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[WATCH] Midnight launch for Labour’s ‘Malta for all’ electoral campaign

Leader Joseph Muscat launches his party’s electoral campaign at one minute after midnight.

matthew_vella
7 January 2013, 12:00am
by Matthew Vella
2 min read
Malta Taghna Lkoll is Joseph Muscat's campaign slogan.
Malta Taghna Lkoll is Joseph Muscat's campaign slogan.

Labour leader Joseph Muscat pulled out all the stops to kick-start his party's electoral just one minute after the clock struck twelve this morning, presenting Labour's campaign slogan - Malta Tagħna Llkoll ('Malta for all') - live on television.

Minutes earlier he tweeted the slogan as an army of workers were already outside on the streets putting up billboards and banners across the island. Outside the party headquarters, the new slogan and its circular emblem - a flag of Malta under the sun and set against the backdrop of some green pasture - were being laser-beamed onto the walls of the party building.

"We have little more than 60 days to communicate to the people what they truly believe, that after 25 years of the same administration, the time for change in direction has come.

"Malta is for all of us because Malta is neither mine, nor is it of some other politician. It's not a country that belongs to some clique. It's the country that belongs to everybody because we are a united people, and we are determined to see our country taken away from the clique and given back to the people, irrespectively of how the vote."

 

So whose country has it been all this time? A bit moot given the direction of Muscat's speech, but at this midnight hour a few more soundbites did not hurt:

"Malta belongs to a clique," Muscat replied. "It's been a clique that in recent months has been reduced to a few people, getting things done by a few people for a few people... this country has been ruled by a prime minister consumed by internal squabbling. We surely do not want to introduce a new clique, but a country that is for everyone, irrespectively of who the people vote for. I aspire to lead a country that will be there for everyone, and not just for those people who vote for us."

Muscat also promised a "positive campaign", taking time to salute the Prime Minister ("he is the prime minister of our country after all"), and wishing him well for the rest of the campaign "even though we will be most assiduously in disagreement most of the time".

Keeping in line with the stage-managed glitziness of this campaign kick-off, attended by Labour candidates and other party activists, Mucat then stepped off the podium and walked to a billboard nearby where he signed the Labour slogan.

Sceptics on Twitter also fell in line to point out the similarities between the Labour campaign emblem and the Obama election logo: they are both circular apparently... While in other news, a most pertinent question arose as to how one should translate 'Malta tagħna llkoll' - is it 'Malta is everybody's country', 'Malta for all', or 'Everybody's Malta'?

 

Matthew Vella, a freelance journalist at MaltaToday, was formerly executive editor at Malt...
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"Malta Tagnna lkoll" is a well selected catchy slogan which conveys the right message of unity and shared values which show make us grow and improve together as a nation. At the same time it politically aims towards reassuring voters against the scaremongering which no doubt will be used against the PL by the party in power. In a sense it is also an anodyne to the common perception that government has been hijacked by a clique and inner shadowdy circles and hence the demand by common people that nation belongs to us all and that we all have the right to proclaim Malta taghna ukoll !!. Malta taghna was first proclaimed in the maltese poetic song in the 19th century by the doyen of poets Gan Anton Vassalli in his poem "Int sabieha O Malta taghna" It was utilised in the PN main paper Malta taghna and rendered in the most lyrical way in the song/Ghana by Tony Camilleri "Int sabieha Malta taghna" .I suggest this song should be arranged as the musical backdrop to this electoral slogan.
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Did someone warn about the dirty, lying campaign to be launched by the PN and allies? >> "“Malta is all ours” is the Labour’s Party’s theme for the coming election." That was the lead line from the Malta Independent 7 Jan 2013 edition's article, "PL LAUNCHES ELECTION CAMPAIGN". These self appointed masters of the English Language managed to translate literally the PL slogan, so as to completely invert the slogan's meaning, which was obviously published in Maltese. If I were the PL, I would report these people to the "Press Ethics Commission"!
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The Maltese people looks like they want a change every 10 years, so definitly we will have PL government next spring.Maltese Spring.
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Did someone warn about the dirty, lying campaign to be launched by the PN and allies? >> "“Malta is all ours” is the Labour’s Party’s theme for the coming election." That was the lead line from the Malta Independent 7 Jan 2013 edition's article, "PL LAUNCHES ELECTION CAMPAIGN". These self appointed masters of the English Language managed to translate literally the PL slogan, so as to completely invert the slogan's meaning, which was obviously published in Maltese. If I were the PL, I would report these people to the "Press Ethics Commission"!
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Malta hi ta everybody u mhux ta 'Where is everybody' u n-Nazzareni biss! Malta needs change and fast!
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GONZO-CORRUPTION. Its not just the people who are around Gonzi who are corrupt. Gonzi and his family are actively participating in it.
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@ Sagitarius. Who was first and who changed plans to follow? Obviously you missed out something - PL first announced to hold meeting in Gozo where the PN intended to have an activity at Floriana, so it's the PN who changed their initial plans. Wonder why?????????????
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I think the meaning of "Malta taghna lkoll" is best conveyed in English as "Malta belongs to all of us".
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Malta taghna lkoll......What a positive start.
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@ Bones. PL will not screw up things this time around because they have been screwed up more than necessary by the gang of cliques and oligarchies that Franco Debono has referred to in his outbursts on more than one occasion.
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Now there's a good start and excellent planning from both parties. PN and PL meetings next Sunday, both on Gozo. Let the battle of the Gozo Channel begin. Is it possible they can't even agree on something as simple as this?
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Hope Labour dose`nt screw up as they did in 96, we can`t go on as we are. A culture of lies.
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