Category: Long & Short

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Long & Short

Long & Short 3 – Delia Clutching at Straws

“Irid ikun il-Kap tal-Partit li jrid ikun il-Kap tal-Oppozizzjoni.”

Adrian Delia, former Leader of the Opposition, Leader of the Nationalist Party

1. FACT: This is rubbish being peddled by Adrian Delia. Pure and utter bullshit.
2. FACT: Even if we consider the roundabout way George “standby” Vella will ask every single member to confirm their lack of confidence in Delia. The point still stands – Delia’s appointment by the President to Leader of opposition in the house has to be revoked.
3. FACT: Delia’s insistence that the only person to fill the new post has to be the Leader of the Party is a lie. It is based on a literal interpretation of the article relating to the appointment of the Leader of the Opposition in the House.
4. FACT: If the Leader of the Party no longer enjoys the confidence of the majority of MPs in opposition then it is clear that the other option would be triggered: the MP from the majority party in opposition who enjoys the confidence of a majority of MPs will be appointed. This is what Delia is hiding from.
5. FACT: Delia is hoping to shift battleground to the challenge for leadership of the party with his various tesserati propping him up. This should not preclude George Vella from removing him from Leader of the Opposition in the House.
6. FACT: No matter how many facebook posts or poems Delia will use to claim that he still is the Leader of the Opposition in the House, he is, by law, already out of that office. We only have to wait for the President to finish his roundabout consultation and confirm the obvious – that Delia no longer enjoys the confidence of the majority of MPs in opposition.
7. FACT: The President isn’t bound by the PN Statute and has to apply 90(4) (revocation). With Delia’s reading 90(4) would be just a decoration.
8. OPINION: Again we are witnessing a political party attempting to manipulate constitutional issues for its own needs. Again a political party and its troubled leader is trumping the highest institution of the land – The President of the Republic. George Vella must stop dragging his feet and he must revoke Delia’s appointment yesterday.

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Long & Short

Long & Short 2 – The Therese Comodini Cachia nomination

1. FACT: Therese Comodini Cachia has been nominated to the post of Leader of the Opposition of the House.
2. FACT: She has been nominated because she enjoys the confidence of a majority from the largest group of members in the opposition. (read majority from among the PN MPs)
3. FACT: Adrian Delia is still Leader (Kap) of the Nationalist Party.
4. FACT: The constitution does allow for a Leader of the Opposition to be different from the Leader of the Party
5. FACT: If the newly paraded statute of the PN can be interpreted in a way that violates the constitutional provisions then it is the statute that is null, not the constitution.
6. OPINION: the mere fact that the PN statute was rewritten in this way provides ample evidence of the arrogant attitude that the main political parties have with regards to the constitution. They have always considered it their playground and their carpet.
7. OPINION: Therese Comodini Cachia’s nomination is most welcome and this not because she is a woman (which should not matter one bit, ever) but because she has proven her mettle time and again. I was one of those who harshly criticised her original decision to not take her seat in parliament when elected. I recognize her change of mind as an active conscious choice to take part in the struggle against corruption.
8. OPINION: the true test for the PN is not which faction wins the next steps but rather whether the old PN reflected in the clumsy statute changes will be left to die and a new PN that reneges the tribalist aspects of its past will replace it. There is a long way to go.

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Long & Short

Long & Short 1 – Delia Leader of the Opposition no more

The Delia is no longer Leader of the Opposition de facto post.

1. FACT: Delia no longer enjoys the confidence of the majority of opposition MPs in parliament.
2. FACT: Delia himself made this information public right after the vote in his press conference.
3. FACT: President George Vella knows of the two facts above, so much so he has declared himself to be on “standby”.
4. FACT: Under the Constitution with these facts in hand the President is OBLIGED to revoke the appointment of Adrian Delia to the Office of Leader of the Opposition.
5. FACT: The revocation can occur without any person replacing Delia immediately. The Office of the Leader of the Opposition could be vacant until when a new one is appointed.
6. FACT: A law abiding and constitution respecting Delia would have gone HIMSELF to the President to inform him of the fact that he no longer enjoys the confidence of the majority.
7. FACT: The Office of the Leader of the Opposition in the House and the position of Party Leader are mutually exclusive.
8. FACT: The ‘rebel’ MPs can agree on one among them who can replace Delia as Leader of the Opposition in the House. Then and only then should they present themselves to the Office of the President with such a new nomination.
9. OPINION: the shambles we are in continues to confirm the blatant disregard that our traditionally strong political parties have for the constitution. They have hitherto only used it as a means to their end. It will be hard to shift from this mentality.