Tag: Chris Cardona

Categories
Mediawatch

A Mess in Denial

denial_akkuza

The devil used to be in the detail. That was before the Labour government imploded. It’s a bit like what they tell us about some of the stars that we see at night. In truth they are not there, they vanished in a huge explosion a long, long time ago but since it takes light a great amount of time to reach us we still see the stars that are not there.

The Labour government has exploded on all counts. There is barely a ministry or minister who has not got it wrong – and by “it” I mean the whole business of politics. The explosion was gradual, a series of petards that began to hoist Muscat’s roadshow bit by bit. The damage containment was crucially successful at first with the “tu quoque” gambit lasting as long as the dupes who swallowed it allowed. What we are seeing now are the shards and splinters of the explosion flying past our eyes as we look on in disbelief at a government run by a PM who hails from a fireworks importing family get hoist by its own petard. Or petards.

The detail that is not so much a detail now lies in the daily exhibition of denials and weak counterarguments being doctored by government spokespersons, ministers and media. Requests for information turn quickly into denials of the shallowest kind. More often than not “public safety” or “economic sensitivity” are invoked to cover up evident blunders. And the lie is running thin.

Take Michael Falzon’s charade in parliament. The question put to him was clear – has anyone ever benefited from the same ad hoc arrangement that he has. An early retirement that is not really a retirement since he can return back to work with the company whenever he wants  (or at least in 2018). Falzon chose to focus on the sum for early retirement (and thereby distract from the crucial answer).

There were nationalists who got more. Indeed. Possibly. Setting aside the violation of privacy, Falzon failed to explain whether any of these nationalists had the right to return to the bank and get their job back notwithstanding the fact that they had obtained a retirement package. Ad hoc he said, much like the faffing in the last answer he gave before going mum – claiming that he would have to pay the retirement package back “pro rate’. How does that work exactly? Pro rata to what?

Ah the BOV. Good old BOV. The same BOV that is used by the government as a doormat at every opportunity. There it goes making good for 88 million euros out of the hundred something million that the beleaguered Electrogas is supposed to pump into the utopic power station (as promised by Shame On You Wife on Government Payroll). That’s the kind of guarantee no ordinary citizen in Taghna Lkoll Land will ever get. Basically what the bank is saying is that if something goes wrong and Electrogas cannot pay then it is the taxpayers money that will be used to make good. Do you think the government has justified this intervention? You guessed it. Another denial.

Electrogas and BOV that leads us straight to the Chris Cardona farce of a rental contract. If ever anything was evidently drafted ad hoc it is not Michael Falzon’s retirement package but rather Chris Cardona’s hastily drafted rental contract. Should it matter that this contract is signed with someone closely tied to the Electrogas business and that the contract swings excessively in favour of the tenant like no rental contract drafted in recent years has ever done before? Of course it should. We would not care if the implausible rental conditions (practically a gift given the circumstances) were between two normal citizens. But the Economy Minister accepting what is virtually a handout from a person linked to Electrogas. The alarm bells should be ringing. WHat we’ll get is more denials.

Owen Bonnici can wax lyrical about the supposed good the new party financing law will bring but so long as farces as Cardona’s can be carried out in full view then it is all exposed for what it is. A farce. A farce is what went on when Sai Mizzi Liang joined the PM to launch the ever so incredible charade that is being officially referred to as an investment by Huwawei.

The emptiness of this “investment” has been investigated at length elsewhere. We only need comment here that Mizzi Liang’s performance on this and the previous conference where she declared that “Finally we have found her” is below pathetic. Even from the little we could see, the behaviour, the gestures, the little words we got, we could tell that this was someone launched into a position that was far beyond the depth that she could cater for. It might have taken Simon Busuttil a trip to China to gauge that Sai is not fit for purpose but in truth a few minutes of a press conference gave us a glimpse of her absolute incompetence.

The Supernova in the middle of all this explosion is the hapless PM who either lives in denial or who has decided to just live out the next three years as some kind of perilous joyride. While all forms of protocol and institutional balance are thrown to the wind he persists in denying any accusation that his government and its pie in the sky projects (from Sadeen Unis to Medical Schools to Power Stations) is in absolute meltdown. He runs the most expensive cabinet ever that is proving to be the hugest bunch of incompetents ever to have (dis)graced the rooms of government.

It is a mess, in denial.

Categories
Corruption

Cardona’s Meritocracy

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“Nahseb ghandu dritt dan il-guvnott.” There they go again. Economy Minister Chris Cardona tried to ward off questions related to the appointment of Karl Cutajar (an 18 year old) to head the board of Fort Security Services – a newly set up government company. The controversy has raged for a few days now, especially since it has featured on Malta’s version of Wikileaks quite extensively (spreading to other relatives of Cardona’s Chief of Staff) so you’d expect the Minister to be better prepared to fend off questions.

Well, he is either not prepared or he is ignorant of the goings on under his watch. Just wait for some idiot to come and tell us that so long as Cardona has no “mens rea” then its ok.  They’ll tell us that notwithstanding the fact that the answers given by Cardona when “cornered” by the press with very legitimate set of questions smack of anything but a meritocratic approach to public appointments we must assume that he is cleaner than Caesar’s Wife.

As it happens judging by Cardona’s reply we have the following facts:

1. An 18 year old was employed by MIMCOL as an executive clerk (which could be quite ok – and is where the buck stops with “ghandu dritt dan il-guvnott”);

2. The 18 year old has been placed at the head of Fort Security Services which is a company that will be taking care of security on sites where the government is winding down operations such as Malta Shipbuilding;

3. His job on the board is not remunerated;

4. The best one – there will probably not be any persons employed by Fort Security Services so it’s anyone guess whether the 18 year old Cutajar will be doing all the night watching on his own (sans remuneration);

5. It is a complete and utter coincidence that the eighteen year old put at the head of a one-man security company sans remuneration is the nephew of the chief of staff of the minister under who’s remit the very same company falls.

There you have it. We have moved far beyond the “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” days. The denial of the patently obvious (tmeri is-sewwa maghruf) is now becoming a day-to-day business at the Taghna Lkoll factory. Never, never-ever has this amount of patent disregard of meritocracy while abusing the government appointments system reached these levels.

Taghna Lkoll indeed.

“Jghodd mhux dak illi taf imma lil min taf”.

Categories
Mediawatch

B’xorti tajba

2013-12-20 22.45.57

Lura Malta ghall-btajjel tal-Milied. Sabiħa s-sħana li tilqgħek bi nar u ġġiegħlek taħseb li l-bagalja ħwejjeġ sħan qajla se jintemssu. Inqas sabiħ il-bard ġewwa d-djar li qisu ħadd ma sab tarfha. Dan l-aħħar kull meta niġbor il-karozza tal-kiri u nsuq lejn Paceville inħossni qiegħed fil-film Johnny Stecchino ta’ Benigni u l-frażi dwar kif it-traffiku saret s-saħta kbira tal-pajjiż tibda thewden ġo moħħi.

Kullħadd mgħaġġel. Ftakart fil-program dwar crowd management li smajt dan l-aħħar fuq Radio 4 u dwar kif il-folla ma taħsibx b’moħħ prevedibbli. Li hemm żgur hu li it-traffiku malti għandu numru ta’ regoli innati li jikxfu egoiżmu sfrenat li jiżboq kull sens ta’ kollaborazzjoni sabiex jittaffew il-problemi. Maqbud ġo impromptu traffic jam ġewwa t-trejqiet ta’ madwar Sacred Heart (għax triq reġjonali kellha tiżvojta minħabba l-enneżimu inċident) r-radju weħel fuq il-ONE. L-aħbarijiet.

Tisma ftit dwar l-problemi tal-ittogati li kellhom party ġewwa l-awli sublimi tal-qorti (żibeeeel – kif jgħidu Sempliċiment tat-Triq fl-album “Qum Minn Hemm” li xtrajt mingħand il-Ġugar). Issa apparti li huwa ovvju li l-arrest arbitrarju illi seħħ huwa parti mit-tapizzerija unika u assurda tal-politika istituzzjonali maltija, u apparti li l-indinjazzjoni popolari setgħet tinħass kull fejn tisma jew taqra dwar l-eventi odjerni. Apparti dan kollu. Laqatni l-użu tas-sentiment popolari mis-Segretarju Parlamentari Owen Bonnici – qallu “the people ARE significant”. Xejn ħażin ta’ imma r-retorika tal-poplu li tfakkar f’sommossi u rivoluzzjonijet ma tkunx neċessarja jekk l-istituzzjonijiet jitħaddmu sewwa. Impeachment, Owen, u ħallikom mid-diskorsi dwar x’taħseb il-ġamaħirija.

L-istess Chris Cardona. Mar dar dawra il-ħwienet tal-Belt. Imnalla m’għadekx trid tħallas biex tidħol fil-kapitali wara s-sagħtejn għax issa tal-ħwienet tad-deheb u tat-Tommy Hillfiger jistgħu idawru sold li kien ħarab lejn tas-Sliema sal-Milied ta’ qabel. Cardona qisu ġa għamel survey xjentifiku għax ġa qatagħha li l-kummerċ żdied. Il-Milied it-tajjeb u n-nefqa għaqlija lil kullħadd.

Iżda tal-ONE żammew l-aħjar għall-aħħar. Kellhom servizz dwar it-traġedja li seħħet fit-Tijatru Apollo ta’ Londra. Indarbu 79 ruħ qalulna, 9 minnhom gravi. Issemmew xi anedotti dwar kif xi nies preżenti stħajlu lilhom infushom ġewwa minjiera tant kien hemm trab. Il-qarrejja qalhet li waqa’ “soffett” (sic) u imbagħad ħarġitilna l-coup de grace: “B’xorti tajba ma weġgħux Maltin”. Tiskanta. Kienet tgħaddi din il-frażi, qisha m’hi xejn. Imma filfatt hija riflessjoni ta’ kif jaħsbu bosta nies.

Fejn taf sinjorina qarrejja tal-aħbarijiet tas-Super One? Forsi mhux ix-xorti li żammithom il-bogħod mit-tijatru drammatiku lok ta’ drama. Forsi il-Maltin li qiegħdin għall-btajjel Londra kienu bieżlin ġo Oxford Street u Primark jimlew il-basktijiet tax-xiri u jistgħanaw f’orġja kummerċjali minn dawk li tant tfantas biha l-Onorevoli Cardona. Mhux għalihom il-ħin moħli jaraw ir-reċta dwar “The curious incident of a dog in the night”. L-għażla wisq probabbli tmur fil-kjuijiet quddiem kaxxieri tal-ħwienet tal-High Street Londoniża, jimbuttaw, jixxalaw u fuq kollox jixtru. Is-sentiment popolari hemm qiegħed, taf int. Il-kejl tagħhom, il-kejl tagħna lkoll.

U b’xorti tajba ma jweġġa’ ħadd.

2013-12-21 00.27.39
Paceville. It-triq tan-nies.

 

WARNING: You might find the content of the following video offensive. I’m afraid it might be terminal and it could be too late for a cure. Press play at your own risk.

Categories
Mediawatch

I know nothing

“I know nothing” can be quite an intelligent motto to carry around – particularly if it is as an expression of the Socratic paradox (scio me nescire). An appreciation of the limits of one’s knowledge is an important tool to carry about in life. Ignorance of the kind that is basically the mere absence of knowledge is a tool badly wielded. I am not sure whether feigned ignorance is any better either. At the end of the day “I know nothing” outside the comfort zone of the aforementioned Socratic paradox becomes a sort of Manuel-ish expression. Manuel as in the waiter from Barcelona.

Minister Chris Cardona and I were course colleagues and I would hate for him to fall under the category of ignorant advocates that our beloved faculty and university seem all too ready to produce nowadays. My worry is quite egoistic I admit though I am sure that Cardona’s latest flurry of denials of knowledge (a polite way of saying “proclamations of ignorance”) is probably based on the stressful nature of his post and the undeniably hard time he must be having catching up with all things commercial – what with his ever so unsuitable qualification as a lawyer.

So here he was faced by a Times’ journalist and posed with the question of whether something was not amiss with Malta Enterprise’s direct appointment of the wife of Energy Minister Mizzi to some post as an envoy for procurement of business from the Far East. Our modern day Lord MacCartney is none other than Sai Mizzi Liang the Chinese born wife of Minister Mizzi. Chris Cardona decided to faff through different phases that bordered between justification and denial:

1) I had no idea : “Don’t ask me I don’t know” was the gist, just before he proceeded to assume that ME (Malta Enterprise) needed a specialised person, that the recruitment system works in that manner and that ME picked out the person that best fitted what they deemed they needed.

2) How I think it should be done : Next Cardona gave us a lesson in opinion or “how I think it should be done”. Certain appointments should be made on the need that you have, he explains. Righto Mr. Minister but that is not legal is it? As in, it’s not why we have laws? Appointing people on the need that you feel you have is what, for want of a better word, an autocrat or a despot can do. For us mere democrats there’s boards and exams and calls for applications.

3) It’s always been like this : Inevitably this one had to be slipped in. Those nasty nationalists were apparently (or allegedly since Cardona was on a roll of assumptions there) doing the same thing in the past (really? How many Minister’s wives were appointed as envoys anywhere?). Far be it from me to look into evidence of the murky nationalist past – I don’t need to anyway. Aren’t we supposed to have a transparent and meritocratic government? Isn’t this the change they voted for? What rubbish.

4) The appointment was done in good faith: When facts fail you head for religion. We are to take the Minister’s word on the fact that he trusts that whoever made the appointment made it in good faith. Of course we do Chris. Somehow though I have a feeling it should not be working like that. Especially not with the loads a bull your government fed the people about meritocracy.

5) She is specialised: And then came the best part. Pressed for more answers by the journalist, Cardona had to answer the rather irritating question “But what is Sai Mizzi Liang specialised in?”. He starts off with a bit of mumbling about the fact that she is specialised in the “negozju” (commerce) of these nations but then cuts off suddenly and concludes: “She’s from there, she has a natural knowledge base”. So it is ignorance. Of the craziest kind. Still, you couldn’t expect anything less from a government flouting Vienna Convention rules in its appointment of diplomats. Ah the law… such a fickle thing.

To conclude I present you with a useless bit of our constitution that will soon (probably) fall redundant and be replaced by a new article entitled “On Appointment by Hunch, Good Faith and Nationality”. Enjoy it while it lasts. Ignorantia legis neminem excusat. (Subarticle 6 is particularly juicy).

 

Article 110 of the Constitution of Malta

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, power to make appointments to public offices and to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in any such offices shall vest in the Prime Minister, acting on therecommendation of the Public Service Commission:

Provided that the Prime Minister may, acting on the recommendation of the Public Service Commission, delegate in writing, subject to such conditions as may be specified in the instrument of delegation, any of the powers referred to in this sub-article to such public officer or other authority as may be specified in that instrument.

(2) A delegation of a power under this article –

(a) shall be without prejudice to the exercise of that power by the Prime Minister acting on the recommendation of the Public Service Commission;

(b) may authorise the public officer or other authority concerned to exercise that power either with or without reference to the Public Service Commission; and

(c) in respect of recruitment to public offices from outside the public service, shall, unless such recruitment is made after a public examination advertised in the Gazette, be exercised only through an employment service provided out of public funds which ensures that no distinction, exclusion or preference is made or given in favour or against any person by reason of his political opinion and which provides opportunity for employment solely in the best interests of the public service and of the nation generally.

(…)

(6) Recruitment for employment with any body established by the Constitution or by or under any other law, or with any partnership or other body in which the Government of Malta, or any such body as aforesaid, have a controlling interest or over which they have effective control, shall, unless such recruitment is made after a public examination duly advertised, be made through an employment service as provided in sub-article (2) of this article.