Monday, 12th May 2008
The time of 'buying' people is over - Dalli
The time of "buying" people was over and the public needed respect not promises and pampering, Social Policy Minister John Dalli insisted yesterday.
Next time round, the hours spent apologising to Nationalist Party supporters should have been dedicated to persuading Labourites to vote for the PN, he said addressing the party's general council.
The results of the general election were a reflection of the local elections, whereby the electorate did not want to vote for the PN but held back from voting for the Labour Party, not wanting the MLP in government, Mr Dalli maintained in his analysis of the March 8 results.
The difference between the two realities was that, in the general election, the PN realised the magnitude of the problem and chased the electorate to apologise.
The next election would pose a different scenario so the chosen officials were important: "They have to know the people and be known; they must have always been loyal to the party and never regretted being part of it".
Mr Dalli said that, today, Malta could have been led by the confused group that was the MLP, a party that was still looking for direction and a common ground. For former Parliamentary Secretary Edwin Vassallo, the scenario was changing: People felt they did not need politics and politicians any more and would not vote.
Others would feel that too many years in power meant the impossibility of victory and would start distancing themselves. Money in hand was not the exclusive recipe for victory and egoism and indifference to the common good was strong.
What was important was to focus on political correctness and the creation of a society that was morally strong.
Resources Minister George Pullicino, also addressing the council, stressed the importance of having candidates who would have gone through a formation process. The party had to start looking for young candidates for the upcoming elections as of now and AŻAD - the academy for the development of a democratic environment - needed to be a political school in their formation, he said.
The party had to be renewed not just by choosing new officials but also by looking for new faces to stand as candidates and giving them the best training.
Analysing the mistakes of the MLP in the last election, more than the PN's, and saying they had counted their chickens before they hatched, outgoing general secretary Joe Saliba stressed that the PN would never give a "walkover" - not even in five years' time.
Referring to MLP general secretary Jason Micallef's comments on the appointment of Gordon Pisani, former PN information director, as head of communications within the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Saliba asked: "Who should we put, (One TV journalist) Charlon Gouder?"
Mr Pisani had a vision not just for the party but for the good of the country, Mr Saliba said.
Mr Saliba, who has declared he will not stand for the post of general secretary, said he had learnt and grown a lot in the past nine years: "I started with the aim to win and I am ending with the aim for the country to win," he said, to loud cheering.
RSS
Comments
All you out there, prepare for a sky-rocketing of price increases on everything.
Viva l-partit glorjuz GonziPN!!! pfffffff
You might not be in possession of a copy of the 8 page supplement issued by the PN information office dated March 2003 . This supplement bears the title of Il- Kacca u l-insib and in large bold letters on the front page carries the words "IT-TRADIZZJONI FIR-REBBIEGHA GARANTITA - DAWN L-GHASAFAR KIENU U SE LKOMPLU JKUNU KKACCJATI U / JEW MINSUBA"
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A COPY OF THIS I WILL BE PLEASED TO LET YOU SEE MINE.
INDEED - WHO DECEIVED WHO?
I joke; but this series of comments just comes to prove one thing for me - how immature certain people can be when it comes to a discussion on politics, and how it's "my personal interests" before the interests of the country. That, I feel, is pathetic.
Maria Dolores Fenech, before you comment try and comprehend what you have just read.
In the last election the Maltese electorate voted for a political platform that was well thought out, full of new ideas and held its' own under scrutiny. In doing s, the Maltese electorate rejected the MLP political platform that was based on ill thought promises and under scrutiny it was revealed the shallow mind of those who wrote it.
Maria Dolores Fenech in the final analysis, the Maltese electorate rejected the MLP. In turn, what was supposedly to be a MLP Government with an estimated 15, 000 voted majority, the Maltese electorate returned th PN with a 1,500 vote majority.
But probably all this talk is useless.. all you envisage is blue blue and nothing but blue !
Mr. Martinelli, It seem that majority in Malta doesn't rule. Many would want us to believe that the arrogrance of the few should rule.
You are right Mr Vella - What the PN promised were just that - EMPTY PROMISES!
@ Mr Cardona
What the PN says has to be taken at face value, and yes it would be a good idea to talk to Dr Farrugia..........
do you know how to read between the lines?! or have you been talking to Anglu Farrugia?
As far as I know, both the hunting federation (FKNK) and the Kaccaturi San Ubertu (KSU) had respectfully asked for, and been promised, meetings with the PM already for some weeks. They are still waiting. Now one can understand that it’s not easy for a Prime Minister to fit meetings on hunting into his schedule, but as one week in politics is considered a long time, I would say that several weeks are an aeon. Now, since hunting is being described lately as a cultural activity of social import, perhaps you, as Minister for Social Policy, might be willing to intervene with the Prime Minister on this matter, so that – starting from the top – the public gets the respect you yesterday insisted they need.
Thank you.
They hear a positive thought and they immediately spin it into a negative argument.
MMB - Mr. Dalli has no beans to spill - after all even the MLP had agreed to abide by the ECJ ruling. 'May apply for a Spring hunting derogation' as written in the Acquis was never meant to be a guarantee for Spring hunting and the government's position of doing its utmost by applying (and subsequently ruled against) for a derogation was not a lie at all. Besides, repetitive surveys show overwhelmingly that the vast majority agree with the Spring ban, anyway.
Doesn't the majority rule any more?
Unless you are living in dream world, you you realize that when voting for the EU referendum the PN promised spring hunting TO ALL THE ELECTORATE. If you voted PN then so were you accepting this fact as it formed part of the PN manifesto. The PN also negotiated this during its pre accessions and it forms part of the special conditions granted to Malta. Apart from all this Dr. Fenech Adami (then Prime Minister) and the Malta EU information centre (MIC) promised this in writing to all hunters.
What transpired from all this is that the PN now seems to have no further need for the hunters vote and all its guarantees and promises have fizzeled down to the total acceptance to the EU imposed decisions.
If indeed you care for the future of your children you would weigh every promise or guarantee made by politicians. If a guarantee effected the future of your children as it did to our hunting you would argue differently. Hunters were betrayed for the sake of their votes. Make sure you haven't been betrayed too.
Apart from not having refered to the MLP in my comment since I do not see any differences when it comes to pre-electoral promises, I fail to see your comparision with the PN. If you consider a 1500 win in the last election as a sign of "a program that holds water under scrutiny," then I SUGGEST YOU INVEST IN GOOD WATERPROOFING!!
Local hunters are in their absolute majority husbands and fathers. They want the best common interest of the country as much as you do. What we are asking is not that the country stops progressing in favour of spring hunting but to allow space for spring hunting amongst the other things you might love or like doing. This is possible but in the position we are in it will be harder to acheive but not impossible.
I believe sometimes conciously or subconciously tend to take words at face value. What is wrong for a political party to seek out young, bright man and women and provide them with knowledge to succeed in a Political life. What would be wrong for our MEP every summer take a handful of young maltese st;udents to works in thier offices in Brussels.
In the real world busness are snatching up young talent out of Universities, and in many before graduation. Most likely these young man and women would have already been actively involed with student bodies at the university. So what is wrong in providing them with the additional tools to help them in thier professional development.
This is a clear demonstration that the negotiations with the EU were weak and any assertions declared were completely unfounded possibly on all sectors. The Hunters with PN blood are those who have been hurt most as they were driven by their party to ignore the truths (now we can really assert this) which was being forecasted by both MLP and FKNK.
Mr. Dalli clearly states that PN will need to concentrate to acquire more MLP voters rather than apologise to hurt and abandoned PN supporters. I would say to Mr.Dalli that charity begins at home and there is a better chance of attracting past PN supporters who now know they were deceived rather than hardcore MLP supporters who would never vote PN anyway.
Half of the trouble the PN is in is self inflicted pain which was a direct consequence of the PN`s hardheaded decision to enter the EU in the fastest possible manner, thus rushing through the negotiation chapters like a sprinting wild rabbit (hunting oriented comparison ;-)
Unless the whole letter EFA sent to hunters & trappers was a lie from top to bottom there is a sentence that makes sense to any intelligent reader.
It says that : MALTA MANAGED TO OBTAIN THE SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT WITH THE EU BECAUSE THE EU MAKES SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS WITH ITS MEMBERS AND NOT WITH THOSE WHO ARE OUT.
At the time there was the cry of Partnership and all that so this might have been the sentence to stamp out that possibility but again the conditions of Malta are not the conditions of Germany so that is why there are DEROGATIONS.
Dr.Gonzi said that in the last legislation there were unpopular decisions which had to be taken. Some may have been inevitable but others could have been dealt with more strong-handedly in favour of the country-men.
The PN should start looking back to all the assertions that were broadcasted left,right and centre and ensure they stick to what was supposed to happen in order to start their honest campaign for the next general election if they wish to win it.
Maria, with all due respect, please don't be gaullable please. What John Dalli was saying, since I don't expect Anglu Farrugia will explain it to you, is that the time has come that political parties will have to fight elections based on IDEAS and not EMPTY PROMISES.
@ Mark Mifsud Bonnici & David Borg Cardona
You really think that the majority of the Maltese population will jeopardise the future of their children so that both of you can go hunting in the spring? Give us all a break, please; and move on in life.
The PN won last election because it presented to the Maltese electorate with a program that hold water under scrutiny, unlike the MLP manifesto that was filled with half thought ideas and irresponsible proposals.
I do not agree totally with Minister Pullicino. Personally I do not feel the need to groom, brain-wash and pedigree our politicians. They should all have a mind of their own.
Perhaps this is the problem with Maltese politics. It's politicians are mainly home grown and just yap and clap at whatever their party and its leader says. There is hardly any synergy at all, and people are not given the room to develop. As anyone with any knowledge of the subject will say, this only promotes mediocrity.
I think it is much wiser and more admirable for our future politicians to enter mainstream politics in their twilight years (just before actually!), with their careers behind them and the experience of life in all its stages within their portfolio. These sort of people are also much less susceptible to corruption.
On this ideology, Dr George Abela, if elected, would make an extremely important and valuable asset for the MLP, as he comes in at the prime of his respectable life, not tainted by party politics to the extent that one would be since his/her Brigata/MZPN days. He also has been proven to have a mind of his own, even breaking from the MLP and voting in favour of EU.
It is this sort of genre that the PN should seek out as future candidates/ministers. It should not promote and invest in puppets to make a career in politics, but rather poach leading team builders in their prime from society, for a (preferably limited) stint in party politics.
The hunters are not only awaiting an apology for the way they were bought by the countless promises and the PN's guarantee that hunting and trapping was to continue after EU accession. They also expect to be shown respect in the way their issue is now being treated.
All the promises and guarantees have now resulted in the banning of spring hunting and the end of all forms of trapping. It is the PN that states it has a special agreement with the EU in these matters, so what changed? The fact that the PN seems to have been humbled and forced into submission by the EU only goes to prove that indeed hunters had been bought.
Are we to take this as an example of weakness or the perfect case of deceit. Mr Dalli might be willing to spill the beans in order to win back our votes!!