Maaaaa, let’s all be positive, but.
Why do I get the feeling that the first bit of reconstitution that the Constitution is going to get is poorly disguised restrictions on freedom of expression?
When Muscat first mentioned his Second Republic and Constitutional reform, during the election campaign, it was when he parked his mobile Malta Taghna Lkoll lectern in the middle of the road into Hal Lija for one of those press conferences. And the one example he gave was: should the Broadcasting Authority be concerned only with broadcasting and not also with the press?
I have this sneaking feeling that Malta is going to be the only place in democratic Europe where people rush out to vote in a referendum for LESS freedom of expression – because that’s just how we like it here.
27 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
What worries me about Franco Debono isn’t Franco himself. Few have discussed the most fundamental question of the review.
Even if he was the best legal guru in the world and somewhat same, what are this person’s views on reform? (more right wing? more liberal?) What are we to expect given his ‘values’ and view on things?
1. Tighter limits on the freedom of expression as he has suffered because of what someone has (correctly, usually) said about him and his behaviour.
2. Harsher penalties for certain bloggers (not him) because he thinks they should not make fun of him.
3. Restrictions on the Broadcasting Authority for having dared to rule against him.
In short, Franco Debono himself *should* worry you because, to him, constitutional reform is not about the constitution. It is all about Franco Debono.
Yep point made La Redoute. I was actually worrying over and above that though. Let’s say, drugs. In my opinion jailing somebody for 11 years for having a weed plant is ridiculous. Now when Gowzef Taghna Lkoll declared reform with Franco, we don’t know what kind of reform this is / will be. Some people are assuming that such things will be addressed, in the way they want it to be. We have no indication what this person things about ALL legal matters, from the most fundamental to the most complex.
Time to register your disapproval of Franco’s appointment. You can contact Joseph Muscat through Kurt Farrugia.
Better still, contact him directly on Twitter: @JosephMuscat_JM
Franco Debono said something similar in that interview you linked.
Doesn’t the Chamber of Advocates have some rule for debarring members who are of unsound mind?
Andrew…please elaborate.
Watch the interview.
Ok. Got it. This one:
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2013/03/an-interview-with-the-law-commissioner/
28″ onwards, if you can bear to watch that twitching, hoiking, honking, jerk.
Which interview?
Frankie’s interviews are all the same. Me me me me …
to follow on ciccio’s remark… at least this is enjoyable
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnT7pT6zCcA
Today I watched a documentary about the early days of Adolf Hitler on History Channel and it made me shudder.
In his first speeches he said that there is no need of political parties anymore because of his movement.
I know that Mintoff was a pure fascist and all one has to do is read his speeches and compare them to Hitler’s but having Muscat reflecting Hitler’s ambitions is frightening.
And as have have seen till now he is capable of doing it.
Adolf, have you not been reading this blog often enough?
You did not really need the History Channel to make you shudder – this blog is better than the History, the Pre-History, the Geology, and the Politics Channels all combined.
All dictators follow the same lines of thought – eliminate all opposition. That includes the political parties and the media – hence freedom of expression. Then you get the totalitarian state.
The documentary you need to watch is the video where Joseph Muscat appeared on the balcony at the Mile End on 10 March 2013. There, behind him, between him and Eva Peron, was Alex Sceberras Trigona.
What was he doing there? What part did he have in the victory? What role did he have in the party’s strategy?
Alex Sceberras Trigona is more known for his secret arms dealings with the bloody regime of North Korea than with any democratic credentials of “l-Aqwa fl-Ewropa” or Malta Taghna Lkoll.
I believe that a key to Joseph’s political strategies lies in an explanation of the presence of Alex Sceberras Trigona on that balcony.
Alex Sceberras Trigona’s very well connected:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/128167661/Alex-Sceberras-Trigona-Signs-a-Secret-Agreement-With-North-Korea
So’s Joseph Muscat now, thanks to Sceberras Trigona:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/128130324/Joseph-Muscat-says-he-signed-an-agreement-with-China-on-Malta-s-behalf-it-Torca-18APR2010
And what’s a little dyed-in-the-wool Marxism while we’re at it?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/127035781/Joseph-Muscat-PhD-Thesis
Kevin Aquilina is against parties having their TV stations but to be given airtime on the national station. He is a former member of the Broadcasting Authority and also in justice reform commission. More freedom of expression.
We need not go that far. Our great friend and benefactor Gaddafi was running Libya along those lines, just two years ago.
He claimed to be more democratic than any Western democracy, because he was benevolent, and the revolution was all for The People by The People, and so why would anyone want political parties or elections?
Our own Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, bless him, was a great believer in the Jamahariya, and could often be found ardently defending it before a dumbfounded radio host on a Saturday morning.
Now Gaddafi is thankfully dead and gone. But his apologists are in power 220 miles to the north.
Lovely.
Baxxter, here is something we need to analyse a bit in more detail. Maybe we can set up a committee or a tuks force.
Haven’t been through its details as yet, but I’m sure it sheds more light on what we have been saying above.
It seems like this news escaped the attention of The Times. What’s the matter with them recently?
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Malta-to-bridge-diplomatic-gaps-with-Arab-states-PM-Muscat-tells-Al-Arabiya-20130328
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2013/03/28/Malta-looks-to-bridge-diplomatic-gaps-with-Arab-states-after-revolts.html
What a bunch of rubbish. But you seem to be a professional in the field. Why don’t you have a go at them. Your voice carries more weight.
Baxxter, Ciccio, what do you know of how many of Gaddafi’s people are in Malta now? and who backs their presence?
Fully agree with the observations of La Redoute. King Abdullah has described the democratic and constitutional aspects so nicely.
Joseph Muscat’s concept of democracy before 9 March 2013 was how to install himself at Castille at the age of 39 and now it is how to get out of there only for his own State funeral after his death of old age.
Meanwhile, however, one important point I took away from this Arabiya interview is that Joseph Muscat never mentioned the word ‘neutrality’. Must be because Ghaddafi is dead.
I am sure this interview contains many more insights – possibly about the future financing of the Malta Labour Party.
I don’t know Maria Xriha. I’ll get my men on to it. [Your men? Who do you think you are? Kenneth? Ed.]
Here’s a great quote. Seems somewhat apt:
‘So this how liberty dies… with thunderous applause’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1FFVWEQnSM
Here’s positive. Don’t take this blog for granted.
We take this blog for granted, and that is really felt when, e.g. Daphne has a day away from here due to a well deserved holiday or is extra busy with issuing a publication on time etc.
Imagine not being able to reach this site because the internet is blocked from reaching it. (i.e. not even reading older posts either).
Advice to this government from China could also include advice on replicating the internet censoring infrastructure that is fully functional in China for years already.
Chinese citizens cannot access full internet in a normal manner (there are a few geek loopholes) like you and I can until now.
Sites considered insulting to the government are blocked out from access. Including popular international search engines.
This could mean that access to this very blog would be restricted for the people on Malta (a very tempting thought for quite some people, one can imagine).
The last people left with open internet and uncensored TV could be the satellite dish owners (unless these are the first to be rounded up of course, under some esthetics excuse).
The radio stations will have to be shut down, also Net tv. It’s just a matter of time.
For the younger readers, in case you didn’t know:
This government will resort to anything.
I remember the headlines in the eighties when, after ransacking the place like savages, the police “discovered” a silly cordless telephone inside the PN’s HQ building.
It was reported on national TV as if they had discovered a futuristic, evil, propaganda machine capable of illegal practice.
Of course, the whole story was purely made to diverge the public from real issues at the time, like e.g. the 20,000 unemployed.
I think some of us are getting ahead of ourselves a little bit now. Carts before horses and all that …
As things stand, Debono/Tabone’s appointment is little more than a souped-up proofreader. OK, there’s no telling where this may go, but we can only discuss facts.
Here’s a fact you missed, Reuben Scicluna: Franco Debono has been tasked with heading the process of reforming Malta’s constitution.
We can expect more where that came from, as Owen Bonnici himself said when making the announcement.
“It is the great fortune of politicians that people are ignorant.”
– Adolf Hitler