Jason Micallef thinks that the PN billboard is ageist

Published: November 1, 2012 at 5:18pm

Jason Micallef was on Super One radio this morning (you know, for a change), giving his opinion of the current PN billboard showing those members of Joseph’s team who date back to the Mintoff-KMB-Sant years.

He said: “GonziPN jikkundanna lil dawk in-nies li ghandhom ‘il fuq minn 50 sena biex jitwarrbu u jmorru taht hajt!”

It’s hardly about that, Jason. The Nationalist Party can’t be said to have any problem with people over 50. The difficulty with those people on the billboard is not their age, but their – how shall I put it nicely? – experience of the Mintoff-KMB-Sant years.

Yes, by default this means they are obviously 50+, but that’s not the issue. If they joined Labour now at 50+, nobody would be bothered. It’s their historical record that knocks their credibility. And their integrity.




62 Comments Comment

  1. mandango70 says:

    George Vella included? And what about the Sant era? I thought this country needed a good dose of Santism.

    • Angus Black says:

      Your own Labour Party could not stand a dose of ‘Santism’ any more than 22 months. It is amazing how the Sant government keeps popping in and out depending on Labour’s convenience.

    • WhoamI? says:

      We got 22 months worth of Santism, and the country said no to Santism for the subsequent 180 months, up to now at least.

      • You know who put a stop to Dr. Sant’s government, don’t you ? The PN was lucky because Dr. Sant was a gentleman-politician, And realizing that if he stayed on we would have had a similar farce to what we have witnessed these last 180 months, he decided to go for an election knowing very well that Labour would lose the election.

      • yor/malta says:

        Eddy P . The battle was between Mintoff and A Sant , now decide who was the gentleman .Mr E P you have a a very short memory and you suffer from a prejudiced opinion and memory ,but do not worry we shall remind you of your lapses .

      • ciccio says:

        Mr. Privitera, your argument here is devoid of any logic.

        If Dr. Sant realised “that if he stayed on we would have had a similar farce to what we have witnessed these last 180 months,” then why did he not stay on? What difference did Dr. Sant’s decision to go for an election make, according to your logic?

      • ciccio: Dr. Sant respected himself and the party much more than remaining in office and bringing the party to the miserable state GonziPN is in today ! If that is not “logic” for you, it certainly is for all decent, thinking people !

      • me says:

        Mr. Privitera, according to 1998 surveys MLP should have won the election by about 10,000, and it was on this presumption that Dr. Sant called elections, but lost by 13000. A difference of 23000; so do not count chickens as there are still 22% who are undecided and surely they are not LP supporters.

      • verita says:

        Privitera would you please tell us how long it took Dr Sant to call an election after the vote of no confidence.

        And this after a list of conciliation meetings that took place. And now please note that Dr Gonzi said that the monent a vote of no confidence is passed against his government he will tender his resignation to the president.

      • AJS says:

        Eddy, you depict Sant as a man with gift of foresight.

        I cannot understand why Labour chose an inexperienced news anchor instead of the top man of a metal foundry as leader.

        Further, in the world of academia, a Harvard DBA usually trumps a Bristol PhD. Harvard is Ivy-league while Bristol Business School doesn’t even make it to the top 30 in the UK according to the latest official Research Assessment Exercise (http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2008/dec/18/rae-2008-business-and-management-studies).

        Surely with such a genius at the helm, Labour wouldn’t need to rely anew on a bunch of communist throwbacks and bullies.

        Yet Sant was voted out, Muscat dishes out diatribes as if there’s no tomorrow, and slowly Labour is returning to the politics of Mintoff. Tassew Progressiv. Issa bil-worker-directors tara kemm timxi il quddiem Malta.

      • ciccio says:

        Why, Mr. Privitera – are you telling me that the Malta Labour Party is not in a miserable state?

        Just look at the above picture of the PN billboard.

        What’s changed since 1998?

    • Jozef says:

      Ah, but that’s why Joseph won’t speak, lest he break the bad news to the Mintoffjani.

      Marlene Farrugia said it’s not her prerogative to give details regarding electricity tariffs. We take it they won’t tell us until after the election.

      Joe Sammut was cornered to whether Labour will stick to the contract with Arriva, mumbling something to enforcement of the conditions of contract. He also said he only read the contract this week. To be continued.

      Helena Dalli admitted that the audit process exists already and maybe experience should be a factor. Still, things to be concluded later.

      Edward Scicluna keeps hinting at radical reforms when these should have been announced during the congress, one asks why bother going to Ta’ Qali if proposals are left to a couple of statements in an article

      Then there’s Evarist Bartolo who’s taken it on himself to challenge the MFSA as some oppressive confraternity, private banks included. On Maltastar, Labour’s official news portal.

      Santism, a tendency to ignore the social contract, not being of political maneouvres, is what we’ll get.

      • Baxter: M’ghandkhom lil HADD li almenu kapaci jaqfel iil-lazz taz-zarbun tal-Prof. Edward Scicluna !

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        “M’ghandkom”? Ahna min ahna?

        U by the way, jien stess inhabbatha mal-Prof. Edward Scicluna. U nirbahlu. Mela iskot. Ghal dejjem. Int u l-injoranza pesti tieghek.

    • H.P. Baxxter says:

      What exactly is Santism? I looked it up in my history book, it simply means total opposition to the EU.

    • ciccio says:

      Santism died with the “Partnership – l-ahjar ghazla.”

  2. George Grech says:

    Jason qed jilghabha ta’ l-iblah. Jekk le mela huwa iblah.

    • Josette Jones says:

      Jew jahseb li hafna nies boloh biex jemmnuh. U nahseb li ghandu ragun.

      • Jiosette Jones: Imissek indunajt sa llum lil min mhux qed jemmnu l-poplu Malti – lil Lawrence Gonzi .

      • ciccio says:

        Mr. Privitera, as far as I am aware, according to MaltaToday’s surveys, there is less than 50% of the electorate which would vote for a PL government now.

        More than 50% of the electorate would vote PN or is still undecided.

        Your argument is not mathematically correct.

      • ciccio: Mela mohhok telaq ? Int ghaddejt l-indecizi ma GonziPN ?? Mela kieku jien nghodd l-indecizi mal-PL, kemm tkun ferm akbar il-maggoranza tas-survey ???!!!

        F’dak is-survey kemm qalu li se jivvutaw GonziPN ? Hemm differenza ta’ 12 % favur il-PL !!!

      • ciccio says:

        Sur Privitera, halli inkellmek bil-Malti, forsi tifhem. Mohhi hawn ghadu.

        L-ewwel nett, kien Alfred Sant tas-Santism tieghek li kien ghodd ‘l dawk li ma vvutawx ma dawk li vvutaw le fir-referendum tal-EU, u hareg jghid li l-partnership rebah. U bilhaqq, dak inhar Joseph Muscat kien jaqbel ma’ Sant.

        It-tieni nett, li qed nghid jien hu li galadarba fis-surveys ma hemmx maggoranza cara ta’ iktar minn 50% favur il-Partit Laburista, int ma tistghax tikkonkludi li l-poplu, u cioe il-maggoranza, ma hix qed temmen lil Lawrence Gonzi. Hija cara li l-indecizi ma humiex qed jghidu li ma jemmnux lil Lawrence Gonzi, u allura l-argument tieghek huwa hazin.
        Int qed tikkonkludi fuq maggoranza relattiva. Jien qed nikkonkludi fuq maggoranza assoluta.

  3. Luigi says:

    Have you read the Times? Simon will be ready to take Franco Debono on? Is this a sign of surrender?

    He might sound reconciliatory but eventually he won’t be. It’s in-built in his thinking and upbringing.

    But it would not be a bad idea “taghtih il-habel u jitghallaq”.

  4. Harry Purdie says:

    I hear that little Joey is about to make a pre-election announcement:

    ‘Henceforth, in order to reinforce our new concept of Labour being the most feminine political party in the land, I decree that all male candidates must now wear tutu dresses with ballerina tights when campaigning, All female candidates must wear jockstraps with hard cups’.

  5. TinaB says:

    Oh, but my guess is that Jason Micallef knows very well what the billboard is about.

    He also knows that the majority of the Laburisti are not smart enough not to believe his interpretation, not to mention that many of them are also too young to remember what went on when candidates like Karmenu Vella, Joe Debono Grech and Alex Sciberras Trigona were ministers.

    • Tina B. I’ll just mention two agreements negotiated by Dr. Alex Sciberras Trigona. One with Italy as a result of which the Italian Protocol came into being, which meant around LM12 million per year right up to 2003. Which we lost due to Malta’s membership of the EU. And the agreement with Libya as a result of which Malta got crude oil at a very attractive discount !

      I know you will mention the agreement with N.Korea. Even that agreement meant that Malta got weapons and ammunition for our armed forces and the police, as well as fertilizer for our farmers FOR FREE.

      • ciccio says:

        Mr. Privitera, if what you say is right, we lost 12 million Liri (say 25 million euro) and we gained something like 100 million euro, per annum, from EU membership instead.

        So by joining the EU, we made a net annual gain of 75 million euro per annum. Not bad, I think.

      • A.Attard says:

        And that ammunition was used against other Maltese at Rabat and Zejtun.

      • Anthony Briffa says:

        Anything for free Privitera. Kontu gibtu lil-Malta il-qahba tad-dinja, dejjem titalbu. The MLP huwa partit tal-loqom u tat-talaba.

        As for the free donation of weapons and arms from North Korea, Privitera please note that AST brought them to use them against his fellow Maltese citizens who were fighting to retain that little bit of democracy which we still enjoyed and that Mintoff/KMB/and the dinosaurs around Joseph Muscat were trying to take away from us.

        Isthi.

      • Ciccio: MEla ma tafx kemm qed inhallsu lil UE KULL SENA ? Qed inhallsu madwar €68 miljun. U maghhom ZID il-mijiet ta’ miljuni li ahna marbutin li nhallsu ghal-bailouts ! ISA GHODDHOM !

      • Anthony Briffa: Se tisthi INT wara r-rizultat tal-elezzjoni ! Ghax se tkunu tliftu ukoll ma dawk li hemm fuq il-Bllboard ta’ GonziPN. Xi tghid imbaghad ?

      • ciccio says:

        Privitera, even if you deduct euro 68 million from euro 75 million, you are left with a net favourable balance of euro 7 million.

        This is not to say that I do not know where you got your figure of euro 68 million, but never mind.

        We have not been called to pay any bailouts as yet.

      • Jozef says:

        Mr.Privitera, pray explain why weapons were necessary for the workers’ material well being.

        Do you actually think what you write?

  6. TROY says:

    This PN poster shows Labour’s true colours.

    All shades of red, and mixing them won’t give you blue.

    I’m sorry Joe, but as my grandfather always taught me, better dead than red.

  7. Paolite says:

    50+? B’daqshekk! Mrs Antonio Mizzi ghandha kwazi 60.

  8. zejtuni says:

    It is not a matter of condemning those who are old. Definitely not.

    It’s particularly those people who are next to Muscat to whom we object to.

    These people were given the chance and they ended up ruing our country, our democracy, our reputation and our lives. We know what stuff they are made of because they were in government and they were ministers.

    They made a mess out of it and made a mess of our country. They trampled upon our rights and made a mock out of our democracy. During their time there were no jobs, no democracy, and no opportunities.

    We were terrified of our police because torture in the Police Headquarters was the order of the day. We were jailed in our own country because when these political dinosaurs were in power they controlled us from head to bottom.

    It was them who decided what we should eat, where to go, where to get our education, where to work and how to spend our free time. They have been tried and tested and they failed miserably. Labour won’t work and that’s a fact.

  9. andi says:

    50 shades of Red

  10. Natalie says:

    “The difficulty with those people on the billboard is not their age, but their – how shall I put it nicely? – experience of the Mintoff-KMB-Sant years.”

    “experience” my foot. Their difficulty lies with having condoned, encouraged even, criminality among their followers, while they were in government.

    What’s even more despicable is that modern Labour would have us believe that Malta’s future lies in Labour’s past.

    They want to play mind games with us. They want us to forget all that we’ve passed through. They try to discredit people’s accounts of life under Mintoff/ KMB’s Labour, like some kind of Maltese Holocaust. They realised that memories of Sant’s government are still too fresh for comfort so they try to avoid mentioning Sant. They talk of 25 years of life under PN.

    And you know what? They’re succeeding in selling their propaganda. We WILL have a Labour government and it will not be much better than our past experience of Labour. We deserve what we get, however, the tragedy of it all is that the greatest sufferers will be Labour voters.

    Labour voters are expecting, almost demanding, special rights, which they won’t get. Many of them are manual, non-skilled workers and they don’t have job stability, or the creativity to make ends meet when Labour strikes.

    True, business will suffer, taxes will rise and Malta’s economy will decline; however the typical PN voter will be able to grit his/her teeth, tide things over, and make sure to get his/her ass at the voting booth at the next election.

  11. Dissident says:

    This billboard reminds me of China’s Politburo

  12. anthony says:

    Age is utterly irrelevant.

    The dinos on the billboard are obnoxious not because of their age but because of their horrendous record when in a position of power.

    The prospect of them being back in that position is nothing less than nightmarish.

  13. Joe Fenech says:

    There is not much to be said re MLP’s post 60s years, but, hey – don’t bring Alfred Sant into it. He could have been Malta’s best prime minister in years. However, he couldn’t be bothered with a mediocre party.

  14. Joseph Vella says:

    @ Eddy Privitera
    Fertilizer is one of the key ingredients of homemade explosives.

  15. Tracy Flick says:

    I don’t see Evarist Bartolo — he championed the loans instead of the grants for our students. Should have been listed no less prominently in this dinosaur list , ain’t he?

    • Catsrbest says:

      Probably Evarist Bartolo does not feature on the billboard because he gave the PN the idea for it. Remember when he said: in the MLP – the more things change, the more they stay the same.

      Well, that billboard is so appropriate. Labour won’t work.

  16. silvio farrugia says:

    Jason always talks paprati. Every time he opens his mouth you can tell his level of intelligence.

    Even things that are obvious to everybody are not obvious to him. He is so slow.

  17. Spector says:

    Where is Evarist Bartolo? Someone forgot to include him on the billboard. Or was he left out on purpose?

    • MAX784 says:

      ‘Varist’ wasn’t there in the Mintoff & KMB era if I’m not mistaken, that’s why he’s not on the billboard. It doesn’t mean he’s not one of the same pack, just not one of the ‘Golden’ Oldies that’s all.

      [Daphne – What do you mean, not in the Golden Oldies? He was one of Sant’s ministers in 1996. That’s 16 years ago.]

      • MAX784 says:

        Granted Daphne, but for the Labour Party the politicians that emerged during that era are just in their ‘teens’.

        I remember working with a PN strategist pre-1996 election to design an advert that went something like this: ‘A Leopard can never change its spots… same old Labour’ with a photo of Joe Debono Grech.

        Now that is one of the Golden Oldies.

  18. Spiru says:

    In fact no mention of Edward Scicluna or Manuel Mallia, notwithstanding their age…

  19. Giovanni says:

    I love it when Eddy gets a beating than jisparizxxi

  20. just me says:

    These faces bring back so many bad memories.

    They are reminders of the needless hardships we had to go through when they were in government.

    Putting them back in power is so very risky especially during these delicate times. I really hope that Maltese use their vote wisely and do not allow this to happen.

  21. Libertas says:

    They forgot to include Evarist Bartolo who removed stipends.

  22. M says:

    Is Yana Mintoff writing Jason’s sound bites? Have a look at this…

    “Any attempt at playing cry wolf is at best puerile and at worst an example of arrogance and crass hypocrisy,” the PL said.

  23. Claude Sciberras says:

    In fact Prof Scicluna is over 50 and is not on the billboard – proves your point, Daphne

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