I was amazed by Peppi Azzopardi's missive of April 2, replete as it was with blatant presumption, arrogant assumptions and inane remarks. It would seem that Mr Azzopardi is looking in a mirror as, to me, he is one of the few "chosen ones" in Lawrence Gonzi's kitchen Cabinet. I consider him to be a prominent PN strategist along with other members of the Where's Everybody? set-up. Needless to say, they have every right to do what they wish in their personal capacity; their act jars only if the bias spills over into their professional capacity when presenting what should be unbiased TV programmes on a national station that is funded by the taxpayer's money.

Mr Azzopardi reiterates that "analysing the electoral verdict is also a matter of national interest". No doubt about that. Discussing the internal MLP election for a new leadership is another matter. And discussing the same topic ad nauseam smacks of strategic partisan politics rather than an attempt to inform and educate TV audiences.

I will repeat what I wrote a fortnight ago, namely that Where's Everybody? - that is, Mr Azzopardi and Lou Bondì - would do well to look into their own backyard and identify other topics to discuss which are "important to the people". Should they encounter any difficulties in this choice of subjects, I may give them a tentative list:

a. The alleged vote buying which, if proven, would fall under the Corrupt Practices Act.

b. The reason why so many former PN ministers and parliamentary secretaries were not elected this time around.

c. What motivated the Prime Minister not to appoint former ministers and parliamentary secretaries to ministerial posts.

d. What induced the PN's secretary general to announce he was going to stand down and who is expected to be his successor.

e. The reason/s why Malta was precipitously rushed into joining the PfP in full disregard of decent consultation with the opposition when such a decision did not at all feature among the 353 electoral pledges of the party once again in power.

f. The Safi supermarket/Mepa permit to build villas instead of a farmhouse at Safi.

g. How the present government plans to rule the country with a one-seat majority, given all the prevailing circumstances.

The list is endless, but what seems to be uppermost on their agenda is the need to show their own preference for particular persons to form the new MLP leadership. This is in sharp contrast to the MLP media's stance regarding the same exercise carried out by the PN. The Labour media never mentioned any preferences with respect to the new PN leadership following Eddie Fenech Adami's resignation.

In this direction I am also implicitly answering correspondents Mark Fenech from Birkirkara and George Caruana from Mosta, and I will do this with the help of Dr Gonzi himself as quoted in The Malta Independent on Sunday of March 30. The Prime Minister was reported as saying that "I understand and accept it is the Labour Party's democratic right to elect its own leader and I intend to fully respect Labour's autonomy in doing that. Nor do I intend doing anything that in any way might intrude in this selection." Well said, Mr Prime Minister.

Mr Azzopardi has the gall to write: "Ironically, Mr Hamilton was invited by Xarabank to participate on the panel discussing the electoral result. However, Mr Hamilton refused our invitation by informing us that he was going to be abroad on the day."

With what degree of presumption does Mr Azzopardi expect that one should postpone one's previous appointments just to make an appearance on his Xarabank programme? The truth of the matter is that when I was invited to participate in his programme of March 14, I immediately informed his messenger that between March 12 and 15 I would be in Rome attending the Globe World Travel Market at the Nuova Fiera di Roma. In fact, I arrived back in Malta on March 15 at 1.30 p.m. from Rome in time to present my TV show on One TV that same evening. I particularly object to his insinuation that I "refused (his) invitation".

Mr Azzopardi states that Xarabank is there to analyse, inform and discuss. Yes, well done, but only if this were to be carried out in a completely unbiased way, which is certainly not the case when Xarabank and Bondiplus discuss their favourite subject, the Labour Party, in their own idiosyncratic way.

How can Xarabank's conductor be expected to be fair and impartial when he states, and I quote, "On a personal note, I hope that like every other citizen in this democratic country, I am allowed to have an opinion about who will make a better MLP leader and a better prospective Prime Minister of Malta and of all the Maltese. This is not only Labour's business. This is everybody's business." I would correct that last sentence and say: This is Where's Everybody?'s business. Sorry, Mr Joe (Peppi) Azzopardi, but - no deal!

norman.hamilton@hotmail.com

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