Thursday, 27th March 2008
My Agenda
Everybody's business is Labour's business
Congratulations to Lawrence Gonzi for having been re-elected as our Prime Minister.
At the beginning of the new legislature, one hopes that the Prime Minister will deliver on the promise to treat all the citizens of Malta, irrespective of their political convictions, as equal in all the senses of the word. Prior to the general election he had, on several occasions, promised that his new government would adhere to the principles of democracy and equanimity. I am sure he will keep his word.
Everybody agrees that under the circumstances, Alfred Sant did the honourable thing and tendered his resignation as leader of the Labour Party. Not that he deserved to lose or that he was responsible for the narrow defeat the party has suffered at the hustings. Dr Sant generously gave the party all his energies and abilities, even when he was struck by a terrible illness, and offered the country a new vision and a new future. For this we are all grateful, both people within and outside the party - even if he was sometimes misunderstood.
Those of us who knew him personally appreciate his sense of altruism and his ability to provide consistent motivation to all around him, encouraging them with his example to strive for excellence, honesty and quality in their performance. He would never be happy with less than that.
Now that he has left the leadership of the party, we offer him our appreciation and thanks.
I cannot for the life of me understand why the Where's Everybody people keep on insisting on organising television programmes on the national station, discussing why the Labour Party didn't win the last general election and, simultaneously, dictating who in their opinion would be the best person to be elected as party leader.
Excuse me but with all due respect the MLP certainly does not need advice from the likes of Nationalist Party acolytes Joe (Peppi) Azzopardi and Lou Bondì on the choice of who the MLP delegates will eventually decide to elect as their new leader.
So, thank you gentlemen, but no thanks to any suggestions from you. The MLP is capable of making its mind up without any prompting from people on the other side of the fence. Incidentally, why don't the Xarabank and Bondì Plus conductors run a programme about former Nationalist Party ministers and parliamentary secretaries who remained unelected this time round and the reason why? Another excellent topic would be to investigate why ex-ministers and parliamentary secretaries who were re-elected remained without a portfolio this time and will have to sit it out for the next five years as backbenchers.
In other words, Mr Azzopardi and Mr Bondì, take a good look at your own backyard, I'm sure you'll be able to come up with quite a few juicy subjects for discussion.
Oh, and by the way was the MLP "mud-slinging" or saying the truth about certain ex-ministers, parliamentary secretaries and candidates now that they have been left without any appointments in the new government?
It came as a welcome relief that I had to fly to Rome a couple of days after the general election results were announced.
The trip was to attend the Globe 08 World Travel Fair held over three days at the Nuova Fiera di Roma grounds. It was one way of studying new itineraries and renewing old friendships. I also found time to catch up with my sightseeing in the Eternal City - something I never grow tired of - even if I've seen it all before. One way of doing this is by taking an open-top bus from near the Stazione Termini rail station.
The round trip lasts two hours and takes in all the well-known Roman landmarks.
Rome also means mouth-watering meals washed down with excellent wine. If you are planning a trip there may I recommend three top eateries - Ristorante del Giglio at the side of the Rome Opera House where La Traviata is being staged; Piccolo Mondo, which is the haunt of many Italian and foreign show-biz personalities and which may be found in one of the side streets off the famous Via Veneto and Otello di Trastevere, situated in Piazza San Egidio. Buon appetito!
John Camilleri from San Ġwann in his letter Curious (March 20) seems to have got his facts wrong.
Re the Run Rabbit Run incident, which goes back 27 years - I had said that the people responsible are either no longer with us or have left PBS in recent years. I never said I would ".... one day reveal..." However, I did say that the top Nationalist Party leaders were aware of the names of the persons concerned.
What I did say I would "... one day reveal..." was the degrading, shabby and humiliating way in which my wife and I were treated after the 1987 election by a new government that had then promised national reconciliation.
One day I will do this if ever I decide to write my autobiography - but in the meantime I have found that time is a great healer.
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Comments
I can put Mr Hamilton's mind at rest that Dr Gonzi will keep to all his electoral promises.
What I cannot understand however is how Mr Hamilton seemed to have approved of Mr Jason Micallef 's comments before the election, that if Labour won, it would be a government for labourites only and that the party already had earmarked Labour supporters to run various government departments.
Maybe Mr Hamilton is also unaware that one of the reasons the Nationalist party nearly lost the recent election was due to the fact that many of its supporters were not 'favoured' or felt personally hurt when the government was implementing decisions in the national interest.
Therefore if there is anyone that can complain of unequality under past Nationalist governments, it is the PN supporters themselves.
This time around even those, like myself, from outside the MLP are concerned and look forward to a real change and not a cosmetic one. Everyone should look forward to a leader with which they can feel comfortable with; Dr Sant didn't fit that bill, and it would be tragic if his successor fails to eradicate such feelings.
Are they still adamant in having a MLP for labourites only as their intelligent (sic) General Secretary Jason Micallef harped so strongly to their supporters? Or are they still considering as extraneous to the 'labour family' anyone who differs from their opinion? Do Mr. Hamilton and his friends in the Labour party seriously want a 'Bidu Gdid' or not? If they do want a 'Bidu Gdid' they should first learn to be good listeners and then should also learn how to give weight and value to objective opinions and proposals even if
dissimilar to theirs. Most of the time such opinions come from outsiders and prove to be more valid than the ones given by insiders.
Otherwise the MLP will remain confined to its obsolete policies and style doing 'business' only within the family of labourites. By so doing they would be rendering their party as a stranger to the majority of the Maltese and Gozitan electorate. The end result would remain the same as
it had been for so many years - MLP in Opposition.