And to add to the excitement in Malta Taghna Lkoll right now…

Published: November 21, 2013 at 7:15pm

John Dalli BA and Frank Portelli are with Reno Bugeja on TVM, putting Malta to rights and being treated by their interviewer as though they are entirely normal, respectable individuals, one of whom is not being investigated by the European Commission after being fired, and another of whom is not facing repeated threats by his multifarious creditors to have his property sold by court auction.

Malta – you have to experience it to believe it.

A couple of crooks invited onto state television by a trussed-up heads of news, to talk about corruption – what a place.




37 Comments Comment

  1. curious says:

    And if you turn to NET TV you will find Andrew Azzopardi equating uncleanliness in Valletta with extreme patriotism and the sale of passports. What a moron, really.

  2. curious says:

    Reno Bugeja should ask John Dalli why he is working for free.

  3. Alexander Ball says:

    Almost worth learning the language for. Almost.

  4. ciccio says:

    Ara, anke Dalli jrid il-“consensus” u l-“bi-partisan.” U zgur, behsiebu jqajjem rebus fil-qasam tas-sahha u jrid li l-oppozizzjoni toqghod siekta jew il-kelb tal-but ta’ Muscat.

    Smajtu x’qallu? Qallu “jien ghamilt il-financial service.”

  5. ciccio says:

    Why is he speaking like he was the Minister?

    Wasn’t he only a consultant without a contract working on a voluntary basis?

    • Allo Allo says:

      It’s always been a bone of contention between accountants and lawyers, but there is ‘substance’ and then there is ‘form’.

  6. Vespa says:

    And The Times follow it up devotedly. Under the Taghna Lkoll regime they have been given a weekly programme on PBS, subjecting themselves to the authority of Reno the Castille stooge.

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131121/local/john-dalli.495720

    • Cittadin Malti says:

      The only reason why J Dalli BA should appear on TV is to answer questions about his trips to the Bahamas: who he met there, why, what happened to the ‘philanthropic’ business in favour of ‘the people in Africa,’ and who the people in Africa were.

      He should be asked what plan Anglu Farrugia had referred to when, before the general elections, Farrugia had told Lou Bondi on Bondi+ that the Labour energy plan was “il-pjan ta’ John Dalli” (John Dalli’s plan). Was that the Sargas plan, or was it another plan, perhaps the Electrogas plan?

      He should also be given the opportunity to answer questions about his connections with Emma Corbin aka Lady Birdy and Nina Petros.

      And he should also explain why he never took court action against Silvio Zammit about his reputation.

      He should be asked questions about his health, like what happened to his ‘psyco-social illness.’

      • Alexander Ball says:

        And the 14 minute phone call he had with Silvio Zammit, the day after Zammit’s OLAF interrogation, during which they both say the OLAF was never mentioned once.

    • Alex says:

      Malta Today have put themselves in the same situation and it looks like Saviour Balzan and Matthew Vella don’t mind exposing themselves as lackeys.

      Trid tara biex temmen: http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Reno-Bugeja-turns-a-minister-s-grilling-into-an-art-20131021

  7. ciccio says:

    What’s this practice of having the government’s ‘consultants’ speaking to the government-friendly and government-controlled media?

    Last Friday it was Henley & Partners speaking on Xarabank. Today it was John Dalli BA.

    Should it not be the Minister in charge who should be speaking to the media, describing the findings of the consultants, and what action he and the government intend to take?

    Why should a consultant appear on TV, shielding the Minister and the cabinet, acting like he was an authority and a decision maker, as if anyone reported to him, when it is he who reports to the Minister?

    Why should the consultant involve himself in political controversy and political considerations, when his work should be only of technical and specialist nature only?

    Did Reno Bugeja or Xarabank interview Shiv Nair by any chance, because if yes then I must have missed it. Isn’t he a consultant to the prime minister?

    • La Redoute says:

      Shiv Nair isn’t an official consultant to the prime minister now that the prime minister’s underhandedness has beeb exposed.

      That doesn’t mean Joseph Muscat isn’t in contact with Shiv Nair personally or indirectly.

  8. Vespa says:

    And one of them is a director on the board that employs the interviewer.

  9. pablo says:

    Takes a hacker to catch a hacker, and I don’t mean in the IT sense. No sense of responsibility for the damage they have caused to others. If I was them I would go away and hide from the world – and not appear on talk shows as a born again knowall.

  10. botom says:

    So Reno Bugeja asked Frank Portelli’s opinion on how Mater Dei Hospital should be managed. I did not know that Dr Portelli was an expert in hospital management. The hospital he owned and managed went bankrupt.

  11. Macduff says:

    Ho-hum. Any bets that the conclusion from this report will be the need for another hospital? The government will then either take over St Philip’s Hospital completely, or else enter into a “private-public partnership” through which the government will invest heavily in its infrastructure and provide it with enough work to keep it in business.

  12. anthony says:

    Portelli is a fine guy to advise on running a hospital after his experience at St Philip’s.

    As for Dalli he would be idoneous to be put in charge of the purchasing department given his CV.

    It seems to me that the government is adamant that it has to make a fool of itself on a daily basis without fail.

    I just cannot understand the reason why.

  13. Norman Vella says:

    21 November, John Dalli:
    Put distance between politicians and administrators at Mater Dei
    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131121/local/john-dalli.495720#.Uo526bSp6So

    21 November, John Dalli:
    ‘Political autonomy is the only way forward for Mater Dei’
    http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Political-autonomy-is-the-only-way-forward-for-Mater-Dei-Dalli-20131121

    17 March, Godfrey Farrugia:
    New health minister to set up office at Mater Dei
    http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/New-health-minister-to-set-up-office-at-Mater-Dei-20130317

    26 March, Godfrey Farrugia:
    Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia in his office at the Emergency Department of Mater Dei Hospital – as near to the people as possible!
    http://www.maltastar.com/dart/20130326-health-minister-godfrey-farrugia-in-his-office-at-the-emergency-department-of-mater-dei-hospital

    27 June, Godfrey Farrugia:
    Minister shares Mater Dei office with health professionals
    http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-06-27/news/minister-shares-mater-dei-office-with-health-professionals-1929674763/

    • ciccio says:

      What does John Dalli mean by granting political autonomy to Mater Dei, and why only Mater Dei? Did Reno Bugeja investigate that? I admit, I did not watch the entire programme.

      How can the government give autonomy to a hospital?

      Create a hospitals authority, maybe? In theory it can be done, but I don’t believe this is what John Dalli has in mind.

      Or is Dalli suggesting a privatisation of the hospital management? Something which may translate into a mega-contract, for 25 years or more?

      Does the government have (another) private consortium lined up to take over the management of Mater Dei? Perhaps another pre-electoral deal on the same lines as that for the energy sector?

      Is this autonomy an excuse so that the Minister of Health and the Prime Minister will not carry the political responsibility for Labour’s failures, and the developments that are likely to take place as a consequence of Dalli’s report, at the Mater Dei?

      At one point, John Dalli said that he had prepared the report free of charge. From the context, I understood that he has provided free services up to the conclusion of the report, but his services may not be free from here onwards. Perhaps this matter can be clarified through a parliamentary question.

  14. Starker says:

    Reno Bugeja should have asked John Dalli how much John Abela has cost the Health Dept to put up this report. Anyone reporting that John Dalli is thereon a voluntary basis is just reporting a half truth.

  15. Osservatore says:

    John Dalli can and will propose something that will inevitacly lead to kick backs for himself and those responsible for approving his proposal. In the long run, he would not have been working for free. Make no mistake about it.

  16. Peter says:

    Isma, jghid x’jghid dan ir-rapport li hareg John Dalli dwar l-isptar Mater Dei, ta’ min jaghmel ftit osservazzjonijiet, l-ewwel fosthom li hu stess ghandu xi jwiegeb ghax hu kien ministru tas-sahha ghal xi zmien wara l-2008. U allura, ghandu htija wkoll ghal dak li kien hemm hazing u hallieh ghaddej. Mela jigi issa jixhet dell ikrah fuq haddiehor.

  17. tina says:

    Dissett reminded me of Toto Riina, the capo dei capi. Reno Bugeja’s credibility dived to new depths.

  18. tina says:

    On Net TV Andrew Azzopardi showed one and all that he is a lackey and coward when he tried to defend with stupid and untruthful arguments the law on the sale of Malta’s citizenship.

  19. Scrooge says:

    Qawl Malti : FEJN HEMM IL-FLUS JIMXU S-SAQAJN – JD BA please note

  20. John H iggins says:

    And to top it all he wore a very bright red tie to show his present leanings and lackeyness.

    • Jozef says:

      On second thoughts, Mallia, Scerri and Zammit should go on very high alert, that thing makes the perfect get away vehicle.

  21. Last Post says:

    Dan l-istess John Dalli li għandu ħuh jismu BASTJAN – dak li skond l-Orizzont kien għamel “il-miraklu” li bidel il-whiskey f’ilma? X’sar minnu Bastjan?

    Kif m’ghadux jissemma, la hu u lanqas ħuh Johnny fuq L-Orizzont?? Kif issa nqaleb kollox ta’ taħt fuq?

  22. Gaetano Pace says:

    The most interesting and important parts were deliberately omitted by the interviewer. Why was John Dalli not asked what his terms of reference are? Why was he not asked about his mission statement?

    He is a volunteer and not a paid consultant.

    What are his credentials in respect of human resources and resources management? What are his credentials in specialised hospital management? What is his profession – an accountant, an auditor, a Sherlock Holmes, a man manager?

    What are his credentials in medicine and pharmaceuticals? At one moment he is stating that his terms of reference were not to draw conclusions. Come the next moment and he is not only drawing conclusions but trying to push them down our throats.

    In one breath it is apologia pro vita sua et omississ eis; in the next breath it is a pointing finger of accusation.

    Joe opened a room and found millions of pills; John opened the cupboard and only ghosts came out.

    Why was he not asked about the notorious dinner in some cantina where people eat tortillas and discuss Highly Significant Business and Commissions? Did not the interviewer have any delaying and derailing tactics for him as he had for Simon Busuttil a few days before?

    Was it not in the public interest to know why was he a.w.o.l from Europe on his humanitarian mission to the Bahamas?

    Why did he not come clean and tell us how it was that people used to place their pleas with St Sebastian only for St John to grant the graces and favours?

    Sickening.

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