Interesting:
Daphne Caruna Galizia commenting on Electoral Moleskine #2:
I think it’s hugely unfair to attack somebody who has had the guts to behave like a man instead of like a sulking teenager forever rebelling against his parents. What Rene wrote in his resignation letter is correct: that if he doesn’t play a part in helping to return Gonzi as prime minister, then he is playing a part in helping to elect Sant, and he doesn’t want to have anything to do with that, or to have such an eventuality on his conscience. He appears to have thought about it, and reached a conclusion rooted in personal morality rather than petty partisan politics.
February 14th 14.28pm
Minn tal-Familja on The Author:
Fi stqarrija Rene’ Rossignaud, li l-bieraħ irriżenja membru ta’ l-AD u kunsillier f’isimha fis-Swieqi, iddikjara li mhux minnu assolutament li xi ħadd mill-PN għamel pressjoni fuqu biex jirriżenja. Rossignaud kien qed iwieġeb għal stqarrija li ħarget l-AD u li fiha allegat li hu irriżenja għax ċeda għall-pressjoni li saritlu mill-PN. L-eks kunsillier u eks-membru ta’ l-AD wieġeb li din mhi xejn ħlief gidba sfaċċata, u li hu ħa dan il-pass waħdu wara li rrifletta sew u fit-tul. Rossignaud qal li, għalhekk, qed jirriserva d-dritt li jieħu l-passi legali kollha biex jiddefendi ruħu.
February 14th 17.27pm
News item appeared on Maltarightnow at 16.55 CET
j'accuse 
Phew! From your previous thought I would have thought that someone forced his hand to sign his name to that letter while holding a gun to his temple.
rajtha l-frontpage tat-times, Jacques? Waqt li Daphne f’dan il-blog tiprova tkisser il-Alfred Sant fuq livell personali it-times turina kemm hu ragel tal-familja u jirrispetta lil mara Dr. Gonzi. kollox orkestrat b’vuci wahda. Li jigini f’mohhi hu Big Brother, mhux il-programm izda dak tal-ktieb 1984, ghalkemm l-intolleranza ghal min jahsibha differenti hi reali u mhux fittizja
But I think that is the very problem of the PN image at the moment, despite Daphne’s upbeat description of PN in one of her latest articles. To identify yourself with it you must be:
1) A Blinkered Nationalist
2) A Family Man/Woman
3) Catholic
4) Heterosexual
If you don’t satisfy any of the above requirements, you feel that the ‘Flimkien kollox possibli’ somehow excludes you.
Gold Roast and Rupert Cefai should read On the Campaign Trail – an article published in The Independent on Thursday 14th February. It is a report of a day in Gonzi’s campaign. I don’t want to be cruel and name the journalist who wrote it, but descriptions of his “phenomenal memory” and how he “oozes charm, wit and charisma” abound. He is “stoic”, “bright and cheery” “unfazed by camera flashes” “children love Dr. Gonzi and the same seems certainly true for him”. “The energy of the man is limitless” and say’s things like “One’s mother is important”. You never get this type of “report” in newspapers abroad, but here we think it’s okay to transform the media into shrines for the worship of the Gonzipn cult. Read the report and tell me what you think
Yeah Claire, I’ve read that … yawn. And here’s another Independent article which is so sweet it makes you sick.
“Prime Minister says it with flowers on Valentine’s Day”
So I am supposed to base my decision on where to place my vote depending on what a “romanticone” Lawrence Gonzi is. He definitely hasn’t been giving me any roses these past four years.
Katie’s blog also makes an “interesting” read, though a vomit bag would also probably come in handy there.
The Times is at least “slightly” subtle in its political leanings, but the Independent is becoming more and more like in Nazzjon. Well, I’m not surprised the Independent newspaper is losing out in the popularity ratings.
I just hope that the people who make the elections sway one way or another are intelligent enough not to be influenced by this blatant propogranda. If they believe Lawrence Gonzi is a better choice then so be it, that’s democracy after all, but I hope that will be based on his performance as Prime Minister in the last four years.
I read that report Claire. The only other bloke who got the same superlatively fawning, shamelessly one-sided, kitsch treatment was Archbisop Paul Cremona. I’ve kept the 16-page Times of Malta coverage of his nomination in a box somewhere. The idea was to reach for it whenever some bright spark comes up with the ‘Malta is meant to be secular’ delusion.
The French have their intellectuals and actors, the Italians have their football players and cantautori, the Brits have their comic geniuses.
We have our priests and model family men.
That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
It’s good that there are people who manage to see through these fawning eulogies – I thought I was the only one feeling sick at the way some journalists write
Well, my belief is that the Maltese who decide the elections are more intelligent than the politicians on top think … I most certainly hope so at least. I would like to believe that all these charades are only preaching to the converted. Come 9th March I’ll probably get a better idea of this. But I don’t think the intelligence of the Maltese electorate should be underestimated. I think it has made quite a number of good decisions over the last few years.
Claire, had read the article. when policies fail and ideas dry up, the only thing that remains is the personality cult.
Yes – the personality cult. Today the front page of The Times had a photo of Gonzi picking up a Valentine’s day for his wife and some awfully mawkish caption about him having the time to buy a card…. and a kiss. A colleague of mine was choking in his capuccino. What is this embarassing schmaltzy kistch love story between the PM and his wife? Good luck to them but really it’s so …. Can they please stop shoving this saccharine story down our throat. What next? French kissing on the Fosos? It didn’t do much for Al Gore and Tipper. Maybe it’s just me but I’m not in the least interested in the Hallmark card that Gonzi gave Kate. I don’t care about wifey twittering away on blogs – nobody voted for her. Give me Mary Fenech Adami any time – solid and decent and not a limelight seeker
Agree, Claire. We’re all terribly missing Eddie here.
I read that report Claire. The only other bloke who got the same superlatively fawning, shamelessly one-sided, kitsch treatment was Archbisop Paul Cremona. I’ve kept the 16-page Times of Malta coverage of his nomination in a box somewhere. The idea was to reach for it whenever some bright spark comes up with the ‘Malta is meant to be secular’ delusion.
David, you’re sounding like Emmy Bezzina. No other topic under the sun tickles your fancy?
It is a question of decency. Gonzi’s use of his wife in the campaign verges on abuse. Sant had his ex-wife step in once or twice; difficult to claim it was abusive. Then there is Harry. Have any of you seen Harry Vassallo use his wife. Do you even know what she looks like? She is pretty stunning, but Harry would never dare to use her in any way. It is the reason why people hold him in high regard; with Harry it is never a question of “ghax hekk jaqbillek”. The problem with politics in Malat is that there are no boundaries in the race for power.
Oh for God’s sake -what a one-sided discussion this is. How many of you know Michael Carabott, who wrote the piece you’re tearing to shreds? He’s hardly a raging Nationalist from a family of die-hards, but you didn’t bother to ask about that, did you? One thought seems not to have occurred to any of you: that he wrote that way because that was his observation of the prime minister, and of the day he spent with him. Unlike you, I work with Michael, so I am in a better position to say that he was genuinely impressed. I suppose you prefer to think that somebody slipped him a fiver? Because your rigid standpoint is that Lawrence Gonzi is a Bad Person and Worse Prime Minister, it doesn’t occur to you that maybe, just maybe, you might be wrong. And why is he ‘using’ his wife? The last time I looked, they were married. Now Sant, on the other hand, does not have a wife, but seems to have no scruples about abusing the sentiments of someone who has suffered from a bad case of unrequited love for 25 years. Harry’s wife? Maybe she doesn’t want to be paraded around – who knows? Have you asked her? Funny how you find a man buying a card for his actual wife gag-making, but a spurned woman calling the man who spurned her after fathering a child ‘il-mexxej tieghi’ while telling her television audience that he is ‘honest, just and incorruptible’ with a puppy-dog-love expression on her face. Oh, please – get a grip on yourselves. You hate the Nationalists more than you love AD, and because you hate them so much, you’ve ended up loving Labour too.
you’re joking right, Daphne?
Odd that Fausto of all people should say that. A man with a serious PN fetish.
Fact is that the religious, family man cult is all over the place and it is highly relevant, yes. It’s a message your friends are manufacturing. Even liberal Daphne’s caught the bug. I’m hardly inventing it.
Anytime you want to discuss anything under the sun over a Grimbergen, drop me a mail.
Oh come on, Daphne! Are you part of the Tista Tkun Int generation as well? I want the PN to give me a valid reason to vote for it, and not this saccharine sweet, vomit-inducing love story. I’ve never seen these ‘kummiedji’ between Eddie and Mary, or Guido and Violet, if you think comparing him with his political opponents is unfair. As regards Mary Darmanin, I don’t think her personal relationship with her ex husband is any of your concern, or mine for that matter. Just as it is not my concern what a romantic couple Lawrence and Kate are, good luck to them, but it’s Lawrence as PM which concerns me. From a political point of view, watching this week’s Vice Versa, I can say that Mary Darmanin has a lot more valid arguments in favour of MLP’s policies than Miss Kate could ever come up with. I’m not surprised, MD is an established academic at the UOM, not just another porcelain doll on exhibition. Harry too deserves the admiration for having the decency of not doing a parade with his family, though an embarrasing gaffe by Tonio Fenech shows that certain politicians have no scruples when it comes to other people’s privacy. The intelligence of a whole nation here is being insulted, as if they were voting who they want to win Big Brother or L-Ispjun, rather than who is to run the country for the next five years. This ploy may fool the “nisa Nazzjonalisti ta’ Hal-Qormi” but it is definitely not fooling a person with no political allegiances like me.
Am I alone in detecting more than a hint of panic in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s tone lately?
Gold Roast, I’ll premise this by saying that I am a proponent of a multi-party system of governance because (i) I am an environmentalist and neither of the two major parties has fully understood that environmental protection is not the equivalent of the embellishment of roundabouts and (ii) I am convinced that a two party system excludes genuine competition and drives quality down.
Now that my prejudices are out of the way…
The notion that Kate Gonzi is some sort of silly pawn is ridiculous. She has been an effective part of Lawrence Gonzi’s arsenal (as an operative, not a symbol) for several years. If PN try to sell a product stupidly you can criticise the marketing, but the product itself is quite a different matter. Kate Gonzi is an intelligent woman, as is her husband. I’d love not to need to say all of this, but these over-reactions to cringe-worthy marketing ploys are as silly as the ploys themselves.
PN has given you ample reason to vote for them, and if you are so driven by spin that you cannot see the substance I would suggest that you take a closer look at PN’s record (and perhaps compare it to MLP’s 96-98 disaster and AD’s failure to get a simple rent reform referendum rolling). Joining the Euro as joint second of the new MS’s is not to be scoffed at, balancing the budget of a nation lacking in natural resources while sustaining growth is a major achievement, attracting investment is another. Above all, being right on all of the defining issues while the major opposition is wrong is a fundamental reason to look beyond the bouquet of roses. Yes, they have messed up on many matters, not least their arrogant approach and ridiculous crusades on matters that are insignificant at best, but why allow your intelligence to be insulted by silly ploys that should be mocked rather than taken seriously?
And now to sleep. Good night all. See you in the morning.
I don’t agree Kate is being spitefully used. She is an adult and I have no doubt she is doing everything with her consent.
Those who are abused are us, the voting citizens. I’m employing a person who has to convince me that he will manage the country well for the next five years. I don’t care about whether he is romantic or not.
Also, in my opinion Gonzi is being too demonized. He has to lead a party full of people of not so brilliant credentials which is not an easy job. What is deceiving is that he is trying to appear as if HE is the party not them. This is not Gonzi vs Sant. It’s about parties (alone or preferably in coalitions) not just two individual human beings.
Obviously, Robert does not read In-Nazzjon or Il-Mument – or he would not talk of ‘demonisation’.
I took Justin BBs advice and had a close look at the PN’s record. I’m still trying to recover.
It is a litany of broken promises, failed projects, cost and time over-runs and environmental devastation.
Above all, it is a record of corruption the like of which has never been seen in any administration in Malta’s political history.
Only today we have heard of another incident of gross misuse of the ‘good causes fund’.
Malta deserves better than this. Time for a change.
That’s fair enough Victor. Thank you for appraising the record rather than Gonzi’s romantic nature or virility.
Nowhere have I spoken of Kate being a hapless pawn in Gonzi’s chess game … yes I’m sure she is doing so willingly though, I believe, not in a way that will buy intelligent voters’ votes. The PN strategists fail to see one thing in the US president style campaign … Malta is not the US! We are not a nation really bothered whether Paris Hilton is in or out of jail, or whether Britney was wearing underwear in her last night out at the club. That will maybe satisfy those with the voyeurism fetish a la Tista Tkun Int.
And precisely Justin, that’s what I want, PN to give me a reason to vote for them, not only judging on their past, but also on what they will do in the future. Indeed I might agree with you with Gonzi being a successful minister, though he has failed miserably as PM. Though I might not agree with the fact that he introduced euro at the expense of halting the momentum of the Maltese economy, when other member states (e.g the Baltic states) have been, in my opinion, more intelligent to do otherwise. Otherwise, he’s crippled by a bunch of nincompoops, with the exception, and I hate to say it, of Austin Gatt. Austin Gatt is probably the only other minister who did something worthwhile in this administration, unfortuntely he has to eclipse everything with his brash attitude and bullying. What about the others? FZD, after 3 years of resisting low cost airlines, finally saw the light. And I attribute the increase in tourism to Ryanair and not to FZD. JM, taking care of the roads infrastructure, has done nothing but squander money and see how much of EU funds allocated to this purpose will get in his own pocket (Sant&Mugliett anyone?). GP might have closed Maghtab down, but turned MEPA into the new Maghtab. The list of failures goes on and on and on. At the moment I am sure there are many people, like me, baffled whether PN is indeed better than MLP. Somehow, I just don’t buy this tale any longer. Also, the collapse of Sant’s government, which coming from a Nationalist family and being pro EU was something I welcomed greatly, can only be attributed to Mintoff’s abuse of his one seat majority, and not to the failure of MLP policies. The day we entered the EU, I stopped seeing a reason to vote the PN perenially.
What I can say is that each general/MEP/local council election I have beeing eligible to vote in so far, I feel I have represented a large chunk of people. Whenever I decided to put 1 on a PN or MLP box it was that party who won the majority. If voted the Greens for the EP, believing we should be represented by a wider spectrum in EP, and everyone knows Arnold would have been the next in line had there been the sixth seat which there is now. This time I’m deciding to abstain, and I am sure that this time I represent the not-so-insignificant haemorrhage that the PN government is suffering, and thinks it can recuperate in the five weeks prior to the election.
First I am going to remind you all again that Victor Laiviera, who at least has the decency to use his own name, supported the governments of Dom Mintoff and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, and so we cannot take him seriously when he criticises this government.
Now for Gold Roast and others who criticised the ‘romantic’ gestures: please remember that an electorate is made up of many parts, not of all which consist mainly, like this blog, of young and unmarried men. There are also lots of women of Kate and Lawrence Gonzi’s age out there, and they don’t consider romantic gestures gag-making. Learn this important principle, please – what appeals to you does not necessarily appeal to everyone else, and what you find off-putting others might actually find attractive. I always find it important to bear in mind that a hard-core 45% of the electorate will vote Labour, as I had occasion elsewhere to point out to Mr Laiviera, even if the party leader happens to be a talking parrot or prancing chimp.
Mary Darmanin: the only reason she is on Super One (the university is packed with academics, but we only see her) is because she is the mother to Alfred Sant’s daughter. If her arguments were so valid, they wouldn’t have been rejected by the majority of the Maltese electorate three times on the trot (1998, 2003 and the referendum on Europe). Dr Darmanin is unable to be strictly objective because she is blinded by her obsession with you-know-who. He comes first.
Another point: if Dr Darmanin wishes not to be discussed in this manner or any other manner, then she should stay away from politics and more particularly, from political television. Once you place yourself in the public domain, you have to stand the heat or get out. I can’t think of many ex-wives (well, strictly speaking, never-was-wives) who would still be hanging onto the coat-tails of their never-was-husband’s careers 22 years after the marriage was annulled. But that’s just me. I think it shows very poor judgement and absolutely no self-respect – just like the object of her affection, in fact.
Apparently, some of the people contributing to this forum think it is perfectly OK to slag off ‘Kate and Lawrence’ but beyond the pale to slag off ‘Mary and Alfred’. Like I said elsewhere, you don’t have to treat him like special needs because he wears a wig. He chooses to wear one.
Nobody is slagging off “Kate and Lawrence”. May they have many happy years together exchanging love notes, roses, romantic breaks and whatever else strikes their fancy – they could start doing it away from the camera and journalists who write embarassing write-ups (embarassing for the writer) full of inanities (“One’s mother is important” the Prime Minister says” – You don’t say)(“oozing charm, wit and charisma” – this is the Prime Minister not Pierce Brosnan for goodness sake). Stop the sycophantic treatment of the Gonzi and Kate – it’s not subtle, it’s over the top and is atrociously written (regardless of whether the writer comes from a Nationalist background or not). This GonzipnKate thing is just another see-through pr ploy to appeal to that section of the electorate which shudders at the thought of a single man being in power.
“Now for Gold Roast and others who criticised the ‘romantic’ gestures: please remember that an electorate is made up of many parts, not of all which consist mainly, like this blog, of young and unmarried men.”
One thing you seem to have forgotten though, Daphne, that most of the people who will be voting for the first time, which are people in the 18-23 age bracket, and which is the age bracket both political parties should be targetting if they want to win the election, belong largely to the young and unmarried category. Most of the peers of Lawrence and Kate are very unlikely to cross from one side of the political spectrum to the other.
And let’s assume for one moment that Gonzi the “family man” and Gonzi the politician are analogous, as Daphne says, and that Alfred Sant is so bad as a politician because his love life is a disaster too. Well, in that case I sincerely hope LG has done a better job at raising his family than he has done with administering his ministers.
It’s not only a section of the Maltese electorate that ‘shudders at the thought of a single man in power’, Claire. It’s the case throughout the democratic world. Trawl about for examples of single men in power in Europe in the 20th century, and you’ll come up with….uhhmmm, now let’s see….the only one who comes instantly to mind is Adolf Hitler. It’s not because single men are bad – we like single men; they’re much sought after for dinner parties and they’re fun to flirt with – yet the bulk of the electorate is not made up of single men but of families, like it or not. This is unfortunate, because it can cause single men to feel emarginated, which is why so many of them gravitate to AD. But it’s the way of the world and no amount of whining is going to change it. Speaking for myself, I prefer the enjoyable sight of a happily married couple than the depressing sight of a confirmed bachelor in a wig. But there you go.
Oh, yes – lots of single men also gravitate towards Azzjoni Nazzjonali and Imperium Europa/Viva Malta. They make up by far the bulk of their support.
Yes, Dear Daphne, I supported Dom Mintoff’s government when it was rebuilding Malta from scratch after the total void (Baħħ, in Maltese) left by the previous PN administrations.
I supported the Mintoff Gov. when it was fighting for Malta’s rights and getting us a better deal than the shameful “independence” agreement accepted by the PN.
I supported the Mintoff Gov when it was laying the basis for ALL the social services we take for granted today.
I did NOYT support other things that happened later and I did my (small) both to see that they and the people responsible for them were removed. With the result that the MLP is, probably, the cleanest party ever seen in Maltese politics – bar none.
Tell me, Dear Daphne, what to you think of the fact that the man who swore ON OATH that he is a part-time farmer in order to get his hands on 10 tumoli of Gov, Land at Fawwara for Lm10 a year is the most senior minister in the Gonzo government?
Pls excuse typo – I meant to write “Gonzi”
The ‘o’ and the ‘i’ are too close together! 🙂
You stayed and helped clean out the Labour stables, did you, Victor? Any man of principle would have left and never gone back. And if you have no decent contribution to make to this forum, please remove yourself, or I shall have to conclude that you’re stalking me. Thank you.
Wow… i came across all this many months down the line… you really are a bunch of funny fuckers… And yes, i really do not give a monkey’s arse. That’s why i write the way i do…
I have a theory to all this you know. There’s no good football to speak of, no superstars (aside from Joseph Calleja)… so… politics becomes the national sport… I reiterate.. funny fuckers indeed.
If the word fuckers is censored, i do indeed hope that you understand the w0rd i used.
Michael Carabott mhux dak li kiteb hafna affarijiet helwin fuq Lawrence meta dar mieghu ghal gurnata? Dahhaqtna nara gbin…
Censored? Why? And spoil the fun of having such a juicy quote? lol
glad to provide all with some amusement on such a hot and sundry day !
Erm Mike. Not to be a prick (which granted, I can be) but “hot and sundry”? Crossed expressions I would say.
“All and sundry” is where you got the “sundry” bit … but sundry doesn’t quite fit the bill – and if you don’t believe a “funny fucker” here is the definition from Dictionary.com.
sun·dry :
–adjective 1. various or diverse: sundry persons.
—Idiom2. all and sundry, everybody, collectively and individually: Free samples were given to all and sundry.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE syndrig private, separate, equiv. to syndr- (mutated form of sundor asunder) + -ig -y1; akin to sunder]
…and no… it bears no relation to “sun dry” as in sun-dried tomatoes 🙂
you have far too much time on your hands…
should have been glad to provide all and sundry with bla bla…. 🙂
oh and pricks are fine… i think i fall into that category myself 🙂
Michael Carabott – naqbel li hemm hafna nies li m’ghandhomx x’jaghmlu u qed jiehdu lil politka bhala delizju. Nisopponi li ghal din ir-raguni int provdejthom dak ir-rakkont helu fuq il-gurnata tieghek isegwi l-Prim. Pero – kien iktar f’postu f’xi rivista bhal “Hello” jew xi haga del genere fejn ikun hemm coverage super-laqghi (issa taqbzghux fuqi ghax hemm xi zball fil-lingwa) ta minn qed jintervistaw.
i think you should change your nik to Sulky rather than Sully….
Michael Carabott…gurnalizmu fuq kollox (journalism on sundry)
Excuse my ignorance, but who is Michael Carabott?
U ejja Carabott hadt ghalik? Mhux int ghidt li “you don’t give a monkey’s” u ghalhekk tikteb kif tikteb? Allura jekk tikteb artikli imbarazzanti (ghalik) u sub-standard u mhux ta gurnalizmu investigattiv, ha jkun hawn minn jikkumenta u jghid “ara dak kemm qed jkteb artikli qishom l-fan mail ta skoss tfajliet lil kantant tal-AHA fit-tneninijiet. ” Tippretendix li kulhadd ha jdub meta jaqra xi artiklu dwar il-prim (jew fuq Joseph Muscat jew dak tal-alternattiva)
Sully nI think Michael has been a good sport and you might have misinterpreted his comments.
Anton: kemm int injurant? 🙂
Pseudonimo di Indro Montanelli? 🙂
wasn’t being nasty at all.. merely implying that the Euros are over, so let’s all have a political mash up again 🙂
so, i see it as i saw it and well that will do 🙂
but i might drop in nowanagain if that’s ok ?
Try to drop in a little more often, Mike. A 4 month belated comeback calling your critics “funny fuckers” is 4 months too late.
a bit tardy for a journalist….
Ah Mark.. of course, i put the world on hold to see what people think of my writings (I’m a bit of a neurotic Narsicisst), no disrepect to Jacques (and his site), but i do have more important things to do 🙂
Some people are way too touchy.. take ‘funny fuckers’ for what it was, a good natured jibe at people that are far too touchy about political ideals… in other words… lighten up children !
But seriously, i can’t be arsed replying to this thread anymore as it’s ..er.. waffle at this point.
Oh and please, i’m rude and i speak my mind, so please do not take offence to my, shall we say, way of putting things.
appart n-nejk, you were a sport…;)
course 🙂 you can’t expect to criticise and not get some back now can you ?
Michael doesn’t comment on blogs and forums much, I presume.
Criticizing and expecting no retorts, not being a sport is the order of the day. Some dumbasses think their quips are so earth-shatteringly good that they’ll shut up an entire message board, which of course never happens.
erm…
i give up…
so, i joined in banter, took it on the cheek, replied tongue in cheek and even had a laugh…
no Keith… never, ever, ever have I played posts before…. I am still but a young padawan…. -_-
This Carabott guy seems to be so far up Gonzi`s backside that he can probably see Daphne`s heels. And both working for a newspaper called `The Independent`? Jahasra, what a joke journalism is in Malta.