Ah, but Karmenu Il-Guy can do batter

Published: October 31, 2012 at 1:05pm

That’s the tragedy of the impending Labour victory, isn’t it? Things are going so well, but we feel obliged to throw a spanner into the works because we’re fed up of seeing the same person at the helm and want to try a glorified Super One reporter instead.

High risk strategy, yes, but we like the frisson that comes with it. Life can get too boring when things are going smoothly.




70 Comments Comment

  1. Lestrade says:

    “batter” as in “fish and chips”?

    [Daphne – No, batter as in the general Maltese inability to pronounce English vowels.]

    • Quite nice says:

      And batter as in ‘batter to death’.

      Electing a Labour government will kill the duck that makes the golden eggs, as one prolific commentator on timesomfalta.com once famously said

    • bystander says:

      Don’t remind me please. If only there was a decent chippy on the island. And real ale. The stuff that dreams are made of.

    • Toninu says:

      That’s because we’re all patriotic and speak MEnglish instead.

    • silvio says:

      I’ve seen T-Shirts.

      Bodybuilders Do It Better.

      Maltese Men Do It Better.

      and various others,but not
      Il Guy does it better
      Have you any proof?
      Or is it just hearsay?

  2. Roughjustice says:

    Daphne, oh Daphne, Shame on you….

    It should read…

    Eh! Karmenu il-Guy can do batter but.

    All that money spent uselessly on your education.

  3. mandango70 says:

    You’ve been about this “boring” line a few times but I fail to see how you can perceive it to be such.

    How can anyone possibly classify as boring the following, beats me:
    – one Minister voted out through a No confidence vote;
    – an Ambassador is sent packing, later to revealed to have retained the title albeit there is a evident missing fundamental bit;
    – a vote of no confidence has been tabled in another Minister (which will probably never be debated);
    – the concept of “Parliamentary democracy” (that Malta defines itself as) being suspended for many months, thus putting a quetion mark on our democractic credentials;
    – dodgy contracts, to put it mildly, in the energy generation and health services;
    – a “potential” vote of no confidence in yet another Minister (the one responsible for Health);
    – Malta’s EU commissioner who was made to resign for alleged wrongdoing in connection to a bribe of €60 million;
    – an MP resigning from the Party ticket, thus going solo, and in coalition with the Government (thus expect arm twisting and what not);
    – two other Government MPs, alongside the one mentioned above being banned from standing on the PN ticket next time round we’re called to the polls;
    – controversial and hefty pay packet increases to the Prime Minister and his merry man (and women) behind everybody’s back;
    – creation of fictious (and possibly illegal) posts of Parliamentary Assistantst, paid out of public coffers, to appease dissenters (that originally counted more than the 3 mentioned above)….

    Need I continue? Can anyone in his right senses really call this “boring”?

    This idea of yours (undoubtedly shared by many others) that when the going gets good its bad news for Labour and its supporters, is totally misplaced.

    Some of us, you may wish to note, do not vote with a view to spice up our boring lives and go for high risk strategies. We are no bungee jumpers, we do not need any adrenalin boost. We just want a better way forward, for us, and our children. If we do the wrong decisions, than we’d have learnt a lesson and know better the next time round.

    [Daphne – Try not making the wrong decision from the outset, mandango. That’s what the smart people do.]

    • Toninu says:

      Mandango, you stress on a “Minister voted out through a No confidence vote.”

      Karmenu Vella has been a Minister and was voted out by the public itself (not a primadonna seeking attention) … twice!

    • Etil says:

      You cannot in all fairness say that you have not had a better life these past fifteen years.

      What you have quoted are not really life threatening episodes.

      Admittedly mistakes have been made by the present government but they pale into insignificance when compared to what the government has done despite what is going on in other countries. It is impossible to think that what is happening in other countries has no bearing on Malta.

      I do not agree with you that could take a wrong decision and then learn the lesson. One should be so very careful not to take a wrong decision in the first place. Finally I do not think that our children are faring that badly at all.

      Be careful that what you are now taking for granted may not be so in the next years under a PL government who has for 15 years not been able to come up with solutions to various problems but just stood on the fence and taking infinite pleasure at whatever goes wrong in Malta and just blaming the government for it.

      • Etil says:

        Read – what the government has achieved for Malta despite…..

      • mandango70 says:

        It doesn’t have to come to life threatening episodes to vote out of office a party.

        Do not underestimate the gravity of the public debt that consecutive Nationalist administrations have been mostly responsible for. And there’s worse, its been said (and I’m still waiting for the Prime Minister’s reaction to this) that about 50% of the national debt has been accumulated during Gonzi’s own premiership (and Minister Fenech for most of this period as either the Parliamentary secretary or Finance Minister himself).

        I am sorry, but these are not petty issues. This is what drove other countries into the wall, and austerity measures are no fun trust me.

    • Galian says:

      “Some of us, you may wish to note, do not vote with a view to spice up our boring lives and go for high risk strategies.

      We are no bungee jumpers, we do not need any adrenalin boost. We just want a better way forward, for us, and our children. If we do the wrong decisions, than we’d have learnt a lesson and know better the next time round.”

      So I take it you will be voting for the Nationalist Party after all, mandango70.

      • yor/malta says:

        In general the policies are good but a change in crew is needed , Baxxter kindly list your preferences .

    • Daphne: You should have avoided that word ” SMART” as it brings back memories of those 5,600, 7,000, 8,000 jobs promised … you know where !

      • DUST says:

        Have you not yet understood that having practically full employment for the thousands of recent IT graduates, despite the global crisis faced by the Smart city backers, is an incredible achievement?

        Are you stupidly partisan or simply malicious?

    • Andre Grech says:

      And yet the country’s economy is doing well with everyone waking up every morning to go to work.

      I guess you don’t remember how the country looked 25 years ago. We were 50 years back the average European country. And now we are ten years ahead of them.

      It’s good to lead a country and the people complain on ministers who lose their Jon due to envy from other MPs that complaining that they can’t find a job or that the government takes more than half their wage through taxation.

      Don’t worry you are heading to 5 years of happy ministers and government MPs who will ruin the economy and make our life hell. You wouldn’t complain about a new power station, a new parliament or new hospital because the new PL government will go bankrupt and won’t afford to improve the country.

    • Lomax says:

      Mandango, comments as yours really make me wonder whether we’re living in the same galaxy, let alone in the same country.

      “If we do the wrong decisions, than (sic) we’d have learnt a lesson and know better the next time round”.

      OK, so, let me try to understand this: so you need to make a mess of things before appreciating what you have now, right?

      I’m quite confused, I really am. Mandango, we’re here in Malta wasting time splitting hairs on whether Arriva have the right bus tyres on and whether some male politicians who would certainly feel more at ease in a tutu whilst most of Europe, bar one or two countries, are battling the highest-ever recorded unemployment. Our unemployment rate is 6.4% whilst in neighbouring Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal and all the 23 EU States lingering behind us people are struggling to find a job and retain it.

      This is, as far as I’m concerned, the single most important element in our economy. Indeed, one cannot ignore the record numbers in tourism, the gargantuan infrastructural projects, the sheer numbers at all our higher educational institutions, and the list goes on and on.

      Yet, you mention the democratic deficit. Or whatever you called it. I can’t be bothered to scroll up and read because, I’m sorry Mandango, people who wait for a mess to happen for them to decide then to change their way fail to realise that lift is a bitch which only gives you an opportunity once. Screw that, and life is screwed. That is life and frankly if you haven’t understood this of life, then, I’m sorry to say, you need to gain more maturity.

  4. Teo says:

    The impending Labour victory is largely a consequence of what every survey shows to be a swing of around 10% from PN to Labour.

    I accept that there are hardcore Labourites whom it is useless even trying to reason with, but why there should be such a substantial part of the electorate who voted PN in 2008, and now intends to vote Labour is nothing short of a mystery to me, even allowing for those who switch allegiance depending on whether their MEPA permit is issued or not, and other purely selfish issues.

    Are some people so dumb to really think, that the day after Labour are in power, their water and electricity bills are going to vanish into thin air?

    • el bandido guapo says:

      The PN will lose because several Nationalists will abstain, not because they will vote Labour.

      Very obviously some things were not done quite right by the PN government, and some things that were done right were not popular with those who did not want them to be.

      Unfortunately a government does not function by promises but by actions and hence there is no way that everyone will be happy all the time.

      Which is why I found Alfred Sant’s reason given for Labour’s last election defeat as the “power of incumbency” as either a declaration of stupidity or an attempt at deceiving only the easily deceived.

      “Incumbency” is a major liability, except in some African banana republic.

      The last time incumbency lost out to empty promises was in 1996, thankfully that did not last long, but we will be having a repeat in 2013.

    • Teo: Simple really. It’s because many “thinking” nationalists no longer believe whatever is said or promised by Lawrence Gonzi.His credibility is gone with the wind !

  5. ciccio says:

    How many exclamation marks does this good news deserve, Mr. Privitera?

  6. ciccio says:

    We desperately need a Super One hack at the helm.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20153497

  7. Daphne,I have asked you to lets us have your academic qualifications. And compare them to those of Dr. Joseph Muscat. Have you done so ? If, yes , let me know where I can find them in your blogs.

    • Toninu says:

      Qualifications do not necessarily mean that you’re able to lead a country.

      Tinsiex kif kien jiddiskrivijom Mintoff ic-certifikati (kwalifiki) ta … tiftakar inti Eddy ghax minjaf kemm kont iccapcap malli jghid hekk.

      • Steve Forster says:

        Of course look at some of the idiots who won the Presidency of the USA! Intelligence either real or perceived has nothing to do with it.

    • ciccio says:

      What qualifications do you have, Mr. Privitera, besides being an anti-EU Mintoffjan?

    • Aunt Hetty says:

      Sur Privitera, qatt kont taf li dak li-mexxa Solidarnosc fil- Polonja, li ma certa Karol Woijtilia waqqa’ l imperu kommunista u iventwalment sar il-president ta’ pajjizu ma kienx jaf jikteb u jaqra u kien fitter fIt-tarzna ta Gdansk?

      Ghal Lech Walesa qed nirreferi.

      • Aunt Hetty: Dawk in-nies bhal Walesa ghal PN storikament kienu meqjusa bhala ” l-filosofi bil-boiler suit ” li m’humiex tajbin biex imexxu. Il-PN dejjem kien maghruf bhala l-partit tal-professjonisti u s-sinjuri. Ara kif il-gvern tal-PN kien nehha ” Diretturi-Haddiema”.! Jigifieri kieku Walesa kien Malti, il-PN ma kienx ihallih lanqas Direttur f’xi Bord !

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        Joseph Muscat mhux professjonist? Mhux sinjur?

        Eddy Privitera, iskot ghal dejjem.

    • ninnu says:

      Eddy…….. how about showing us YOUR academic qualifications?

      • ninnu: Uri ismek l-ewwel imbaghad nghidlek ! Wara kollox kienet Daphne li ddiskriviet lil Dr. Muscat bhala biss ” gurnalist” ! Ghalhekk staqsejta biex turi xi kwalifiki ghandha halli nqabbluhom ma ta’ Dr. Muscat. Nahseb li ndunajt li Daphne MA LAQGHETX IT-TALBA TIEGH! !

    • Ghoxrin Punt says:

      Daphne is not trying to run the country and is fully qualified to be a blogger.

      Joseph on the other hand is trying to do his utmost to do that and I fear that the only thing he might have in his favour is a qualification (not that I am too sure what he is actaully qualified in), because to date I have heard absolutely nothing of substance emanating from him. And i say this as someone who thought, isa, Labour are trying to change, when he was first elected leader. Unfortunately bl’isa bqajt.

    • WhoamI? says:

      Eddy getting a hard-on for Dottor Gowzef Murtal. Hallina Eddy, mur inheba ja xih shun.

      • WhoamI?- Prosit tal-isem li uzajt, jixraqlek hafna. Int diga mort tinheba wara dan l-isem ?

      • WhoamI? says:

        I don’t ordinarily show who I am, but I do on The Times. I answer you using my full name, but those Muppets at timesofmalta.com never upload my comments.

        On the other hand, you are very fond of who you are – rightly or wrongly – and you are constantly hovering around everywhere trying to find a reason for your existence.

        The Times love you because it keeps their visitor numbers high. They wouldn’t do anything to stop you making an utter fool of yourself lest their visitors go down.

        At your age, it’s ridiculous to continue harping about the injustices that you suffered in the past. You have no recourse and nothing will make it right now.

        You will have lived as a bitter man, and died a bitter man that very few people liked. Others had no choice but to like you.

        Nerga nghidlek, mur inheba, ja xih shun. Kieku minnek nisthi nuri is-sahna li ghandi ghall-Leader glorjuz – il Mini Mintoff, iz-Zero z-zghir.

      • Toninu says:

        Eddy, ma nafx ghalfejn qed titkaza ghax ma juzawx isimhom.

        Wara kollox l-Orizzont li tant thaddan hija wahda mill-ftit gazzetti li thalli lin-nies jiktbu bil-laqam (jew isem fittizju) biex ma jurux min huma.

    • yor/malta says:

      Eddy P – not worth a reply , plain and simple .

    • elephant says:

      Privitera, Daphne is not a party leader, she is not hoping to run the country – she does not need to have qualifications to run the country. I know what Muscat’s qualifications are and for his followers “Doktor” is so oh so important!

    • COD says:

      Thanks to the Nationalist government, Joseph Muscat could read for a degree at the University, and go on to become an MEP.

    • Angus Black says:

      Joseph’s inane statements and promises certainly defy his ‘qualifications’.

      Why compare the qualifications of a possible future PM to those of a journalist? Do they share the same responsibilities?

  8. “Things are going so well………”, wrote Daphne. I guess she had the new power station extension in mind when she wrote this !

  9. Or the World Bank report citing Malta as the WORST country in the whole of Europe where to do business !

  10. Snoopy says:

    Eddy P, have you forgotten to take your tablets for the past few days?

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