Muscat: back to the future
So, former Labour Minister Joe Grima does not feel he should apologise for his comments against Fr Alexander Lucie Smith whose blog in The Catholic Herald’s website gave a less than flattering account of Dom Mintoff.
One can really judge in the context of the facts that Grima was a minister in Mintoff’s times and left Labour during Alfred Sant’s brief attempt to rid the party of Mintoff’s influence, He then enthusiastically endorsed Joseph Muscat when the new Labour leader took over from Dr Sant.
Writing in The Times the other day, Grima longs for closure. Does he really believe any one of the many thousands of people who suffered Mintoff’s little tyranny can close this chapter in their lives as if it were some part of a placid piece of fiction?
In his blog, Fr Lucie Smith mentioned some of Mintoff’s despotic actions that can only close and heal after a very long time indeed, and certainly not after watching Labour, led by Muscat, extol Mintoff in North Korean fashion.
He forgot all that Mintoff brought on the Labour Party itself, causing it to lose six of the last seven general elections held since Mintoff wrought his worst on Malta.
The good that Mintoff did in the social services field, Paul Boffa and George Borg Olivier had started before him and Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi widened and bettered after him. But the bad that Mintoff did, only Mintoff did. I’ll just mention the economic controls and his antics in education which had a very negative impact on the working classes.
Mintoff imposed vicious socialist controls that caused official unemployment to shoot up to 10 per cent, today’s equivalent of 15,000 unemployed, together with huge underemployment that was hidden in government labour corps under military discipline with the agreement of the General Workers’ Union, which had become part of the Labour movement.
Mintoff limited and debased the only means the workers have of bettering their lot: education and training. He closed all non-utilitarian courses at the University limiting the total student population to just 700.
Mintoff closed the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology too. The closure of the Polytechnic meant technically bright working class students wasted precious years in badly run and ill-equipped trade schools acquiring no skills and no education.
Compare Mintoff’s 700 students at University and zero at Mcast with 12,000 now at University and another 8,000 at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology getting the education and skills, as many have already done in the last 25 years, to fend for themselves both locally and, increasingly, internationally.
This is Fenech Adami and Gonzi’s gift to the working classes: a passport to meaningful productive jobs, real and increasing incomes and personal realisation.
A true leader gives his followers wings, not chains. This is what the Maltese electorate has been repeatedly voting for in the last 31 years: the economic liberalisation that has taken private sector full-time jobs from 65,000 to 110,000; the good of Mintoff’s social services legacy bettered; and the opportunities in education and training that have widened the middle class so much that Muscat now has to pay lip service to it every Sunday while extolling his political “father” who viciously attacked the middle class.
Muscat kissing Mintoff’s coffin and whitewashing the Labour past is a leap back and has postponed to far off in the future any “closure” of Mintoff’s bad years.
Popular Stories
In Discussion
19 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
Victor Laiviera
Sep 13th 2012, 00:09
Like most PN bloggers/columnists, Mr Aquilina is still under shock at the way the Maltese people reacted to Dom Mintoff's demise.
They simply cannot believe that decades of lies and character assassination had so little effect, so they are scrambling to contain the damage.
With a notable lack of success.
Peter Simpson
Sep 11th 2012, 23:22
A modern day 'Laspina' of Malta's political history; stuck in past prejudices! After 25 years of mal- administration Mr Aquilina finds nothing wrong with this scandal ridden Government. I bet that not even Dr Gonzi would agree with him on this!
Mr Albert Dimech
Sep 11th 2012, 21:23
What did you expect JM to do, spit on Mintoff's coffin?
pat muscat
Sep 11th 2012, 19:23
GonziPN gave wings alright to the back benchers; one of them has had enough and formed his own coalition, an other voted against GonziPN and the third one, but not least never, stopped ridiculing the Prime Minister on a local TV station yesterday!
You could.n't have said it better; all the three Nationalsit MPs flew away from GonziPN's nest!
GonziPN gives you wings!
Joseph E Briffa
Sep 11th 2012, 17:23
Willie Grech needs to spend some months in the public Library and read diligently the local newspapers of the times and take notes. He might be surprised to discover that what he said in his comment are pure flights of fantasy. It could also be the case that he wants to re-write history as seen through his red glasses.
GL Calleja
Sep 11th 2012, 16:17
Call it what you will but all PMs have some good and some bad. It is a matter of glass half full or glass half empty. I have a problem is with both governments. In 1974 under the direction of Dom Mintoff the government requisitioned (confiscated) my father's property in B'Kara against my father's will, and for that I will never forgive the man. The MLP let squatters occupy this property which they still do up to this day and the assigned rent was set at 19 Maltese Pounds a year.
True that the present PM, Dr Lawrence Gonzi derequisitioned these properties in 2007 and returned these properties to the owners. EXCEPT he also put into law that I cannot evict these squatters until two generations of squatters die or fade away. So to speak, he did very little or nothing for us since the original squatter is still living, and there is also a daughter living there who will inherit the property till she dies or moves away. By the way the daughter is only about forty years old and I am seventy, you do the math.
This is a barbaric law since I am not able to enjoy my father's inheritance. So in my case I will not forgive either PM for what they did until I get that property back. How about Lawrence Gonzi?
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Sep 11th 2012, 15:07
Mr Aquilina: after 25 years of PN government, we still have 36% illeteracy in Malta. Does that not clearly show you that the education policies of GonziPN have failed? If Minister Christina had any decency, she would have resigned immediately upon receiving this independent report. But no, GonziPN expects a minor officer of the LP to resign over a silly cartoon but not a Minister on the abysmal failure of education.
Joseph John Camilleri
Sep 11th 2012, 16:00
As if education under Mintoff was perfect with a university of parrini and filjozzi, labour corps instead of 6th form or university, teachers' training college given given by Agatha to the Libyan government. That's education policy for you.
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Sep 11th 2012, 16:18
Mr JJ Camilleri: how does Mintoff feature in today's education policy? GonziPN has been in government for 25 years - was that not long enough to oversome Mintoff's bad policies? Why do you GonziPN fans have always to send us back 30 years when faced with today's problems? The problem of 36% illteracy is today's problem and telling us how bad things in years gone by is not going to solve anything. But people who have no solutions for today's problems find comfort by saying things were worse in the bad old days. Why not quote illeteracy under the Knights, for example? It would make you feel even better as probaby it was even higher then!
Gerry Cowie
Sep 11th 2012, 12:32
Well, the loyal disciples of Mintoff are surely not going to agree that their beloved leader did anything other than good! Yes, he did some good, but at least 50% of voters feel otherwise and feel obliged to remind them of those more unhappy times during his administration.
For instance the BICAL affair, where two innocent Pace brothers went to the Corradino for something they never did, later proving their innocence. Why did the Mintoff administration allow this?
Then there is the National Bank situation whereby the shareholders were stripped of their ownership by the "Robin Hood" administration.
Need I go on?
What Mintoff's supporters omit to say is that Il Perit had quite a tight hold on his party and therefore when people say he did something it is synonymous with his party and vice-versa.
How about an apology for all the bad things to balance out the praise for the good? That is not partisan. It is honesty.
Anthony Curmi
Sep 11th 2012, 12:56
Obviously Mr Cowie was not in Malta at the time of the BICAL fiasco. The Paces were not innocent but were proved guilty of fraud by the Malta Courts. The National Bank of Malta saga wasa different story altogether and its former shareholders are still awaiting justice afater having takne government to Court nearly 38 years ago. Unlike the case of BICAL, no NBM directors or senior staff were ever charged with fraud.
Willie Grech
Sep 11th 2012, 13:01
@ Gerry Cowie.
Your partisan ways are showing once again.
"How about an apology for all the bad things to balance out the praise for the good? That is not partisan. It is honesty."
Did you ever listen to Joseph Muscat speak? Did you ever hear him utter words of apology "to all those who were hurt by our deeds!" That was in the first speech Joseph Muscat made upon being elected as leader of the PL. That is honesty, as you said.
Did you ever hear Eddie Fenech Adami or Lawrence Gonzi utter something similar? Please remember that EFA was the only PM ever to be accused and found guilty of political imbalance by our Court of Justice. EFA was the person to be a witness when he was still PM to one of Malta's drug traffickers - Zeppi il-Hafi. And what about the present PM, Lawrence Gonzi? Did you ever hear him say anything about being sorry for the mess Malta is in or the billions in Euros in the Maltese deficit? I don't think so.
Therefore, in your own words, that is dishonesty. Thank you for reminding us all.
Marie Benoit
Sep 11th 2012, 12:24
Mr Aquilina has smelt the general election coming and will be regaling us with his partisan view until it takes place. Just one comment about the University. So what if there are 12,000 students following courses. Half of those who will graduate will come out barely able to write a decent letter. Quantity yes, but quality?
Unless Mr Aquilina has been living under a rock - in which case he should keep it to himself - I'd like him to consider the following:
The BWSC power station scandal
The Fairmount Dry Dock scandal
The Arriva mess
The Mater dei Scandals (Ask Frank Portelli)
The Go land Scandal
Other land scandals we would rather not know about though the latest was uncovered by the Ramblers
The Air Malta Scandal
The Smart City non happening
The Tuna farm permits
The Waste Serve daily Scandals
The 600 euro rise quietly awarded behind the taxpayers' back
The number of people in Brussels at our expense sent there after creating problems in Malta
.The 1 million a year “Wheres’ everybody gets to produce a couple of shows on PBS
I am sure others can add to this list.
Emerge from your ivory tower Mr Aquilina or from under that rock.
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Sep 11th 2012, 15:08
You forgot to mention the biggest slap in the face to democracy by Dr Gonzi - after having a clear indication by the people that they want divorce, he votes against it!
francis agius
Sep 11th 2012, 11:42
Mintoff kien il-leader ideali ghal dak iz-zmien....Kull ma ghamel kien kwazi perfett...Il PN baqa jigverna bis sahha ta l-azjendi li waqqaf hu,u huma bieghu kollox.....
Willie Grech
Sep 11th 2012, 10:56
If ever there was a partisan article, this is it. Throughout the whole article there is only one equation; PL = bad, PN = good.
If you need any proof, check what Mr Aquilina wrote: "The good that Mintoff did in the social services field, Paul Boffa and George Borg Olivier had started before him and Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi widened and bettered after him. But the bad that Mintoff did, only Mintoff did."
Mr Aquilina, if you feel that, of all people Lawrence Gonzi "widened and bettered" don't tell it to us. Tell it to the various JPOs, FDs, JMs and so on. They come from the same camp as you but their views on Lawrence Gonzi are quite different. Imagine the man in the street!!!
Joseph E Briffa
Sep 11th 2012, 13:12
@Willie Grech......Partisan why, may I ask? Wasn't it Paul Boffa who introduced the Old Age Pensions Act, wasn't it Boffa who introduced social services including the relief for the poor; wasn't it during the Boffa/Borg Olivier coalition government that secondary schools were made free for all; wasn't it in 1947 that women first voted in general elections (that's 8 years before the first Mintoff government); wasn't it in 1946 that the Compulsory Education Act was introduced which provided for the compulsory school attendance for the under 14s ( that's a decade before Mintoff's government); wasn't it during Boffa's government that income tax was introduced when Colombo was minister of Finance, and wasn't the National Lottery introduced during the Boffa administration to enable the introduction of social services and old age pensions; and wasn't it during the Borg Olivier administration that the University was made free of tuition fees and women got equal pay; and didn't the Fenech Adami and Gonzi administrations improve social services? Your reference to JPO, FD and JM not agreeing with their leader on certain aspects is not surprising; the PN has always been a party that practised democracy, and there have always been people who abused of democracy. What is surprising is the behaviour of these three mavericks and their open hostility to their leader and is the result of their disappointment at not being given a ministry and has nothing to do with social services.
Ronald Zammit
Sep 11th 2012, 13:27
Well said Mr. Grech, I couild'nt agree more with what you wrote!. But I would'nt care to waste my time and energy trying to reason things out with people like this Eddie Aquilina! He is so deep Blue ..... that nothing will change his political views...so why the hassle!!! Let him believe that Gonzipn is a special gift from God to us Maltese & Gozitan people and that ONLY Gonzipn has the right to rule and govern the Maltese Islands!!!! (sic) Sooner .........much sooner than he thinks ...he will be proven otherwise.
Willie Grech
Sep 11th 2012, 14:21
@ Joseph E. Briffa.
You need to have some very good lessons in Maltese history.
Please choose the reason of your report below: