Wednesday, 3rd February 2010
Crossroads
The Labour party faces a clear cut choice. It is at the crossroads of its history and must pick between the road to renewal and that of oblivion. Never has the choice been as clear as it is now and renewal been so necessary and so urgent.
The road for renewal is full of obstacles and shrouded with all sorts of difficulties. It would involve opening up to those who have different political values and beliefs to that of the Labour party - people who have never been in synch with Labour's choices. It would involve embracing the points of view of those who have always been on the other side of the political divide. And yes it would bring change - not for change's sake - but for inclusivity, openness and above all our country's prosperity.
Then there is the road to oblivion. The path here may seem smoother and easier to tread upon but the end would be disastrous. Were Labour to ignore this call for renewal it would remain the party that had managed to obtain a strong 48% of the electoral votes but never the grand prize of overall majority. For it is this opening up and becoming more than the party it has been in the past, that is the secret of success.
Joseph Muscat uses the word 'Movement' to explain his vision for a political alliance that is greater than a sole party or political conviction. Indeed such a Movement would bring together all those with progressive ideas and moderate political points of view. It is a revolutionary political notion for Malta, where both parties have been deeply entrenched on opposite sides of the political fence. Striding out of the trenches and into a political no man's land takes more than just courage, it takes a conviction that Malta is in dire political straights and that an urgent need of a new political movement is needed.
To all those that are sceptical of Labour, I would like to invite you to follow this week's General Conference with an open mind. If you are truly sick of the current situation in this country and you think that it deserves better, then I ask you to listen to our message. We are not perfect but neither are we the eternal cause of distress as some people portray us to be. I am sure that our attempt to reform our party is for the best interest of our country and of our children.
It is for this reason that I myself would like to render my services to the Labour Party, as a member of the National Executive branch. I feel that I can once again contribute my abilities and my energies to bringing new ideas to a party that must continue to bring in young blood. With the experience of the more senior of our members I think that together we can bring about a new feeling of positivity and prosperity and to make our country truly, the best in Europe.
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Comments
Accusations mean nothing until proven.
Why do you go hysterical when answering my comments?
Of course I know about that renegade who crossed the floor, but can you tell me what kind of success he achieved while embracing the Labour Party?
You talk about the PN being deceitful?
How about the MLP winding up its followers to sell Malta to the Brits via Integration, only to switch to Independence not a year later?
How about the harsh No2EU campaign by the present and former leaders of the LP, only to, in hindsight, admit that it was a good move?
How about the LP 'advising' the government to devalue the lira before converting to euro, thus evaporating 10% of one's savings account and 10% purchasing power?
The LP has a habit of deceiving its own supporters heading them in one direction and slamming them into a concrete wall and afterwards, without saying 'sorry' heads them 180 degrees from the original position!
That's it. Not worth my while responding to you any further!
If you were as you claimed a PN activist you should know very well that PN Member of Parliament who crossed the floor and went on the MLP side. in fact the next GE he was also an MLP candidate too!!
Il like the convert( renegade) bit!! LOl . I never run away from anything nor did I ever gave up the beliefs I always embraced! Of course I did a mistake or two in life. One is that I let myself be manipulated be the most decietful political party ever existed in Malta. I thank God I saw the Enlightenment and repented for being so gullible and manipulated by the decietful PN!
I weas strong enough and intelligenmt enough to get out of that the dark tunnel that has trapped you and your likes all your lives.
Finally, I was right you were terrifief to even comment on my practical suggestion to blow your bubbles and your beloved Party's hedious anmd most notorious past.
First of all, I do not pontificate, I just rebut inane arguments from the usual sources.
Secondly, I dare you name one power station in the whole world where it has been paid for in cash! You obviously know very little about how these projects are financed!
@ Charles J Buttigieg
"A lie-detector test'? Say what? Whether it is true that the Times was burned? Like asking true or not that whole housing projects were built specifically to house Labour supporters? C'mon Charles space does not permit here to list all the questions I would like to ask.
@ Joseph Buttigieg Attard
"...I write about your beloved PN is never ‘hearsay’ or ‘an assumption’. It is from personal experience as a PN activist to say the least".
No one is more sanctimonious than a convert (renegade), someone said. How true!
Manipulation in politics? No! You can't be serious! Like counting on at least one rebel NP MP to vote with Labour and embarrass the government? Not even a subtle manipulation, it was a bare faced dare which, as usual, backfired on the LP. The NP has proven one more time that it has no 'traitors'.
With all your pontifications about your beloved Gonzipn and the wonderful ecstatic experience it continually gives the Maltese inhabitants , why not come over and join in this experience, have a taste of the 2010 Gonzipn Malta with an a PNbuilt Powerstation that has still to be paid for after 20 years of P.N. Administrations and a further burden to be paid for by future generations in the form of an extension which smells more fishy that the fishing village it overlooks. .
I suggested on this very paper ( I repeat) :
( of course with the consent of all ):
To question ALL High Officials and Members of Parliament of both the MLP and the PN during those turbulent times and subject each one of them ( many are still alive) to a LYING DEDECTOR TEST!
I suggest too that with the consent of both Leaders of both political parties
a number of set questions will be asked to all of the above and the results made public!
I suggest too that while the above are undergoing this test both Leaders /their representative should be present, and witness the unbelievable TRUTH!!!!.
I am sure the above will be a giant step to solve not only the Political Murders/Attempts committed then, but many events that you and your likes tend to manipulate and give us all a version so far away from the truth.
Let me make it clear to you and that what I write about your beloved PN is never ‘hearsay’ or ‘an assumption’. It is from personal experience as a PN activist to say the least.
Since I was just a sibling ( long long time ago) I was ‘politically active’(for the PN) and have ‘first hand experience’ on all I say or comment here. This goes back more then half a century.
Please do not ever mention manipulation of events or political deceit. Nor half truths
or ‘institutional corruption’! Nor greed for power or fabricated events! All those are in the DNA of your beloved party, from its birth to the present we live in.
Finally, may I remind you that the founder of this very daily is still waiting for a public apology from your beloved party. There other thousands in the queue, waiting too.
As you well said we forgive but WE SHALL NEVER FORGET!!
I have an even simpler solution regarding the dark years we often debate on. Let me assure you that I (or collectively 'we') have long forgiven but we shall never forget. If only the LP will officially come clean, admit and promise to never repeat what happened in the past, then we shall be able to put the past behind us. The Commissioner of Police will not do it for us or the LP. There were plenty of crimes which should have been investigated and solved by the police between 1971 and 1987 but not only they did not investigate them but often abetted the criminals! So, personally, I would not rely on the police ever solving cases which by now are stone cold! If there was manipulation it was clearly done by the MLP in cahoots with the police of that time.
If you think that I haven't the least idea of what's going on in Malta, why bother responding to my comments? Have you ever set me straight on any one item I commented on?
What I still cannot possibly figure out are Joseph's five-ten-fifteen-twenty year plans and solutions therein!
Still waiting, waiting.....
Some days ago I made a suggestion on this same paper addressed to the Comm. of Police and the PN&PL how to solve the darkest period of our political History ( the period which you and your likes try to manipulate by repeated misinformation and wrong assumptions) and solve the political murders and attempted murders then!
I wonder if you support my suggestion!!!
Of course, I am very aware that I praying for you even maybe waste of time and energy, but I won’t give up on you. I know that tyhe dark tunnel you are stuck in is your doing and unless there is a will, no prayers of mine can help you.
Finally: NO!!!! YOU DO NOT HAVE THE LEAST IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON LOCALLY. Your assumptions are oceans away from REALITY we are living.
Minn kliemek kien hemm1500 aktar boloh minn dawk l-ghorrief li vvutaw Labour fl-ahhar elezzjoni u tant u tant ohrajn boloh li eleggew gvernijiet Nazzjonalisti hames darbiet minn sitta! Min jaf min hu iblah Sur Butrtigieg Attard! Min jaf min hu Surmast Fallut!?
I am so thankful that you remember me daily in your prayers! You are however grossly mistaken thinking that I do not know what's happening in Malta. I do, and I also know what's happening here, a luxury which you seem to be acutely deprived of. I do take pity on you and I will be a bit more sincere by telling you that remembering you in my prayers is much less frequent than daily and the farthest on my mind. Not to sound mean, but that's the truth unlike you trying to make me believe that you pray daily for me! Besides, prayer is private and you should not flaunt it!
Christ said that, "when you pray and fast, groom your hair and go about doing what you normally do, unlike the Pharisees...".
Illum hadd mhu daqshekk c bit tikka li se jixtri l-hut skadut li ilek tipprova tbieh ghal tant u tant snin. Hadd mhu daqshekk iblah li ma jafx li int surmast biex tghatti ix-xemx bl-arbiel! ( SURMAST FALLUT!) Billi tiprova tghawweg il-fatti u tiprova tbella nofs veritijiet mhux se tasal QATT li tbiegh il-HUT JINTENN U SKADUT li int mimli bih! Kulhadd illum jaf li int u shabek ghamiltu minn kollox( ghadkom tippersistu, izda inthom tliftu kull kredibilita ) biex tahbu il-verita mill-poplu!
@ Martinelli … You are too far away to know what is going on in our dear Malta and you are still living in the past, which you can’t liberate yourself from. I will remember you in my daily prayers
Il-hut jinten kien meta Ministri Socjalisti bnew vilel f'xatt il-bahar u mkejjen ohra b'haddiema tal gvern, u bieghu art tal-gvern bis-soldi u lill min riedu! Hut jinten kien meta l-Qorti Kostituzzjonali giet maghluqa ghal tlett snin ghaz hekk kien jaqbillu l-gvern Socjalista. Il-hut jinten kien meta ghal xi dimostrazzjoni blal dawk tal-Hadd u t-Tnejn li ghaddew, bil-premessi tal-puluzija b'kollox, gew sparati il-bombi tad-dmugh, u balal tal-lasktu. Hut jinten kien meta nies innocenti gew maqtula jew 'iffrajmjati' b'delitti li ma ghamlux,. Hut jinten meta hraqtu t-Times u kissirtu l-Kurja. Hut jinten meta ghlaqtu l-MCAST u kwazi ghamiltu l-istess lill-Universita'. Hut jinten meta l-ixkaffef kienu vojta u kont trid ixxahham xi kazin Laburista biex ipoggilek ismek min ta quddiem biex tixtri television tal-kulur! Hut jinten kien meta licenzja ghal stazzjon tar-radju w television kienu michuda lill partit oppost waqt li l-gvern ikkontrolla l-ahbarijiet kollha fuq l-istazzjon nazzjonali. Hut jinten kien meta l-isem biss tal Kap ta l-Oppozizzjoni ma kienx jista jissemma fuq il PBS....Tridni nibqa inzid mal-lista?
Ghandek wicc isemmi l-hut jinten meta l-intiena ghada ma saqajkom!? !
veru l-hut ma jinxtarax fil bahar, imma il-poplu Malti HUT JINTEN u akwista b' Gonzipn fit tmexxija wara hafna weghdi ghal wara l-elezzjoni u pjaciri qabel...bhal Permessi barra l-ODZ, etc., etc.
Well said, Vic; "...the best in judging individuals by what they do, not what they say..."
So, maybe we should stop heeding Joseph since he says a lot but has hardly delivered anything in his political life!
Il-hut ma jinxtarax fil-bahar!
Thank you Charles for the explanation, because as I said, I'm no expert in political lingo. I honestly hope that I misread Lino Spiteri's words, because in the end what hangs in the balance is the welfare of our country, no matter which political party is elected. To me, nothing more and nothing less is as important, at the end of the day. Politicians are politicians, and once I heard, and not read this time :-)) that politics are like a sack of flour and once you dip your hands in of course they're going emerge dusted with the stuff. I hope that personal political ambitions do not overshadow and overcome the requirements of the country and its people - again, no matter who is elected PN or PL.
There is a difference between ‘Progressive moderates’ and ‘Progressive & Moderates’ The PL’s concept is a democratic alliance between the progressive and the moderate segments in our country.
Do we understand what the difference between a Progressive and a Moderate is on the philosophical - political scale? Essentially there is really no difference other than how fast one wants to slide down the slope. Moderate slope presents a slow slide while Progressive a fast slope. Both have same goals and a marriage between the two is very compatible. Perhaps you had misread Lino Spiteri’s lips.
You got it all wrong (again).
You should have realized that when I wrote, "Getting applause from the already converted is no new achievement", I was referring to Joseph and not you.
I do not know what achievements you have attained thus far, therefore I could not have been referring to you getting any 'new achievement', neither am I aware of any applause you received from anyone, converted or not!
Cheers!
You are utterly wrong, I have an independent mind, never to be converted to any Party or Society, you do no measure other people by your own yardstick.
He should try to be brief using the 200 word limit or give us a series of accomplishments bit by bit.
Getting applause from the already converted is no new achievement.
You did not answer a simple question and you are just as slippery as Joseph (Muscat) is - a lot of talk and no substance!
Respond only when you are able to tell us what changes (in the right direction, that is) have been accomplished by Joseph since his team eliminated George Abela's chances of becoming leader and hiring the President's daughter-in-law in an apparent effort to make amends!
J. Martinelli
The Maltese people living in MALTA and not ABROAD are waiting for one change, THE BIGGEST CHANGE. That of replacing THE KING . But maybe its too much for you to understand is it???
Instead of taking a fit over Sharon Borg Marks' perception, you should have listed all the changes Labour has made since Joseph took over including the changes which throw the 'Moviment' back to the 70s and 80s. By the way, il-Brigata was also a 'moviment'.
No changes are possible within the LP if the present leader continues to imitate his predecessor and keeps importing elements from the dark ages!
I kindly invite you to come out of your cocoon you've been living in . I suggest to keep on repeating the same song you and others of your like are repeating and not look what is happening around you from the inside and outside of your party of course. I bet NetTV don't tell you anything do they?????
Pathetic!!
Congrats on your new political posting and title!
Indeed, I congratulate all the rest. I am convinced they will do a great job.
Some persons who comment here seems to be living in a planet of their own. Others seem
to be stuck in the distant past from which connot liberate themselves.
So why Marlene Mizzi, `Former Sea Malta` Chairman, `mmm.`
She is a woman of substance, if it wasn`t the fluke in the electoral alphabetical system in Malta she will be representing us as MEP, to my way of looking at things the Lady would have been a good asset for Malta.
Read my comments in the context of Nikita's article and you will perhaps understand that my comments were not aimed at any of the individuals which make up this new Forum under the auspices of the Labour Party.
It is the overall perception that such a high profile panel should be formed, (let alone chaired)
by former chairpersons of successful corporations and hardly include someone who had been severely criticized by the same Party and its affiliate (GWU).
Credibility is the issue here, not Marlene Mizzi or John Cassar White, et al ! Besides, going by past experiences, these forums or committees formed by the LP, seem to disappear into thin air soon after a grand announcement is made and never to be heard from again!
If this the same John Cassar White I tend to agree with you, but please do not try to put the blame on Marlene Mizzi as with regards to Sea Malta, it was sold for a few pennies and besides, Sea Malta is was one Public Co. that never received one cent of subsidy or help from the government. It was simply left to rot by the present administration. Marlene Mizzi was another case of psychological warfare that this present administration is famous for. She was a Socialist,and she had to go and this is not a one-off case.
Marlene Mizzi, 'Former Sea Malta' Chairman, hmmm...
John Cassar White? Any relation to the former Malta Shipyards Chairman who the PL and GWU had tried to crucify at every opportunity?
I could be wrong, but does Toni Zarb not remind us quite regularly that it was bad management which caused the losses at the Shipyards but not the workers who are members of his Union?
I see the PL is on yet another mission to shore up its credibility!
These groups are, at best of times, comical and it would be silly to take them seriously. I almost joined the Group for a laugh but now I’m glad I didn’t because Beppe Fenech Adami would have exposed me on our National Television.
Even though I almost joined the group I don’t hate Gonzi and his PN in fact I love Gonzi as much as the PN supporters love Joseph Muscat and the lejburisti.
It will be chaired by former Sea Malta chairman and entrepreneur Marlene Mizzi and its motto is: We Mean Business.
The business forum will involve economists John Cassar White and Joe Vella Bonnici, former Maltacom CEO Stephen Muscat and businessman Paul Vella.
This “core group” will hold regular meetings with business institutions like the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprise – GRTU and the Malta Employers’ Association.
Small wonder that Nationalist MP Philip Mifsud declared that: “Labour today is not the same opposition it was two years ago. The Opposition is present, on ball, and reactive on many fronts, not to mention it has more intelligence than before."
First of all, I think you wanted to say "nikbru" not "nikru".
Secondly, for your information I do attend meetings but I am far from what you depict me to be !
However, I assure you that people who live in Malta know exactly whats going on .
Any guarantee that labour supporters created "we hate Gonzi" ?
Cause to me its more like some cheek PN supporter created it to make Pl supporters vent their frustration ....
Controlling through fear yet again !
Indeed! Everyone should follow this week's LP General Conference with an open mind, but also listen to One TV, One Radio, read l-orizzont, Kulhadd, it-Torca and what one finds in there is a lack of 'feeling of positivity and prosperity'.
Words at a supporters' conference are one thing, but suffering through reading and listening to pure garbage is another!
The 'floating voter' will make decisions based on a party's realistic promises and solutions to problems not just complaining without offering solutions or throwing mud at individuals hoping that some of it will stick. Worse is the hand that throws the stone and hides behind some pretext such as the case of 'We hate Gonzi' recently on Facebook when two Labour MPs were quoted as the authors followed by their denial a day or so later.
A foul deed followed by an act of cowardice and a failed attempt of covering up!