Juan Ameen
‘Gonzi said No when country voted Yes’
Transport Minister Austin Gatt had taken all the credit for the public transport reform but disappeared at the first sign of trouble. Arriva had the decency to apologise for the problems caused by the routes drawn up by the authorities but the government did not – Joseph Muscat
The Prime Minister’s decision to vote against on the second reading of the divorce Bill amounted to lack of trust in the country’s clear Yes vote in the referendum, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.
“The people said Yes and, yet, he still hard-headedly voted no. It was a vote of no confidence,” Dr Muscat said in an interview on party-owned One Radio.
Lawrence Gonzi’s vote in Parliament on Wednesday reflected his leadership style, an outdated one, where he closed his ears to what the country wanted, Dr Muscat said. Such leadership led the Nationalist Party into a dead end because he was not reading the signs of the times even though Parliament had voted in favour of the divorce Bill on its second reading.
“We have a situation where Parliament, in a clear majority, voted in favour of a principle to introduce a civil liberty – in this case divorce – but the Nationalist Party’s official stand is still against it,” Dr Muscat said. And he never heard Dr Gonzi say the party would review its stand, he added.
On the other hand, the Labour Party did keep up with up the times and had taken a number of difficult decisions in the past, such as when it changed its stand on the EU in 2004. “It was very hard after all that time to change internally… but the Nationalist Party doesn’t have the courage to say it wants to change,” Dr Muscat said.
The PL also implemented a number of other changes, including to its statute, and realised that the time for partisan politics – and those were associated with blue or red – was over because it was a time for ideas and principles, he said. Dr Muscat publicly welcomed to his party Sliema deputy mayor Cyrus Engerer, who resigned from the PN late last week and was considering contesting the next election with Labour.
He pointed out that there were other people, such as pro-divorce campaigner Deborah Schembri, who had never formed part of the PL but changed their mind.
Turning to public transport operator Arriva, Dr Muscat said Transport Minister Austin Gatt had taken all the merit for the reform while launching the transport service but disappeared at the first sign of trouble.
Arriva had the decency to apologise for the problems caused by the routes drawn up by the authorities but the government did not, he said.
Dr Muscat said he would have had more respect for the government had it been consistent on the issue, which took 18 months to plan and cost about €400,000 in consultancy fees.
Speaking about pensions, Dr Muscat said it was “unacceptable” that Dr Gonzi agreed with the EU to raise the retirement age for the second time in five years without informing anyone. Saying the government’s pension reform had “failed”, Dr Muscat said Dr Gonzi could not be trusted again on such a delicate issue.
The PL believed in increasing women’s participation in the workforce. It also believed the sustainability of pensions was tied to a growing economy, he said.
People could not always be forced to continue working because elderly people were crucial in taking care of their grandchildren, allowing parents to continue working, Dr Muscat said.
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c Camilleri
Jul 19th 2011, 09:14
Imbghad jghidu li l-labour ma jaccettawx telfa .. . .
x'demokrazija dik!
Mela sar ir-referendum biex jaraw xi jridu n-nies imbghad xorta ta rashom jridu jaghmlu.
MaryJo Camenzuli
Jul 18th 2011, 16:24
Cyrus Engerer, Kunsill Ġenerali Partit Nazzjonalista, 17th June 2011:
“ Kemm jien kburi li qiegħed nindirizza l-Kunsill Ġenerali tal-PN, għax matul dawn it-30 sena, il-PN kien il-forza politika li spirat bidla u progress, immodernizzajna l-ekonomija u tajna tama ta’ futur aħjar lill-ġenerazzjonijiet il-ġodda. Ksibna dan kollu flimkien, u dan is-suċċess ħadd ma jista’ joħodhulna…
“ Ksibna d-demokrazija, u flimkien ma waqafniex għax ridna l-aqwa u l-aħjar u ħdimna sabiex Malta saret membru tal-Unjoni Ewropea, fejn saħħaħna l-valuri tas-solidarjetà, tolleranza u ugwaljanza…
“ Qiegħed nirrappreżenta dan is-suċċess f’Tas-Sliema. Hemmhekk, bi kburija, kuljum, f’isem il-Partit Nazzjonalista, niddefendi l-valuri tagħna… Bħalma esperjenza l-Partit bosta drabi, kull sfida tista’ tintrebaħ u Malta għandha bżonn lill-Partit Nazzjonalista…
“ Jgħidu x’jgħidu tal-Partit Laburista, u jpinġuna kif jippruvaw ipinġuna, aħna għandna l-aqwa tim li għandu jkompli jiggverna lil dan il-pajjiż. ”
.
Mr leo attard
Jul 19th 2011, 20:32
ms camenzuli...what can one say, engerer was like the blind mand in the bible ---- I was blind, but now i see! and that is more than i can say for you!
James Camilleri
Jul 20th 2011, 12:56
I read a comment by you Ms MaryJo that you voted PL or used to.
Henry S. Pace
Jul 18th 2011, 15:37
"he closed his ears to what the country wanted"
That is exactly what St Thomas More did to Henry VIII. He was sacrificed on the gallows but remained faithflu to GOD.
' On the other hand, the Labour Party did keep up with up the times and had taken a number of difficult decisions in the past '
The PL is not a Political Party BUT It is more a populist party. If the country is sliding downwards the PL goes with all the currents of the day without real Leadership.
That is what all MPs voting in favour of divorce did in Parliament.
Malta’s Folly
Jun 16, 2011
Meghan Duke
Meghan Duke is Managing Editor of FIRST THINGS
It surely would have been better for Malta to learn from the mistakes of the modern world before rushing to join it
Anthony Roberts
Jul 18th 2011, 17:34
St. Thomas More went against Henry VIII because dear old Henry wanted to marry Anne Bolyn to have an heir not because dear old Henry was wife battering, or abusing his children. Despite St. Thomas more saying no and keeping to his idea of loyalty to God, dear old Henry went on to have Anne murdered so that he could re-marry not once by five more times. How can you compare what happend in those days to what is happening today??????
C Galea
Jul 18th 2011, 13:33
Here I agree with the arguments brought forward by Dr Muscat re the Bus reform. I believe the Minister should have remained on the forefront on this issue until it is solved once and for all. It would only be fair to the suffering users. I was dismayed when neither he nor the prime TM official were present last Saturday morning during a phone-in programme on a local radio even though they were invited. The Arriva representative was on the other hand present and at least tried to clarify some of the problems.
It is augured that this issue is closed as soon as possible, the routes are modified to the necessities of the people and the service returns back to what it was supposed to be Prompt, Clean, Fast and Efficient.
Mr Tommy Vella
Jul 18th 2011, 11:53
"he closed his ears to what the country wanted"
Dear Mr. Muscat are you referring to the fact that he gave freedom of vote to his MPs or to the promptness with which he started the process of legislating?
Mr Michael Debono
Jul 18th 2011, 10:40
It is very clear thatthe Prime Minister tried everything to avoid voting YES and commit a mortal sin as explained by Bishop Mario Grech. If there were not that condition Gonzi would have surely voted YES.As a former president of the Catholic Action just as Dr E fenech Adami had to avert committing a mortal sin in public.
Mr Tony Camilleri
Jul 18th 2011, 11:38
The mortal sin has been dead so long that it has become a skeleton.
Mr Tony Camilleri
Jul 18th 2011, 10:30
Gonzi is answered by his own brother who said that if he voted NO when the people had decided YES he would be like those whom the people are seeking to overthrow in North Africa and elsewhere, a DICTATOR.
Alfred Falzon
Jul 18th 2011, 09:00
Who said all the people voted "yes"?!
53% against 47% result in the referendum is proof of this!
And if one were to take into account what former PL leader Dr Alfred Sant once stated, following his unfounded criticism of the referendum result on Malta's EU membership, it only represents 38% of the whole population!
Now, were it for this newly revamped champagne Socialist party, all MPs should have voted "yes", parrot-like, so that the will of the majority be respected!
A party that displays such bizarrre reasoning is not worth its salt, as our democratic system does not favour a one-party imposition on those who beg to disagree or even openly dissent as has been the case with Labour MPs Dr Adrian Vassallo and Dr Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca!
On the other hand, the NP was right to allow its members to vote according to what they believed to be right and fair.
What I admire in Prime Minister Dr Gonzi is that, right from the start, he made it a point to respect the outcome of the referendum by ensuring that the "yes" vote carries the day, even if at one point in time some of his own MPs had to abstain in order to ensure that this be so!
On the other hand, PL leader Dr Muscat expected all his MPs to vote "yes" without distinction, turning his party into an intractable monolith with very little space, if any, to air one's real opinion and uphold one's principles!
Now, who is being undemocratic and authoritarian?
Is this the new style democracy that is creeping within the PL and its leadership?
Mr Tony Camilleri
Jul 18th 2011, 10:29
Give us the official figures of the referendum results.
Are you also counting the abstentions?
If so, the same abstentions should also be counted as regards the eu membership referendum.
Mario Camilleri
Jul 18th 2011, 13:01
Why did all this had to go as far as parliament? There was no need for the paramilitaries to vote a second time, whether consultative or abrogative. Each had expressed his/her conscience on Saturdays voting day. So Gonzi and his cabinet shot at their feet. It would have made much more sense to accept the referendum result and move on to legislate in a civil manner. That way none of those who for the first time voted with their conscience at heart would have had to vote neither against nor in favour. And that way the PN would still be friends with his constituents who voted YES. And that way Cirus Engere would still be a Pn candidate. And that way those who voted against the peoples' will would not be called traitors.
All in all this is "logic".
Alfred Falzon
Jul 18th 2011, 14:54
@ Tony and Mario Camilleri
"traitors", "official figures", "abstentions", "dictator"...
What's all this hotchpotch and jumble of third-world mentality terms, as if we are living on another planet?
1. It was former PL Prime Minister Alfred Sant who prouded himsef on the much fewer number of abstentions following the EU referendum, not Dr Gonzi!
2. "Traitors" are those who renegade their party by joining another without deigning to resign from the post to which their constituents had voted them!
3. I have given the official figures: 53% which in truth is only 38% of the total electorate!
4. A "dictator" is one who dictates how one should vote, like PL leader Joseph Muscat did when he wanted all his MPs to vote "yes"! A person who is invested with absolute authority over his peers!
Dr Lawrence Gonzi was democratic enough to bow to the referendum outcome. When the EU referendum results were out, the PL ignored the "official results" (much, much higher than the Divorce Referendum figures) and called its supporters out in the streets to celebrate the "victory", only to gulp down their sheer obstinacy and democratic deficit after the elections, a few weeks later!
Mr Tony Camilleri
Jul 18th 2011, 22:38
Alfred Falzon Dr Muscat said from the evry beginning that he was inn favour of divorce but that he was going to give a free vote to the PL MPs