I don't want to emulate Dom Mintoff, Home Affairs Minister says

Evarist Saliba

Mar 20th 2009, 11:40

Joe Grima goes on showing through his comments that he is confused.

He distorts what I have written by inserting (in Helsinki) thus deviating the reader.

He is completely wrong when he links the chapter on the Mediterranean in the Helsinki Final Act with any negotiations which went on in Helsinki, be they the Multilateral Preparatory Talks (1972-3), the first phase (July 1973) or the third phase (August 1975). That chapter was negotiated, and agreed upon, in the second phase (Geneva) from 1973 to 1975 when the delegation was led successively by Carmel Mallia, Victor Gauci and Joe Attard Kingswell.

I started my contribution by giving full credit to Mintoff.  I also said that the delegates followed instructions they received from Malta. So Grima's claim that I tried to 'morphe' Mintoff out of what was due to him is completely baseless.

I wrote about the CSCE meetings in Helsinki, Geneva, Belgrade and Madrid to prove my point. Yet Grima conveniently limits himself to Helsinki on which which he he is so confused.

That Malta became a "pariah" - an outcast - was amply demonstrated by moves by the other participants to carry on without Malta more than once.

Joe Grima

Mar 19th 2009, 19:11

@Evarist Saliba: "I All achievements (at Helsinki) were obtained much earlier, thanks to the ability of the Maltese delegates who carried out faithfully, and with determination, the instructions that they received from Malta. "

Now that's a laugh. To morphe Helsinki achievements from the abilty and foresight of their originator Dom Mintoff , notorious for holding anyone who worked with him on a short leash with the absolute requirement to report back on every minute detail , into the ability of any civil servant to carry out those instructions , is simply farcical. I reiterate: The "pariah" theory is a Saliba sop to his friends. At Helsinki Mintoff held out in the most effective way he knew, as I have seen him do on so many occasions. Sometimes he won. Sometimes he lost. About the Helsinki results he said afterwards that , in a long treatise which is the Mediterranean Chapter in the Helsinki Final Act, "what we wanted was reduced to a line or two". It is obvious he was out for more and did not get it. Whatever the outcome, what he enunciated then is still very topical today,

Evarist Saliba

Mar 19th 2009, 13:43

@ Joe Grima
What you write does not add anything to historical facts but it distorts them.

Malta became a pariah, as I said, in the eyes of ALL the states participating in the CSCE, and these represented all shades of the political spectrum, from communists to socialists and conservatives. That Mintoff's tactics managed to make them all unite, more than once, to carry on without Malta, speaks volumes.

It is simply not true that Mintoff gained anything of substance by his refusal to join the consensus reached by all the other governments (not just diplomats) in Helsinki (1973), Geneva (1975), Belgrade (1978) and Madrid (1983). All achievements were obtained much earlier, thanks to the ability of the Maltese delegates who carried out faithfully, and with determination, the instructions that they received from Malta.

That is history. That is the truth.

Joe Grima

Mar 19th 2009, 09:51

@Evarist Saliba. Pariahs in whose company? No doubt in the company of conservatives and powerful countries which dominated those international conferences and in front of whom certian civil servants representing Malta , many times as one -man delegations , felt embarassed, intimidated and inadeqaute. The facts are that many of them, including Evarist Saliba (at least in the CSCE Madrid to which I was PM's Special envoy,) , were good at the job they were chosen for and earned the respect of many of the delegates present. If today, Evarist Saliba looks upon the results achieved by Malta at these international conefrences, at which the policy was to hold up the confrerence until agreement could be reached, as making a pariah out of Malta, which is definietly not the case, it means that he or his colleagues , were not persuasive enough to hold their own. Pariah is a post-factum theory surfacing as a sop to the crowd in which Evarist Saliba gyrates. Holding up a conference, stopping the clock, is a recognised technique in international meetings. We don't hear much about it because very few leaders have the guts to use it.

L..Galea

Mar 19th 2009, 09:12

Carmel Camilleri
Have a look at this re water supply
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090318/letters/problem-of-persistent-water-cuts-in-mtarfa

This is after 22 years of PN government Carmel.

lgalea

Mar 19th 2009, 08:58

Gerry Cowie
You seem to be unaware what Mintoff means to the working class that was lifted from misery to small rich people. This was when the pn was doing all it can to destabilize the country and the Labour government, siding with foreign governments against Malta and the Labour government in every issue, calling for civil disobedience, organizing strikes in every conceivable sector, bombs used to go off on government employees properties which bombs mysteriously disappeared when the pn was elected, mass export of Labour supporters to Australia, Denying work to Labour supporters because the Parish Priests controlled by the pn put a red cross near their names, burying Labour supporters in the part of the cemetery reserved for non-believers.... so get your facts before attacking Labour supporters.

Carmel Camilleri
Are you now denying that Labour left around LM500 million in Malta's coffer which EFApn and Gonezipn SQUANDERED and led the country into nearly, if not more because official figures are suspect, €5 BILLION DEBT?

We did have all necessary food, including tonn taz-zejt and bully beef, and although we may not have had a lot of choice, what good is choice if you cannot afford it?

M. Catania

Mar 19th 2009, 05:16

@Paul PortellAlla hares kien bhal Mintoff!!!Kieku regim iehor ghandna

V.Brown

Mar 19th 2009, 00:17

If Mintoff had his way on the integration issue we are now celebrating the Queen's birthday or
Italy's national day or maybe the 1st.Sept. revolution . Malta l-ewwel u qabel kollox ! What
short memory some people have !

L..Galea

Mar 18th 2009, 22:21

Carmel Camilleri
We had as many food necessities as we needed and could afford them.
Maybe we did not have as much choice as now, but what good is the choice if you cannot afford it?
Do you remember your EFApn criticizing the Minister of Finance because tonn taż-żejt, luncheon meat, buly beef were lowered in price by a few cents? Thirty years later when the value of money has gone down a lot due to inflation etc we get Gonezipn lowering the price of petrol by 2 euro cents, less than one Malta cent!
Good that you are not denying that Labour left about Lm500 million in Malta's coffer. This is not a misconception.
It shows wisdom, unlike EFApn and Gonezipn who not only squandered those Lm500 million, but put the country in nearly €5 BILLION DEBT.
josephine fenech also answered you but what she didn't remember well was that we had bully beef and tonn taż-żejt and all the necessities of life apart from the other things she mentioned.
The facts remain that the pn always worked against Malta's interests and tried its utmost to undermine Mintoff and the PL including siding with Gaddafi on the oil issue.

Evarist Saliba

Mar 18th 2009, 22:15

In the CSCE Mintoff proposed that security in Europe is closely linked with security in the Mediterranean. He deserves full credit.

He held up the conference at the Multilateral Preparatory Talks in Helsinki (1973) after the participants agreed to include the Mediterranean. The participants could not accept that Mediterranean Arab states, not Israel, would participate with full rights.

He held up the conference again in Geneva, not Helsinki as many claim, (1975) because he was not satisfied with the sentence on security in a two-page chapter dealing exclusively with the Mediterranean. He agreed when there was the danger that Malta would be excluded from the conference.

He held up the conference again in Belgrade (1978) even though agreement had been reached to hold a meeting of experts in Malta on cooperation in the Mediterranean, because security was not included. We had to give in.

He held up the conference in Madrid (1983) for 52 days but had to give in when the other states decided to carry on without Malta.

The veto did not achieve positive sults. It only made us pariahs in Europe, east, west, neutrals and non-aligned, Canada and the USA.

I know because I was there.

L..Galea

Mar 18th 2009, 22:07

Gerry Cowie
If our Lord himself were to lead the PL the Gonezipn apologists will still attack him for leading the PL and not the Gonezipn.
Many Maltese citizens will never forget the many good things that Mintoff got for us.
From the misery many of our families were to the sinjuri żgħar while many have again been reduced to beggars under EFApn and Gonezipn.
And yes, I agree with those who said that the Minister is not worthy of tying Mintoff's shoe laces.
It appears that you were not here so you do not know from what misery the working class was going through under the pn governments. It was only was lifted from its misery by Mintoff.
No wonder many still adore him.

As for the Helsinki stand, it put our Nation on the world map and it was Mintoff's insistence that the Mediterranean was included at Helsinki in the sense that peace in europe depends upon peace in the Mediterranean, something which years later has been recognized.

This does not mean that Mintoff did not make any mistakes, but who is without sin let him throw the first stone.

Paul Vella

Mar 18th 2009, 21:52

If I were you, Dr.Mifsud Bonnici, I would not even mention Mr.Mintoff's name without first bowing down. None of you, and I repeat, none of you are fit to tie his shoe lace! And this goes both for the party in power and the farcical opposition lead by a boy who was recently given a man's job.

josephine fenech

Mar 18th 2009, 20:13

MR CARMEL CAMILLERI, BEFORE WE DID NOT HAVE ANY BULLYBEEF AND TONN TAZ ZEJT BUT WE HAD CHILDREN ALLOWANCE, YOU COULD BUY A PIECE OF DECENT LAND TO BUILD YOUR HOUSE FOR A FEW THOUSANDS OF POUNDS, WE DID NOT HAVE TO GO ABROAD TO BUY MEDICIANS, THE BEGGERS WERE TAKEN OFF THE STREETS, WE HAD DECENT HOSPITALS WITHOUT THOUSANDS WAITING FOR OPERATIONS, ETC.
I PREFER GOING ABROAD TO BUY CHOCOLATES INSTEAD OF HAVING TO GO TO BUY NECESSITIES
I

Gerry Cowie

Mar 18th 2009, 18:56

Glad to hear that the Home Affairs Minister is not going to emulate Dom Mintoff! Hopefully he will not emulate him in any way whatsoever!

Judging by the letters and blogs in this paper over the past couple of years, not everybody regards Mintoff as a saint! I should not think Mintoff would like to be canonised as it would be like the Church getting back at him!

I had to laugh at the contribution from Paul Portelli regarding obeying the party leader! And how, may I ask, would Mr Portelli describe the dictatorial attitude of Mintoff? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! He even likens Mintoff to the Good Lord himself by saying that the Minister is not fit to tie his shoes! You have such entrenched attitudes that even if the PN gave you everything you ever wanted from a government, you would still consider it wrong because the PL did not think of it first!

The Minister clearly does not want Malta to be sidelined or frozen out in any way. He has said that Mintoff's actions at Helsinki had a negative effect. This is historical fact. Thus he does not want to repeat it!

Joseph Cauchi

Mar 18th 2009, 18:36

I cannot understand why some of us have to take every opportunity to take political advantage by posting such idiotic comments!

Do these commentators really believe that by such ludicrous comments, they are helping their cause in advancing their political agenda?

Intelligent readers would think otherwise!

Time to grow up.

../..

Joe Grima

Mar 18th 2009, 18:10

@Johnny Tanti. Yes I am biased. I know him well. I don't excuse what may have been his blunders but I have always been against blanket condemnation of anyone or anything.
@ Carmel Camilleri: Stop writing about events you know nothing about. I was in the Chamber in Strasbourg when Mintoff addressed the Council of Europe. His speech was basically well received. Some booing came from a very predicatable Maltese individual . Mintoff spoke about the Europe of Cain and the Europe of Abel. Ask EFA and Guido Demarco to describe the Europe that worked so hard for so long to keep Malta out of the EU. Maybe they would not use the same phraseology but that was the rich, arrogant. Europe of Cain.Today Cain expects us to bear the burden of irregular immigrants alone. Given a couple of days after Mintoff''s speech and the fomenting of ill will towards him by one Maltese member, our work as a delegation to the COE was just business as usual . Had you been there, and if you are are a patriot , that speech would have made you feel ten feet tall. The "disgust" lives only in your imagination

Carmel Camilleri

Mar 18th 2009, 17:54

@lgalea

Ooooohhh!!! Now I get it!!!

You're referring to the Lm500million in cash reserves!!! So there are people who still cling to such economic misconceptions from the past. You're living proof!

Better have Lm500million locked up at the central bank in foreign currency and have no adequate water supply, no bullubeef, no tonn taz-zejt, routine power blackouts, and only a handful of students studying at University (and no computers). Ah! the good old Socialist days!

Johnny Tanti

Mar 18th 2009, 17:35

@ Dane Cauchi et al...

are you for real???

unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dane Cauchi

Mar 18th 2009, 17:20

Dear Carmelo we know that you would never do such a thing. The history of the PN is the history of people like you who never had the courage and guts to speak out in Malta’s favour at critical stages of our history.

Before the PN showed us their incompetence and uselessness when negotiating with the British government and NATO nowadays we have history repeating itself with the EU.

victor caruana

Mar 18th 2009, 17:20

'don't want to emulate Dom Mintoff in Helsinki'

That because you feel inferior and lack the self confidence Mintoff has.

lgalea

Mar 18th 2009, 16:46

Carmel Camilleri
Additional examples to my previous post, better social services, housing, pensions, affordable cost of living, equal rights for women, leaving 500 Malta Liri in Malta's coffer.....

What is the use of having what you wish on the shops shelves if you cannot afford it as many are now finding out?

The Malta Shipyards used to make a profit under Labour like EneMalta, but they started making losses under the incompetent EWFApn and Gonezipn.

The €5 BILLION were all contracted by your beloved Gonezipn and EFApn after having squandered the 500 Million Malta Liri would be equivalent to much more now than in 1987.

Johnny Tanti

Mar 18th 2009, 16:36

It's amazing how many commentators seem to miss the wood for the trees...

What Minister Mifsud Bonnici is actually stating is that gone are the days of thumping on the table like a little boy. If any of you know how to read English... what the Minister is saying is that he does NOT want to be Mintoff.

for all those Mintoff apologists, i cannot understand their interpretation of history (with the exception of former Minister Joe Grima which due to his relationship with Dom, is, rightly so, a bit biased.)

the issue at stake is that in real terms, what are the real options for the Maltese authorities to take? There are international obligations, as well as - and this is far more important - the issue that we are talking about human beings. Yes, indeed, illegal immigration is a big problem, but no short cuts and easy DIY quick fix strategies will solve the issue.

Those who preach and say otherwise are either gullible or deceitful. In this case i opt - like Napoleon Bonaparte - to "never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence."

F Borg

Mar 18th 2009, 15:52

CARM MIFSUC BONNICI wants to compare himself to DOM Mintoff?? What a farce! Somebody help me - my stomach is aching from laughter pains! And what an insulf to Mintoff, but who would take CMB seriously on this one?!

DEAR CMB, if this is not a crisis, I wonder what is.

Perhaps your procrastination of tough decisions and refusal to call a spade a spade is the problem. In other words, you are another crisis, together with the real illegal immigration crisis.

Sandro Pace

Mar 18th 2009, 15:22

Its we that are being bullied, into submission. Sometimes even to go outside our SAR, just because the EU would not like to take it with Libya.

By taking actions against unfair obligations, we are bullying no one. If my house is full, and close it, while neighbours sit quietly by, whom am I bullying? Figuratively speaking.

Everything has its timeframe. The government cannot go on forever saying these things need time. How long is time? People in the EU change, and with them ideas, he may sometimes find that he has to start convincing again with a different commissioner. Thats the way in the EU. Playing for time.

Negotiations without deadlines are as good as dead.

louise vella

Mar 18th 2009, 15:21

"With hindsight, he feels the government's side was wrong "not to call Dr Muscat's bluff" when he first suggested an urgent debate because he would have been caught completely unprepared."

So CMB is more interested in playing politics and catching the opposition leader with his pants down. That may be funny but in the meantime CMB's assertion that there is no crisis does not correspond to the feelings of the average Maltese citzen, voter and taxpayer who notices the increasing number of illegal immigrants roaming the streets and squares of Malta. If CMB is not alarmed, many of us are

Carmel Camilleri

Mar 18th 2009, 15:09

lgalea, and what have the millions that Dom's policies were supposed to have brought in given us?

Queues to buy bullubeef and tonn taz-zejt, free orange juice instead of tap water, and christmas tree lighting all year round.

...and finally the white elephant that caused about more than half the €5 billion debt that you mentioned, in the form of the Malta shipyards.

@ Joe Grima

you probably forgot to mention the decades of disgust in fora such as the Council of Europe - disgust which lives on till this very day.

Joseph Cauchi

Mar 18th 2009, 15:01

If all those who are suggesting that our government’s modus operandi should be the high-handed approach, when negotiating with our European partners, instead of mature and calibrated diplomatic arguments, then, according to my view, they are missing the wood from the trees!

An argument is either won or lost, if the points raised are a) of substance, b) logical and c) convincing; and not just mere rhetoric!

Reasonable and intelligent people always discuss the arguments in their respected fora and not by the so-called “bullying” tactics.

I hope we all agree that the time of “bullying” has passed its sell-by date, now!

I believe that our politicians are reasonable and intelligent people and I have great confidence in what they are doing; albeit some pressure won’t be amiss!

../..

Joe Grima

Mar 18th 2009, 15:00

Alexander Morana: Bull's eye. Reminds me of the famous Vice Presidential debate between Lloyd Bensten (D) and Dan Quayle (R). As opposed to our budding Minister, Dan Quayle tried to portray himself as a budding, young John I(Jack) Kennedy. Lloyd Bensten released an almost silent broadside that resounds in American politics to this day. He replied. "I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was my friend. Senator , you are no Jack Kennedy"

KMB: I know Dom MIntoff. Dom Mintoff is my friend. Minister, you are no Dom Mintoff.

louise vella

Mar 18th 2009, 14:39

On Monday Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici won many points by being firm with the Italian navy ship Minerva which wanted to discharge its unwanted cargo in Malta. But on Tuesday he was his usual ineffective self. His statement is equivalent to saying that illegal immigrants can come in their thousands for, as long as they are or pretend to be in distress, the Maltese government will be ready to pick them up and escort them to Malta. No quota! No limit! Or rather the sky is the limit! The more the merrier!

Alexander Morana

Mar 18th 2009, 14:32

CMB you are no Mr. Mintoff, that's for sure.
Resign.

Joe Grima

Mar 18th 2009, 13:57

Joseph Cauchi: Under normal circumstances I might even agree but international politics and especially negotiations at a Eureopan and international level are not for wimps.

Carmel Camilleri: Which planet were you living on when Mintoff was at Helsinki? Helsinki set the scene for a Malta that was not ready to be pushed around by the bigger, richer powers just becaue of its size and for Mintoff to gain the respect and admiration of his peers in the International community. That admiration has lasted for all these decades in spite of the fact that his enemies in Malta continue to denigrate him as you do.

Joe Galea

Mar 18th 2009, 13:53

How can CMB compare himself with Mintoff? When he states a historical fact, he better gives the whole picture and outcome rather than just twisting the truth of facts. CMB is just admitting he is not capable of taking any action coming up with all petty talk and excuses. To make things worse he denies that Malta has a crisis situation. Then you find people in here still hoping for a miracle.

lgalea

Mar 18th 2009, 13:50

edward bartolo
The Campaign for National Independence CNI http://www.cnimalta.org is collecting signatures for a petition for Parliament to end the illegal immigrats saga. You can sign the petition when they call at your home.

This is what pushed the political parties to debate the issue in Parliament, otherwise they would have kept their heads buried in the sand forever.

Paul Portelli You beat me to it with your comment.
Joe Cassar Excellent comment
Owen Bonnici M.P. You are correct.

Carmel Camilleri
Your period of ridicule gave us millions in ou rpockets and millions in Malta's coffer, contrary to what EFApn and Gonezipn have done, emptied our pockets and Malta's coffer and led Mala into nearly €5 BILLION DEBT.

Joanne Micallef
He doesn't see the problem because as I've said many times and it has not been denied by anyone in authority, Gonezipn intends to use the Senglea, Fortina and Kalkara Schools and part of Bighi to turn them into illegal immigrats open centres.

How about collecting signatures for a referendum with the specific question "Do you want all illegal immigrants repatriated and expelled from Malta?"

Go on Gonezipn. Don't be a CHICKEN

Joseph Camilleri

Mar 18th 2009, 13:33

@Owen Bonnici: Please tell me you do not approve of what Mintoff did in Helsinki! I am assuming you are being naive with your comment.

I honestly hope that MLP are not looking towards Mintoff of the 70s for inspiration!

Or is it a case of the more things change the more they remain the same?

Joanne Micallef

Mar 18th 2009, 13:10

Our Goverment missed the golden opportunity of finally getting concrete help from the EU when he ratified the new Lisbon treaty without any hesitation whatsoever. I personally, to this date, cannot comprehend why he let such an excellent opportunity pass us by.

Sandro Pace

Mar 18th 2009, 13:02

Issa johorgu l-gurdien. Il-gurdien bil-gobon johrog u mhux bil-paroli.

This time it is more important than what Mintoff fought for in Helsinki. It has to do directly with our country. The minister is unable to take tough decisions lest they not smile at him, hug him or God Forbid, miss the conference Dinner while there, as we see on Net News.

Burden sharing is not going to work. If I am the German Chanc, I would never accept it. Yet he does not even have the courage to stop fingerprinting. We sould force unilateral burden sharing. I am not contradicting myself. The rationale for the EU is that you either patrol and hold them back, or take them. That is how Mintoff would have surely reasoned. No doubt.

This is no time for a Neville Chamberlain waving a 'burden sharing' agreement. It is Churchill time.

A Borg

Mar 18th 2009, 12:42

@Onorevoli Carm Mifsud Bonnici
Same old Merry-go-round type of arguments that lead nowhere

Joseph Cauchi

Mar 18th 2009, 12:18

@ Joe Grima,

Bil-kelma 't-tajba, tohrog il-gurdin mit-toqba!

This is what Dr. Carm Mifsud Bonnici is alluding to; and I tend to agree 100%!

../..

Joanne Micallef

Mar 18th 2009, 12:14

It is very clear that under this administration nothing other than what has been done so far is going to happen regarding this issue. Dr Carm doesn't seem flustered that we've already had such a large number of illegal immigrants arriving on our shores even though we are still in winter. I presume that he also took into consideration the massive influx we are to expect in the coming months.
The only way we will see the light at the end of the tunnel is if we take our protest to the streets, I hope that the PL will persist in parlament, and will consider organizing a National Demonstration in order to put pressure on our Goverment and leave him no alternative other than to put our National Interest first.
As for not wanting to be isolated on the discussion table, guess it takes all sorts, I personally would find it very degrading being on the table only to be completely taken for a ride

Carmel Camilleri

Mar 18th 2009, 12:02

Dr Owen Bonnici MP, you were still a long way from being born when Dom Mintoff put up his show in Helsinki.

Minister Mifsud Bonnici was not referring the having the courage to be intransigent or not, he is questioning to the wisdom of being intransigent at all costs.

Dom Mintoff's intransigence in Helsinki in 1973 set off a period of isolation and ridicule for our country and we are still feeling a few marginal effects of it till this very day.

As a politician, being intransigent solves nothing, particularly at EU level. Thank god you never made it as an MEP. Even though, admittedly, this proposal was first put forward by your leader, who was an MEP. Maybe he's learnt nothing from his stint in Brussels.

Joe Cassar

Mar 18th 2009, 11:58

Indeed.

Since when has it become possible for a pygmy to emulate a giant?

mario gellel

Mar 18th 2009, 11:54

give us the right for a referendom and put these questions for us
do you want to wait for the EU to come with some formula on the issue?
do you want the govement to take the problem in it"s own hands and take all neccesary messures to takle the issue?
that way ,we will know what the maltese feel

Sandro Pace

Mar 18th 2009, 11:48

"The general public was not those people who had hijacked some blogs."

Indeed Honor Mifsud Bonnici. The general public is worse and cruder. You seem to have not grasped the pulse. So we are all hijackers now. Lets hope they hijack June 6th too.

The truth remains that nothing will change unless actions are taken. No matter how much government stretch the argument and play the 'good boy'. You are being fooled for time by the EU, but you are not fooling the people. You cant even understand them.

I am no labourite, but I dread to think that your party will have the majority green light next June. It would mean that all is OK, flog me more. PN are so well to break EU laws in taxing Maltese people, but not with regards to foreigners.

malcolm seychell

Mar 18th 2009, 11:42

Resign Minister

We need a minister who take decisions, u mhux jittama li alla se jsolvilu il problema minghajr ma jaghmel xejn. .

Owen Bonnici M.P.

Mar 18th 2009, 11:30

Pretty simple. Mintoff had the guts. This Government does not.

Maria Pace

Mar 18th 2009, 11:26

Of Course Carm will not emulate Dom Mintoff. Carm does not even have the guts to speak to us tax-paying citizens clearly about the issue of illegal immigration let alone go to a foreign meeting and 'disagree'.

P Debono

Mar 18th 2009, 10:54

"Dr Mifsud Bonnici expresses his disagreement with the proposal to have a limit on the number of immigrants the country will accept. "What do I do if the limit is reached and somebody is in distress?""
These are NOT people in distress. These are ECONOMIC immigrants who come here with a clean shave, armed with satellite phones and smiles on their faces. Hardly the sign of people in distress...

R Borg

Mar 18th 2009, 10:52

Dear Minister, if the decision is to hard to take you can always ask the Maltese people.
But if you keep your head in the mud we will say that you are responsible.
So its either you have what it takes like Dom Mintoff or you don’t.

e.cortis

Mar 18th 2009, 10:45

Can the Honorable Minister tell us why other EU members use the VETO threat so often ?. Italy, Ireland, France, Poland, Britain etc. They all used this weapon not once, but a number of times, and they got what they wanted. So why not tiny MALTA ?. Is it because we are so tiny?. Or is it because we lack the willpower or..... Answers Dr.Carm. When in Rome do as the Romans do . Otherwise we'll all be wishing we had another DOM at this moment in time .

Paul Portelli

Mar 18th 2009, 10:37

CMB (newest version) - you're not fit to tie Dom Mintoff's shoes. Being a member of the GonziPN bandwagon you'll just do exactly like your master and bow your head in servitude to whatever is dictated to you from Brussels. Don't you think all of Malta knows this?

Joe Vella

Mar 18th 2009, 10:26

@ John Hughes

"THIS IS NOT WHAT THE NATION WANTS TO HEAR CARM,"

You hit the nail on the head without knowing it my friend.

Leadership is not about making populist decision - That is Politics of Convenience as being practiced and preached by Your friend Joseph Muscat.

Leadership is about making tough, pragmatic, workable decisions even it they are not popular with the Populace.

It is very easy when you are on the outside looking in. Joseph Muscat needs to learn that running of a country is not the same as running a PL Kazin.

Joe Grima

Mar 18th 2009, 09:57

This revealing interview shows the people of these islands precisely why with the inertia from which Dr ifsud Bonnici is suffering , this country will never get anywhere. He does not want to emulate Dom Mintoff at Helsinki. It is presumptuous of Dr Mifsud Bonnici to compare himself with a giant of politics such as Dom Mintoff was. In Helsinki, against all odds, Dom Mintoff succeded in inserting the Mediterranean Chapter in the Final Act. That Chapter states that ithere can be no peace in Europe without peace in the Mediterranean - as valid today as it was four decades ago. Dr MB does not want to use his veto, does not want to be intransigent, does not have any magic solutions, and wants to resort to logic to find a solution. Watch out for it guys. We have another Solomon in our midst without knowing it. Move over MF. Vacate your seat for a better man.

John Hughes

Mar 18th 2009, 09:48

THIS IS NOT WHAT THE NATION WANTS TO HEAR CARM, you must be living in isolation.

Robert Cassar

Mar 18th 2009, 09:34

I do agree with Mr Bartolo, people should be given a chance to speak out their feelings by means of a referendum. Enough is enough; we cannot take it any longer. Politicians are going round in circles so let us people decide. At the end of the day you guys in politics are there ONLY to offer a service and be the voice of the people.

edward bartolo

Mar 18th 2009, 09:22

@Labour Party
Start Collecting Signatures! Only the people can decide on such an important issue.

@Home Affairs Minister
Your duty is to respect the people's will, otherwise it is ARROGANCE.