First the police force, now the army
Does this look like the photograph of an army commander resigning in protest because of the abusive choices of the man whose hand he’s shaking? Of course not.
Brigadier Martin Xuereb, commander of the Armed Forces of Malta, resigned this morning. His resignation has been linked, in some parts of the media, to the promotion of four Labour favourites to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and their rapid promotion again, within just a few weeks, to the rank of colonel (see separate post).
But I don’t think so. There is nothing about this that tells me he resigned in protest because of what happened with those banana-republic-style promotions. Nor did he even seem particularly annoyed.
When people resign in protest against abuse, they just go. They do not take great care to announce that they will continue to serve the government in other ways and that they look forward to the new challenges, as Brigadier Xuereb has done.
The perpetrator of the abuse is the government itself, so you don’t signal your objection by agreeing to continue to serve the abuser and say how very much you’re looking forward to it.
Nor do you have your photograph taken for the press, engaged in a farewell handshake with the government minister who made the promotions which supposedly prompted your resignation.
My take on the matter is that Brigadier Xuereb has been moved along to make way for somebody else, and this by negotiated agreement that has been portrayed as voluntary resignation, or rather, retirement.
Except that he’s only retiring from the army, because as noted, he will continue to serve the government. The Malta Independent has discovered that he will, in fact, be posted to Dar Malta in Brussels as defence attache. That’s hardly somebody who has resigned in protest.
That’s a friend of the government, but a friend of the government who has been persuaded to move along to make way for another friend of the government who’s been causing trouble about promotions for years, with most of his family voting Labour because he didn’t get the promotion he wanted.
As you can see, I have a pretty good idea who that is, but I shan’t say.
Brigadier Xuereb will have recognised that the alternative to accepting this was the fate of his erstwhile opposite number in the police force, John Rizzo, who was publicly dethroned without discussion and moved to a lesser position. He would have concluded that it is better for his image and dignity to be seen as quitting of his own accord.
As for Xuereb’s resignation/retirement being announced on the same day the abusive army promotions were made – that’s neither a coincidence nor cause and effect. It just happened to be ‘army announcements day’ for the Army Minister – Silvio Scerri and Manuel Mallia have the worst public relations track record in the entire government so far. They would not have stopped to think about the media-handling issues involved, or how news breaking on the same day of the brigadier’s retirement and the promotions would be perceived.
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Pezzo grosso
I think that Pierre Vassallo will take over. His family are diehard Labour and good at getting what they want. Always the same Mintoffjani getting their iced buns while even the other Mintoffjani grumble. Viva l-Lejber.
How about the court explosive and firearms expert for brigadier?
Shame on you, Brigadier – you have been well and truly silenced, and all for the price of an iced bun.
So much for your Sandhurst training – such lack of integrity in a supposed officer and gentleman.
Life is full of games, most of which are unscripted acting to show things for formalities’ sake as the underlying reality is not what seems to be on the surface.
This picture is an excellent illustration of the above. A lot is said but nothing shows the truth. Resignations under protest are not photographed in a formal setting. The protagonist is not the brigadier but the minister.
This is not a farewell-and-thanks handshake but the handshake on a deal.
Could the new commander of Armed Forces of Malta come from the Police Force?
Or maybe a promotion from within, one who feels he was overlooked in previous years and has embarked on a crusade against the Nationalist Party. Naturally family and relatives have been supportive of the anti PN attitude.
Reminds me of a certain Johnny Cachia, who was shifted from the post of Commissioner of Police to the glorious one of Task Force Colonel, without having had any military training.
This was done to clear the way for the longest-lasting Labour-appointed Commissioner of Police, Lawrence Pullicino, who outlived the KMB government just long enough to be transferred to the Corradino Correctional Facility as an inmate and not as a Director of Prison.
Daphne, if your suppositions are correct, and I think they are because they make perfect sense, is this sort of behaviour right?
Are these the fellows who served under Dr Gonzi, now negotiating with a corrupt government to save their skin?
Honestly, I am disturbed not by the way these socialists work but by the way these supposedly ethically correct, upstanding individuals, who have been trusted with top institutional jobs, are so malleable to persuasion by bad people in power. They should be ashamed, all of them (CEOs, PS, ambassadors, the lot), for bowing their heads to save their skins or acquire status of sorts.
That explains the huge smile on Martin Xuereb’s face.
He’s probably thanking his lucky stars. And Labour, of course.
Everybody has a price
Not everybody.
I don’t know why people are astonished. When I read the report on The Malta Independent my thoughts were exactly on the same line as yours. Pretty obvious, isn’t it, when one reads that he’s been promised some other job in Brussels.
was surprised to read some comments by the Nationalist Party saying that Brigadier Xuereb resigned because he does not agree with the abusive promotions.
As far as I know people who resign in protest do not accept cushy jobs from the same people who have made the decisions that pushed them to resign.