Another iced bun: a 71-year-old Mintoffian for Paris
Malta’s ambassador to Paris, Pierre Clive Agius – a career diplomat who has been at his post for only around a year and a half – is being moved to Poland to make way for Malta’s new ambassador to Paris, a political appointee in his 70s and a dyed-in-the-wool Mintoffian from the old days.
Camilleri was Alfred Sant’s political appointee as ambassador to Paris in 1996-1998.
It is all so predictable. It is as though those individuals whose roles and aspirations were suddenly truncated in 1998 have been hanging around for 15 years waiting to pick up where they left off, to get that sense of unfinished business out of their system. Except that it is impossible to pick up after 15 years, of course – life and the world have moved on.
When Vincent Camilleri was ambassador in Paris in the late 1990s, Malta was not an EU member state and he represented an anti-EU government. Life is now considerably more complicated, but one thing has not changed: he will be representing, once more, an EU-hostile government.
Mario Vella has returned to his 1998 post as head of Malta Enterprise (the MDC), Evarist Bartolo to his 1998 post as Education Minister, Karmenu Vella to his 1998 post as Tourism Minister, and George Vella to his 1998 post as Foreign Minister. I’m pretty sure there are more, but those are the ones who come immediately to mind.
Members of my international worldwide network of spies in Paris tell me that Pierre Clive Agius has been doing an excellent job (and this came even from somebody not known to lavish praise on others where it is undeserved).
France is among the most demanding of postings, especially in the current climate. To appoint as ambassador a man who’s past retirement age, a Mintoffian who never approved of EU membership for Malta, is sheer lunacy, but exactly what we would expect from Muscat now that Malta Taghna Lkoll and ‘I believe in meritocracy’ have been revealed as shams and electoral con-tricks.
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I bet Joseph thought, u l-Polonja mhux xorta?
Ironically though, he did a good job in sending a seasoned ambassador to Poland, although he must have thought it a demotion. Poland is Europe’s second largest economy and growing at an immensely fast rate.
I was thinking on similar lines. Hu Jintao had replied, when asked, that it was too early to comment on the effect of the French Revolution. The Poles are a people with a noble spirit and not afraid of their heritage. The French have yet to name a Square after one of their royals. Little details that count when translated into every day actions. I wish Pierre Clive every success.
I am beginning to suspect that the “Taghna” in the Joseph Muscat’s PL slogan “Malta Taghna Lkoll” was a “royal plural” – as when prudish Queen Victoria disliked a rather bawdy joke and silenced the giggles with her “WE are not amused”.
The “switchers” are going to have ample time to lament their naive gullibility about Malta belonging to all of us and not exclusively to the “monarch” and his court.
Can I ask you a question? Normally, they resign when there’s a change in govenrment, no? How come they did not resign? I mean at least he’ll be moved to Poland.
[Daphne – Only those ambassadors who are political appointees offer their resignation. Career diplomats do not, precisely because they are…career diplomats.]
Ok, so a First Secretary can be appointed Ambassador and can’t be removed by a change in government. I mean they have to move him/her to somewhere else. Someone outside the diplomatic corps must tender his/her resignation. Right?
Are you thick or what?
No, they don’t have to move anyone anywhere. Even if someone tenders their resignation, they can always be reappointed to the post.
The point here is not where Agius will be moved, but why he had to be moved at all, and why he had to be replaced by a Mintoffian geriatric who probably thinks Paris is a holiday posting and will spend the next five years posting photos of himself in front of various landmarks, on Facebook.
I like to think of MLP as PN with the good bits removed, but the same corruption and cronyism and Maltese way of doing things. This is a case in point. The PN sent Vicki Ann Cremona to Paris. Whether she was up to the job is debatable. Then they saw the light and finally sent a real professional. Meanwhile, Cremona is sent to Tunisia, of all places. Revolution breaks out and she scuttles off.
Ambassadorships are not iced buns to be offered to the PM’s or the Foreign Minister’s best buddies. Labour promised they would clean up Maltese politics. Did they? Did they f…
Vicki Ann was also the person who ticked Sarkozy off for having forgotten to include Malta in a listing of Mediterranean countries.
She was also the person who tried to get the alarm bells to ring way in advance regarding the revolution in Tunisia. Did she “scuttle off” or was she annoyed that, perhaps as a woman, she wasn’t taken seriously?
She was certainly a huge improvement on her predecessor in Paris, even though she came to the job as an academic not as a seasoned diplomat.
Alarm bells? Was this before or after the self-immolation incident?
Because after it happened, everyone knew there would be revolution. Except the Maltese government, it seems.
Throughout the revolution, the Maltese ambassador was never in any danger. So why did she have to leave? It’s not as if petrol bombs were being thrown through the embassy windows. I have always believed that the ambassador should be the very last person to leave anywhere, clutching the flag while boarding a helicopter on a rooftop. But perhaps I ask too much of our diplomats.
And don’t come back with the riposte that she was ordered to leave. Ambassadors aren’t schoolchildren, to follow orders blindly. They have some clout with our Foreign Ministry.
All this quite apart from the eyebrows that were raised at the appointment of a non-diplomat to such a post. It’s no damn wonder Labour’s cry of “klikka” struck a chord. The PN may have been fantastic on economic policy, but by god did they screw up on cronyism. And it’s not just ambassadorships either.
Of course I expect the post-mortem report commissioned by Simon Busuttil to contain none of this, the writers being blind to such facts.
I believe it was before, which is both part of the point and besides the point.
An ambassador may well report and suggest but it may have been the case of non-action ensuing or blurred crony-supporting strategy being communicated back. If that was the case, the non career diplomat has less of a stand.
Without being totally defeatist, in that sort of environment, being a woman and having no political family connections to guarantee longevity doesn’t give plus points or help motivate, or even envision, the flag-clutching scenario.
I do not agree that connections should count in the decision to stay or not to stay but when the ethical basics are fluid on what grounds does one stay and fight?
Yes, ultimately the appointment should not have been made in the first place.
But for what it was, Vicki Ann had her good points.
And yes again, completely in agreement, the writers are blind to such facts. Cronyism is self-supporting.
If Vicki Ann Cremona seems not incompetent, it’s because Malta has become so used to dire ambassadors that anything else seems good in comparison.
The same goes for several other professional positions. But then we ditched all standards at independence.
I want to pull Malta to a higher standard, not bring her down to the lowest common denominator. Our peculiar form of patriotism makes the task virtually impossible.
I am for the very same high standards.
The perspective is simplified with the generalization and a truer reflection of the broader state of affairs. Treatment would have to be pretty radical.
To get rid of weeds, the treatment needs to work through to the root.
When we’re through these 5 years, and let’s pray -since common sense didn’t cut it- that there won’t be another 5 years of Labour to follow, Malta is going to need high doses of shock treatment.
By the end of these 5 years, we might even be grateful for the promise of it.
Ultimately, It’s the responsibility of each individual to cultivate a standards checklist that accepts no compromise, whatever the material cost. People can’t go on blaming others. The buck must stop and start somewhere. This Prime Minister has even less of a clue. He’ll be of no help whatsoever on this one.
As far as I am aware this is not the only one
You HAVE to give it to Labour…it does indeed DELIVER….for its parasitic sycophants.
Perhaps this Jurassic specimen will get new dentures in Paris. He needs them.
Pierre Clive Agius is a model ambassador. He was in Brussels before he was posted to Paris. A hard working gentleman who is an example of diplomacy. Very up to date and extremely intelligent. What an irresponsible move by the current Maltese government.
I think you are being too harsh. He is probably the only one of this moteley crew who can speak French.
‘I believe in meritocracy’ meant ‘min hadem biex jinbidel il-Gvern’ merits a reward.
Now if some of us interpreted it in some other manner, well, that’s our problem.
And as Willie Mangion (Mascoli) put it – Joseph Muscat iwettaq dak li jwieghed.
Mr. Camilleri, your reward for services rendered during the election. And at your age, that makes you a very fortunate man. Enjoy. Do try not to embarrass your government and in turn the whole of Malta with the French.
Ambassadorships are not there for enjoyment. They are hard work. Or should be.
Well an ambassador’s job is a cushy job with all the perks. Add an attractive salary and it becomes rather enjoyable. And all this at a whopping 71 years old, purely ecstatic.
You clearly have no idea of what goes on inside an embassy. You probably think “diplomacy” means smiling while holding a glass of champagne.
Clearly Baxter you are missing the point. Hard work can still be enjoyable given the circumstances.
There are good and dedicated people in our diplomatic service but inevitably, the good ones are overshadowed by the bad apples i.e. the hopelessly incompetent who join thanks to “filjozzi” connections and the politically anointed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will never get its act together until this is remedied. And it had better try do so rather chop-chop. I shudder to think how this Ministry will coordinate the overall programme of Malta’s EU Presidency in 2017.
Il-Gvern Laburista ta’Joseph Muscat bhalissa mhux biss ghaddej bil-qtuh tas-servizzi tas-sahha u qtuh fl-edukazzjoni, imma ukoll bil-qtuh ta’ irjus.
Ah, so Paris is now God’s waiting room. Well, it could have been worse for Vincent. He could be sitting on a 1970s BIM chrome chair, eating barbuljata off mismatched Pyrex and listening to Dom bore on, in a ramshackle old house in Delimara with a view of a power station.
Have been reading with interest about the Malta Taghna Lkoll appointments and am afraid, that from first hand experience of working in the civil service under a PN government, nothing much has changed.
In the past, the PN appointed several geriatrics to prominent positions, way beyond their level of competence. Politics in Malta is a get-rich-quick scheme and meritocracy is an illusion.
Any professional worth his salt has two choices: emigrate to bigger countries where you get much of the same, the only difference being that with more opportunities going around, there is a chance of making it on your own merit and you actually have to sit for exams and tests to get the job and prove your competence or set up a modest shop in Malta, turning a blind eye to the daily injustice of political appointments.
Nobody ever said life was fair, especially in this Mediterranean culture. The private sector is just as bad with overpaid CEO’s treating firms like their personal fiefdoms and sucking up becoming a way of life to earn a living.
Those who truly deserve our respect and admiration are the entrepreneurs who carve out a modest living for themselves and their employees, without political backing or favours.
I have long concluded that it is virtually impossible to earn a decent living in an honest way.
I sense we’re in the same boat.
Cronyism exists everywhere, even outside Malta. It’s just that the appointees propelled to dizzy heights beyond their competence wouldn’t be people you’ve rubbed shoulders with. It may annoy you, but in Malta it hurts in a visceral way.
I thought EU membership would be the start of a new era, but we missed the golden opportunity to enter modernity.
That’s right, Baxxter, it’s all about competence. The people who would really know to gauge that about their ambassador or undersecretaries would be the embassy staff themselves.
There is a lot of work to be done and it is mostly the hard-working intelligent staff that makes things happen for the country (and their ambassador, some of whom have been mere figureheads).
I’m suspecting that our Fantastic Foreign Minister of Svizzera fil-Mediterran reputation will be engaging again AST of North Korea reputation, Richy Matrenza, the Thatcher expert and maybe recall Reno Calleja, the China buddy who is carrying the flag of the reputation of the now defunct but utterly crass PP Forace, ex-Mintoffian Ambassador to Australia. Yes it’s all about diplomacy I reckon too.
Spot on, Baxxter.
Call it what you may, cronyism, old boys’ network…
There is no escaping the truth that it a lot of successful people in the conventional sense get more than a helping hand up the ladder and it is not necessarily the most competent or honest of people who make it to the top.
I just wish those with an iota of common sense would stop heaping praise and worship on others by virtue of their status or money and give credit where it’s due to e.g. the village grocer who runs a business built on solid, hard work and without short cuts.
Unfortunately, I feel today’s concept of what makes a person successful is misplaced. I just happen to have a thing for self-made people not inherited wealth or the well connected.
The media certainly don’t help. Even this blog has sometimes swallowed the bait, heaping praise on some unsavoury individuals. But that’s by the by.
I see no way out of it except emigration. At least you can start life afresh, a pauper among paupers, a tramp among tramps. Malta is for the inner circle, or those with a family and roots.
“That my countrymen be not told of my death, or made to grieve on account of me; and that I be not buried in consecrated ground; and that no sexton be asked to toll the bell; and that nobody is wished to see my dead body; and that no mourners walk behind me at my funeral; and that no flowers be planted on my grave; and that no man remember me. To this I put my name.”
@ Baxxter – been there done that, got the T and all of that and still ended up back to my roots. It all depends on your temperament and personality.
I’d rather be a pauper in Malta, living in a mental cocoon like an expat oblivious to a lot of things that made me leave in the first place, than lonely and depressed in a foreign country, living in a shoe box, exhausted from long commutes, sun deprived and always on the alert for my physical safety.
I’m afraid the charms of cosmopolitan life and money wore off after a couple of years. .
Ritienne is a perfectly good reason for returning to Malta. Otherwise, I just don’t know. Home is where the heart is. Never was a truer word said. The way I see it, if you’ve no family in Malta, you’re better off starving far away from your childhood acquaintances and schoolmates who’ve since moved far ahead in life.
Life in Malta is a constant reminder of one’s failures. If you haven’t settled in by your mid-twenties, you’ll never grow any roots at all in Malta. And all the while the smiling faces of your peers’ children, their spouses and loved ones, and their own smug satisfaction of the successful executive dance around you like the masks of death mocking that chap Molière. It wears you down.