Labour 'will strengthen stipends' - Muscat
Labour will not just keep stipends, it will work to strengthen them, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said this morning.
“This is a promise without compromises,” he said.
Speaking during a visit to the University on the occasion of Freshers' Week, Dr Muscat said economic growth was the key to everything.
Through economic growth and wealth creation, the university would be given more resources for further investment in Maltese and Gozitan students, he said.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi also visited Freshers’ Week and met students and University staff.
He was also shown around the Department of Chemistry, where new laboratories have been inaugurated in a project costing over €800,000.
The new labs were equipped thanks to funds provided by the EU. They have enabled the university to raise its intake in science subjects and diversity the courses on offer.
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Alex Buds
Oct 3rd 2012, 15:23
Notice the carefully chosen word "strengthen"... might not be the same as the more straightforward "increase".
Eddy Privitera
Oct 3rd 2012, 16:13
Alex Buds: And if Dr. Muscat had said "increase", you would have immediately written : " by how much " ? Just GonziPN tactics !
Alex Buds
Oct 3rd 2012, 19:33
@ Eddy P - 100% correct, I would have said that.
And so? It's a fair question.
Philip Hili
Oct 3rd 2012, 10:44
"Labour 'will strengthen stipends' - Muscat"
SA KEMM IKOLLU L-POTER F'IDEJH. WARA NARAW!!!!
Angelo Vassallo
Oct 3rd 2012, 09:29
"Labour will not just keep stipends, it will work to strengthen them, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said this morning"
It was expected of "dear leader" joseph muscat to make such a promise. Obviously, he was addressing University students. He promises things according to his audience, as usual.
Carmel Farrugia
Oct 3rd 2012, 08:17
AND WHERE ALL THIS MONEY IS COMING FROM? More promises that cost money, how about some promises that money.
John Scerri
Oct 3rd 2012, 07:09
U bill wicc tost kollu jmur Evarist li ttadrixxa lil istudenti bil-weghdi foloz qabel l-elezjoni 1996.
Int biss serjeta hsibt li ha jivvutaw Labour wara li ttrattajhom ta` mbecilli ?
John Scerri
Oct 3rd 2012, 07:05
What do you expect Dr.Muscat to say in a poplistic manner other than what he said in order to please what the students wanted to hear.
BUT Dr.Muscat forgot that he was not speaking to IDIOTS.
Those students know what happened when even Alfred Sant and Evarist Bartolo promised EXACTLY the same before the 1996 elections.
Many students who knew only PN government opted to change just for change during 1996 but were totally disillusioned.
They quickly reverted to PN .
This will not happen another time ''Once bitten twice shy''
This time ...again ...Dr.Muscat ...you shoot on your foot and your credibility is diminishing.
'Strengthen stipends''.............tell it to the marines.
M. Cachia
Oct 3rd 2012, 00:34
If Stipends are there to stay and moreover strengthened there is only one way to really sustain them.
Introduce a system whereby students will pay back the equivalent of the amount received in stipends over a period of 10 years time from graduation. Like that the system will be self-sustaining whereas the budget for stipends can be otherwise used in other much needed areas of the University, for instance research!
Whether people like it or not, unfortunately this is the only way froward!
Politicians and Technocrats know it! The former are just afraid to admit it!
Mr Chris Vidal
Oct 2nd 2012, 23:19
This country is heading to know where and it is understandable knowing that its politicians do not know what they are doing....or better still their only interest is to fill up their pockets and to be elected into parliament...to get power at hand. On one side we have Gonzi and the PN now almost 30 years in power and so full of corruption and if re-elected Malta will become like a dictatorial state under the name of democracy. This domocracy to the people is only applicable on election day...or the right to vote. But then what is the alternative to the government....the labour party....almost 30 years in opposition and still they did not regain grounds to be trusted into governments. I think here Joseph Muscat is joking by saying that one has to strengthen stipends to stimulate economy, although he did not elaborate HOW to strengthen the stipends. If he is referring to increasing stipends then this is rediculous. He should strengthen research funds to improve research and innovation and to minimise the amount of University graduates that leave the country (like myself) because there are no opportunities for them in research. This results in a braindrain to the country and all the money invested (in the form of stipends) to educate these people to get their first degree but then the country loses these people at the stage when they are really needed and when they can give back something to the country and not only that but since they leave Malta then other countries are getting this benefit at the expense of the Maltese tax payers. Absolutely rediculous. Keep it up Maltese politicians...keep making rediculous statements just to be elected.
Angelo Vassallo
Oct 2nd 2012, 21:46
@ pat muscat
You forgot to mention the LEJBURIST STIPENDS turned into LOANS and the LEJBURIST REPEATER CLASS, both of which were DISASTROUS.
Angelo Vassallo
Oct 2nd 2012, 21:22
"Labour will not just keep stipends, it will work to strengthen them, Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said this morning"
It was expected of "dear leader" joseph muscat to make such a promise. Obviously, he was addressing University students. He promises things according to his audience, as usual.
pat muscat
Oct 2nd 2012, 19:48
Labour's track record on education speaks for itself: introduced free compulsory primary education + free books+free copy books free pencils, rubbers, milk, cod liver oil, free doctors check up, free dentistry check up; introduced free secondary school education; introduced free university education; introduced stipends for university students.
Yes, during the late 90s there were some hiccups; but the strategic intention was always one:to improve the lot of the Maltese students!
P. Zammit
Oct 2nd 2012, 21:17
Track record on education ? ... did you forget the discrimation against students attending Church schools versus children who were attending state schools ? ( Il-FAMUZI 20 PUNT !!!! )
Track record my foot !!
Mr robert micallef
Oct 2nd 2012, 21:37
some hiccups ? with most private schools closed ? i admire your sense of humour
Joseph E Briffa
Oct 2nd 2012, 21:46
@pat muscat....compulsory primary education was introduced by the CEA in September 1946 even before Boffa's government . Free secondary education was introduced in the early 50s during the coalition government of Boffa/Borg Olivier. University education was made free during Borg Olivier's government in the late 1960s. Milk used to be given free even in private schools in mid 1940s plus a biscuit with jam. Stipends were given to university students who had to put in 6 months work every year. It was only after 1987 that the work phase was done away with and students were given stipends without having to work for 6 months every year.
Ian Psaila
Oct 2nd 2012, 23:08
Labour introduced also l parrinu for entering university, closed down all the arts faculties ghax m ghandix x nambuhom, closed down all church and private schools...hallina pat ghalmenu l iswed ghidlu iswed u l abjad ghidlu abjad jekk trid tkun kredibbli
Richard Caruana
Oct 3rd 2012, 06:10
What a load of cobwebs.
Any Government would have done the same. Apart from the fact that some of the things mentioned were introduced by the colonial government and not by Labour. This is similar to the mantra that Mintoff gave women the vote when he was not even in parliament at the time.
You should have mentioned the disaster in experimentation with our children's education, the closure of church schools and the useless compulsory teaching of Arabic.
John Scerri
Oct 3rd 2012, 08:37
Dear Pat you forgot to mention
Suspending university courses because according to the govt. the country did not need them.
Numerus clausus.
Standing year.
Lack of stipends.
Sponsors or else you did not enter.
Guarantees by industry to employ students when they graduate otherwise you dont enter.
The famous 20 points discriminating between students from govt sixth form and church sixt form .
Stipends transformed to loans which had to be payed back at 4 % interest.
Teachers Locked out and students having to go learn elsewhere.
Labour minister and his thugs going to university and threatening students.
Students beaten up at university.
Yes Labour has it's record and how.
Never again.
C. Bartoli
Oct 3rd 2012, 13:32
pat muscat always manage to make us smile for a few minutes and then make us remember how hard it was to be under labour
C. Bartoli
Oct 3rd 2012, 13:33
u fiz-zmien Mintoff kien ikun hemm 700 student, ghax biex tidhol l-universita ridt parrinu u l-ghoxrin punt. Fiz-zmien Sant qaleb l-istipendji f'loans. Il-labour qatt ma jinbidel, jigi jitmejjel mil-edukazjoni kemm taghna l-adulti u ta uliedna.
pat muscat
Oct 4th 2012, 00:54
@PN apologists.
Facts are sacred and lying won't do. Read the Parliamentary reports: these are the facts and not your lies and double speak. Probably, by the same logic, you would be saying in a few years time that Gonzi introduced divorce and the welfare state and the minimum wage!
Mr Joe Micallef
Oct 2nd 2012, 19:38
Let us forget for a moment the historically appalling handling of education by the PL, or that Alfred Sant and the smiling Evarist Bartolo did exactly the opposite of a similar promise they made before 1996, or the dishonesty of Muscat who worked so hard to prevent Maltese students from benefiting of education related funds that came with EU membership (a tangible proof was had today with the inauguration of a new Laboratory funded by ERDF) – these and other, are indelible shameful facts that distinguish the PL from the PN.
So this wannabe promised students that he will strengthen stipends based on “economic growth and wealth creation”. Whilst we will also ignore that his finance minister Edward Sciculna (who has been preferred to Charles Mangion) is on record arguing against stipends, can this wannabe explain how, by how much and when he intends to strengthen the stipends.
I ask because the equally inept Bonnici who accompanied Muscat, when trying to defend Muscat on his claim that he will essentially freeze the minimum wage, is on record saying that wages will increase ““when the economy healed”.
So tell us please, if you may, which comes first better stipends or healed economy. If it is the latter can we have your projection on when to expect this?
pat muscat
Oct 4th 2012, 01:03
@Joe Micallef.
Let us not forget that the PN voted against the Maltese language becoming the official language of Malta, the PN voted against compulsory free primary education; voted against free secondary education; voted against free university education; voted against the stipends, voted against the very characteristics that make the Maltese what they are: a nation!
These are things facts, and no amount of spinning can change the truth; the PN was always against change, against progress; in favour of the status quo for the privileged few then: for the klikka and the oligarchy today! NB :AS quoted by the PN member of Parliament-a true patriot Dr Franco Debono.
Mr Joe Micallef
Oct 4th 2012, 14:06
You are a hotchpotch of self-fabricated baseless, out-of-context theories - no wonder you vote labour!
Mr robert micallef
Oct 2nd 2012, 19:24
these students are all better then most Germans, they all have a car while most germans have a bicycle. they live at home while others like my wife used to live 8 hours away by train. visiting home meant 100 euro at the least. And while during the weekend most Maltese are out getting drunk their counter parts in other Eu countries have to work to survive. you will notice two things in a foreign university 1) bicycles instead of cars and 2) most students are thin because they do not have alot to eat and thats not out of choice.
the least the Maltese student's parents can do at the end of their course is instead of putting an ad on tom congratulating their children they say "thank you Maltese government and tax payers for educating me" more stipends mean more taxes nothing else. soon they will be complaining that the car park should be upgraded
James Dimech
Oct 2nd 2012, 19:06
Glad that Muscat toured the new EU funded laboratories.
If we had his way on the EU, those labs will not be there.
Ian Psaila
Oct 2nd 2012, 23:09
Well said!
James Dimech
Oct 2nd 2012, 19:04
How do you "strengthen" stipends ?
You either increase them, leave them as they are or reduce them
Ray Buhagiar
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:47
This is not want to hear from political parties. I want to hear about policies that will improve both University and MCAST. For example what is their policy regarding innovations, research, design? What is their policy in ensuring that our students are not burdened with useless information? Every university student knows there is a big difference in course content between Malta and Mainland Europe.
Policies, Policies and not promises
Anthony Scicluna
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:39
Back again to the same old mantra: "Through economic growth and wealth creation, the university would be given more resources for further investment in Maltese and Gozitan students, he said."
Unless Dr Muscat states in precise terms how he is going to generate wealth and economic growth, he is merely stating the obvious.
victor bonello
Oct 2nd 2012, 19:10
Should he have said through greater DEBTS?
pat muscat
Oct 2nd 2012, 19:41
I tell you what; wealth is generated by hard work, sweat and sometimes tears: not by borrowing money to bring about a feel good factor!
robert pace
Oct 2nd 2012, 20:00
Mr Scicluna Hopw the hell do you want him to talk about generating wealth when he knows what Gonzi Pn are going to leave behing them . have you any doubts ? if not please open your ears and eys and see for yourself!!!Dont worry there are 5years at kleast so im sure Joseph will generate wealth and growth in every sector!! Like all Labour goverments after all no?
Anthony Scicluna
Oct 3rd 2012, 17:01
Dear All
It is easy to say I will generate wealth. The problem is HOW to do it. Since you are all enlightened economists, please explain wealth generation to me.
Explain to me what that statement means in real terms? Explain to me how university resources are going to increase investments? What are the mechanisms a Labour govt would introduce? How is R&D going to be tackled? What about SME innovation? Why should students be paid stipends? Why should we continue burdening the economy with that kind of investment?
So far all I have heard is promises that will lead to a heavier national debt and expenditure with little if any short or long term return.
And no, Ms Muscat, wealth is not created by hard work alone. Maltese people are renowned for being highly skilled and productive. It is useless to be so unless there are jobs, investments and innovation. Debt, if kept within a range, allows for investment.
I agree that our debt is dangerously high. However our unemployment is 7% (circa). Spain and other countries have an average of 20%. The MLP have a bad track record with job creation and unemployment. Assuming things changed with them (which since the old stalwarts are still there, I suspect that they will reinstate the same stuff) I want to hear it before I commit my country to a 5 year destructive reign by a bunch of 1970s throw backs.
The issue is not partisan politics. The issue is what is best for our country. So far, I haven't heard HOW Labour is turning the economy around.
Saviour Aquilina
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:30
IS THIS A JOKE JOESPH??????? Because you know that even Alfred Sant say it before Election of 1996 but every one knows what happened...
m piscopo
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:20
Skont id daqqa jizfen.
Joe M Borg
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:14
If I remember correctly, even the last Labour Prime Minister 'had promised' nice things about the stipends. Then, once he was in power, he 'strenghtened' them, by planning to make the students give back the stipends.
Alex Falzon
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:10
X'tahwid ta' partit....
Ethelbert Schembri
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:08
It is clear that the PN and his apologists don't fathom the fact that Dr Muscat will bring back stability and that he will move forward our country after the GonziPN put us all in a deep freeze with all the mess he was capable to do in the past years..
Yes the PL will give stability to our country and one of the things that will benefit is the education. With concrete mesures not just statistics that can be manipulated easily!!
George Debono
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:20
"Dr Muscat will bring back stability"....how? Us business people are already running scared of the MLP. There already is capital flight because people believe the MLP will get elected.
"GonziPN put us all in a deep freeze with"....As far as I know, the MLP "froze" our application to join the Eu and invented the "partnerxipp" idea. As far I can see, GonziPN has managed to keep our country on an even keel, whilst Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus all have a begging bowl in their hands.
"With concrete mesures"....what are concrete mesures? Im in the building industry and would love to know?Is it a new type of shuttering that Joseph invented?
Ethelbert Schembri
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:39
If you really are in the building industry, you must know very well who froze your business with the messed up reform of MEPA and the never ending increase of the prices coming from that mammoth of an authority!!
Business people are scared of GonziPN and the never ending increase of expenditure because of his incompetence and bureaucracy that leads to corruption! That is what really froze the Maltese economy and adding up the political instability that has prolonged for years now, that put us in deep freeze!!
joseph borg st john
Oct 2nd 2012, 20:15
You can tell from the photo that Joseph and Evarist are very serious on stipends . ha ha ha
George Debono
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:58
The operative word is " will work to strengthen them"... I wonder what that means. How can you strengthen a stipend? Do you start giving out the stipend in coins perhaps? I am at a loss!!
Perhaps Joseph Muscat can explain what he means. Oh...maybe it means he will strengthen them by converting them to little loans? To strengthen the government's ability to recoup its investment perhaps? With Evarist next to him, I would expect nothing less.
Labour won’t work in education. It never will. It's track record proves it. How a guy like Joseph Muscat, who during the 1984 School Issue was traipsed from garage to home to receive his lessons, instead of going to the college environment he is used to, can actually revel in this record is beyond us lesser mortals. Labour will just slash and burn education, because an educated populace is a guarantee that they will never be electable. No matter how many “digris” MLP people get, thanks to the PN's rather liberal policies in this regard, it does not mean that anyone in the has the ability to Govern. On the contrary.
With the likes of Silvio, Luciano, and Joe Debono Grech ruling this country, we are doomed.
robert pace
Oct 2nd 2012, 20:01
Dont worry Mr debono we are already doomed come to Air malta and see for yourself the mess Gonzi and friends got about!!!
Kristina Cassar
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:57
KIF imma??? tghollihom, b'self??
George Joseph Cauchi
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:02
So it should be!!!!
Mr Michael Mifsud
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:51
So...not opportune to promise any increases to minimum wage earners...but promising to strengthen student stipends...errrr....priorities?
Frank Gauci
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:38
PL is saying that our economy is in a critical situation and when they will be in power PL are going to strengthen stipends, Lower Water and Electricity bills, PL can reimburse those people who paid extra car taxes and so on..... Something here is bit funny especially when Dr. Muscat used the world "strengthen" and not "rise" or "increase".
George Cutajar
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:37
So JM speaks to the students and tells them that if elected his party will strengthen stipends. Obviously no mention of the hard times, the economic crisis, the need for an economic assessment etc. but then again he is here speaking to over eleven thousands votes and his music has to sound good. These are not the odd thirty families of Malta's judiciary. These are votes for the taking.
Once more Labour and JM opportunism at it's best. A repeat of the pre- 1996 promise by Alfred Sant and Evarist Bartolo who later found the 'hofra'.
By the way has JM consulted with his economic guru and future finance minister?
victor bonello
Oct 2nd 2012, 19:12
We all know that infact there is a "hofra", or rather a CRATER! Has GonziPN and his money no problem clique ever said how they intend to pay this debt?
Emmanuel Caruana
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:36
See Varist Bartolo's sarcastic smile. No Joseph I don't believe you.
A Cuschieri
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:32
So, if he raises the stipends - his promise would be accomplished.
But what if he introduces the 1996 concept of repaying the amount once you start working? ... we can't say he would have kept his promise could we?
George Joseph Cauchi
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:01
Why not ? What you get from the state you should pay back. What a cheek !!!!!
R. Farrugia
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:28
This is going totally against what Prof. Edward Scicluna recommended, is this another U turn from PL just to "try" and please the Students, same as the days of Evarist Bartolo?
Nicholas Borg
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:17
Mintoff tried to destroy the University in the 70s
KMB starved it of resources in the 80s
Sant wanted to replace stidpends by student loans in 1997
and you expect us to believe and trust you now...pull the other one!
Victor Calleja
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:28
Min welledt listipendji ghal l'istudenti tahseb li sejjer inehhihom?
Kampanja ta biza nhix qieghda tahdem Nich
George Debono
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:57
Min welledt listipendji ghal l'istudenti tahseb li sejjer inehhihom?
Mhux diga ghamel hekk l-MLP bejn in 1996-1998?
Barra minn hekk, meta l-MLP welled l-sitipendji, kif qed tghid int, taf bizzejjed li kein hemm 6 xhur "work Phase" fejn l-istudenti kienu jintuzaw bhala "cheap labour"
Pierre Vassallo
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:12
"Dr. Muscat said that economic growth is the key to everything." Thus no economic growth = wage freeze, same utility bills and no stipend "strengthening". What a farce. So we know what Muscat is going to do the day after he wins the election. Same as his predecessor. Isib hofra!!!!!
Alfred Bugeja
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:12
"Strengthening." Now that's an interesting word which can be interpreted in a thousand ways.
I wonder why he didn't use the words "increase" or "raise".
Antonio Pace
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:06
That's what Alfred Sant had told us too. Those who believed him lived to regret it.
carmel callus
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:00
Cara l-espressjoni fuq wicchom: it-tlieta li huma qeghdin jidhku bil-kbir bl-istudenti! Ma nafx kif evarist ghandu l-wicc jerga' jidher quddiemhom wara dak li ghamlilhom fl-1997.
R Axisa
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:26
Kieku kellna nkejlu skont l-espressjoni tal-wicc, specjalment id-dahka, malajr niftakar fil-PM li meta jsaqsuh xi haga dejjem jidhak dik id-dahka qabel jirrispondi!
J Busuttil
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:45
@ R Axisa
Tider li kull ma tara huwa il- One.
R Axisa
Oct 2nd 2012, 19:54
Lanqas xejn - jien nara kull stazzjon - u ghalhekk nista' nqabbel!
C Cassar
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:00
Stipends should be scrapped, they aren't needed. In most other EU countries students get part time jobs to fund their day to day costs whilst studying. In doing so they also learn and experience the world of work. Hardly surprising that many Maltese students don't get anywhere in Europe careerwise.
K Mifsud
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:05
Jaqaw m;ghandek lil hadd minn uliedek igawdi mill-istipendju sur cassar?
Joseph Bonnici
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:11
Agree 100%
Kevin Cassar
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:51
I have to partly agree with C Cassar and partly also with K Mifsud. The problems with stipends are twofold - they give young students an advantage over those who take the same courses as adults and they offer no direct benefit to the state. I can hear many who will object to this saying that the state benefits from having higher educated workers, but then these would have to explain to me why the discrimination stated above exists. A direct benefit would be somewhere in between the current state and the proposed (but rejected) loan scheme. It would involve the new graduates having to give some service back to the state (who funded their education) before they start earning elsewhere from their profession. This service would obviously be paid as well, so it's not like they are paying back as they would with a loan.
David Stellini
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:59
How ? By granting 20 points to state school students , or student worker scheme where students had to work six months and study for six months .
Please note that Joseph Muscat had never APOLOGISED for the socialised wrecking the education sector in the eighties - none other by his idols Dom Mintoff and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici. For your information the TOTAL number of students at university in 1987 was 700 students versus 12,000 today . Cheap talk Dr Muscat - be a man and apologise for your socialist party depriving a generation of their tertiary education .
A Cuschieri
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:37
No. By asking you to pay it back once you graduate - but he would have increased the stipend amount.
It's perfect ... votes obtained ... promise kept ... students skrewed!
pat muscat
Oct 3rd 2012, 07:23
@ David Stellini.
PN was against education for the masses; it voted against the use of Maltese as an official language in schools in Court and in Government correspondence!
If it were for the PN we would not even have a national Maltese literature.
PN voted against the introduction of primary and secondary education, it voted against free university and voted against the introduction of stipends to students.
Has the PN ever apologized for this being on the wrong side of history?
The PN tried to deprive the Maltese from being educated; is there a worse sin than this?
GonziPN is trying to get the merit in Education without deserving it: merit is on Labour' side!
Francis Saliba M.D.
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:52
What does "strengthening" stipends meaning in Labour Party parlance? We all know what increasing stipends means and the MLP has already taught us what reducing stipends means, but "strengthening"? Vagueness and looseness of expression is becoming an incorrigible habit.
M Gatt
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:51
Finally, someone that us students can trust. We're sick of all the false promises made by GonziPN! How many times has this government made cuts from the original stipend!? Joseph Muscat is the way for our country's future!
C. Bartoli
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:09
@M.Gatt ma jidhirx li int kont student bejn in-1996 u in-1998. Ma tista taf xi jfisser il-MLP.
Gianninu Saliba
Oct 2nd 2012, 20:09
Mr/Ms M Gatt, you need to improve your English. You claim to be a student...are you a primary school student? No wonder you support Joseph. Keep in mind, my friend, that the Malta Labour Party is against education as it looses votes. The Malta Labour Party, alias, Partit Laborista is against the upper and middle class because it looses votes. Labour want people to be ignorant, so that they would not know what's best for them and they want them to be poor in order to have them rely on their "benevolence". I've mentioned it many times before, and I repeat it for people like you. When Stalin wanted to give his disciples a lesson, he picked up a healthy chicken and started plucking it of its feathers, when he removed all the feathers he put the bird on the ground. He then moved one step away from the terrified chicken which was visibly in pain and dropped a little chicken feed next to his feet. The bird struggled to get close to his foot to eat the little food. He started walking away and as he did so continued dropping a tiny amount of food and the chicken kept on coming closer to him. He turned to his followers and told them that they can torture the citizens and make them suffer. Now and again given them some social benefits and they keep on following you. That's what happened in Malta in the 70s and the 80s and that's what will happen if genius Joseph was, God forbid, to become Prime Minister.
C. Bartoli
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:51
ma nafx kif Everist Bartolo ghandu il-wicc jkun parti f'din il-messa in scena wara dak li ghamel fin-1996 ftit granet biss wara l-elezzjoni.
Mr John Borg
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:51
Did Joseph find the pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow?
Lower Utility rates
Better stipends
What next? Who's taxes is he getting them from? The new middle class?
Joe Tabone
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:49
It that Evarist Bartolo - LABOUR next to J Muscat???
The same guy that made the same promise last time LABOUR were elected (14 years ago), only to remove stipends upon election???
Evarist didn't change...............................................LABOUR WON"T CHANGE!!!
C. Bartoli
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:48
L-istess bhal fiz-zmien Mintoff kien ikun hemm 700 student, ghax biex tidhol l-universita ridt parrinu u l-ghoxrin punt. Fiz-zmien Sant qaleb l-istipendji f'loans. Il-labour qatt ma jinbidel, jigi jitmejjel mil-edukazjoni kemm taghna l-adulti u ta uliedna.
K Mifsud
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:07
Ara vera m'ghandkomx ma xix tqabblu ta!!! Spiccajtu, m;ghandkomx biex tajdu fuq Joseph Muscat.
Paul Borg
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:43
Politicians will always promise the world until they get elected - with all due respect to Joseph Muscat. However, whatever happens at the polls and whoever wins the elections we should be ready to go through the austerity measures that our fellow Europeans had to go through. Unfortunately with the cash accounting method that government uses there are millions of euros of debt hidden under the carpet. God help us and future generations.
Albert Attard
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:41
This is not what Prof. Edward Scicluna recommended, is this another U turn from PL just before the election, same as the days of Evarist Bartolo?
Richard Caruana
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:39
Isn't this the same that Alfred Sant promised in 1996?
Joe Zammit
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:39
“. . . and the rich man also died and was buried;
And in HELL he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this fire.” (St Luke, 16:22-24).
Lucienne Dimech
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:36
In times of economic difficulties our politicians seem to be unique. Gonzi sees no crisis Muscat promises expenditure or less income for the government thru what he sees as the Economic growth of Malta. We must be very special down here no crisis for our islands
A Cuschieri
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:50
Look at the difference, one is promising stuff (questionable) whilst the other inaugurated new laboratories (fact!). The least Muscat could do to be credible is to say how he'll manage to deliver what he's promising - but he's not.
C Calafato
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:32
This was the same promise Evarist Bartolo broke back in 1996 less than a month after the elecion. Can anyone believe him this time?
Neil Zammit
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:39
so you believe he's going to freeze minimum wage without him actually saying it and don't believe he'll raise stipends when he says it??
A Trapani
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:52
after converting stipends to loans, Varist has the cheek to go to University with a irk on his face promising that when he'd be back as education minister, his party will strenghten the stipends... should we laugh or cry?
C Calafato
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:29
@ neil zammit.
what you see is what you get, therefore a foreign policy by sciberras trigona, an education system by evarist bartolo etc etc. This is what i see.
Ethelbert Schembri
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:31
Dr Muscat said that 'Labour will not just keep stipends, it will work to strengthen them' .. That is a very clear statement in favor of the stipends.
But not for the PN!! Soon they will come out lying about this too !!
J Busuttil
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:44
" That is a very clear statement in favor of the stipends."
Is it clearer than those made by Evarest Bartolo in 1996 under Alfred Sant's Government.
It's up to the students to thrust this guy who is promising everything to everyone just to say Hi All I am the youngest leader ever.
C. Bartoli
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:50
This was the same promise that Evarist Bartolo broke back in 1996 less than a month after the elecion. Do you believe him this time?
Ethelbert Schembri
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:06
And there you have it, the PN apologists crawling out and turning to the past.
Yes I do believe in Joseph and that he will keep up to all he promises.
C. Bartoli
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:12
@Ethelbert Schembri. MLP is still in the past. The same shadow minister of education that before the 1996 election promised that he will not touch the stipends turned them into loans might be the new minister of education. This is the present not the past.
L Fenech
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:14
Kif tista' issahhah listipendji meta flistess gimgha ghadu kif jghid illi ha jifriza il minimum wage? jew haga jew ohra !
Jew din ohra minn dawk: "insahhu l-ekonomija umbghad nghollu il minimum wage" ?
"insahhu l-ekonomija u nghollu listipendji" .. imma mhux fdaw il hames snin li gejjin..
halluna!
William Attard McCarthy
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:15
"...it will work to stregthen them". Well and good...but how? Through economic growth and wealth creation, OK. But, again, haven't we seen these two things happenning constantly right in front of our eyes for the last 25 years? Is this news to us? (...considering the word "news" is a derivation of the word "new", then I'm afraid...not).
Mr. Schembri, looking at the blog right on top of your one, by Mr. Calafato, will give you an answer.... I am sure none of us are that forgetful... the same promise was made right before the '96 election, and yes...was broken less than a month after.
The Nationalist Party may of course not be perfect, and obviously has its own shortcomings... but when it comes to performance, results, and the bettering of the country in general...we all know who is on top in the rankings!
Ethelbert Schembri
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:37
Shortcomings ?? The performance of GonziPn is shameful!! All his promisses that weren't kept are the certificate of his incompetence. All the lies to the workers that ended up without their job after they were promised by a signed letter from Gonzi himself, yet still he made nothing to save those companies. what about the decrease in tax ?? he knew at that time about the economic situation yet he still promised that and never did it, hoo yes he will try to do it in the next budget !!! How pathetic !!!
The PL was the one that introduced and secured the stipends in the past and with Joseph it will do the same, for the good of all students. And your scar mongering will not prevent this from happening.
George Debono
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:03
Sorry dear Ethelbert.....Knowing Joseph as I do, when in power, he will put his feet on the desk, and say...."I've arrived, now do as you please. Ive reached my goal"......whilst his underlings slash and burn all that was good in the name of "il-Moviment"
Ethelbert Schembri
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:31
Yes I'm sorry for you George Debono, because knowing Joseph as I do, when in power he will work even harder for the good of us all. Now you may be confusing him with Gonzi, he was the one that took almost a year vacation after he won the last election .. But after he gave himself and his buddies a pay raise of €500 a week!!
George Debono
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:51
He is working very hard at getting elected PM. That's all you people care about. The rest can go to hell. That's the MLP's policy. But then, "l-ikbar trux min ma jridx jisma" habib.
As for tirelessly working for Malta, Muscat can't hold a candle to Gonzi now, can he? As if Parliament is the place where "work" is done.
I tell you this. Joseph will destroy Malta. The signs are EVIDENT. All the business community, of which I am a member, know this. As do the University Students
Kleaven Maniscalco
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:27
Still no real vision for student and university financing. Minn got-tagen ghal gon-nar.
Mr Edward Caruana Galizia
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:26
How ironic: Muscat taken round a part of the university his party had nothing to do with, shown all the great work that was put in to improving the university thanks to a Nationalist government with funds from the EU which he wanted us out of. I wonder how it made him feel. Proud to be the Labour leader and having worked so hard to stop any of that progress from happening?
victor bonello
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:46
Dr. Muscat has every right like every Maltese to be taken round the University.The University belongs to the Maltese people not to the PN or PL.
Infact all of Malta does! This is something some people need to remember and learn fast.
So are we to understand the GonziPN should not thread University grounds once it was Mintoff who opened the University in 1955 before the new one inaugurated in 1968?
Mr Edward Caruana Galizia
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:56
No that is not what I was saying. I never said he was not allowed to go round the university, which was established a long time ago before any one by the surname Mintoff was around.
My point was that, this university, which in Mintoff's times was only available to those who voted Labour under their discriminatory points system, has become what it is today no thanks to the PL. They were shown round an area at the university that had thousands of pounds invested in it, money that came from the EU.
I was merely remarking how ironic it was that Muscat was taken round that part of the university when his party did everything in their power to put a stop to the progress that he, and the rest of us, see around us.
Please don't put words in my mouth.
Gianninu Saliba
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:24
Another promise which he will not keep.
victor bonello
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:48
you are still impressed by the promises and performance on income tax and that the cost of living would go down once we join the EU made by the PN.
PL is not promising the world, but the necessities. And I shall have a shot and give them a try.
Mr Edward Caruana Galizia
Oct 2nd 2012, 17:09
Mr Bonello: read the article again and count the amount of zeros there are in that number showing the amount of money invested into the university and all of it from the EU.
What is it with people yapping on and on about utility bills. Yes they are high, but oil is expensive at the moment and there is a massive financial crisis in Europe at the moment. There is very little anyone can do to change this, unless Dr Muscat plans on charging one group of people for the bills of the others.
George Debono
Oct 2nd 2012, 18:09
I have found that it is useless arguing with the likes of Victor, Eddie and Ethelbert. Most probably they would prefer it if Government has to invest in some Fabbrika tat-tessuti so that our girls and boys can go and get a "jopp fil-factrij".
You see, these people are easier to control and impress than University Students. Its easier to instill class envy in them. Lenin did just the same thing...and won
B Azzopardi
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:22
promise everything my friend as long as you get in power!
Marco Galea
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:17
weghda ohra ...
Joseph Zammit
Oct 2nd 2012, 16:14
Iva hekk kien wieghed ta' qablu, imbaghad inbidlu f'loans!!!
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