Updated - The Sun highlights Peter Andre's Valletta controversy - minority leader says decision was taken only by the mayor
Mayor reacts to criticism
Updated - Adds mayor's reaction to criticism by minority leader
Britain's top selling Sun newspaper reports today how how the appointment of singer Peter Andre as Valletta cultural capital has made the Maltese cross.
Peter Andre at the Malta Music Awards. Photo: Gino Galea"Maltese cross at ‘culture ace’ Pete" it says, adding that Andre has no link to island.
The perma-tan pop statesman, 39, was unanimously voted by city councillors to promote the rich history and art of the world heritage site, it reports, but more than 1,000 furious locals have signed a petition to get the Mysterious Girl singer — who has no links to the Mediterranean island — sacked.
Their plea blasts: “Peter Andre should be the last person to carry such a prestigious and important title.
“Valletta shall only be handled with honour.”
Still reeling from the honorary citizenship given to Latin pop star Enrique Iglesias, in 2008, residents branded this celebrity title “100 times worse.”
Despite winning “Best International Male” at the Malta Music Awards last week, Andre made no mention of his appointment by mayor Alexiei Dingli earlier on the same day.
Mr Dingli said he wanted “a celebrity fond of Valletta” to help promote the 16th-century city abroad.
He added: “Valletta will feature prominently in his ITV show which has an average viewership of 1.7 million.
Apart from this, I can reveal Peter promised to come again this summer where we will be discussing potential future collaborations.”
DECISION WAS THE MAYOR'S - MINORITY LEADER
Meanwhile Ray Azzopardi, minority leader in Valletta local council wrote in a comment to timesofmalta.com that no vote was taken in the council for Peter Andre's appointment.
"The decision was taken by the mayor the week before, and he informed us about the decision, which he took on his own. There was never any discussion about it.
MAYOR'S REACTION
In a reaction to Mr Azzopardi's comments, Mr Dingli said that contrary to what Mr Azzopardi was stating, a unanimous decision was taken by the council during a meeting where he was present and the unanimous decision was minuted.
"Mr Azzopardi was so in favour of this decision that he proudly showcased his meeting with Peter Andre on his facebook page and in the side comments, he also wrote that he believes that this was good idea," Mr Dingli said.
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charles pool
Feb 12th, 13:14
I am flabber gasted to hear of a pop singer having any thing to do with valletta culture his own island of Cyprus do not rate him for any thing so why the heck should we ,if you ask me there is more to be said about the Mayor of Valletta probablly it would be better if he could be Mayor of Filfla than any were else.
Anne McGreevy
Feb 12th, 07:46
Yeh, resign and offer me the position. Bet I can make a better impression.
Pauline Peterson
Feb 12th, 03:34
Maybe this is just a cheap publicity stunt, and we are all dreaming.
Ray Azzopardi
Feb 11th, 23:05
Sur dingli . l-idea tajjba imma nahseb li stajt taghmilha iktar bil ghaqal.......
taf xqed nghidlek....... per ez. kont nahtar sotto kumitat biex issir disskusjoni mal-kunsilliera u mhux tigi fuq il mejda tal kunsill u tghid li htart lil peter andre bhala ambaxxatur ... dwar il-minuti kif taf ,mhux dejjem jinkiteb dak li jintaq u kollox ......nhaseb taf xqed nghidlek ?
Ray Azzopardi
Tony Berkeley
Feb 11th, 22:58
I think the mayor should resign ! and if it was a council voted decision, they should hang their head in shame.
The country and Valletta in particular are worthy of more than the likes of Peter Andre!!.. Has anybody
researched this "actor/singer" and two-bit showman ? On the 900th Anniversary of the Knights of Malta surely the mayor could have chosen more appropriate person !!?
Ray Azzopardi
Feb 11th, 22:40
gheziez , nerga nishaq li is-sindku qall (u ser nikwota) " ser nahtar lil peter andre bhala ambaxatur kulturali tal-belt valletta "
tant hu hekk li meta darba fost l-ohrajn tlajt il-kunsill u kellimt impjegat tal-kunsill kien tiga iltaqa mieghu u kien ser jerga jitaqa mas sindku dak in nhar stess. jigifieri id DEAL kien tiga sar .... iltqajna ftit jiem wara u is-sindku sostna dak li ghidt.
A Caruana
Feb 11th, 22:23
Enlighten me - who on earth is Peter Andre?? Helen Mirren would have been a better choice if they wanted a British National for this role.
Gerry Cowie
Feb 11th, 20:48
This is nothing! In the UK Peter Andre is on a loop on some channels for those who have the interest in watching a reality documentary about his life.
Kevin Whitehead
Feb 11th, 18:49
Tony Drago should be made Ambassador to Valletta and not Andre.
George Calleja
Feb 11th, 16:21
Up to this day, we Maltese were nicknamed Maltese Gengem. Nowadays we are being branded as a bunch of liers!! Who's saying the truth, the Valletta mayor or Ray Azzopardi?? Please decide!!!
J. Borg
Feb 11th, 15:51
PETER ANDRE??????!!! YUKK!!! DJ David Guetta has more links to Malta than this person!.....But seriously can't we come up with something of our own..... what about Joseph Calleja?
Francis Grech
Feb 12th, 00:17
Who has ever decided to pick Peter Andre as a Valletta ambassador should have his decision questioned what a Greek Australian with an Page three pin up half naked beauty by the name of Jordan for an X wife what good can come out of that , Ambassador my foot .
Pauline Peterson
Feb 12th, 03:27
Joseph Calleja is a very good choice. Never heard of Peter Andre before today. Have most people?
Anthony Connolly
Feb 11th, 14:17
I come to Malta once or twice every year and on nearly every visit I meet people who fit the bill. At the nine ball, in Qawra, I talk to one Maltese gentleman who talks of his country with passion and pride. What the heck are people thinking using a not very well known Celebrity(?) Malta has much more heritage Than most people Know. Let someone who knows and loves his country have the job
Richard Hubbard
Feb 11th, 15:40
Anthony I have to disagree with your statement that Peter Andre is not well known, lots of people watch his ITV2 show and through that Valletta should get lots of promotion, Promotion is what is needed so that the world knows that Valletta will be the European city of Culture. Sadly Malta does not promote itself very much and for this great occassion it needs to so as the visitors come flocking in
Mano' Xerri
Feb 11th, 14:16
By the look at his picture above appointing him as Malta's ambassador is an insult to the majority of the Maltese both here & abroad, judging by his rolling eyes he should be in a bloody nut house and i am unanimous in that taken the text from the BBC programe are you being served!
Sabrina Borda
Feb 11th, 14:15
The Valletta mayor must realize; Valletta is not Paceville.
Vivienne Portelli
Feb 11th, 13:41
Unbelievable!!! This country seems to be going from bad to worse - no one is accountable for anything and everyone does what he likes, no repercussions!! And this Capital is part of the World Heritage Organization - and some unimportant committee has the right to vote in a person like Peter Andre:(nothing personal against him) but I don't think he carries a Cultural image that Valletta deserves!
jean goodhind
Feb 11th, 13:38
I didn't even know he billed himself as a singer. I thought he was just a ship in the night for that total cultural negative, Jordan. Why not have me? At least I've had thirty five novels published and have more than one link to Malta - i.e.family and berthing yacht there.
Claudio Camilleri
Feb 11th, 13:16
I refuse to accept decisions made in relation to our capital city, when they are senseless. Let's make sure we CHANGE this decision. http://www.facebook.com/groups/respectvalletta/
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Feb 11th, 12:48
Dingli needs to explain wy he said that the dcision was a unanimous dcision of the Council when now it is claimed that it was not. Is Dingli not a PN councillor? Maybe that explains it.
Mark Borg
Feb 11th, 12:14
There must be a solution to this farce. How about naming Katie Price (Jordan) as Empress of Gozo?
J. Borg
Feb 11th, 15:53
....that place is already occupied....
V. Cauchi
Feb 11th, 11:52
This seems to be a problem with all committees where most times it is only the chairperson who decides. It comes from lack of interest and lack of members' fighting spirit who often cannot stand up to the leading person's arrogance which generally shows during these meetings.
Carlo Vella
Feb 11th, 11:43
It is so ironic. I am Maltese, I am a writer, appeared on TV, have 3 books, live in Barcelona, movie rights for my book, known in Australia and other countries, and they pick Peter Andre who is an unknown in Spain and a number of other countries. An embarrassment.
Shawn Grixti
Feb 11th, 11:23
Peter looks as surprised as we are in this pic!! ;)
Joseph Borg
Feb 11th, 11:15
If no vote has been taken, thus showing that the The Valletta Mayor was not truthful when saying they voted, then he should RESIGN .! This besides for the fact of taking STUPID decisions like this. He is not worthy to be called Mayor of Valletta!!!
John Wayne
Feb 11th, 11:08
This mayor has no cultural taste at all.
Mr Roderick Cutajar
Feb 11th, 11:08
Just goes to show how some mayors in Malta are what is called 'defsa' in Maltese
Mano' Xerri
Feb 11th, 11:07
I say i like to apply for the post as an ambassador to Valletta, i too am a celeb, actually i celebrate every day the fact that i am still alive so that makes me a celebrity, plus all the perks that goes with the title no doubt. Come now Malta please DO NOT LET OUR COUNTRY DOWN, the news is all over the British and the Australian media, we are just a laughing stock as usual.
Anne McGreevy
Feb 11th, 11:05
Kieron, I would think so - he most certainly will not be paying to ride on Arriva's discriminitory bus lines...
Anne McGreevy
Feb 11th, 11:02
Likewise I, who am an expat living in Melbourne Australia and visit Malta on a regular basis, - with a Maltese passport,...well, why not me?? Imagine what a cultural treasure I would make -instead you pick this quasi - hasbeen with no ties to the island. Wow, it really must be dark in the depths of your brain.
kenneth anderson
Feb 11th, 10:36
my wife and i are visiting malta for the 12th time shortly....why not appoint us....we love malta and the people..........say hello to my dear freind victor saliba and his family........in tarxien.....anyone who know's them......thankyou.....
ken anderson....
Joe Fenech
Feb 11th, 10:05
Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic!!!
The mayor needs to resign. He's made an ass of Malta after Austin did with the bendy buses!
Frank Gauci
Feb 11th, 10:04
"The decision was taken by the mayor the week before, and he informed us about the decision, which he took on his own. There was never any discussion about it."
Jekk kien hemm kunsilliera li ma qablux fuq din id-decizjoni setghu jitolbu ghal vot !!! Jek ma talbux, sinjal li qablu mad-decizjoni.
Biss hija tal-misthija li naghmel bniedem bhal dak ambaxxatur tal-Belt.
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Feb 11th, 12:51
X'imkien qrajt illi l-Kunsilliera kemm gew infurmati biss minn Dr Dingli 0 me kien hemm ebda diskussjoni.
Lawrence Fenech
Feb 11th, 10:03
Valletta council din il-hatra ghamiltuha min jaghnkhom. Qed iddahqu il-barranin bina issa erjana lil-inglizi ma kienx bizzejjed Austin Gatt bl'Arriva. Ghaliex dejjem il-barranin l'ewwel.
Pieter vandorp
Feb 11th, 09:53
Excuse me guys but as a matter of interest who is this P.Andre? i've never heard of him until now. i think really as retired visitor to Malta, and really love the country and its people, Valletta deserves a bit more from a person of a higher caliber and not a public entertainer a singer or an actor as two to a penny as they say, but then again i am not your major, maybe its a good friend of him
Kieron O'connor
Feb 11th, 09:47
Will the "Cultural Ambassador" be entitled to reimbursment for any expenses (travel, flights, hotels etc) incurred in his role as "Cultural Ambassador" ?
Giovanni Carmelo aka John Carmel Navarro
Feb 11th, 09:46
So now our Historic City of Culture makes the Sun how appropriate the Mayor of Valletta has managed to bring my beloved City to Peter Andre's level. Another juicy story for UK's best selling comic! Only one thing Mr Dingli ought to do now is resign.
Peter Murray
Feb 11th, 09:32
the Mayor is behaving just like the EU hierachy-autocratic and undemocratic.Peter Andre has Greek origins -let Athens have him as their ambassador-ambassador against austerity!
eddy towers
Feb 11th, 13:25
hooray, somebody thinks the same as me in malta, wow. ive said for months now that the EU are hierachy-autocratic and undemocratic, well done peter, the EU are there for themselves and to rake in as much money as they can from maltese citizens and in return offer malta no democracy. look at the bus fare situation, DO AS WE SAY OR WE TAKE YOU TO COURT,wheres the democracy there, well done peter.
john grima
Feb 11th, 09:32
well well, hope that Jordan will join him as well! She would be a great ambassador too :)
Seriously - ONLY IN MALTA hahahaha :)
George Caruana
Feb 11th, 09:32
I know Joseph Calleja recently won an award but wouldnt it have been better to have given the title to someone Local. Joseph would have been a great choice as he is Maltese and known globaly. Even Brad Pitt would have been better at least he has been here more then once and that was only to film.
Is it any wonder we are becoming a joke to other countries.
John Camilleri
Feb 11th, 09:29
Jinhtieq li l-Maltin iqumu kontra hnizrijiet bhal dawn. Hawn tant nies kbar li twieldu fil-belt Valletta u li jaghmlu unur lill-pajjizhom, lill-Andre marru jaghzlu. Ja laghaqa li huma.
Pauline Busuttil
Feb 11th, 09:28
Xi dritt kellu s-sindku biex jahtar lill Peter Andre bhala Ambassatur Kulturali tal-Belt Valletta? Ser nibqaw sejrin b'dawn il-frejjeg gol Belt Kapital Taghna. Minn laqgha wahda sa tnejn fis-sena issiru ghalina residenti. Joseph Calleja jixraqlu li jsir l'Ambaxxatur tal-Kultura ghall Belt,ghax kull darba li jiftah halqu dejjem issemmi u jfahhar lill pajjizu.
Claire Busuttil
Feb 11th, 09:11
Kunsill Lokali ta belt kapitali bhal Valletta, ghandu ikun aktar serju, min hekk!!
Joseph Bonnici
Feb 11th, 09:07
Bring on Jordan
John Cundy
Feb 11th, 09:03
The Sun newspaper is a paper without credibility. It is read by people who do not have need of any quality news and is sensationalist in its reporting. It is not worth the paper it is printed on and only has one use and that is in emergencies only when there is a lack of toilet tissue. Just my opinion of course. Take no notice of it and treat it with the contempt it deserves.
V. Cauchi
Feb 11th, 09:01
It is said the decision was taken by the Mayor and no vote was taken on it. Which shows what goes on in most committees where the chair has full and final say and very often pushes down decisions without debate. Which makes us very much doubt on the usefulness and composition of most committees especially where a local culture of challenge and resignations does not exist.
Charlene Bonnici
Feb 11th, 08:57
get over it!!!!!!!!!!!! we'll look more ridicule if we take it back!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mr Mark Borh
Feb 11th, 09:17
Yes, this is yet again making us the laughing stock of Europe. Thank you to all those who are making such a fuss about it!
Mr Joseph Carmel Chetcuti
Feb 11th, 08:55
Why should Mayor Dingli, a PN politician, lower himself to discuss such an appointment with ordinary councillors? No doubt, he will get Peter ANdre to open another centre of Maltese culture, possibly another public convenience.
Mr mike Knight
Feb 11th, 09:10
Or Peter Andre might even gather round a few pot holes and uneven pavements and say a few prayers, that could also be an advantage towards this public entertainer's title.
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Feb 11th, 12:53
No Peter Andre will be guest of honour at the opening of the so-called 'performing space'.It will be worth the millions we spent on it to have the likes of Andre performing there.
Noel Mifsud
Feb 11th, 08:48
Dan il mayor iccekja xi kredenzzjali ghandu dal kantant fuq kultura. Ma nistax nimmagina li hu xi bniedem kulturtali, veru ikanta, imma kieku ghamiln lil Chiara jew Ira jew Mary Spiteri, Maltin li kisbu success. Hemm hafna izjed tipo artisti, pitturi, muzikanti li setghu gew inominati. Nahseb decisjoni ghaggalija.
roger gauci
Feb 11th, 09:34
Emm sorry nahseb ma fimnix il punt ta. Dan qal li dan ghamel lill dal kantant ghaliex dan se jamel riklam tal belt valletta fuq il programm tijaw barra min malta. Igifiri bix ihajjar igib izjed turisti lej Malta. Xjiswa tirriklama il belt valletta mal maltin stess ?? lollll
Damian Allison
Feb 11th, 08:42
“Valletta shall only be handled with honour.” ?? Should have thought about that before letting this beloved government destroy Valletta with that horrific abomination in its entrance. Let him stay as an ambassador. He fits the bill perfectly as both the city and him have no character now.
Lucienne Dimech
Feb 11th, 08:40
What a choice. The worst possible is this whom the mayor thinks s fit to represent Valetta? Poor mayor . How void of culture he must be!
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