In his piece on politics (December 30) Lino Debono, the former Labour MP from Gozo, lambasted the American nation on grounds of hate rhetoric on TV, dished out during the presidential debates.
He no longer believes in the US being “the shining light of freedom and democracy in the free world” and sees “similarity with the local political situation”. True!
Does he recall the tear gas ordeal Nationalists were subjected to at Tal-Barrani and the ransacking of PN clubs? I remember George Bonello Dupuis on the Granaries in Floriana saying “You burnt the ashes!” in reference to the Floriana PN club which was torched some 23 times by PL thugs. Of course, one cannot burn the ashes but the moral of the serious joke was clear.
Debono goes on to fault editors “who are supposed to censor the comments on their digital newspapers”. What? Telling the editor of the Times of Malta and all other editors to go into censor mode and not report faithfully and fully? Readers are not morons.
Indeed Debono says: “I believe that people are intelligent and have the ability to decide for themselves.” Well said. Censoring should not be on the agenda. Editors and readers are intelli-gent enough.
He also states: “If it weren’t for several of our politicians our islands would have remained backwards as we were under colonial masters.” Reminder: The Labour Party in opposition in 1964 voted against Independence. From 1971 to 1979 during the Labour tenure Malta still relied on British payoffs.
Under our “colonial masters” there was law and order. No ransacking of PN clubs. Lawlessness prevailed when Dom Mintoff took over. As for remaining backwards, civil servants in receipt of a service pension are still subjected to a reduction in their National Insurance (NI) pension equivalent to their service pension so it is as though they don’t have a service pension.
I for one am against this ‘legal’ robbing through which I am suffering a reduction in pension of €7,000 per annum. So, after our “colonial masters” left our shores I (and my father before me) together with hundreds of others, suffered and still suffer the blow imparted to us by master Dom and his cronies of yesteryear and today.
Under our ‘colonial masters’ there was law and order. Lawlessness prevailed when Dom Mintoff took over
So who made sure that we regressed financially? As for the other culprit, the General Workers’ Union, now remarried to the Labour Party after some years in divorce, when our “colonial masters” left, the former British-employed workers were told “now you are no longer members [of the GWU]”.
This, on top of another betrayal that was to follow regarding forfeiture of their NI pension by local master Dom, on the grounds that these workers had a pension awarded to them by their “colonial masters”. Hate narration? No. Facts. Plain uncensored facts.
By the way, Debono as a former MP has a service pension. He deserves it. But don’t we all? Why is my pension subjected to a reduction (by local masters) while the pensions of MPs remain intact?
Why was the judiciary granted a service pension, jumping the queue in the process, of those who have their pension greatly reduced? I am informed that their pension is now similar to that of MPs with no reduction whatsoever. Referring to another authority, presumably the Church – a non-governmental entity that does not collect taxes – Debono wrote: “Still the hunger and civil rights were sidelined for the better good of whom?”
What about the homes set up by the Church for the good of many people who find themselves in difficulty? Many activities of the Church have passed into the hands of successive governments but the Church still pulls its weight. Nobody denies this.
During the 23 years that the PN was in government, the system regarding pension reduction did not change except cosmetically. Some (far from all) pensioners have received around €200 annually from 2008 to 2017 making a total €2,066 increase in their pension above 2007 levels.
I have not received a single cent over the last 10 years so I can safely say that the PN’s years in this regard were in vain. This is indeed how politics shouldn’t be. I can safely add that the PN agenda with regard to pension reduction was far from satisfactory.
Labour in government has adopted the same bad policy inherited from the PN. Pensioners in this category awaiting correction, will next time round vote for the highest bidder among the two major parties. This is a golden opportunity for Simon Busuttil to offer his bid.
Joseph Grech is a teacher by profession.