Azerbaijan bribes seven MEPs
Azerbaijan bribed seven MEPs so that they would give a glowing report of the rigged elections there. They were uncovered because their reports were so glaringly contradictory to those of most other observers who described the elections as rigged or similar.
They were not alone in their glowing reports. Anglu Farrugia, at the time already Speaker of the House in Malta, was in Azerbaijan as an election observer too. His verdict?
That the elections there were “fair, democratic and transparent”.
But he was not investigated on suspicion of having been bribed, not only because he operates in a forum far less strict and censorious than the European Parliament, but mainly because he made those comments during a meeting with his Azeri counterpart.
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http://www.thelocal.it/20140211/italians-meps-to-be-sanctioned-over-azerbaijan-bribe
I believe they weren’t the only ones to use those terms in that context.
Those would be the elections in which the sitting president was found to have won before the votes were even cast.
Anke l-ispiker Anglu ma ra l-ebda ghajn hazina. Tghid kien imdahhal fl-iskandlu?
Things speak for themselves. But even corrupt and chaotic Italy is far more democratic and just than Malta.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Democratic-and-transparent-Anglu-Farrugia-s-verdict-on-Azeri-sham-elections-20131021
Azerbaijani President Aliyev Named Corruption’s ‘Person Of The Year’ and other heart warming headlines
http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan-ilham-aliyev-corruption-person-of-the-year/24814209.html
http://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/europe-central-asia/azerbaijan/corruption-levels.aspx
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-10/azeri-oil-deals-signal-corruption-global-witness-says.html
http://www.transparency.org/country#AZE
Socar, Azerbaijan’s state oil company, has registered several derivative companies here in Malta:
C 55916 SOCAR INVESTMENTS AND FINANCE LTD Apr 05, 2012
C 61679 SOCAR OIL & GAS INTERNATIONAL HOLDING LIMITED Aug 26, 2013
C 62172 SOCAR OIL & GAS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED Oct 09, 2013
C 26647 SOCAR SHIPPING CO. LIMITED Jul 04, 2000
C 43070 SOCAR TRADING HOLDING LIMITED Dec 11, 2007
C 48911 SOCAR VETTING COMPANY LIMITED Feb 17, 2010
Why did Azerbaijan need to bribe MEPs to say the elections were free and fair. I mean, for goodness sake they were free and fair because even our own Anglu said they were.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Democratic-and-transparent-Anglu-Farrugia-s-verdict-on-Azeri-sham-elections-20131021
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2013/10/maltas-speaker-of-the-house-calls-azerbaijans-rigged-elections-fair-democratic-and-transparent-come-on-what-do-you-expect/
Azerbaijan bribed SEVEN MEPs in all, including two Italians.
Malta cannot afford to speak unfavourably of the Azeri government any more than it can speak unfavourably of the Chinese.
Remember that in this context Malta = Government = Labour Party = Joseph Muscat
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Democratic-and-transparent-Anglu-Farrugia-s-verdict-on-Azeri-sham-elections-20131021
Perhaps a little bit of the Maltese “uwija, mhux xorta?” attitude towards our politicians (but, strangely, not to Nationalist politicians) comes from Italy.
u ‘tbazwar naqra l-hawn u tbazwar naqra l-hemm’ as acceptable behavior strikes a cord at home after all.
cHord.
@ La Redoute. For the purpose of cutting down red tape by 25% in line with our government’s strategy I decided to leave the ‘h’ out.
I think you will find that the h is just 20%. Try setting up a committee to reach the 25% threshold.
Let’s have an online poll on Times of Malta.
‘Do you think the h in chord could be blamed on Arriva?’
Shocking. Why doesn’t this make the mainstream news?
Anglu Farrugia went one step further when he said fair-democratic- transparent.
At the next Azerbaijan presidential elections, the decision on whether the elections are “free and fair” will be determined with televoting in 46 EU countries.
Azerbaijan will be distributing pre-paid mobile top-up cards for this purpose, and those who think that the elections were free and fair will be asked to send an SMS to a phone number with the message “FF.”
Those who disagree can also send an SMS to the same number with the message “FF.”
…46 European countries…
So what happens next?
Our Speaker also reported that nothing unseemly was going on in the Ukraine, when he was there.