“Defiance will only breed more defiance”
The leading article (editorial) in The Malta Independent on Sunday yesterday – please read it.
Whatever kind of gloss the government has attempted to put on the European Parliament’s vote or the words of the European Commission this week, the simple fact remains that the vast majority of the representatives of Europe’s citizens, and by default Europe’s citizens themselves, have denounced outright the Maltese government’s citizenship scheme.
And no matter how much the government may argue that the European Parliament’s resolution on the Citizenship for Sale plenary debate was not only about Malta, the fact of the matter remains that there is no other EU member state that offers such an advantageous, market-orientated option for gaining EU citizenship and opening the doors to Europe as a whole. Comparisons, it is said, are odious, but the government’s comparisons to the Austrian scheme, for example, are even more odious if not downright misleading.
Yes, the resolution that was passed by just short of 90 per cent of the Members of European Parliament on Thursday is non-binding, but the Maltese government’s apparent contempt for the views of the representatives of Europe’s citizens borders on despicability.
(…)
Link below
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http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-01-19/leader/defiance-will-breed-only-more-defiance-3724410881/
And here’s a link to my column in the same edition:
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-01-19/opinions/nobody-can-sell-something-which-isnt-his-to-sell-3721560073/
He is too full of himself to admit that he is wrong.
There’s no way someone could be that amoral – he knew he was wrong from the day the scheme was first discussed (if not they’d have mentioned it in their electoral manifesto).
He may be surprised at the size of the backlash, I’ll give you that, but there’s no way he hasn’t always known this was the wrong thing to do. That’s what makes him dangerous and not just incompetent.
“comparisons, it is said, are odious, but the government’s comparisons…”
Those who voted Labour want to be proven right and justified in their decision, so they swallow everything their ayatollah says without making their own objective analysis.
The Maltese government’s contempt for Europe’s citizens doesn’t border on despicability. It IS despicable. Sadly, it’s also typical and predictable, except to the hare-brained who thought they knew something everyone else didn’t and so voted Labour.
The history of the EU is often marked by its consolidation in reaction to crises of whatever scale. Hopefully this whole debacle can, at least, act as an impetus for clearer EU rules on citizenship (even if the basis of trust and mutual cooperation underpinning the treaties was always a given).
A fairly good leading article perhaps, but written in very clunky English. Every assertion is watered down and phrases are sentences are more elliptical than the orbit of Halley’s Comet.
When the repercussions of this scheme will be too evident to ignore, our PM will tell us that with hindsight he has realised that the scheme was a huge mistake. When it is too late he will wake up and smell the coffee.
Let’s put our Labour thinking hats on.
Labour never wanted the EU and even though they say that they respect the people’s vote they believe that they won the referendum.
How about using the EU to get 1 billion Euros+? If it works, Labour wins.
If not, the EU stops the funds, no more Schengen, so why stay in the EU? Heq we were forced to leave! Labour make an agreement with an African or Asian country and saves the day. Labour wins.
Win-Win situation.
And what use are we to either Asia or Africa without Europe.
We are nation of 400k-odd people with no natural resources. We are useless to everyone except for our link to Europe
There must be much more to this than we may care to think for the Prime Minister to carry on regardless in the circumstances. It is way beyond inexperience, ignorance and hard headedness.