Edward Torpiano, Floriana
Mintoff's politics of division
Robert Henry Bugeja, in his article The Politics Of Division (October 30) urged "good people out there" to "think again" if they were of the opinion that "Malta saw the light when the Nationalist Party came to power in 1987".
He reminded all "good people out there" that the December 12, 1981 official general election result, endorsed by the then Electoral Commission, was: Malta Labour Party 109,990 valid votes equivalent to 34 parliamentary seats; Nationalist Party 114,132 valid votes equivalent to 31 parliamentary seats. Therefore, as a consequence of this result, contrary to what Mr Bugeja conveniently forgot to say, were it not for the gerrymandering of the electoral districts which gave what became known as a "perverse result", the Nationalist Party should not have returned "to power" (his expression) in 1987 but as from December 12, 1981.
One wonders why the correspondent then went on to praise Dom Mintoff, even going on to describe him as the person who "saved the country from chains of ignorance" since, on June 9, 1998, Malta Labour Party leader Alfred Sant called Mr Mintoff "a traitor" during a Vittoriosa mass meeting.
This contributed to the dissolution of Parliament on July 7, 1998, with another general election being announced on September 5, 1998. Was this columnist praising Mr Mintoff because he was faulting Dr Sant's Malta Labour Party?
From this, and from other writings coming from Maltese Socialist quarters, it is evident that certain people (among whom some former Mintoffians and one new consultant) are in despair in trying to build a Joseph Muscat personality cult hailing him as a "leader" attractive to people who "might wish to cross the political divide", even though well knowing that this ploy will not succeed, for the simple reason that the new (yet another) Labour leader (chosen on June 6, 2008) is revealing that he is rather shallow in his social and political analysis of the local situation and, worse still, he is also coming over as being rather conceited and immature whenever he speaks out.
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wally vella-zarb
Nov 12th 2009, 12:38
@ R.Zammit
IF you are really as old as I, then you ought to recall that the ‘either with us or against us’ mentality was propagated in the fifties and sixties when political (and religious) discrimination was truly rampant. Remember the Labour Party newspapers banned in government hospitals? The infamous 'karta tal-kappillan' before being employed? The attempt at requiring SIXTY days notice before a strike? All of these had to be taken to the Privy Council before they were curbed.
If you do not recall that shameful era and still insist that you are not wearing blinkers, then the only other factor becomes amnesia; not an uncommon occurrence in old age.
R. Zammit
Nov 11th 2009, 22:35
@Wally Vella Zarb
Thank you for your advice but I have in fact been living in Malta for probably more that you have, and I cannot remove any blinkers since I do not have any. The point is not how long, but long enough to experience the revolting 16 years of the Labour Party’s regime; with their ‘either with us or against us’ a mentality – and they surely meant it! Most ministers during those days have made some good lives a living hell at the expense of their greed!
In reciprocation to your goodwill my advice would be to wash down the brainwashing you have obviously succumbed to and start ‘smelling the coffee’ maybe you can carry on leaving peacefully; having freedom of speech; having freedom as to how to spend your money; and have no big-brother controlling every basic need you require and every single breath you take!!
wally vella-zarb
Nov 11th 2009, 20:01
@ R.Zammit
"...they have at least swept out all the violence, the corruption, the discrimination, the filth, the monopolies,"
Are you living in Malta? Violence was eradicated by Alfred Sant. As for all "the corruption, the discrimination, the filth, the monopolies," they are still alive and doing well; all you need to do is to remove your blinkers and look around you.
But don't let mere facts get in the way of a good story. The more you people continue with your attempts at character assassination in the direction of Dr Muscat, the more you are succeeding in persuading thinking floating voters towards Labour. Do please continue! ;-)
laurence schembri
Nov 11th 2009, 17:19
Mr. Torpiano, time might prove you wrong.
R. Zammit
Nov 11th 2009, 15:50
Mr.Torpiano,from your quote it appears then that the correspondent you mentioned was probably one of those people who has so much to lose personally when labour is not in power.
Had the Nationalists Party in Government done nothing at all – which is far from the truth – they have at least swept out all the violence, the corruption, the discrimination, the filth, the monopolies, the dictator style politics, and all the unpleasant attitudes form jerky ministers that were the order of the day; yes in those murky times. Unlike the good part of the past 20 years, all this had twisted to the positive notwithstanding the difficult times this present administration is facing.
Now there is Dr Muscat portraying himself as a (flimsy) carbon copy of his former ‘god father’ Dom Mintoff. But worse still, his approach to modern politics is terribly immature, and is only capable of criticising destructively without ever dishing out concrete proposals. His party cannot commit itself to anything anyway, since there is not the slightest sound direction. To make matters worse, he is surrounded by obsolete labourites whose dark past has no place in today’s society-What a poor show!!!
Muscat Pat
Nov 11th 2009, 15:19
Dr Gonzi has a simplistic tendency to see the economy through partisan spectacles.He hangs on to bad advisors for longer than he should have; he divided Malta into good and evil; and, at the same time he plotted to establish a Nationalist hegemony although he had sold himself to the "civil society" as bipartisan. In economic matters, he is prone to sacrifice Malta's long term interest, for his Party's short term gain. He seems curiously incurious about vital details, such as transparency, accountability and corruption.
Joseph Muscat seems to be different; he has put together a team which is planning the strategy of renewal for a future government. He has been tough already, dispatching blunderers and being prepared to admit mistakes. He has repeatedly offered non partisan renewal policies, he is young, untarnished by old age cynicism. Moreover he is intent of fixing and repair the dismal legacy of PN Party that has been in power for too long; architect Michael Falzon concurs with this observation too.
All these tasks seem daunting, but he has experienced years in the European Parliament and, above all he is a respectful, just and thoughtful man, and that is a very good start.
Maria Vella
Nov 11th 2009, 12:24
Stephen dear, is the problem of illegal immigration the only thing that is bothering you? You're one hell of a lucky guy if so. Whilst this is definitely a problem the country is facing, I believe that no body in his sane mind should decide on a new govt. only on this basis. Joseph Muscat is trying to be liked by all yet, he still hasn't outlined any policies Typical of a leader in the comfortable seat of the opposition, he is always very prompt to criticise. I have never heard any constructive critisicism from him. Also he chose to surround himself by people who have a dirty and murky past . What new progressive Labour is Dr. Muscat offering? How will he have all the money to make us pay less for what he calls irrisponsible tarrifs and so on? I'd rather have a few coloured human beings around me than be governed by a person whom, I still cannot trust.
Stephen Farrugia
Nov 11th 2009, 10:39
Immature are those people that don't understand the illegal immigration problem and Dr Joseph Muscat is NOT one of them.
Stephen Farrugia / Rightwing (Sliema)