Running Commentary Award for Most Hilarious Story of The Month

Published: January 10, 2010 at 7:32pm

charity-fun-run

They can’t even plan a charity donation, but they want to run the country. Tajba tal-empty brown envelope bl-emblema tal-gvern. I see Labour is back on form.

The Sunday Times, today

Labour pays a high price for gigantic L-Istrina cheque

Matthew Xuereb

The Labour Party paid a hefty price to present its L-Istrina donation in a more elaborate manner – having to double its contribution to €2,000 so the Labour leader could present a gigantic cheque in front of the television cameras.

The Labour Party delegation originally intended to donate €1,000 to the Malta Community Chest Fund, but was informed when it arrived backstage that to present a symbolic gigantic cheque it must donate at least €2,000, the Office of President confirmed yesterday.

Following a brief impromptu consultation meeting, the party decided to double its donation and it was then given a large cheque to present on stage. The extra €1,000 was received by the L-Istrina organisers two days later.

Sources said the Labour Party was further pressured into increasing its pledge when officials saw that the Nationalist Party had already registered its €2,000 donation and PN officials were waiting to be ushered on stage with the large cheque in their hands.

The annual fundraising marathon on Boxing Day raised a whopping €2.3 million for charity.

Replying to questions by The Sunday Times, the Labour Party yesterday denied that anything of the sort had happened and insisted that it had paid all the donations it had pledged for L-Istrina.

“The PL denies the malicious, silly and superficial allegations forwarded to The Sunday Times by people who might take time off to wish others well during the festive period, but whose divisive agenda is once again all too clear, even on occasions of national unity such as L-Istrina.

“Labour paid up all the donations pledged for L-Istrina and this can be supported through receipts issued by the organisers,” a spokesman for the party said.

There is also some confusion surrounding Labour’s donation during the President’s Charity Marathon on December 6, when the party was represented by Michelle Muscat, the Labour leader’s wife, since her husband was abroad attending a Labour conference.

Sources said that just before the fun run began, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi presented President George Abela with a €10,000 cheque from the Good Causes Fund.

Sources said the Labour Party representatives present had not envisaged this donation, and an individual then handed Mrs Muscat a brown envelope with the government emblem.

Mrs Muscat walked up to the President and presented it to him on behalf of the party. This envelope, however, turned out to be empty, the sources maintained.

The Office of the President could not confirm whether the envelope contained anything of monetary value but confirmed that the €1,000 donation for the charity run had been received.

The Labour Party did not comment on this incident, saying it “would not stoop so low and reply in kind with factual information it has in hand on how certain individuals tried to manipulate a whole series of events through commission and omission.”

The Labour spokesman once again congratulated Dr Abela and the Malta Community Chest Fund and pledged to continue supporting them with their sterling work.




35 Comments Comment

  1. Grezz says:

    Mhux tajba wkoll tal-“gigantic cheque”?

  2. Christopher Darwin says:

    Bunch of emiċers

  3. Leonard says:

    Il-megaCisk.

  4. Harry Purdie says:

    Daphne, can idiots be incompetent? Or is that a non sequitur.

  5. Tony Pace says:

    Madoffi, to think I was considering trying them out……………..
    as someone great once said, ”they can’t even organise a piss-up in a brewery”.

  6. edgar gatt says:

    Seems that the 40,000 a year Euro chick is not helping them sort out these trivial things. Mur ara when it comes to the heavy stuff.

  7. Joseph A Borg says:

    Is this news? Why is it relevant? The only thing it tells me is that the PN lobby likes to sling mud even on such an occasion and Labour gave a very gentlemanly reply.

    Paint me disgusted by the local political parade.

    • ACD says:

      I think the point here is that the Labour Party continues to not get anything right at all. You’ll find that highlighting this is very much in the national interest.

      I like the way Labour take the time to answer questions by saying that they will not reply. Classic.

    • Bambie Smith says:

      Tell your pardners not to play charades when they want to make donations. Instead of being arrogant with the press, all they should have done was hand over a cheque for 1000K and say goodbye, and not try to be funny with mega cheques and stupid ideas while expecting not to be criticised for their idiotic gimmicks. The Labour Party is proving to be a party full of gimmicks and nothing concrete. Get to basics and that will be all.

    • Paul Gauci says:

      These bits of information are worth knowing. This is behind-the-scene information which helps us understand the people involved as they are in reality and not only as they appear in front of cameras.

    • Giovanni says:

      No, not really news – but if the Labour Party is not even capable of organising a donation ahseb u ara planning a national budget.

  8. Mario De Bono says:

    it went something like this.

    Marju L-Maws, who has the honour of accompanying Joe and Mixx everywhere they go, saw the PM give the 10,000 euro cikk to Gorg Abela. “Il-ma******”, he told the ubiquitous MLP photgrapher who captures J and M’s signature moments. “Ahna ha ntuh xi haga jew? La tah Gonzi, ahna irridu ntuh ukill! Isa, kemm ghandek fil-but?”

    They pool the dregs from their pockets and come up with 20 euros in coins and notes. “Haqq Ang, dan biss ghandna? Isa Marju, ghax tat-televixin ha jitilqu. Ghamel xi haga! Ara l-Mixx x’wicc ta’ hniena ghandha. Do something, man!”

    Marju has an idea. He goes up to the suldat at the palace entrance and says, “Aw Chalie, official biznizz tal-kbir Joe Muscat. Tini envelops, igri.”

    The suldat, looking flustered, rummages around in a drawer and comes up with a crumpled standard government issue envelope, complete with emblem. “Dan hemm, sinjur, u ghidlu lil Joe li qdejtek. Bilhaqq meta nitilghu ahna nixtieq……”.

    Marju stares balefully at the suldat. “X’ala bieb il-maws x’tixtieq? Ta’ envelops, jew? U hallina.” And he rushes off. He is just in time to save Mixx’s blushes. “Aw Mixx Mixx, hawn hi taghna, aghtielu lil Gorg.” And he gives her the empty envelope. Mixx goes up to the president and simpers. “Sur President, kif taf zewgi qieghed f’ Konferenza Importanti Hafna F’Ewropa. Pero f’isem il-Lejber Parti qed nipprezentalek din id-donazzjoni.”

    • Mario De Bono says:

      I swear I had not seen this photo in caption when I wrote my piece, which you maybe rightly truncated. But the photo is exactly as I imagined events to have been.

    • Neil Dent says:

      This had me rolling on the floor! Great piece Mr. De Bono, but be careful! They’ll have you up in court for offending public morals or some similar shite!

    • Claude Sciberras says:

      Mario, this piece is great – more please….

  9. Mark C says:

    No the most hilarious was the one of Gonzi being jealous of Muscat for being so popular while he is so unpopular. haha

  10. MarioP says:

    Hilarious as they may be, the chances of Labour taking power are growing by the day. The PN is losing its chance of bringing in new faces and revitalising the cabinet and the country at large. Except for the likes of Jason Azzopardi and Tonio Fenech (just), there is little to admire about the rest of the team.

    Poking fun at Labour’s inability to organise a simple cheque presentation does not mask the fact that people are burdened by the present circumstances and are willing to believe that Labour have a magic wand which will miraculously ease their financial problems. Hope really is the last thing to die.

  11. Spiru says:

    The Comedy of Errors

  12. Jenny says:

    It seems that Labour can be certain to have “better looking and brainy women” according to Marie Benoit’s diary. She also mentions Marisa’s “beautiful blonde hair,” as if I care, and that the twins “who are blonde and look like their father” doesn’t really make a difference to me. I think that Benoit is finding it difficult to write about something interesting week in and week out. Don’t forget EastEnders tonight.

    • Bambie Smith says:

      Please don’t mention the name of that bloody champagne socialist Marie Benoit. Her hypocrisy knows no bounds. First she ran Marisa Micallef down as an opportunist, and now she’s backtracking.

    • H.P. Baxxter says:

      And then what? They lived happily ever after in the Kehlsteinhaus?

  13. Muscat Patrick says:

    It is a humiliating mistake, but not as humiliating as Gonzi’s genuflections in front of Dr Franco Debono. Genuflections make bad economics, bad politics and defective leadership. Alleged dividing lines between PL and its opponents, your beloved Conservative Party, are not as distinct as you would like us to believe.

    • Bambie Smith says:

      There are no genuflections in front of Franco Debono. His mission will end come next general election. He will not be returned to the House. That’s for sure. No one is running after Debono except the Labour Party.

  14. Yanika says:

    Kulhadd jaghti biex jidher.

  15. Edwin Borg says:

    Anke lil nishom qed idejqu b’dawn il-kummiedji…

    http://it-torca.blogspot.com/2010/01/l-aqwa-li-nkunu-bhalhom.html

    There is a photo of Mrs Michelle Muscat giving the empty envelope to the President.

  16. Rita Camilleri says:

    Is it only me?I cannot stand her inane smile.

  17. carmel says:

    How can you raise an issue over a non issue. I think there are so many other important subjects to comment, such as the environment in Malta.

  18. Hubert Zammit says:

    Just a small question…………..what gives an opposition party the right to have in its possession an envelope with the government emblem? Labour has NOTHING to do with government.

    And another thing Mario De Bono: I sincerely hope that no “suldat” or anything obeys orders from tal-Labour. Their only loyalty is towards the state.

    • Claude Sciberras says:

      Well, on paper, yes – but you must be very naive to believe that. I can assure you that the civil service is jam-packed with people who not only will do whatever their party will tell them to do but they also pass on confidential information, sabotage and in extreme cases do physical harm to people and resources without mentioning the substantial skiving and absenteeism of some (anti-government) workers within the civil service, because the government is not “theirs”.

      Obviously, there are some on the PN side too, but luckily in smaller numbers. This is because some of these persons thrive on sucking up to those in power or even those who might be in power tomorrow and also because some think that the government is like a cow to be milked (as though the government is not funded by our taxes…).

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