Sunday, 8th February 2009
SPARKLING BRIGHTLY
I’m not in the best of moods, those overpaid self-indulgers who play what passes for football down the Fulham Broadway having failed to get a goal past what is statistically the worst defence in the Premiership.
Still, I suppose it’s better than supporting Liverpool and seeing it so near but knowing it’s so far, far away. Or Arsenal, who seem to still have this collective delusion that they are relevant.
So, there you have it. According to Joe Muscat, the upcoming elections are going to be a point of departure for the Labour Party. Let’s analyse this erudite pronouncement. It is being made what – four months? – before the MEP Election round, a round which the MLP (as was) won quite handily last time. The Labour Party went into the General Elections last year buoyed up by this fact, and by the fact that in most local elections they did OK too,
In fact, in every election except the one that really counts, the Labour Party doesn’t do badly. It didn’t do badly in the last General Elections either, for that matter. It just didn’t do well enough.
So what does Muscat’s pronouncement actually signify, then? That the Labour Party is poised to soar into the electoral stratosphere, carried along on a wave of voter support that will be of such Tsunamic proportions that it will sweep Gonzi’s government away as if it never existed? Somehow, I doubt this is going to be the case. It’s not exactly likely that Gonzi and his mates will feel so downcast by the fact that the PN will get as creamed as it is likely to get that they will be constrained to throw in the towel.
On the contrary, the (relative) thumping they will (might) get in June will serve as a wake-up call and they’ll just re-double their efforts to make sure they get in in four years’ time. Just like they did last time.
Not.
It is a trademark of Nationalist Governments that they tend to ignore the writing on the wall (more about this later, incidentally) and drive its supporters to despair because they carry on acting as if they have a divine right to govern. Given the way the Labour Party has behaved in opposition over the years, you have to forgive them for thinking this way but they really can’t rely on the Labour Party “doing a Sant” every time.
Is Muscat’s up-beat crowing, then, a signal that the Labour Party is going into election mode, poised on the threshold of the blast-pad?
Gawd ‘elp us if this is the case, then. We’re already getting a taste of the negativity and more of the same that has started to characterise Muscat’s general way of going about things, despite sporadic flashes of change, like distant lightning on a summer night (i.e. signs which never come to anything) If we’ve got another four years of this to come, it’s going to be a pretty tedious legislature.
I don’t imagine he meant that it was going to be a point of departure from its (Labour’s) previous incarnations, either. We’re still being subjected to interminable arguments about parliamentary procedure, refusals to let the business of government gain momentum through pairing and barely-suppressed glee every time something goes wrong. They tell us they’re not going to make political capital about the economic situation and then promptly do so – I don’t blame them, that’s the political game, but don’t try to kid us you’re not playing it.
This wasn’t the only spark of brightness to cheer up my grey day, though.
Gavin Gulia, a personable enough young Labour MP, berated the Government for not reading the writing on the wall about the way the world was going to hell in a hand basket.
Leaving aside the fact that the dear chap didn’t offer anything positive other than the usual platitudes about expecting the Government to discuss things with everyone and his brother and help everyone and her sister, I have to point out, fondly and with all due respect, that there is no writing on the wall.
This is because the phrase, when used correctly, implies that there are signs (as in, slogans on a wall) which foretell all manner of nastiness to come. In this instance, there are no such signs to read, no tea-leaves or stars in conjunction: the disaster is here, all present and incorrect, and we don’t need to read the runes to know about it.
Pedantic of me, I know, but I’m having one of those days. At least, up to now, Liverpool haven’t scored.
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Comments
@ IM Dingli
It’s not that you need anybody’s definition for the term PR as J Martinelli and F Saliba made it up to be, it was all about the phrase ‘PR Department’ which you understood to mean ‘a particular department ‘within the PN Pieta set-up. I sympathise with you and I’m sure that both gentlemen realised your mistake but instead of correcting you in a civil manner they chose to take the Mickey out of you.
The use of the word ‘Department’ is restricted by many people to refer to ‘a section of an administrative body’ like ‘Accounts Dept.’ etc. However, colloquially and amongst Anglophones, ‘department’ with a small ‘d’ is used loosely to denote ‘area’, ‘ambience’ etc. As a crude example, the male’s private part is jokingly referred to as ‘the male department’ or the ‘manhood department.’
J Martinelli was on about ‘Government Propaganda’, which according to him is lacking within the PN Government but we all know that they are very good in that department.
I have read your comment about PR from beginning to end and in the context in which you used it - several times. It is not a book and it has no cover. The more I read it the more I am convinced that you did not know the meaning of PR and that I did not jump to any wrong conclusions.
About the daddy part of my comment ..... well you treat everyone as 5 year old kids when you explain things and leave no space for a person to elaborate a thought.
Thanks, you said it all. I am emotional sometimes when I read comments posed by persons of the ilk of J Martinelli and since I'm human, I might potray the wrong message or use the wrong words.
You think you know everything from a place so far away from Malta only because you read the news on a website. You think you know the hard ships which we are facing just by clicking your mouse and scrolling some text. Well, I’m sorry to burst your bubble but that ain't reality.
Do you ever see someone commenting on the current affairs in Canada? No. Why? Because we are not selfish enough like you do to comment on something we don't touch.
We live here in Malta for the whole 52 weeks and not just a few days visit in the summer period. You come to Malta during a period in time when things are almost always positive but the rest of the days you sit comfortably in your house in Canada. I'm sure you have your problems there but I never care to comment about them because that would be selfish.
Don't you think?
There you go again - trying to mislead and make allegations!
I am not your daddy and I am willing to go through a paternal DNA test at your expense to prove that I am not and don't even wish I were. If you are calling me 'daddy' because I am older than you, then thanks for the compliment and for recognizing that I am more experienced than you are and remember the past farther than you can.
Quoting me as always saying that PN = Good and LP = bad is also grossly misleading and furthest from the truth. You are doing exactly what the LP has taught you over the years. Hurl mud, maybe some will stick. Keep hurling mud, you are only dirtying your hands.
In the political scenario, reputation is the biggest asset – the thing that makes a party stand out from a weaker party. Effective PR can help manage reputation by communicating and building good relationships with the voters and the media. It’s all about the result of what we do, what we say and what others say about us.
. Maintaining good standards of behaviour, respecting other people’s principles and avoiding inconveniences to others is the essence of public relations.
Propaganda, Publicity, Advertising and Political Marketing are wrongly classified as PR, simply to dignify them, but their scopes are different.
Dear Dr. even though I don’t have those two letters preceding my name (which you so rightly like to quote in all your comments)…… I invite you to read the comments in the context which they are presented in before you jump to conclusions. Never judge a book by its cover or you ever hared this phrase?
Please note that I always state that both PN and LP have their good and bad things. This is what you fail to understand. Let me point it out to you once again…. In your perspective LP = everything bad and evil (period)…. PN = ONLY good (what ever happens or goes around ONLY good) nothing else I say it again ONLY good!!
You get my drift?
By the way, in relation to the PR matter…. When you pointed at the lack of PR within PN you were referring to the lack of the PN party to promote itself to us local commoners when MEP elections or local council elections are held. In fact you also stated that LP is actually good at it when compared to PN but rightly so you also kept on stating that it is the PN that wins the General Election. That is why I told you that what you are saying has nothing to do with the daily running of the country, do you understand me now daddy!!
£66,000,000 Sterling last year up to the summer and there is more to go with the latest departure
Apart from your good self are there many who would rashly claim that "PR is something internal within the party and has nothing to do with running the daily government duties"?
By "PR" do you mean "public relations" and in that case how does "public" come to mean "not public at all but something internal within a party"?
My posting would be censored if I had to tell you what I think of someone who does not understand what PR means. Just in case, however, PR means Public Relations whether exercised by the government or the Party. Any 5 year old understands that.
The government who very often becomes the target of the Opposition which claims that there is lack of transparency or 'consultation'. The Opposition points fingers at a government who invented consultation be it with MCESD, individual Unions, NGOs etc. Which Labour government consulted before adopting asinine policies like changing VAT to CET? You don't want me to mention the 70s and 80s because you are too ashamed because your party AND government were indistinguishable and abetted each other in orchestrating the most awful violent period in our history. We will not bring the subject up if you just give it a rest and not attribute to the NP and NP government that which you are experts at, - incompetence and lack of vision.
I never claim that all is perfect but look around you, remember the past and compare with the present.
And the best is yet to come. Be patient.
I’m sorry but you fail again to answer a direct question. PR is something internal within the party and has nothing to do with running the daily governmental duties. You can’t make a distinction between a government and a party so unfortunately you will always be blinded to true events as opposed to obsession. I keep on confirming the lack of wisdom within you.
Note also that the 70s and 80s is one of your preferred topics and something which YOU always mention in whichever subject is under discussion, be it the Government, Birdlife, Maghtab, you name it.
If you noted, in my previous post addressed to yourself, I quoted your comment (did you notice the inverted commas?) and asked what the 70s and 80s had to do with the present day. For your information the present year is 2009 and your answer confirms again your lack of comprehension of a simple question.
@ I M Dingli
" What has PR got to do with running Malta? What has 'that they did not adopt an eye for an eye policy in 1987' got to do with running Malta?"
Stronger PR is required to explain to 5 year olds how and why things are done.
What did the ugly events of the 70s and 80s got to do with running Malta then?
"I don't care what labour did 20/30 years ago" - We do, we forgive - we DO NOT forget.
"You live abroad and simply can't understand the hardships the maltese families are under going at the moment". - Oh, you are right - compared to when, 70s and 80s? Record employment - record foreign travel by Maltese, record home ownership etc.....
"I am fed up with the constant reminder of NET TV about what Alfred Sant did in his shortlived administration." - We are fed up with bellyaching, cry wolf, negative attitudes!
"I am a lifelong nationalist who comes from a staunch nationalist family..." - Then your memory of the Mintoff/Sant years must be fading.
It all boils down to choosing the better of the two major parties. I am convinced that the NP are miles ahead.
Thanks for your input, i do hope you follow these blogs and the kind of input given by J Martinelli. In his own world, PN = Good..... LP = Evil. For me that is the wrong approach since both PN & LP have there good and evil matters.
I was referring to mistakes in relation to running the country and not childish behaviour such as ‘inti ghamiltli hekk mela jien naghmilek l’istess’. Who do you think you are addressing here, 5 year old kids!!
Here we have our country at stake and not childish matters which you like to discuss in eternum …. Bla bla bla.. What has PR got to do with running Malta? What has ‘that they did not adopt an eye for an eye policy in 1987’ got to do with running Malta?
Please explain to me.
The people give a legal right to that group of MPs led by a Leader which number exceeds the other group, to govern for 5 years . In spite of the fact that your PN managed 1500 more votes than the PL and was given the mandate, if one government MP keeps voting against his party , the government will topple.If on the other hand he or she crosses to the other side of the house, our President will call Joseph Muscat to continue the five year term with a Labour government.So don't feel too smug about it . It happened before .
When the PN shall suffer a humiliating defeat in June it will not forfeit its Constitutional right to govern for the remaining years but the result constitutes a vote of no confidence to the PN and its attendant moral obbligation to call an early election . But don't fret Joe cause the government would not resign and will stay against the will of the majority.
One piece of advice stop all kind of justifications for the nationalist government, You live abroad and simply can't understand the hardships the maltese families are under going at the moment. What's worst is that the government is trying to fool people regarding the exorbitant water and electricity tariffs. Inaction regarding illegal immigrants is another headache to which the PM simply has no solution for.
I don't care what labour did 20/30 years ago, Certainly the PN has done wonders, but at the present they are losing all the credit they have obtained. I am fed up with the constant reminder of NET TV about what Alfred Sant did in his shortlived administration.
I am a lifelong nationalist who comes from a staunch nationalist family that suffered for being so, not just under mintoff, that was peanuts compared to what my family went through the war years. When "all" supposed party "fellow" supporters felt ashamed of being nationalists. "It-tarparsi Nazzjonalisti" would have let us starve to death only to become nationalist again when it was convenient.
If the PN will continue in this manner, I will NOT VOTE again for them in my life, enough is enough.
Now you have selective reading too? Do you read only what is addressed to you?
Here is what I wrote, though not addressed to you, "No, Nationalists governments do make mistakes especially in the PR department. They also made serious mistakes that they did not adopt an eye for an eye policy in 1987..."
Find it, read it again and perhaps it will answer your question.
Mr A Tabone, however, summed it up beautifully and makes a good addition to what I wrote.
Now go work on some new angle....
To answer your question to Martinelli. Of course the P.N. make mistakes....only those people who do nothing don't ever make mistakes...but then there are mistakes and mistakes.
I posed a simple question but still you failed to give me an answer. You always say all kinds of things but never a direct answer to even such a simple question.
I'm not an Imperium Europa henchman. As I want freedom of movement among the illegals within the EU. It's the PN who are catering to Imperial Europa as they are helping to keep the illegals away from Europe's anglos. Keeping Africans against their will. It's the PN who set a wall(Malta) between African and mainland Europe that streches 300 miles. This is why they keep throwing money at the PN. Antoine that makes you proud of the PN?? I know the PN is proud to have someone like you to lie to. At the end there not proud of you, they laugh at you. believe me.
Wait till 2013!!! See what the group Save Malta From Illegal Immigrants will do to the PN. I'll tell you one thing. We will not waste our vote on Norman Lowell.
And who said that the June EU election is a vote of confidence in the Government?
The present PN Government have all the moral right to Govern for the next four years. The Maltese electorate gave the present Government that right. It shall have that right unless it looses a vote of non confidence in Parliament.
Do not compare oranges and apples.
Anyone versed in the elementary principles of political science would tell you that MEP elections can never be considered as a national "vote of confidence" in the government in office. A vote of confidence is always taken in parliament , by parliamentarians, either on some fundamental issue such as a money vote or if the Prime Minister declares that he would consider any other vote as a vote confidence. Your personal opinion, your wishful thinking, and the wishful thinking of everybody else, do not have any relevance to the morality or legality of what should constitute a "vote of confidence".
What does the EU election have to do with the present government ability to govern ? Absolutely nothing . The question is - what moral right would a party in government have after losing a national vote of confidence ? And my answer for that is absolutely nothing .
If we had a Labour government would you ask yourself the same question and also answer , absolutely nothing ?
Grant you they would still have constitutional right to govern however not everything that is legal is necessary moral . Do you remember the 1981 result ? That was acceptable by our constitution but as a PN supporter it was unacceptable to us . We must be consistent otherwise we discredit ourselves . You are consistent only by keeping your support to an inconsistent PN .
According to financial estimates, we only managed to get 47 million Euro from the 163 million Euro we had been entitled to in 2007 . We contributed 53 million Euro .
And although figures for last year had not yet been concluded , the government had said it would get 114 million Euro and until November it had only managed to get 25 million Euro .
The local media reported that Malta was given 50 million Euro by the end of the year but even if this was true , it was still only 44 per cent of the sum the country had been allocated . On the other hand , Malta contributed 56.6 million Euro .
This showed that Malta was not capable of doing its job with some people being more interested in coming over to help the Nationalist Party win the election rather than in working to help the country get funds .
Our problem is not EU , its PN .
" I ask . . . what can you do for my people..."
Who are you? Moses?
You keep going on about being a PN supporter. Do you think that your views make the party proud? Why don't you make an effort to accept and adopt the PN's principles, instead of sounding like an Imperium Europa henchman?
The PN of course is not infallible and its intelligent supporters do not claim it to be so. The PN has in the past committed the besetting sin of being overconfident and taking too much for granted and this overconfidence accounted for its last two general electoral losses. The forthcoming MEP elections cannot presage the outcome of the next general elections and in their heart of hearts all know it.
"Sometimes I think you are the product of some PN propaganda experiment gone wrong!"
Just imagine how I feel reading your comments and those of some others here. Sometimes I think that your comments are the product of some Labour propaganda gone wrong since 1987.
And if you point out that you won the 1996 election, may I remind you that it too wont awfully wrong for Labour and ended the most eventful 22 months in Malta's history: Lm300 million deficit, CET instead of VAT (smashed cash registers), high electricity bills (Oil @ $12.00), freezing of EU application (Svizzera fil-Mediterran dream) and the list goes on...
All Labour kannoli, by the way, filled with crema, were still not enough to pull a victory last March.
Admit it, Labour has not got one right in over twenty years. They just don't cut it.
@ Denis Catania
The Maltese may have what you describe as 'surcharges over surcharges' but they have a better health system than Americans, their students are PAID to attend university while the Americans go in thousands of dollars in debt, and have a better social safety net than the Americans do.
Go wave your flag.
Strong argument you have there with me tucked away in Canada and agreeing fully with Denis Catania who is tucked away in New York sweating it out in case Obama's rescue package goes awry.
No, Nationalists governments do make mistakes especially in the PR department. They also made serious mistakes that they did not adopt an eye for an eye policy in 1987 when they had an opportunity to bring certain people within the MLP fold to justice. Maybe they chose not to in order to avoid further strife amongst the Maltese. They had had enough of it for sixteen years.
You should not argue whether a Nationalist government is always right - that's an impossibility and I never said anywhere that an NP government is infallible but I do say with no regrets (I borrowed it from Dr.Sant) that an erring Nationalist government is miles and miles ahead of the best a Labour government has offered, is offering now, but dares not tell us what their vision for the future is, simply because they do not have one!
Now go back to the drawing board and think of something else to complain about!
Your point follows the same reasoning of many Nationalists I know who in the wake of a 99% chance of defeat tend to minimize the importance of elections. Although I don't think that PBO, Gonzi or any other party in the world like to lose elections be they local councils, MEPs or otherwise, may I remind you that the EP elections are based on a nation-wide vote, i.e. whoever wins will be the largest party in Malta with the greatest number of supporters (not those who go to mass meetings but real supporters who go out and vote). Ok, the PN will still remain in government, but a defeat is still a defeat and it will show (if the PN lose) that the people in 2009 have no confidence in the PN. What happens in 4 years time is another story.
What does the MEP election, assuming that you know the difference between an MEP and an MP, got to do with the government's popularity?
Representation in the European Parliament has the sole purpose of safeguarding the interest of the whole country, not just for Lejburisti or Nazzjonalisti only! It does not matter much who represents Malta's interests unless, of course, the Labour MEPs vote like they did the last time around.
Your comments only reinforce my argument that the LP still revels in winning skirmishes but consistently fails to win a war. You and others like you buy the hype about MEP elections and Local Councils just to console yourselves that you have not tasted power for twenty-two years except 22 months when you proved that you could not handle the reins of power.
It will not be a big surprise in June to see PL winning three seats , AD one seat and just allow one seat for the PN's darling Simon Busuttil .
If that doesn't happen it would still give a landslide to PL with three seats and if it happens it would give a disastrous result and a voice-ferocious vote of no confidence to the PN . And when that happens you will insist that it has nothing to do with the PN's popularity but rather that the PL were able to turn out the vote better than the Nationalists and it will not alter the fact that the Nationalist government will continue for the next four years . Are these the acceptable standards in a Democracy? In a reverse situation,PL government losing the MEP elections, would you accept that as democratic ?
I had never voted Labour cause I don't trust Alfred Sant, come June all my family and a good number of people I know will be first time Labour voters as we don't trust the PN anymore . Are you telling us that Gonzi shall treat our votes like Alfred Sant treated Nanna Olga's?
Sorry to hear about your post chelsea blues (sic).
Only one thing to do - change allegiance to those that play what really passes for football up Old Trafford Way.
"Sants days are over..."
I hope Dr. Sant reads your comment and takes your advice since he keeps acting and ranting as if he is still boss.
Re: June MEP elections - the outcome will not alter the fact that the Nationalist government will continue for the next four years. There is nothing to prepare for.
If Labour wins a majority, it has nothing to do with its popularity but rather that they were able to turn out the vote better than the Nationalists. It only proves that the LP is more concerned with the lesser things in life.
that you are trying to find all the excuses to prepare us for a heavy PN defeat .
can't you realise that this government is in government by mistake , not cause of his merits but cause of others defaults .
the thing is that the main problem for having an alternative government is over , and believe or not Joseph can be seen as a heavywiehgt of an alternative . Sants days are over so that was the day for those who were like me and can call back themselves as Labourites .
Very simple ABC, it signifies a prediction of yet another false start.
How can it be otherwise? Just allowing an anti-EU person to contest the MEP elections, is proof enough that nothing much has changed within the LP ranks, new name or not. And how about the Labour MEPs voting to accept Guantanamo Bay detainees when the centre is closed? Are these not the same people who complain that we are getting too many illegal immigrants?
The LP will probably do well next June just like traditionally they do well in Local Council elections, but winning battles does not guarantee winning a war.
Joseph still has so much to learn and four years will hardly be enough. His leadership qualities shows strength with the weak (within the LP) and weak with the strong (former retired MPs, leader, General Secretary, etc.
Simply not good enough to lead a party, let alone a country.