Somebody’s nose is going to be put badly out of joint
With the glamorous (well, for a politician) 39-year-old Matteo Renzi set to become Italy’s new prime minister, I imagine Joseph Muscat is not going to be mad keen for any more of those Italy-Malta joint press conferences where the cameras homed in on him looking much younger than Enrico Letta, though far less statesmanlike.
Standing side by side with Renzi, there is no way Muscat is going to get a look-in. They’re the same age – Renzi is actually a year younger – but Renzi has a full head of very dark hair and is the right weight for his height, while Muscat…oh, never mind. The salient factor is that at 39, Renzi – if he makes it – will be leading one of the Group of Seven (G7) and a European Union heavyweight while Muscat is the boss of two small islands, the largest of which is 17 miles by nine, with a population of 400,000.
I think this calls for a bit of a tantrum, don’t you?
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Well, Muscat has already sent the first signal to the new comer.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140215/local/muscat-thanks-praises-letta.506878
I read a “Hu Go Fik, Renzi” in that tweet.
G7? Stop being negative and bear in mind that Malta is the world leader.
I really don ‘t like the way Renzi engineered the toppling of a prime minister belonging to his own party.
Muscat had better not cross Renzi or he might end up with much more than a nose badly out of joint.
Renzi may be far more physically appealing than Muscat, but both are manipulative, stop-at-nothing narcissists who make grandiose statements entirely lacking in substance.
I have a feeling that the Italians will shortly discover that Renzi is just another power-hungry opportunist, in the same way many switchers are discovering pretty much that about their own choice in Malta, at a high cost to all of us.
If he does fail, Grillo’s Cinque Stelle will register an overwhelming victory.
The sudden surge came after a poll, two weeks ago, indicated the PD’s losing votes fast, which could lead to a stalemate under the proposed dual stage electoral process. In other words, Letta was dragging the party down.
That means the PD is eliminated at the first round, leaving the Cinque stelle versus Berlusconi, obviously every vote from the PD going to Grillo.
Another difference is that Renzi has not declared his ambition to be Italy’s youngest Prime Minister.
He won’t actually be. The youngest was professor Goria, back in the late 70s (or early 80s) who was 35 when appointed. He did not last very long – as was, and still is, usual in the tangled web of Italian politics – and died quite young.
Giovanni Goria was 44 when appointed in 1987 as the 47th Prime Minister. Kindly “observe” better.
PBS reported this morning that Renzi will be the EU’s youngest current Prime Minister.
Move over, Joseph Muscat.
Seems that PBS have changed their mind – maybe somebody gave them a call from the Auberge de Castille.
This evening PBS reported that at 39, Renzi is two months younger than Mussolini was when il Duce became prime minister of Italy.
I think the difference between Renzi and Muscat is only in their looks. From what I followed it seems that Renzi backstabbed his party colleague Letta, who on the day of his resignation received the good news that Italy has started to climb out of recession.
My suspicion is that both Renzi and Muscat use unsavoury tactics to gain power and stay in power.
In a way I like the new scenario where these two unpleasant characters have to deal with each other.
Time will tell.
Air Malta paid a little over 4 million euros in early retirement funds to reduce the number of pilots on its payroll, as agreed with the pilots’ union and in line with its EU-approved restructuring plan.
The last pilot to take early retirement left just two months ago, and already Air Malta is looking for more pilots again.
https://secure.etc.gov.mt/Jobseeker/JobSearch/showVacancy.aspx?vac_ser_id=264309
Air Malta spends millions to:-
1. train its pilots;
2. keep its pilots from going to other airlines;
3. keep the pilots’ union happy;
4. give pilots early retirement and golden handshakes;
5. hire new pilots.
Go back up to 1 and repeat.
There is another important difference between the two leaders. Mr Muscat is a democratically elected prime minister. Mr Renzi shall be a non-elected prime minister.
David, if you feel the need to strip off your T shirt and swing it round your head while shouting ‘Viva l-Lejber’, please, go ahead. Don’t let us stop you. It’s not healthy to keep one’s emotions bottled up.
Renzi will not be a ‘prime minister’.
But Joseph is well on the way to becoming a “European heavyweight”.
My bet is that Joseph Muscat will develop a hot crush on Matteo Renzi, shifting his wide-eyed interest away from David Cameron.
Joseph Muscat’s ideal summit partner would have been Puyi at the start of his reign.
Actually, this needs a novel and a film version too.
It’s no coincidence.
Renzi’s got his own rebel without a cause, Pippo Civati. Watch him as he splits the party next week.
http://www.lettera43.it/upload/images/04_2013/l43-civati-130425203748_big.jpg
This one was the party apparatchik’s favourite, german speaking, left behind in the leadership race, Gianni Cuperlo.
http://www.gadlerner.it/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/cuperlo.jpg
Elena Boschi, Renzi’s law and constitutional reforms guru, she’ll be the minister with the trickiest portfolio, her job includes dismantling the senate, sending all senators, average age 65, home.
http://biografieonline.it/img/bio/Maria_Elena_Boschi_1.jpg
Alessandra Moretti, who’s supposed to be anti-Renzi, given that she was Bersani’s campaign manager against Renzi’s first attempt to win the party leadership last year, but who’ll definitely be the PD’s interface on TV.
http://www.affaritaliani.it/static/upload/ales/0010/alessandra-moretti–12-.jpg
And this one’s Deborah Serrachiani, who started the phenomenon back in 2008, every appearance on TV increasing the PD’s popularity, currently governor of the Veneto region.
http://www.lettera43.it/upload/images/10_2011/l43-debora-serracchiani-111026085144_big.jpg
Yes, the PD realised that a minimum of photogeny helps. Clean faces and a total command of the subject.
Correction, governor of Friuli Venezia Giulia.
Jozef, I have always felt that things went tits up for Italy after that Garibaldi bloke engineered a bloody coup d’état (he was a Frenchman, so it figures).
Discuss.
I think Renzi is just as crass and arrogant. Just look at these photos: I think the Italians have found their very own Joseph Muscat. http://www.vanityfair.it/news/italia/13/11/19/intervista-renzi-vanity-fair
*cough* *cough* land reclamation *cough* *cough*