The choice is theirs

If Simon Busuttil is to be leader he will definitely improve the lot of the Nationalist Party – but not enough to dismantle the Labour Party’s political advantage.

Simon Busuttil with his predecessor, Lawrence Gonzi.
Simon Busuttil with his predecessor, Lawrence Gonzi.

For the very first time the PN councillors have denied leadership to a candidate the public wanted as their leader, this may well translate into 10 years in opposition

I have often been accused of timing stories to undermine an event.

Most of the time, I publish a story because a story should be published, not shelved.

But there are some exceptions.

So here are two particular stories which I chose not to publish before the PN contestation, because I thought they might favour one candidate.

That may sound insincere but here are the stories I shelved.

The first news story has to do with Simon Busuttil. In January of this year, Tonio Fenech following a cabinet decision compensated a Maltese company that represents Shell International. It gave them €5 million tax free.

There was a court process and an odd decision from the Malta Resources Authority. Simon Busuttil was their legal representative, even though he was a Europarliamentarian and later a hand-picked deputy leader by the Gonzi-Saliba clan.

My questions are very simple: Is it true that Simon Busuttil was awarded a commission (not a kickback), which by normal standards would turn into a sizeable fee? And if so, what was the sum?

Second question: Did Simon Busuttil encourage or catalyse the payment, which was made, coincidentally, just after the oil scandal?

Three: With whom did Simon Busuttil discuss the Shell compensation?

Four: Did he discuss the matter directly with Tonio Fenech?

There is nothing criminal in all this, but the timing of the compensation is diabolical, and even the amount awarded to this Maltese company is questionable

The second story is more serious. It has to with the story that PN councillors who voted in the 2004 election for Gonzi and Dalli were filmed by micro-cameras in the polling booth. The footage was used to identify those who had not voted for Gonzi, and they were patiently excused from their duties as councillors over the next three years.

The footage was later found on the hard disc of one PN functionary at Stamperija.

You say more information is needed? Well, just try me.

So you see, I did everything not to disrupt the election for the next leader of the Nationalist Party.

Now I also have to say that I have not been nice to Lawrence Gonzi since 2004. I do not feel I owe him any apologies. I have no regrets, and it is a pity that I did not manage to convince more people earlier what he stood for.

He will be remembered as someone who took the Nationalist Party to its most dishonourable defeat ever, surrounding himself with the most repulsive functionaries and levying a politics of procrastination.

Not only did he dismantle the PN financial structures and turn it the party bankrupt.

He made up for his bad politics with his expert ability as a communicator.

His politics was especially vindictive and his party became exclusive, repelling all those who threatened his base. All his decisions were driven by his desire to stay on.

He even repelled those who crossed the Rubicon but had once, before his time, embraced the Nationalists - yours truly being one of them.

And he boasted of doing politics in a new way but pandered to mediocrity and nepotism.

I am not sorry to see Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi go, just in the same way I was not sorry seeing former Labour Prime Ministers or leaders Alfred Sant go and, before him, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici.

I trust that if Simon Busuttil is to be leader (even though I believed that Mario de Marco would have been a much better leader) he will definitely improve the lot of the Nationalist Party - but not enough to dismantle the Labour Party's political advantage.

Because any change brings change.

***

The news that Jason Micallef was appointed chairman led to re-enactments of the Exorcist.  People were vomiting their guts out, eyes rolled back, skin turned white, and instead of human voices we were greeted with gutteral croaking.

That, I'm afraid, is what happens when you mention Jason Micallef.

It is perhaps the epitome of prejudice: given its irrationality, if you do not like something there is no way you'll start to like it.

The reaction reveals our intolerant nature and our political bias.

It also proves beyond a doubt that the political class is rather uninterested in what people think. And as was the case with the Claudette Abela Baldacchino decision, the administration (that is, Joseph Muscat) was more interested in addressing the micro-problems within the party than with the public. That means keeping Claudette and Jason happy.

A nine-seat, 36,000-vote majority gives one the comfort to be arrogant, stupid and irreverent at times.

***

Conflict of interest is something you define and then ignore. It seems that no one gives a hoot about apparent conflict of interest when someone is still acting or holds a crucial post, let alone when he or she departs.

For example, if someone has said he's left politics and is now a private citizen, do you still measure him with a conflict of interest yardstick?

Maybe.

The two main campaign managers for the PN campaign in the last election, Joe Saliba and Austin Gatt, abandoned their party but only after they captained their boat (the PN) into the rocks and down to the bottom of the sea.

So Austin Gatt has been appointed chairman of the Hili Group of Companies.  So far, so good.  We know the Hili Group is active in the bunkering of oil and that Hili bought Philip Toledo, which represents IBM and Smart Meters. The meters (a costly flop) were introduced by Austin Gatt when he was minister.

Any further comment would be superfluous.

***

As I put the two newspapers to bed, the voting for the next PN leader had come to a close.  Simon Busuttil acquired 50% of the vote.  Congratulations are appropriate.  But this is probably the very first time the Nationalist councillors have decided to ignore public opinion and go for someone who will not win them the next election.  The PN are condemned to 10 years in opposition. Of this I am sure.

Simon Busuttil does not have it to be leader of a Nationalist party.

The reason that the councillors chose him and not Mario de Marco is because they were all Gonzi acolytes, most of them did not even get elected in their committees but were simply plonked there by the Gonzi team.

If the PN had any self-respect they would have first reviewed the committees and then elected the leader.

Yesterday the Labour party had good reason to celebrate.  The person they feared most was beaten by Busuttil.

What a pity!

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Micheal Bonanno
@Better Future. What I said, maybe, I have jumped the gun. But still I find that our politicians, either are too busy trying to find their feet, or we're nitpicking. The government is still two months in its legislature. I think that we should give it time. After all it has five years to run. So, I retract what I have said. You just hit the nail on the head when you "However, do not bring up, as examples, any nominations or appointments to date! These were expected, AND in the majority voted for by the electorate who wanted a clear ouster of GonziPN's cronies. " That I didn't think of! Looked at one perspective only.
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Mr. Balzan, somewhere I read that the new Valletta project who incidentally I was, I am 100 per cent against is reference as 82 million project. Well Sir, this is a bargain relative to the road opening yesterday with a Salty stone as monument costing us in Zebbug 2 million euro. Someone said if they got the best marble and paved the road with it, it still would have cost less. By the way it would be interesting to hear what the people had to say today in the streets. I think George Bernard Show said it spot on: He knows nothing: and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career. Lisa Gardner had something to say on arrogant people who only know what is best for us mortals: You're so damn arrogant. If you ever met God the first thing you'd say is what are you doing in my chair? Snap out of this dream world and look after those real people who worked for the party I say!
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salgister and Bully, I am an unbiased, uncommitted voter and would vote for the party that I feel would be good for the whole of Malta and the Maltese. Therefore, rather than inexact and simple accusations, I would be glad to hear of actual ones, so I can determine if I was also conned in such an exaggerated way. However, do not bring up, as examples, any nominations or appointments to date! These were expected, AND in the majority voted for by the electorate who wanted a clear ouster of GonziPN's cronies.
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Micheal Bonanno
@Bully. Kollha qieghda tikbrilhom rashom. U dan f'xahrejn! Mela f'hames snin x'se jaghmlu dawn, isiru allat? Jien mhux se niddejjaq nghidha jien laburista, u kont konvint li taht Joseph se ssir Malta Taghna Lkoll, imma qieghed jiddispjacini li dhalt fin-nassa bhal eluf ohra! Jien laburist minn guf ommi. Qieghed nikkritika b'ghafsa ta' qalb!
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I publish a story because a story should be published not shelved:mela ghaliex qed tinsisti li ma tghinix biex tippubblika kif Dr. Guido de Marco iffrejmja lill-missieri, Karm Grima, billi ipproduca tlitt certfikati medici foloz quddiem il-korrott Imhallef Lino Agius li kont infurmajtu biex ma jghatix sentenza hekk qalila lil bniedem innocenti biex jghatti il-vjolenti tal-15/10/1979.Sentenza bhal din qatt ma inghatat lil hadd hlief lil bniedem innocenti, li kixfithu l-inkjesta Muscat Azzoppardi, dik li ghamel Dr.EFA imma hbija u wara halla lil Dr. A. Sant jisraqha biex jntesa kollox. Ara report li bghat lil Mathew Vella fuq kollox.
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Mr. Balzan you touched quite a few hot issues in my opinion, however the one that really struck me most and it will be a national matter shortly with the coming of the E.U. representative election is the way Dr. Joseph Muscat or those he entrusted are running things. So today they are going to open a stone monument in Zebbug we had so much waste of money for this celebration that it will only in the end cause eyes to turn. Fully grown Olive trees has been potted in small containers for the occasion. Now every half cooked farmer knows these will not make it over the year. What about the stone that they will uncover, it has been in the sea for ages and everyone know that once a stone it taken out of of the sea the salt inside its vain will turn the monument back to dust. What about Glen Bedingfield this morning advising how the show will be run this evening, did he really need to come in a government BMW? This people will notice and this what people make cross over in silence.
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SIMON IS NOT THERE BECAUSE THE PUBLIC OUT THERE WANTED HIM, HE IS THERE BECAUSE A FEW COUNCILLORS CHOSEN BY GONZI VOTED FOR HIM, AS A NATTIONALIST THAT VOTED FOR LABOUR, I CAN SAY ONE THING ONLY, IF YOU THINK THE LABOUR SHALL BE THERE FOR JUST TEN YEARS THAN START RUBBING YOUR HEADS BECAUSE UNTILL SIMON IS THE LEADER IN OPPOSITION THAT IS WERE THE NATIONALIST SHALL STAY FOR A VERY LONG TIME. SIMON MADE IT ABVIOUS THAT HE AGREES AND AGREED WITH THE WAY GONZI RAN HIS PARTY SO I DONT THINK SIMON WILL RUN THE PARTY DIFFERENTLY, SO DONT WORRY MARIO BECAUSE THE REAL VOTERS ARE OUT ON THE STREETS AND WE SHALL GET YOU THERE AS OUR LEADER IN THE RIGHT TIME. SIMON AND LAWRENCE ARE UNWANTED LEADER IN THE NATIONALIST PARTYAND THIS WAS SHOWED IN THE RESULTS OF THE LAST ELECTIONS.
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Your maxim since the loss of the PN leadership bid of John Dalli was to cause maximum damage to Lawrence Gonzi. Mr. Balzan you missed no opportunity to inflict harm on the PN and particularly on LG and now seeing your enemy leaving the stage is setting you in panic. You are inventing another enemy in the successor of Lawrence Gonzi. You need your enemy. And the rivals of your enemy become your friends not because you like your rivals but because hate is your real leitmotif.
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Motherwell Bridge, the company who built the breakwater bridge at a cost of 2.8 million is also part of the Hili Group. Austin Gatt also gave them the tender.
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Motherwell Bridge, the company who built the breakwater bridge at a cost of 2.8 million is also part of the Hili Group. Austin Gatt also gave them the tender.
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Time will tell Saviour....time will tell! On a light note, it would be great if you could offer your services for staff recruitment, because it appears that you know how people will act and perform in advance, judging by your absolutist views on Simon's chances as the potential new PN leader. You should know better, because modern political leaders are not just about the person who occupies the top post, but very much about the team around him and his intelligence to surround himself with the right team. As to your comments on the PL's celebrations etc, Mario acted like a perfect gentleman after the result and for that matter even before it, and he offered unconditional loyalty and his services in any role the party may wish him to fill. That, in my mind, excludes nothing, unless they were empty words. I, for one, am certain that Mario is an honourable man and has a lot to offer the party, so I am certain that those words were sincere and significant.
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Let’s face it Saviour! The election of Simon Busuttil proves that the extreme right clique of the PN party is still in charge and dictating what transpires with the House of ill repute at Pieta. Those that governed Malta like the extreme right dictatorships of South America in Chile and Argentina during the Gonzi administration were very much active in electing the new leadership. One would have to doubt the transparency of this leadership race when one considers the contestants and how easily they bowed out when the signals were clear on the first ballot. There would be no hesitation in agreeing that with Simon Busuttil in the helm and the positioning for insiders influence by second and third tiers ambitions will generate more turmoil. Aggressively alertness towards this circle of power mongers and their capabilities at orchestrating national unrest like the 1970’s would be advisable. It is up to Joseph Muscat and his not too talented communications group from Castille not to fall asleep at the wheel and let the magic hand of right wing extremism scales the heights of false political propaganda. A case in point is Jason Micallef position of mindless administration, where the Castille Crew seems unaware of the consequences at such an appointment where when the Chairman enters the room everybody runs to the toilet to vomit. He is in that precarious position of national despising that resembles the hatred for George W. Bush after the Iraq war. One would hope that Secretary of Culture Jose Herrera will be manly enough to burden the responsibility. Unless policies of Name & Shame are adopted by this present administration and in some cases legal action taken, the right of the electorate to know will continue to be ignored. The Maltese people have a legal right to recover their assets that were squandered or abused through false commissions, pre-election agreements and other fat contracts that were awarded by direct orders. GonziPN had become experts at duping their membership and manipulating the Maltese mentality during their reign in the last decade. Rest assured that the PN rats that have jumped ship after the last election will be coming out of the woodwork if they smelt anything close to a chance of regaining power for their self gratification and monetary gain.
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Thank God for Savior Balzan and people like him.
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Thank God for Savior Balzan and people like him.
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And I hope that Mario de Marco will have the good sense of refusing to be a Deputy Leader. He should have the good sense of recognising the rot that has taken hold of PN, keep a good distance from it, and bide his time, rather than partaking further in this leadership debacle.
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"The footage was later found on the hard disc of one PN functionary at Stamperija." Why not put up this footage on YouTube ?!