European Parliament member Simon Busuttil has been nominated by Lawrence Gonzi as his envoy, with the task of organising meetings with civil society. This is one of two initiatives announced by Dr Gonzi, supposedly to try and get GonziPN “closer to the people”, at most, just 12 months before the general election.

It seems that whenever a general election beckons, Dr Gonzi goes to confession and admits his sins of omission and commission, and promises his confessor that he will be righting all his wrongs.

If Dr Busuttil, who as a result of this nomination by Dr Gonzi is already being considered by many as Dr Gonzi’s “annointed” successor as PN leader, succeeds in hoodwinking certain members of civil society, as he had done as head of the Malta-EU Information Centre in the run-up to the EU membership referendum, then Dr Gonzi may recover a number of “ lost sheep”. But the big question is this: will those who attend such meetings organised by Dr Busuttil be ready to believe him when he had managed to hoodwink thousands of Maltese and Gozitan people with his predictions – or his silence – about the effects of EU membership?

Didn’t Dr Busuttil and his MIC dupe many thousands of hunters and trappers when he told them they would be able to continue practising their hobby with EU membership, just as they had done for ages? Didn’t the same Dr Busuttil remain with his mouth shut when Eddie Fenech Adami and his deputy, Dr Gonzi, had sent a personal letter to each and every hunter and trapper, guaranteeing them that no changes would be made to existing regulations on hunting and trapping? And if changes would be made, such changes would ameliorate existing regulations.

Wasn’t it Dr Busuttil’s duty, as head of MIC, to inform hunters and trappers that what Dr Fenech Adami and Dr Gonzi were telling them did not correspond to reality? Why did Dr Busuttil also keep mum when the Maltese people were promised that with EU membership, Malta would be receiving €232 million a year from the EU, without mentioning the many millions that EU membership would be costing the island?

If Dr Busuttil ever makes it to leader of the PN, would he implement his recently revealed wish to see Malta forming part of an EU federal state? I suppose that Dr Busuttill will still insist that in a completely politically integrated federal EU state, Malta “would still be sharing its sovereignity”, when, in effect, we will be sharing Malta’s political bondage!