Isn’t this really the picture that says it all? Because what is Corto Farrugia doing there, exactly?
This Reuters photograph and caption are so very telling. Instead of the army’s commanding officer taking control of the situation as he is supposed to do, we have the tin-pot army minister directing operations while Kurt Farrugia – government’s head of communications and Muscat’s comedic pocket-dwarf sidekick – gets involved.
Look at the body language: Manuel Mallia is in charge, Kurt Farrugia has aligned himself to Mallia, and the brigadier is waiting to be told what to do.
The Reuter’s caption:
Malta’s National Security Minister Manuel Mallia (L) talks to an aide as Brigadier Martin Xuereb (R), commander of the Armed Forces of Malta, talks on his phone after a news conference at Mallia’s office in Valletta August 6, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Darrin Zammit Lupi
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It’s actually also matches the description which the PM gave to Al Jazeera TV a couple of months ago, when he said that he receives calls late at night from Manwel Mallia about the migrants and the operations of the “navy.”
I can almost hear the Brigadier say “Allo Allo, is that Joseph Muscat? Let me pass you the Minister for the Army – I’m his assistant here. He’s going to give you an update about the navy.”
Malta is a corporation, its army is the corporate security firm, Muscat is Chairman, Manwel Mallia is head of corporate services, Martin Xuereb is the foreman and Kurt Farrugia is the stool pigeon.
Daphne, could you tell us a bit more about Kurt? I do not have a ‘linkedin’ subscription and the ‘public’ information only gives this. Has he done any higher studies and non-party related work?
http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Kurt-Farrugia/1239665227
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kurt-farrugia/38/957/361
Higher studies are beyond Kurt Farrugia both figuratively and literally.
His entire working life has been spent within the Labour Party machine, including a fabulous career at Maltastar as its resident paparazzo and ‘journalist’, and later as the Labour Party’s spinmeister where he famously issued a statement saying that Maria Micallef is an ordinary employee.
His bio? Unnaturally short. What did you expect?
The minister seems quite lost.
The aide, Nicolasito Pertusato, seems to be comforting him.
The Brigadier? Just wondering where on earth he has ended up.
Corto Farrugia is brilliant.
It’s a pity that Corto Maltese wasn’t short (he was thin and tall) and an Anglo Saxon with Mediterranean looks (he was born in Malta and his father was a British sailor).
Hugo Pratt imagined Corto Maltese as a sly, quick thinking witty character.
http://cortomaltese.com/
https://www.change.org/petitions/fao-dr-emmanuel-mallia-minister-for-home-affairs-and-national-security-reinstate-the-voluntary-system-of-donated-goods-to-the-hal-far-open-centre-2
Good shot by Darrin, however, who managed to capture the essence of the atmosphere perfectly.
Xuereb knew well that he was in for a humiliating time had he remained at the helm.
Had he been half the man I thought he was, he would have first stuck his neck out for those overlooked for promotion and then retired in protest.
Instead he chose a plum posting and “personal loyalty” to Manuel Mallia. Hang you head in shame, Brigadier. Ta’ fibra morali all right.
Had he been deserving of his position he would have prevented its being undermined politically, rather than sullying it himself by collaborating with Mallia.
…not the stool pigeon but the stool