I would let Muscat go ahead with this. It’s called ‘enough rope’.
The Nationalist Party leader gave an interview this morning, in which he said this (I quote the report on www.independent.com.mt):
The government’s proposal to change the law to permit MPs to take up positions in authorities and boards is a way for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to give a second income to Labour parliamentarians, Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil said this morning.
MPs who will be appointed on these entities will be getting paid for their position over and above the parliamentary honoraria they are receiving as MPs, Dr Busuttil said.
In the previous legislature, the Labour Party had led public outcry against the decision taken by the then Nationalist government on parliamentary honoraria, a decision with which Dr Busuttil said he was in disagreement. But the Labour government now is doing worse than this by changing the law to allow MPs to sit on boards. What the PL government is effectively doing is inventing a second income to these MPs, Dr Busuttil said.
I would let Muscat go ahead with this, Simon. Vote against it, yes, but let him do it. Encourage him, even. There is no way on earth he can find state corporation directorships or chairmanships for all the Labour MPs who didn’t get to be ministers or parliamentary secretaries, however huge his cabinet is and however few are left outside it, without a public outcry. It remains a sizeable number.
The prime minister will be left with the problem of who to favour and who to reject, and as Muscat should well know, this is fertile ground for seething envy, resentment and bitterness.
If he wishes to make his own noose, ruddy well let him do it. Watching him sort the chaff from the chaff will be interesting.
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Isn’t this Soviet Union Nomenklatura?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomenklatura
Although the Russians were sophisticated enough to include ‘qualifications’ in the selection criteria.
“..The nomenklatura system arose early in Soviet history. Vladimir Lenin wrote that appointments were to take the following criteria into account: reliability, political attitude, qualifications, and administrative ability….”
in other words meritocracy demands it. :P
After Saturday’s appearance on Bla Agenda with Norman Hamilton, on Sunday, Joseph Muscat was interviewed by Miriam Dalli on TX.
In both cases, the subject – or shall I say the excuse for the interview? – was the first 100 days of Muscat’s government. Both interviews were filmed in the Oval Office, errm, I mean the PM’s office in Castille.
I had this funny feeling that in the second 100 days of this government, Joseph Muscat is going to spend his time on interviews with different Super One show hosts, or at least those who are left behind without diplomatic posts.
A great response Daphne, however, Simon is dead wrong to go against Gonzi’s honoraria. Gonzi was correct to give this honoraria to the Ministers. Muscat has put himself in this conundrum because in the campaign he made a meal against the extra 500 euros.
If ever Simon becomes a PM he will have the same problem.
If I understood correctly, Simon was not against the honoraria per se, he was against the manner in which it was implemented.
You are perfectly right. I know of two diehard PL supporters who are really pissed off because they were promised to be on some board and have been left out.
They just cannot accept that ex PN supporters were given an iced bun and that they were left out after working for 25 years or more for their party. So yes, more rope to hang himself.
This issue of appointing ex-PN supporters to boards etc will come back to haunt Joseph Muscat; mark my words.
Well said. Let him make his bed and lie in it.
Muscat has delusions of adequacy.
The guy is on a high high high.. euphoric..feeling invincible…
On a different note, here we go again, going to Libya with the dusted-off begging bowl, hoping for a discount on fuel – as if anyone gives you anything for free. Libya, giving something for free to an EU member state? It should be the other way round.
The last time we tried this was 40 years ago and that almost led us into a captive-state situation. Those who don’t know history…
What gets to me the most is the bare-faced cheek.
This guy sat on the fence during the Libyan conflict. He didn’t commit until he knew Gaddafi was well and truly defeated.
Now he goes there trying to cut a deal. And now he refers to the previous administration as a ‘regime’. I don’t believe the Libyans forget easily.
Most certainly, this law, even if Simon is against, will be passed due to their 9-seat majority.
Still, I just hope that if this happens, the envy, resentment, and bitterness will take over quicker than the money that I lose in paying taxes.
It’s strange why he is asking for his own funeral though. Maybe because “il-kodici tal-etika qishom briksa.”
I do not think that the prime minister will ever run out of jobs for the boys. He will just create more if there are not enough, and we are seeing this even now. As a camouflage, he created another job to reduce bureaucracy.