The Empire Strikes Back

In a front page article in the Sunday Times edition of the 30 March 2008, the empire strikes back at the accusers of JPO.

http://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080330/local/mepa-audit-officer-behind-1994-mistra-development

The Empire will not tolerate any serious challenge to its authority or majority. Therefore it is employing a well known tactic. That is to undermine the accuser. In this case it is the auditor of MEPA itself. The public is also being prepared through the Sunday Times. It is curious to see how The Sunday Times got hold of this information. Was it the conscientious whistleblower who gave the information to the Sunday Times? Of course not it is the usual anonymous truth loving source. How come this source did not inform the Commissioner of Police but instead preferred the Sunday Times? Our ‘Par Idejn Sodi’ PM states that he is refraining from commenting on the JPO debacle pending the conclusion of the Police investigation yet someone with access to MEPA files, which is now under the direct responsibility of our ‘par idejn sodi’ PM has gone to the press.

I will be surprised if this does not end in the usual whitewash. The lying and the betrayal of the trust of the electorate do not matter.

Where is 'Par Idejn Sodi'?

It is funny how both the PM and the PN are completely silent with regards to the JPO debacle while the problem continues to simmer. Where is the 'par idejn sodi' to nip the problem in the bud before it derails the new Government.

This sorry state of affairs is causing untold damage to the Government. Lucky for the PN that the MLP is still bewildered after the electoral loss.

A Tale of Two Premiers

In 1998 Alfred Sant was leading a Government with a one seat majority. That one seat happened to be held by one Dom Mintoff. Mintoff could not stand Alfred Sant and Prime Minister and openly rebelled. Rather than appeasing this backbencher Alfred Sant rightly invoked his prerogative and held his ground in the face of his subordinate backbencher. Mintoff voted against the Government. Rather than be humiliated by appeasing Mintoff, Alfred Sant as Premier did the only honourable thing possible, he resigned and his Government collapsed.

In 2008 we have a similar situation. This time Lawrence Gonzi is the Premier and holds a seat majority in Parliament. This seat is held is by one particular backbencher called Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando or as commonly referred to as JPO. JPO is now a confirmed liar, having lied to his Leader, his electorate and to the whole nation. JPO has been completely discredited. All major voices on the island are calling for JPO to resign. If JPO refuses to resign, does Gonzi have the courage of his convictions to expel this discredited politician from his parliamentary group to avoid that his administration be tainted with this discredited politician?

Rather than ‘par idejn sodi’ we have Gonzi the ditherer. A veritable tale of two premiers.

Doing the right thing - Giving JPO the sack

Earlier this month, Dr Pullicino Orlando publicly said he had nothing to do with the development, and that the land was rented out to third parties. He had also said he had never even met the person who submitted the application for the Mistra development.

This is what the Independent wrote regarding JPO. http://independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=66569.

Furthermore the MEPA auditor reports that JPO solicited the DCC board to approve an application against standing policies. It is not the solicitation that is bad, (often the wheels of bureaucracy do need a nudge) it is the fact that he was pushing for something against policy and for his own benefit to boot that is unpardonable.

Don't such blatant lies to the PM and the whole nation merit a sacking? What do you need to do to be sacked? Where is the moral fibre of the Prime Minister or are the consequences of such a sacking more important than truth and integrity?

JPO is a test for Gonzi

It is now confirmed that JPO lied to the PM, his party and to the nation. He made a fool of those who defended him and the electorate. If the PM has any guts he should fire JPO and face the consequences. How can anyone run a Government and the nation on the support of a proven liar?

Wishlist for the new Government

This plea is based on the fact that PN will be in Government with an absolute minority of votes. The absolute majority of voters want change. It is now up to the PN leadership to deliver this change.

First of all we want a change in the cabinet of ministers. We need new blood with people who are less arrogant, divisive and less inept. We do not want politics as usual and those members, old and new, who are tainted with shady 'transactions' should not be given any power.

We want a better preservation of our environment. We do not want more virgin land sacrificed to the 'development'. There is enough space for much more construction on existing developed areas. We do not want an open air nightclub in Mistra.

The people want a better quality of life. More attention should be given to transport and the state of the roads. We need a radical rethought about how we move about. The pressure of traffic and cars on our life is fast becoming unbearable.

We need a more tolerant society which accepts those who are different. We should not continue to deny people the right to divorce and to start afresh. People's consiences should be respected since not everyone wishes to abide by the rules of the Catholic Church. Very often faith is based on fear of losing one's soul rather than on loving your neighbour and working for justice.

There is a need for a better handing of the plight of illegal immigrants. These people deserve to be treated with dignity. Prejudice and intolerance should be fought with energy. I cannot understand how people with this 'fine' Catholic consience can tolerate the treatment we are giving these people.

We need better health services. The new hospital is fine but we need better preventive care and screening so that we minimise hospitalisations.

Well the above are some of the things that I wish the new administration to take care of.

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

Alfred Sant has done it again. He has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. This election was supposed to be a shoo in for him but the lack of a sound policies and reliance on voter fatigue for victory were simply not enough.

How long do we have to wait for his resignation? He should do the honourable thing and fall on his sword.

Congratulations

The people have spoken. The next Government will be formed by the PN.

Congratulations.

Spain and Malta

Yesterday I was musing that Spain, who vote today in their general election, would know the outcome of their election before us Maltese. Seems that this feeling is going to prove to be true.

Relative majority = Absolute minority

Seems that for the first time none of the parties will get an absolute majority. The MLPN have rigged to rules to favour either of them.

Well one thing is sure, the party governing with a relative majority will be in an absolute minority in the nation. Somehow I feel that is not right.

Spare a thought

Whilst waiting for the result please spare a thought for those poor street vendors selling fog horns and beer who set up shop since noon. Seems the poor guys have to wait for a few hours longer for them to move their merchandise. It is going to be a hard pay day.

Something's gotta give

We are still waiting for the result. It seems that now the election will hang on the election or otherwise of an AD candidate from the 10th.

To my mind this indicates the need for a radical overhaul of the electoral system. The Single Tranferable Vote has been bastardised over the last twenty years making it inefficient and unrepresentative. We should work for a fool-proof system which apart from being mathematically consistent, does not disenfranchise a part of the electorate.

For the sake of democracy we should have a system which allows a plurality of voices in parliament. This will improve the quality of all the parties who will not take us the people for granted.

Waiting for the result

We don't know what is going to be the outcome but as Fasto Majistral has written it does not look good for the PN and we might be looking for a big defeat for them.

http://malta9thermidor.blogspot.com/2008/03/bongu-malta-rebha-socjalista.html

This defeat for the PN, if it happens, was on the cards all along. I have expressed my opinion several times that I have very little confidence in an unreformed MLP administration although we are not going back to the doom and gloom predicted by a number of PN pundits. The reason for this is with membership of the EU and belonging to the Euro zone, Governments do not have the same freedom to act as before in particular with regards to the economy.

I had been hoping for something positive to come out of this election with a breakthrough by one of the smaller parties. I expressed the opinion that this was the right opportunity for Malta to strengthen its democracy by having a plurality of voices. There is still hope for this.

There will be MUD 2

The consiracy theories surrounding the arrest warrant for Harry Vassallo are not the real story behind all this. I have no intention of going into the merits of who is behind it. The story is very very dirty indeed. I will assume that this story is ther result of a mindless bureaucracy acting like a headless chicken. To my mind the real issue is that the law is an ass.

We have a number of laws where penalties do not match the 'crime' or better the fault. Harry Vassallo has explained that no tax was evaded and yet he is slapped with am Lm 6000 fine or two years imprisonment. To the law is the one that needs to be changed. These laws are arbitrary and to my mind whoever drew these laws does not have any idea what justice is.

One issue which surprises me is why the President of the Republic declined to issue a pardon to Harry Vassallo while issuing almost two hundred such pardons for VAT offences to others and especially since this time no actual tax was evaded.

No wonder people are alienated from politicians and that the best minds in Malta are not interested in a political career.

My plea is that these draconian penalties for minor failures should be abolished and replaced with punishments which reflect the seriousness or otherwise of the fault. Seeing how this election campaign has gone I wonder why I remain 'everhopeful'.

Solidarity with Harry Vassallo

I am still under shock reading what has happened to Harry Vassallo. This is an example of bureaucracy run amock as empowered by the PN Government. These absurd rules were drawn and enacted by the PN Goverrnment.

It is not right that Government hurts its own citizens in this way and especially where the ordinary citizen has not cheated on any taxes. This is something right out of the Theatre of the Absurd.

This comes soon after my previous post regarding Taxation and what Alfred Sant said about companies belonging to political parties not paying their dues.

There is a great need to make Government for the people and by the people. I wish to express my solidarity with Harry Vassallo.

No country for ordinary citizens

One thing which got me during yesterday's Press Conference by Alfred Sant was his answer to the question by the AzzjoniNazzjonali.com guy regarding unpaid taxes and dues by the Parties and their companies. Far from apologizing for not paying their dues and complying with the law Alfred Sant excused them and comparing them to other non-paying private companies.

How about comparing them to the ordinary citizens who do pay their dues? Anyone of those who miss paying by just one day is assailed with fines, penalties and all kinds of harassments? What kind of example is he giving? Thank God he is reducing the surcharge by half when his and similar companies do not pay the bills outright getting a 100% rebate on the whole bill.

Likewise what example are Mangion and Vella giving? The fact is that for seven consecutive years they signed and approved accounts which did not give a true picture and fiddled with their tax for at least seven years. The fact that they got away with it for seven years out and settled afterwards does not alter the fact that they fiddled in the first place. As Directors of a company they are responsible for the accounts and income tax declarations. I am curious to know how much tax they did eventually pay and what penalties and interests were levied by the Inland Revenue. If an ordinary citizen is caught fiddling the Inland Revenue comes down really hard and throws the book at you. Did they do the same with these two politician businessmen?

This just reaffirms the alienation from government and laws that many of us ordinary citizens feel. There is a law for the ordinary citizen and another for the powerful and well connected.

There will be mud

Fausto asked me why I am not writing. This election ceased to interest me for the past couple of weeks. Now it has deteriorated to something like a Jerry Springer show with tears and jeers and boos and cheers and the lions. The show being put on is highly unedifying. It seems to be getting out the worst in people.

I am surprised how the slick GonziPN campaign has been derailed and has lost all its poise including the PM himself. Somebody at Tal-Pieta will be shown the door very soon for mismanaging the campaign. Despite the fact that the MLP does not have one single interesting proposal it has managed to land a few body blows.