Live debate between the prime minister and the Opposition leader
Those of you who are watching Xarabank, please post your comments here and I will upload them in real time.
Great point: the PM has just said that anybody who criticises his government’s actions in foreign lands or foreign media is working against the national interest. The Opposition leader responded with the very remark that a thousand people must have shouted at their television sets at the same time: that it was Muscat, who strove so hard to keep Malta out of the European Union, who worked against the national interest. All else is a democratic right and duty.
What a nerve. The prime minister has just said that the difference between him and Busuttil is that he (the PM) doesn’t believe that the people can be bought.
Honestly. All he has done is buy people, in a great variety of ways and according to where he detects their Achilles’ heel.
I don’t much care for his tone. It’s taking on an edge of aggression that threatens to turn full on as it did in parliament that infamous night. Completely inappropriate: when the more powerful person shouts at the less powerful one, it comes across as hateful bullying and throwing your weight around, whatever the context and whoever the persons involved.
When it’s the prime minister deploying an aggressive, threatening tone towards the Opposition leader, in what should be a straightforward debate on television, it’s even worse.
People are watching and that kind of behaviour comes across as really ugly and unpleasant, though it probably does impress the sort of hamalli (note well: this is not a synonym for working-class people) who behave that way themselves and think wow, he’s great.
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Muscat bit-tfal North Korea style tghid se jifthu d-dibattitu?
Lots of make-up for Joseph – from pimpled pink to 1970s crooner perma-tan.
No amount of make-up can cover the vertical furrow on his face.
He just said ”Jien ma nemminx li n-nies tista tixtrijhom”. Yes, tell that to fishermen at Marsaxlokk. To me it is just plain Newspeak.
And all the while the furrow keeps deepening.
What was the point of Muscat mentioning that he went to the gym this morning, in the introduction part? He really doesn’t look like any gym rat I know.
The ridiculous old fart thinks it’ll give him the sex appeal. Such bullshit and self-delusion.
a chav trying to impress
Bdejna bl-undermining minghand il-PM
It sounds to me that Muscat doesn’t understand what the word “can’t” means.
The reason why all these expensive promises are not a good idea is not because the PN doesn’t want the state to help those in trouble, but because Malta just doesn’t have the money.
The reason why Muscat thinks we do have the money is because of his citizenship scam….sorry scheme.
How did the people vote for Joseph Muscat? I find him insufferable. His voice, his behaviour, his very, very artificial facial expressions. It’s mind-boggling.
It’s a sad reflection of the people among whom we live.
I agree 100 percent with you Lomax
L-elves tal-lejber kollha qeghdin parti mill-udjenza. X’hela ta’ hin.
Alla jbierek hadd ma jifhem hlief il-PM
Kollox kif jghid hu tajjeb. Narcissista.
The way our prim minister is speaking is making me cry – trying to make people laugh
L-idea tac-cittadinanza ma ghamluhiex fil-programm ghax giet wara, qal il-prim. B’min trid titnejjek, Sur Muscat?
His nose grew an inch longer when he said that.
Dear Muscat: The people wanted the PN to put a stop to your citizenship nonsense. They were doing the right thing by being the voice of the people.
Why can’t he get that into his head. That was why we wanted the EU, to have a higher institution to help put a stop to Labour’s stupidity.
Yesss Simon…diga harqu lil PM hehe
Was somebody late?
Why the extended publicity?
Because all Malta’s watching. It’s an excellent, and expensive, advertising slot.
It’s the Maltese equivalent of advertising during the Super Bowl.
At least with the Super Bowl, you getting something worth watching…….
What a difference 12 months can make. Our PM looks so old, tired and dated already.
He did before the election, only too many hadn’t noticed.
The sniggering smirk on Dr. Muscat’s face is already turning into an angry rictus. No teleprompters here for prepared speeches and he will find it difficult to keep up with Dr. Busuttil’s excellent argumentation technique.
Note the arrogance in the statement that once the government takes a decision, the Opposition should shut up. Muscat has been sent by God to deliver us from the evils and excesses of 25 years of democracy.
Joseph’s first lie. They didn’t know about the citizenship scheme before the election. Pull the other one.
Didn’t you see ‘Work in Progress’ on the road map?
There was another lie beforehand… when he said that he was going to the gym.
1 hr of adverts and 10 mins of debate so far.
As the second part started the lady on the Muscat counter standing 6:54 made the sign of the cross.
Do I have to watch the whole programme? This is my sacrifice for Lent.
Why is Joseph Muscat so angry? Qisu gellied.
Angry, ignorant and a patent liar.
If there is any tangible proof that Joseph Muscat is really incompetent in politics as a party leader and that he has no story to tell, just keep watching Xarabank’s debate.
He’s simply denying truth, and answering Simon Busuttil by repeating his own distortions of truth.
No smiles, tonight, but just a few feeble attempts to defend the indefensible. Finally we got to hear it from Joseph Muscat’s mouth: he dictates what the Police Commissioner should do in carrying out his duties.
Nasty piece of work this one.
Int qieghed fil-gvern issa erfa r-responsabbilita issa.
That comment.. what would you do?
Haha.. have they already run out of ideas?
Darlings, you lot are in government, that is your job.
Is it my impression or is Dr Muscat at a loss, asking Opposition Leader what he should do? What a nerve, hasn’t he realised yet that he is now in Government?
I’m not so sure that many will see the Prime Minister’s behaviour as ugly and unpleasant. I think the average Xarabank viewer will lap it up and conclude that the Prime Minister is winning.
The Opposition leader has good arguments but he needs to drive them home more forcefully or we’re going to end up with a Labour government for the next 25 years.
@ curious
Mhux bil-fors! Mela ma rajtux kif Dr.Busutill fixlu fuq il-kwistjoni tat-tanker f’Marsaxlokk!
It only took 6 minutes for Muscat to lose his patience.
Did it really take that long?
If anyone had to light a match in the studio right now Joseph Muscat would turn into a fireball. Hence his pathetic attempt at coolness.
Well don’t let him near the gas tanks
From Gonzi to Muscat, a real case of dalle stelle alle stalle. How could the Maltese have chosen this and in droves? Still baffles me. Simon Busuttil bodes well – has cornered the ginger boy so many times tonight.
Muscat (and many supporters) poisoning the well, as it were.
No, Muscat, no one is going to sabotage the gas tanker. But with the way you’re behaving, rushing this project and ignoring the people, it sounds like a mistake can easily be made.
Is he preparing the ground to accuse the PN of sabotage in case of an accident? Probably. And of course his sheep would believe it.
This guy knows no shame and has no scruples.
Accident? All you need is a really bad storm – what is Muscat going to say? That the Nationalists danced an Indian rain dance and killed half the children of Marsaxlokk?
If there is anything worse than a prime minister whose voice raises in proportion to how threatened he feels it is a prime minister who thinks he can joke his way through a debate. Only fools can feel proud of such a head of government! Perhaps he should leave clowning to the clowns.
Labour’s true colours, and the PM’s vile streak, was transmitted in that question posed by that lap-dog in the audience. Is this the way Labour and the PM want to discredit the Opposition?
I loved Cassola. Min fejn jidhlu, minn San Pawl il-Bahar? Lovely.
Nice to see that the prime minister cracks himself up with his own jokes. At least someone is enjoying his antics.
Who was the blonde chav sitting in the audience right behind Peppi?
I don’t know but she completely upstaged Peppi. I couldn’t take my eyes off her blonde ringlets, while she couldn’t take her eyes off Chowseff, and taking photos of him on her mobile phone.
Look, it was Xarabank .Hire-a-rowdy-crowd Joseph is our scheming Prime Minister in charge of PR.
I’m sorry that our standards are so abysmally low.
There’s only one word I can use to describe our Prime Minister and it’s in Maltese: baxx.
FYI – a few minutes ago Lara Boffa just referred to you as the bitch on her fb page.
[Daphne – I take no offence. I have never known the Malta Labour Party to be anything other than misogynistic, offensive and patronising towards women. Miss Boffa fits right in. Though she should, I suppose, remember that she is a director of Enemalta and that the company’s new Shanghai shareholders might not take kindly to a headline that says ‘Enemalta director calls journalist a bitch’. We are in the unfortunate position where Chinese autocrats are likely to take a dimmer view of this than their Maltese counterparts, who regard it as normal.]
The Malta Labour Party understand neither democracy nor free speech. They consider themselves above the law and accountable to no one. As I always say “ship them all to China – they will fit in perfectly”.
WHAT? Lara Boffa director of Enemalta?
Min jajjar lil haddiehor qed ifisser li qed jiehu kollox fl-istonku tieghu ghax jaf li jkollu tort. Ara min jimxi sew ma jaghtix kaz tal-insolenzi li jintqalu fuqu u ma jinkwieta xejn. Ghalhekk certi laburisti jispiccaw jajjru lil haddiehor ghax ma jifilhux jisimghu s-sewwa. Lanqas jafu fejt toqghod.
“Indahluwwa”, “nifthuwwa”, “ftahnijja” etc.
Was I the only one who cringed at his pronounciations?
Naqbel mijjjek mijjja fill-mijjja.
Pronounciation of a peasant.
Aqtawwwwa intom it-tnejn.
The best one: priv8ization.
I had to use a number to mimic Muscat’s pronunciation.
Did he really say that?
How can this man even pretend he’s young and hip? And how stupid can the switchers be to think they were somehow voting for Louis Grech only, and not for the whole package? Because even if their pepe hero Louis Grech is now a Cabinet minister, the pepe MPs are vastly outnumbered by the subliterates.
Tell me about it, Baxxter.
Tal-Pepe Louis Grech’s assistant, Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg, is known as Tal-Gabillott in his hometown.
More peasants than that they cannot get.
Just seen the Saturday edition of the UK Daily Telegraph, which, if I have read it on the UK website correctly, implies that Bulgaria are offering EU citizenship for sale without the need to work or live in Bulgaria for just GBP £150,000. Considerably less than the much trumpeted Maltese offer of Euros 650,000.
Seems that the Labour government’s budget which relies on selling x thousand passports, will need to be revised. Wonder what new crazy scam they’ll come up with next to fill in the shortfall in the revenue from the scheme designed to fill in the shortfall!
There you go. Competition at work as expected. The price war is on and Muscat will have to reduce his tariffs soon. Stay in the market or wither away into insignificance.
This sale of passport business cannot and will not be as profitable as Muscat is trying to make us believe.
By the end of it Malta may only pocket a few million euros. An insignificant contribution when compared to an annual government revenue of 2.4bn.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/bulgaria/10699150/EU-citizenship-for-sale-for-180000-euros.html
Apart from the issue of safety, the refuelling of the storage ship in port will necessitate closing the port seven times a year for 36 hours each time. This is a point made by Arnold Cassola.
This makes our Freeport less viable because ships cannot afford to lose hours or even days simply because the port happens to be closed. The Freeport risks losing business to competitors.
Arnold Cassola has the right kind of cutting ‘spirtu pront’ to deal with Muscat in a live debate. He really puts Muscat in his place (“jidhlu minn San Pawl”).
Arnold Cassola specified that the port has to be closed for 36 hrs during refueling. That will amount to about 2 weeks per year.
What about all the activity including the fishermen and Freeport? This is sheer madness!
When the Prime Minister mentioned the sale of Mid Med Bank, in comparison to the sale of part of EneMalta, Dr Busuttil should have reminded him that the minister in charge of the Mid Med privatisation was none less than J Dalli BA who is now a consultant to the present government.
I’m soooo glad I didn’t watch this. Sorry, but I have to take care of my blood pressure as well as my sanity.
Plenty of more stimulating and productive stuff to do than brutally reminding myself what a bunch of braying donkeys my countrymen really are.
One thing Norman Lowell was absolutely right about was Xarabank being “that low-culture programme”. I thought he was holding back far too much. Frankly I don’t understand how you guys can stand it.
A new word for the PM’s vocabulary : Sabotage
Jien nixtieq inkun naf ghalfejn Peppi l-hin kollu jghid li jekk isir capcip jew kummenti n-nies jintbaghtu l-barra u ma zamx kellmtu ghax nghid ghalija l-hin kollu jajjtu u jaddu r-rimarki. La mhux bniedem ta dixxiplina jmissu jhalli s-sala vojta darb’ohra.
What it is taking so long for the residents of Marsaxlokk and Birzebbuga to organize a mass demonstration against the massive tanker. Forget politics. This is a safety issue which is of paramount importance.
Not mentioning the damage that will done to the image of Marsaxlokk.
Sadly, the people in these localities went to the polling booths to vote for MLP and this is how Muscat reciprocates.
The Prime Minister yesterday gave away his greatest fear and at the same time tried to blame the Opposition: sabotage.
That gas tanker in Marsaxlokk should have written on its side in bright red, BLOW ME UP. I’M A CHINESE AND AZERBAIJANI TARGET.
When asked about the ousted Libyan prime minister’s two-hour visit to Malta, Muscat specifically said that we should not over-inflate the situation there. Unfortunately we are within range of unstable states with weapons capable of turning that tanker into an exploding fireball and these risks have to be taken into account.