment) to Joseph Muscat in his first year at University. How can the Professor and MEP now take direction from Joseph the Super One hack?
May I respectfully remind you of St John the Baptist and Jesus. Some say Jesus was a follower of John who outshone his master. I imagine it is only a matter of thyme (oops!) before PN supporters will be fleeing to other parts of Europe or applying for refugee status in Australia, claiming they are being persecuted by the likes of Joseph Muscat and Edward Scicluna. Shall we see Daphne blossom into an invasive weed on these shores, I wonder! Now I do hope I have made no spelling or punctuation errors as teacher weed will no doubt bring such errors to my attention and in so doing tell the world how good she is an inklish (not sure if this is the right spelling or not!).
[Daphne – Please don’t tell me that an old whore like you has taken the time-honoured cliched path of discovering God and Jesus when the flesh has ceased to be weak and become floppy instead?]
Quite a reshuffle.
He will be the Labour Minister of Finance.
Remember when he used to predict election results?
In his budget speeches, he will start predicting the deficit with a precise level of error and specifying the standard deviation to two decimal places.
Can anyone imagine Edward Scicluna seated next to the likes of Silvio Parnis and Luciano Busuttil and having a conversation with them, or gazing starry-eyed at Joseph Muscat while he addresses the party faithful? I can’t.
Can you imagine him explaining “tuks and spend” to Anglu?
And that he is taxing or tusking petrol, not petlor?
And that he has to tusk the middle class so that he can pay for that new Empire Station from Sargas?
Many had high hopes with Lino Spiteri in the frontline back in 1996. It sounds so familiar.
[Daphne – I can’t understand why, given that Lino Spiteri was in Mintoff’s and KMB’s cabinets, nice man though he is.]
Read Lino’s ‘biography’ and you will see that even though Lino is a good economist , he couldn’t work with a bunch of political opportunists.
We don’t need economists to run our country. We need people who heed to good advice.
Mintoff’s formula of a Mr Know-it-all does not work in the long run, and will either result in a Scicluna takeover or a Lino Spiteri style resignation.
Lino Spiteri is NOT a good economist. He was responsible for the infamous “Bagit tal-Qawsalla”, which promised plentiful jobs and resulted in a sharp rise in unemployment.
And that was just one of them.
Like the rest, he’s a political opportunist. He didn’t believe Alfred Sant’s false promises. He knew removing VAT and replacing it with CET was fool’s gold, but he went along for the ride anyway.
Much of his (very short) time in office under Alfred Sant was spent writing opinion columns for various newspapers.
I am hardly surprised by this announcement, it has been on the cards since he contested the EP elections.
I would not be surprised to see a number of other high profile ‘respected’ people on the Labour ticket. It’s not as if Joseph has a pool of young and up-and-coming intelligent or experienced people that he can choose from.
You’re forgetting the Labour Elves – “The Modernisers”.
Edward Scicluna is Joseph Muscat’s war-horse, and will be elected in an instant. No one can say that the PL is made of economic numpties with him around.
The fact that he’s been behaving like finance/economy spokesman for the past few months, anyone could have seen this coming.
[Daphne – The big mystery is why he wasn’t involved in writing those farcical 51 proposals. Or, my god, was he?]
Dear Daphne, you write: “Or, my god, was he?” Far more elegant to say “Or was he?”
[Daphne – That kind of fastidious concern is for those with anxieties about being perceived as inelegant or working class. I have no such anxieties.]
You, Daphne, are suitably qualified to speak about lack of elegance. Money certainly does not buy class. You are cheap and you are vulgar. And, of course, you delete my contributions when they hit too close to the bone (as you have done in the last 24 hours). You expect others to valiantly face criticism even though you are too much of a coward to publish what does not strike a good chord with you. Pity GonziPN has not made you chairperson of il-Ministerju taz-Zibel. Few in Malta would be able to compete with you. What my ‘fastidious concerns’ demonstrate is that English is not your first language and that you lack a good grounding in English expression. Before criticisng others, you should have a good look at yourself.
Who IS this arsehole?
[Daphne – A man of a certain age who emigrated long ago lejn l-Awstralja and who has made a career out of being an oppressed Maltese homosexual, while living on the other side of the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khBTNm1GUh0 . Incidentally, your choice of invective is most unfortunate. ]
Jaghsru u jarmih.
One thing which has been overlooked is the possibility that Edward Scicluna found it tough going at the EP.
After all, his allegations were shot down three times and he figures that he stands a better chance at stardom since the LP slate of candidates resembles a brood of turkeys.
Yes that is exactly why they appointed him vice president of the European Parliament’s economic and monetary committee, because he found it tough.
All your comments berate anything that is LP, be it on the times of malta and here. Why cannot you see this as an opportunity for Malta to have a finance minister who is actually capable of coming up with fiscal policies which can weather the ‘maltemp’ around us.
The present finance minister can learn a lot from Profs Scicluna.
[Daphne – Careful, Richard. You’re letting your guise slip further. At the risk of sounding ageist, but it has to be said, Edward Scicluna will be SEVENTY-TWO when his first and only term as finance minister is over. The man has his future behind him already. Unless the fresh, new Labour Party now wishes to become the New Gerontocracy, in line with its old Iron Curtain friends, then I don’t see why they have to resort to a new star candidate aged 67, which is how old he will be when the election rolls round. Also, in English the abbreviation is Prof not Profs, and anyway, in Britain a politician would never call himself, or allow himself to be called, professor. Even if he is one.]
Anyway, it’s useless saying all this, like Labour have their ‘lanzit’ the NP have their Angus Blacks
Daphne, Italy just chose a 68 year old technocrat to resolve the fiscal issues of a country which might bring down the whole of the EU and what it stands for. Maybe his tenure will be much shorter than any future minister, however, age should not be an issue in such situations.
[Daphne – Never, and I mean never, refer me to Italian politics for comparative purposes. Italy is undemocratic, and you have just illustrated that point perfectly. All its systems are poisoned to the core, and rotten at the heart. I direct you instead to a real democracy, where the Chancellor of the Exchequer was born in 1971, and where nobody, in this day and age, would be paraded before the electorate for the very first time, with a view to becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer no less, at the grand old age of 67 I find it indicative of your bias that, in mentioning Italy, you mention only Mario Monti and not Il Cavaliere, the man he replaced, who was in his 70s..]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer may have not been paraded around before the electorate, however he surely got a taste of the spotlight with the help of Nathalie Rowe and his links to Coulson.
[Daphne – Excuse me? This from somebody who thought nothing of the liaison between the leader of the Opposition and Sabrina Agius? I said nothing about ‘being paraded around before the electorate’. I merely pointed out that I’ve noticed how where democracy is weakest, a real or quasi-gerontocracy develops. This is because, in such societies, old man are valued and respected as authoritarian figures.]
THIS IS NOT Britain – get over it
Age is not issue here – you are just so discriminatory. Why not attack his ideas and politics rather than his age.
[Daphne – Get over it? Like hell I will, and let all you Sicilian peasants carry on taking over. As for his ideas, wot dey?]
And what about the great Eddie Fenech Adami who was still a PM, at the age of 70. Oh I forgot not 72, 2 years really make a difference when your old.
[Daphne – Idiot. He didn’t START at 70. He retired at 70, having been in the Maltese parliament and party leader for decades. He was 42 when he became PN leader, 47 when he won his first general election in 1981, and 53 when he won his second general election and became prime minister. He didn’t contest his first general election at 67. Honestly. Try thinking sometimes.]
Why is Edwar Scicluna contesting the first election at 67….then being an MEP doesn’t count as experience uwxx….you must be joking, oh shut up these arguments are ridiculous….try to find some article of his where he said a word rather another and you don’t agree….dak li qed nistenna wara dawn l argumenti assurdi li qed itella dwaar il Profs.
[Daphne – No, an EP election doesn’t count. The European Parliament is full of oddballs.]
And Malta’s parliament isn’t…m hemmx silvio parnis, luciano busuttil, anglu farrugia and the list never ends, jew f din is sitwazzjoni dawn ma japplikawx….shaddd uppp
Scicluna reminds me of Robert Koch. With a difference.
At the peak of his illustrious career, Koch fell for a young actress who was, reputedly, strikingly beautiful and thirty years his junior. As a result, the entire scientific world of the 19th century was shaken to its foundations.
Scicluna fell for the PL.
Pathetic.
You’re missing the point, Daphne.
Do you really think that Edward Scicluna (just like AST, Debono Grech, Kristall and the rest) gives a toss about Joseph?
They’ll run rings around him, especially Edward Scicluna, who has a brain.
Joseph gets the title of PM but the ‘lads’ will be doing whatever they please.
Do you really think that Joseph is going to stop Kristall from terrorizing teenage girls?
Or that he (Joseph) could possibly argue a point with Edward Scicluna?
Alfred Sant didn’t even listen to his ministers – look at Lino Spiteri.
Now that he’s been replaced by Joseph everyone fancies himself as a minister, ‘cos he’s confident he’ll have a free hand.
You’re right at least on one point, Tim. Even so called journalists can hope to form part of a future cabinet.
All you have to do is bad mouth your own employer, on the employer’s own premises and preferably during working hours.
While you’re at it, you majtezwel use the employer’s own equipment, electronic or otherwise. And then cry foul when you’re caught.
You all know what this means, right? With Scicluna gone, Bedingfield will have a clear run. He will join Joseph Cuschieri as MEP.
Europe – I’ll cry for you.
And that’s not the name of a song this time.
Oh, thanks for that Baxxter. For a moment I thought it was Norman Lowell’s turn. Wikipedia says Lowell got 3,559 votes in 2009. Did Bedingfield really get more votes than that?
I’m not talking about a by-election. Who will Labour’s star candidates be at the next EP election?
Scicluna was one. Louis Grech and John Attard Montalto are the other two. Then there’s sacrificial lamb Joseph Cuschieri.
The front runners of the rest of 2008’s pack are Glenn Bedingfield and Miriam Dalli or the other one – forgot her name.
And not one is fit to sit in that parliament. This is not what Charlemagne had in mind when mumbled something about “uniting the Franks, the Lombards and those troublesome Saxons” to Alcuin.
The best performers among the unelected PL candidates in 2009 were Marlene Mizzi and Claudette Abela Baldacchino. Mizzi must be the favourite because she will get back the 9000 votes that were transferred to Scicluna when she was eliminated.
My, what Marlene Mizzi could do with an EU car and chauffeur. Think of the possibilities. Perhaps Labour will make her chairman of Air Malta, then her business can go international with door to door deliveries.
Having slept over the problem, and woken up to a cup of invigorating spiked Earl Grey, I think I have solved the conundrum.
Let us proceed by logic and inference.
Scicluna appeals to the ABC1 demographic, the “floaters”. The pépé vote so desperately courted by Labour.
With him gone, the role of oriflamme du pépé is in some difficulty. Sure, there’s Louis Grech, but he too needs a wingman.
Enter Marlene Mizzi. She tried hard to appeal to the Teeny Beach electorate last time round, with her Burberry scarves, and cheery clipped responses. That facade has been somewhat dented by our Daphne’s journalism and Mizzi’s own imprudent forays on Facebook.
Scicluna’s replacement is likely to be the candidate who scrapes most of his fellow party competitors’ votes. That means someone who comes close to being elected at the first count. Ergo, someone who appeals to the great unwashed Core. Shudder.
Besides which, Louis Grech will soon leave the European parliament when Joseph Muscat removes Richard Cachia Caruana in 2013.
So let us recap.
Situation in 2011: pépé 3 vs 1 hamalli (that’s Joseph Cuschieri)
Situation in 2013: pépé 1 vs 3 hamalli (that’s assuming John Attard Montalto stays on)
P.S. Semplici – cara daqs il-kristall
Let’s be honest! Labour will definitely win the next general election. Can’t we be at least happy we will have a very decent and capable minister of economic affairs?????
How many PN cabinet members can we seriously compare to Prof SCICLUNA!!!
[Daphne – You see, there you go again.]
Although I actually really dislike the Anglu’s and Toni’s I must say that you r bias is becoming truly sickening.
[Daphne – No, you’ve always been predisposed towards Labour, which translates into being antagonistic towards me. I remember your comments, irregular though they are. If you dislike ‘the Anglu’s and Toni’s’ it’s because they embarrass you and you recognise that they affect (negatively) perception of Labour.]
Jekk tnehhi lil Edward Scicluna mil-Lejber min jifdal ta’ stoffa? Debono Grech tax-Xingel, Anglu tat-Taks Fors, Toni Abela tat-Teletubbies, Vella li jidghi u jitpastaz fil-Parlament, Vella li jaf daqs il-pala ta’ idejh lil Botom, Trigona li jqahhab lil Malta biex igibilna l-flus minn barra, jew mexxej li ghadu jhammeg fil-harqa politka u jikteb lil Sabrina u jinqabad filfatt li qed jinganna l-principji li jghid li jemmen fihom billi jinqeda biha?
U ija you must say Daphne, this is one of those guys who you really can’t find anyhting to say about, aaahhh but there is the age factor…..the factor that he is Profs (because it sounds nicer with the ‘s’) and has such experience that could prove detrimental in a world where economists are taking priority over every minister and in other states becoming PM,…..ohhh that fact is not to be mentioned.
[Daphne – Actually, there is a great deal I can say, but so far I have kept the gloves on because he is just an MEP and hasn’t done or said that much. But now he’s entered the national political arena, those gloves come off. And it won’t be just me talking about him, either. People have learned the hard way – Jeffrey, Robert et al – that candidate need strong scrutiny. I hope Scicluna isn’t going to lie down and weep. We’ve had enough of that from others already. This man is asking us to put him in our parliament, to give him our votes, and to make him a cabinet minister.]
Then bring them on, we’ve had enough of this ridiculous age argument
[Daphne – We? Had enough? In a little under 12 hours?]
leaving the issue of his colleagues and boss aside for a moment, its probably best not to get too caught up on his age, there are some better examples of geriatic politicians than Monti out there. Take Vince Cable, all round decent chap and well respected City man. He was the Lib Dems’ treasury hopeful in last election, now business secretary – and he’s 68.
[Daphne – Vince Cable has been in British politics for as long as I can remember. He didn’t start at 68.]
Daphne, here is my take on this: It finally occurred to Joseph Muscat that many people, including Labour supporters, don’t think that he is capable and mature enough to run the country let alone manage the finances.
Also, he must have been told that Anglu Farrugia and Toni Abela do not cut the mustard, so to gain some gravitas he brought on board Professor Scicluna.
If he gets to be the Minister of Finance he will have to put his voodoo economics to work.
He can teach all he wants about economics but mapping an economic plan that will stimulate the economy while simultaneously increasing jobs in the private sector and lowering the deficits is a different thing.
Off topic, but Saviour Balzan’s videoblog dated 29th November got two comments – shouldn’t be hard to decipher, Salv.
Many are convinced .that the P.L will win the coming eletions.
I, on my part, have not given up yet.
I am sure that the P.N.can still win, if of course some drastic measures are taken within the party.
I don’t have to point out these measures. I have been writing about them many times.
In the event that the PL actually wins, It would be to the benefit of our country to have people like Prof Scicluna in the government.
[Daphne – I’m sorry, but I absolutely do not agree. His very decision to contest for a party led by somebody like Joseph Muscat already opens him up to accusations of questionable judgement.]
Ther is no doubt that he is a man who knows exactly what is needed for Malta.
[Daphne – Actually, Silvio, he doesn’t. He has described the current government’s handling of the economy as disastrous, prompting me to ask how, what, when and how, and what he would have done instead.]
The big question would be, will his fellow ministers allow him to work, once they start seeing him outshine them?
[Daphne – Your assumption that he will outshine them is very touching.]
Experience has taught me that there is usually more competition and envy between members of the same party than with those of the opposing party.
As a matter of fact, I augur the P L to recruit more persons like Prof Scicluna to join their ranks, for after all what we all wish for is a good and stable government to give us all a better living.
Silvio,
In that case, who ‘advised’ Joseph to take him up? Is it a contingency plan to avoid a repeat of 1998? Sant was adamant to go to elections, Abela wasn’t.
In the end it resulted to be a personality clash bringing down that administration.
By your reasoning, this move confirms the present leader is weak and needs support.
It does seem someone could have come up with a spare leader to replace Joseph should the going get tough. What remains to be seen is who’s pushing this proposal through.
What’s common to all the PL finance spokesmen? They all will be carrying a karta azzjan by the next election.
[Daphne – They have one ALREADY. Karmenu Vella was born in 1950.]
According to The Sunday Times, this morning, Scicluna said that “the electorate would be given a viable choice of a party in government with a STRONG team of QUALIFIED and EXPERIENCED people” – for heaven’s sake, Scicluna, who are these people?
Or will you tell us after the elections?
If Mario Draghi can run the ECB, for an 11 year term, aged 64, then I guess Prof Scicluna can manage Malta’s finances at the age of 67. Actually, party politics aside, I’ll have him anyday instead of “Auditor” Tonio Fenech. I cringe when I see him at ECOFIN with some of the best European financial minds. We can do better than that.
[Daphne – Feel free to have him any day. Just be away that he’s not Mario Draghi. Or DSK, for that matter.]
There goes the ‘pjan ta’ John Dalli’.
‘Sargas electricity plan will cost more’ on timesofmalta.com
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111204/local/Sargas-electricity-plan-will-cost-more.396661
Sargas suggested to mix the ash generated from the power station with concrete. This will be used to surface roads and to produce bricks. The ash from coal fired power stations contains radioactive substances. Will we introduce this ash in our homes?
Why did you have to hear from The Sunday Times to know that coal power pollutes more than gas power and that disposing of waste products is costly in financial and environmental terms?
In the Sunday Times article,Derek Lennox states that ” there is no substitute for a project team to visit actual plants,” said Mr Lennon.”
The problem is that there are no actual plants in operation: none have been, are being or are on order to be constructed. The Stockholm power plant uses an experimental version for research and development by Sargas but the verdict on it is not out yet. It appears that Sargas wants to recoup its investment in research and development on a yet untested process from the Maltese taxpayer.
I say treat with extreme care and do not buy a pig in a poke.
Related to my previous post, please read the following:
Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste on Scientific American.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste
Objectively, Prof. Scicluna’s decision to relinquish his MEP seat in exchange for one in the national Parliament is strategically a plus for Labour’s bid to win the coming General Elections.
If the Nationalists really want to give the PL a run for their money, they should consider convincing Dr Simon Busuttil to follow Prof. Scicluna’s example.
It is quite clear that the future of Dr Busuttil is in Malta, in the national government. Many would prefer to see him giving the PN a fighting chance to win the upcoming elections, instead of waiting for an electoral defeat to take the place of a defeated Dr Gonzi in a few months’ time.
[Daphne – I agree with you completely.]
Same here.
Hear hear.
When the election comes along, they will get the message through that Gonzi will only do a year or two and then he will be replaced by someone else, don’t you worry about that…
Au contraire, I am worried, because PN will lose the election and then it will matter not one jot whether Lawrence Gonzi decides to stay on for one year or five.
He needs him to reduce Sargas-generated energy bills.
If it takes good men to change the tides of this morally poor and decadent party then let it be.
[Daphne – Here’s the obvious dilemma, Village. Good men don’t wish to be associated with the Labour Party. If a good man wishes to be associated with the Labour Party and get involved in its workings, then by definition there’s a problem somewhere there. You just have to find it – or wait until it emerges, by which time it’s generally too late, as with Alfred Sant (not for me, though).]
Dak ta’ xaghru twila fir-ritratt – miggieled mal-parrukkier? – jigi missier Joseph fil-wisgha.
Is it a coincidence that Edward Scicluna accepted only when the super minister for energy did so? Am I wrong in saying both share a pro EU stance?
She is, after all, THE king maker.
Something tells me Scicluna just doesn’t like Tonio Fenech, and is doing all this political stuff to get one over on him.
He was (apparently) unbiased and unaffiliated till 2008.
After Fenech’s first budget in 2008, he spoke openly against it and criticised it.
He then officially joined the PL for the MEP elections, the first partisan move in his life. Since then, all he’s been doing is criticising the government.
I think he just doesn’t like how an accountant like Fenech can be setting fiscal policy when he feels it should be an economist. Funny that, when Labour’s spokesmen on the economy are a notary and an architect.
Here’s another candidate.
http://deodebattista.wordpress.com/
I am wondering why the Labour Party is announcing its candidates already and no word from the PN.
wot they? well if you do not them then why have a go at him. I have no idea – I was hoping you would articulate them for us and tell us why you think he would be unsuitable. On a more serious question. Do you have a view on what person/people would be appropriate to lead and participate in an an opposition party to enable a democratic environment. Do you believe that oppostions are potential alternatives to governments.? Do you think the PN should be there for ever and a day – so that we would eventually become a one part state. Assuming all that that all that is wrong with the PL is too dnagerous for Malta’s stability prosperity and freedom. what is your solution. Permananet PN?
[Daphne – Oh hi, Raphael Dingli all the way down there in Australia. Nice try at faking a troll Labour comment, except that the sentiments haven’t been faked, have they.]