Author: Jacques René Zammit

Categories
Politics

Labour’s Bullshit Factory

bullshit_akkuzaThere’s no two ways about it. The only quirk in the Grand Theory of Labour’s Bullshit Factory is that Muscat seems to be resiliently surviving in the popularity stakes. The people still hang on to whatever fairy dust he can throw at them – and from the looks of it there is not much left. Labour supposedly had a well-oiled machine in the run up to the election. I say supposedly since no matter how many plaudits can be wasted on their “achievement” it still boils down to a PR stunt so big that one can only blame the gullible for having fallen for it hook, line and sinker. It did rely muchly on the idea that twenty-five years of nationalist government had given rise to much corruption and fit in nicely with the average Maltese voters penchant for martyrdom and self-pity that puts the Secret Policeman’s Ball to shame.

Two years into Labour government and when the words and charades fell apart we have a government that is mired in its own bullshit. We may have a 58c COLA increase but there are innumerable cheques that cannot be cashed (and I am not talking about the salaries given to the friends and friends of friends of taghnalkoll meritocracy dudes but about promises unfulfilled): Take Minister Joe Mizzi and his latest revelation that the public transport subsidy will have to rise to 23 million euros. It makes Manuel Delia’s fiasco suddenly look like a Nobel Prize Achievement. Not just that. This particular purveyor of champagne socialist bull has the gall to refuse to explain what effect this will have on the tariffs for the normal gentry who rely on such transport. Those who don’t (rely on such transport) have just been told that many of the roads they patronise (as in patrons) daily will be shut for works – presumably to be inaugurated in a couple of years’ time by a beaming Minister.

So Arriva was not THAT bad after all was it? Bar a few questionable choices regarding the use of bendy buses it seemed to work quite well. Turns out that Labour’s only interest was finding something else to urge the people to feel uncomfortable about – then they would mumble something about 51 proposals from another planet and everyone would think all would be hunky dory under Joseph. J’accuse never fell for that sales pitch (see That Bohemian Planet 51) because anybody with a head on their shoulders and a brain between their ears could smell the Labour party’s particular brand of bull a mile away.

Now what do we have? We have ministers toying with public safety, others playing around with our code of laws as though it were a restaurant menu that needs bringing up to date, we have obscure dealings with not so democratic and open nations, we have a refusal to be accountable in parliament, we have a mess of an energy program complete with a faffing minister who does all he can to divert attention, we have a transport fiasco about to blow up again and we have a never ending system of nepotistic and taghnalkoll appointments that is about as barefaced a raspberry to the all that bullshit about meritocracy and transparency.

Now do you see how ironic the Dr BS moniker actually is?

 

Categories
Mediawatch Politics

Sino-Maltese

sino_maltese_akkuzaSino- is a prefix that we get from Latin, Arabic and Sanskrit. In all three of these classical languages it refers to the land of the rising sun. In Latin they were referred to as Sinae, the Arabs call them Al-Sin and for the Sanskrit it is Cina. The prefix was quite the vogue in the cold war years when we would often read of Sino-Soviet, Sino-Cuban or Sino-Korean (DR) relations. It’s funny how we do not come across it that much now – nowadays we are more prone to read something like “Chinafication” which is the title of a new facebook group arguing against the growing influence of China in Maltese matters.

Cargolux is an important Luxembourg company that deals with air freight and traffic in Luxembourg. Back in 1982 (The Dark Ages when the Wall was still in place) China Airlines became one of the first strategic partners of CargoLux. In 2014 Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment, a Chinese company, acquired a 35% stake in Cargolux. A strategically important company for Luxembourg was now 1/3 China owned (read all about Cargolux here).

Chinese investment is not limited to the Grand Duchy. Sino-funds are being invested all across the globe. It’s all about business and money. It should be. It’s not about “Chinafication”. Prior to the Chinese there were petro-dollars that were an easy investment. The US and Russia too were previously the source of much foreign investment. So when is Chinafication wrong?

Well the problem with Sino-Maltese relations is the lack of transparency. Complete, absolute, total lack of transparency. The Labour government very evidently struck some strange deals with Chinese counterparts before it got elected. Now, the nation that has its Cultural Centre bang behind Castille and that has just purchased a huge chunk of land at a very cheap price seems to have its finger in almost every pie (or iced bun) that the Labour party got its hands onto when it got into government.

The Leisure Clothing scandal as chronicled elsewhere in the nationalist party media is a clear example of the wrong kind of “investment” turning foul. It’s less sino- and much more sinful. While other nations are striking smart deals with China taking advantage of the liquidity that is on offer, Malta’s government turned the nation into one giant souk (that’s suq) in Maltese selling off such vital necessities as our main source of power without as much as a system of checks. Meanwhile our dealings with the Chinese look shadier than ever. Minister Mizzi’s wife is being paid the same salary as an ambassador with the same conditions and yet we are still in the dark as to her operations.

Labour decided to turn into a pimp that is whoring the nation away to the darker side of China’s dealings. China is a behemoth, an enormous giant, and it would take little or nothing for Labour and its band of inept “diplomats” to have touched on a wrong, corrupt, vein that is unable to bring any possible benefits to Malta under than a hypothetical quick buck. Labour’s willingness to play along with the lack of transparency is shameful (though barely unpredictable giving the tune to which they have always played).

The problem is not Chinafication. The problem is that our dealings with China are being managed by incompetent, greedy persons who are unable to fathom the consequences of their hapless arrangements. Worse still, even if they did fathom the consequences they would not care less. Which is why they probably end up dealing with the wrong kind of Chinese and probably why their “bargains” are really a ticking time bomb that will explode in all our faces.

At our expense.

 

Categories
Rubriques

Thank you India

thank_akkuza

Traffic on this site is low. The main reason is simple. We have not been blogging too often lately. It’s not that there is nothing to blog about. It’s just that the insanabile cacoethes scribendi has subsided for a while. No harm in that. We aten’t dead though and trust J’accuse, there’s a lot up our sleeve that is ready for baking and brewing. One last little break over the All Saint’s and All Souls holidays and we’ll be back.

Enjoy Alanis. And thank you India…

Thank you India
Thank you Providence, thank you disillusionment
Thank you nothingness
Thank you clarity
Thank you thank you silence…

 

Categories
Mediawatch Politics

Quod non fecerunt

Villa-Francia_akkuzaMaltaToday carries a story about how 1 million euros of EU funds are being allocated for the “restoration of the prime minister’s residence”. As is  done these days the press got the information from the horse’s mouth i.e. the non-constitutional role of Prime Minister’s Spouse. As is done these days, whenever a matter of national importance is being publicly announced, we had an array of ministers and members parliament of the realm each pitching in with his little explanation for this grand project. Thus Ian Borg of the “EU Fund management and spending” together with Buhagiar of the “god knows why I am also here other than to explain to Ian how to pronounce Francia” flanked Mrs Muscat and also chipped in their two cents worth as to why a million euros will be spent on the plants adorning the Lia residence.

Buhagiar told us that only one PM has acually lived in the house – Ugo Mifsud. That would probably be because it belonged to Mifsud’s family. Anyways, we had to witness another Magritte moment courtesy of this Newspeak government and its leechers. All three speakers made much ado of having found Villa Francia in a disastrous state of abandon – and they had the cheek to say this all the while that the camera was panning from well kept corner to other well kept corner. There is nothing wrong with Villa Francia or its gardens. Nothing.

I don’t know what drugs the Prime Minister’s entourage could possibly be on but surely they could spare us such displays of talking bull as this one. Fine, Mrs Muscat wants another playground where she can play princess and entertain “the public” – so be it. Ian Borg and Charles Buhagiar come up with a wonderful idea of how to spend one million of european funds set aside – grand. But to somehow try to concoct the idea of having been bequeathed a palace after the barbarians have left the scene is a little far fetched….

… even now that we are getting used to the idea of how easily a Labour representative can lie through his or her teeth.

 

Categories
Energy Politics

Kliem il-Fieragħ

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“Mhux fjer. Korrotti. Ħbieb tal-Ħbieb. Issa jmiss lilna. Issa daqshekk. Roadmap. Tagħna lkoll. Gvern ta’ Kullħadd. Għal kullħadd. Tagħna lkoll. Neħilsu iċ-ċittadin mil-jasar u mit-tgħakkis tal-kontijiet. Tagħna lkoll. Tagħna lkoll.”

Xi krexxendo sabiħ. Ifjen mill-oħla kant tal-knejjes kattoliċi. Il-kant tal-emmna fejn il-kelma hija il-qofol ta’ kollox. Verbum Dei. Il-kelma issawret fl-imħażen tal-partit u twasslet ma’ l-erbat irjieħ mill-qaddejja tal-mexxej. Għax hekk isiru l-affarijiet. U sabet art għammiela fost ċittadini skuntenti u nibtet iż-żerriegħa tat-tama għax forsi xi darba jmiss lili wkoll. Għax għalhekk għammiela… għammiela bil-bżonnijiet ta’ l-individwi li x’iktarx jiġu ala bieb għajnhom mill-bżonn u ġid komuni.

Imma l-kelma tal-profeta mhix biżżejjed. Kelma torbot fid-dinja tal-irġiel, u l-irġulija tiswa mitqla deheb. Imma mhux dejjem. Jekk int kelmtek tiswa daqs l-arja li toħroġ minn fommok meta tlissinha u daqs dik l-istess arja togħsfor fl-eteru mingħajr ebda xkiel allura tibda titlef il-kredtu. U jekk kelmet il-profeta tal-abbundanza kienet li se jibni kastell fi żmien sentejn u li permezz ta’ dan il-kastell ser iraħħas u jtejjeb ħajjet kullħadd – allura jew tkun dik kelma soda u tajba, jewilla tkun kelma fiergħa.

U jekk biex jurina kemm hu tost u ċert (ċertissimu), il-profeta jaħlef pubblikament fuq it-televiżjoni illi jekk ma jsirux l-affarijiet skont kelmtu allura jwarrab, allura iktar u iktar nippretendu li jekk dak li ingħad li għandu jseħħ ma seħħx għandu iwarrab. Kwistjoni ta’ irġulija jekk xejn. Kwistjoni ta’ kelma li tiswa mitqla deheb. Kwistjoni li tibqa’ titqies ta’ bniedem serju u mhux ta’ bniedem tal-kelma fiergħa.

U x’jiġri jekk il-kastelli li bnejt ikunu biss kastelli fl-arja? X’tiswa iktar kelmtek meta tiċħad is-sewwa magħruf? X’tiswa int u x’jiswew ta’ madwarek jekk tibdew tagħżqu bi kliem iktar fieragħ u faċċjoliżmi minflok ma terfgħu responsabilta li tkunu irbatt ruħek biha?

Muscat kien qal li jirriżenja jekk ma jitlestiex il-power station sa’ Marzu tal-2015. Issa reġa bdielu. Jaf lil jekk lin-nies iwiegħdhom roħs fil-kontijiet – jiġri x’jiġri – jaf iżomm dik l-art għammiela bi kwieta ftit ieħor. Sadattant Mizzi intbagħat jagħżaq b’akkużi oħra dwar għemil il-gvern passat sabiex jiddevja ftit l-attenzjoni minn nuqqasijiet ta’ dak ta’ llum. Għax għadhom jaħsbu li n-nies ċwieċ. Għadhom jgħodduhom bħala boloħ, li basta twiegħdhom ftit ċejċa u jkunu lesti jaħfrulek li tkun gdibtilhom f’wiċċhom.

Għadu, Muscat, ixejrilna il-pipa ta’ Magritte f’wiċċna. Għadu jirkanta kelmtu għal dawk l-imzazen li lesti jixtru bl-irħis. U kull ma jmur dik il-kelma qed titlef il-valur.

Kull ma jmur il-votant qed jitgħallem dan Muscat fiex isarraf.

Categories
Constitutional Development

Democracy Everywhere

indonesia_akkuzaJoseph Muscat’s positively progressive band of meritocratic men announce the scrapping of Local Council Elections as a cost cutting exercise and practically nobody other than the opposition bats an eyelid. Ah but the opposition is negative isn’t it? And we need to save money because this administration has turned the very business of government into an expensive enterprise by exploding the emoluments bill for the meritocratically selected mandarins that have been absorbed within its ranks (and thus artificially adjusting unemployment figures).

Muscat speaks so proudly of legislative reform and second republic and emancipation of younger voters but then takes a right royal crap on democratic representation. We should be used by now to his Carollian interpretation of all the mechanics of democratic representation and how the constitution really works. So long as the newspeak keeps the sheep happy.

Not so in the fourth most populous democracy in the world. An Islamic democracy to boot – with all the perceived connotations of a feeble grasp of how representation really work:

The Indonesian parliament voted to scrap direct elections for regional office-bearers early Friday — a decision that critics say is a step backward for democracy in the world’s fourth most populous nation and biggest Muslim-majority country.When Indonesians woke up to the news, many reacted with anger and fury. “A Democratic Betrayal,” read the Jakarta Globe headline on Friday. (TIME)

Indonesia must be replete with “negative thinkers” who are ready to pounce on and criticise a progressive and positive government. I am sure Muscat would have a word or two for the people gathering out of the Indonesian parliament: to protest the scrapping of local elections.

Wake up and smell the coffee indeed. Rather than hanging onto tired clichès about Simon Busuttil’s negativity, the electorate would do well to listen to the dangerous warning signals that he highlighted during the Independence Day speech. The erosion of a culture of democracy and democratic representation begins when the electorate is prepared to allow people like Muscat’s band to take them for a ride.

Scrapping local elections should never be on the cards. No excuse is good enough – particularly the ridiculous cost-cutting exercise that Muscat seems to be clinging to as a lame excuse.