Tag: elections

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Campaign 2013

The Magritte Effect

I’ve already referred to this phenomenon earlier in the campaign. I’m calling it the Magritte Effect – the moment when you are told something but the picture and the clues before you are telling you a diametrically opposite story. This campaign more than any other has given us a steady dose of Magritte effects – your ears hear a statement, a story, a spin (or your eyes read it) but it is evident right from the start that it is a very very twisted distortion of what is reality. That’s it. This election has been one long hyperreal trip.

I cannot stand hearing any more protests about the “Wasted Vote” particularly when a vote for AD is practically the only vote that goes to a party that is not twisting truths or bending reality in order to seem to accomodate everything and everyone. A vote is a positive vote and that’s what you would be exercising should you chose to vote for Briguglio & Co. You’d be saying – “yes, there is one party that has given me a clear picture of what it wants and what it will do. I’m trusting them with my vote because they are not in bed with businessmen and other centres of interest, they have not sold their soul to any interest group that comes knocking. Yes, I hope they will get a seat in parliament – even in opposition – because I can trust them with representing my interests.”

As for the PLPN and their Magritte effect… where to start? How about funding? The ears hear Gonzi and Muscat waxing lyrical about party funding. We are told that both parties are fully accountable and don’t owe anyone any favours. Then our eyes see the PN getting a loan from businessman Nazzareno Vassallo and they insist (Look into my eyes, look into my eyes) that there are no obligations there. Labour speak as though they are the pauperissimi of the nation yet they are very evidently subsidised by big money – no obligations there either? Pull the other one. Let’s not forget Paul Borg Olivier’s infamous “we barter for our goods” statement and Labour’s never ending flow of cash with no real audited accounts. Then we are supposed to believe that these parties would self-discipline themselves should they be elected? Ha!

How about environment? The two main parties claim to be greener than an illicit hash deposit yet their wheelings and dealings with the hunting and squatting communities openly betray this deceit. Armier. Just one word should have you holding your noses and looking at the PLPN lists with disgust. It’s public land that will be given away there. Green public land in Armier, not that far away from JPO’s Mistra (remember that one). Then you see Labour all bla bla about being the best in Europe, better than Europe but when it comes to all the gas plans by Konrad Mizzi they seem to be more than prepared to ignore Environmental Assessments and safety directives. It’s their costings (coooostings) not mine you know. Magritte… we are green but we’ll be buggered if we’ll lose a few votes by staying green.

Then there’s the positive campaign business. A load of bollocks really. The last thing that Labour’s campaign has been is non-divisive. Rarely has Labour held back from slinging the mud even where it was evident that evidence was lacking. As for the PN. Ah, the masters of negative spin probably still hold some bombs in their arsenal. The apex of Magritt-ism was reached on the Runs the day the PN denied the persistent rumour that it had any dirt to bring out on Muscat’s personal life. Just look at this farce:

Ah good. I’m tired of being asked about this. Daphne Caruana Galizia

 

It couldn’t be more obviously comical and sad at the same time. The blogger is actually putting up the PN denial “No we don’t have any rumour on Muscat’s private life” then illustrates the blog with pictures that tell a different story – unattributed pics with unknown persons photographed with Muscat. There’s no better way to not kill a rumour than by adding more fuel to the rumour. A masterpiece from the blog that excels in tailoring, bespoke suits, funny hairlines and other such morass from the area of politics of taste.

The Magritte effect. It’s all over the place. PLPN are now busy trying to be what they are not. They need to be pleasant to anyone who could promise them a vote. Labour was busy rewriting history throughout the campaign – with a “we legalised homosexuality” lie here to a “we introduced stipends and opened university” lie there… the lie found fertile ground with the enthusiastic purveyors of non-change.

I’ve said it before and will say it again. Voting labour for change is like turning your underwear inside out and putting it on again. As for PN. Well PM Gonzi’s last displays of “trust us because there is nothing better than us” is the usual case of too little too late in many fields. It’s 2008 all over again. Vote for us to keep out the unelectable dinosaur that is labour. While there’s no denying at this point that the mascara riddled Labour party is a disaster in waiting, there’s also no denying that Gonzi’s PN failed on many counts to deal with the issues that were already pressing in 2008 – topmost among which is the issue of proportional representation in parliament.

Had these issues been dealt with we would not be speaking of wasted votes and insulting thousands of voters who could be about to vote positively (and not for the lesser evil default) with more confidence. 5 years ago they were busy backing up JPO to the hilt in order to scrape as many votes as possible (which they did). They told many to put their priorities of representation to the side and get the PN in – their priorities would be dealt with later.

Here we are again. 2013. This time voters have a clear and open opportunity to show that they see through the Magritte effect. They have a chance to use their vote positively and elect someone who can guarantee he will represent their interests even from the benches of the opposition.

In a campaign that is bereft with lies and faux promises the only party that has shown consistency and a consistency that yearns to be at your service is alternattiva demokratika.

A vote for alternattiva is a vote for real representation. It is a vote for change.

Don’t waste yours on fake effects. Don’t waste your vote. Vote AD.

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Campaign 2013

Vote AD, get AD.

So it begins. It was inevitable that the moment the PN would start to see a tiny sliver of hope it would turn on alternattiva voters like there’s no tomorrow. It has happened before and it will go on happening with the timing of a swiss clock (did I say both swiss and clock in one phrase?) so long as the current rules of the game apply. Potential AD voters are targeted and accused of being irresponsible or of not knowing how to work out the math because it is obvious that if AD did not exist they would be voting anything but the dangerous, dangerous labour. But that is not the point is it? Here is what you should be thinking.

PLPN don’t own your vote

It’s the whole point of a campaign. At the start of a campaign it is assumed that no party has a guaranteed vote. It is supposed to earn them  with its proposals and plans. It is supposed to convince you. So to begin with your vote is not owned by anyone. If you chose to vote AD then no other party “loses” votes since it did not have them in the first place. Only arrogant parties who believe that the world is divided between partisan hotheads and “switchers” (the new floaters) believe that votes are “lost”. Voting AD means sending out a number of messages. It means that you have seen what the party has to offer and that you believe that you are best represented in parliament by that party.

It’s not about governance stupid

Oh. They will tell you that one of the two main parties needs a clear majority to be able to govern with stability. You are irresponsible if you let AD get in the way of the stability. But what does stability mean currently? It means that the PLPN can “govern” for five years and steamroller over the minority. Remember we had a relative majority government – 49% of the people for the last five years. That government failed to change the laws relating to electoral representation notwithstanding the fact that it had used and abused the flaws of representation last time round. Yes, five years back we had the same issues – party flag waving opinion columnists accused ad voters of setting themselves up as objects of hate right before voting in the stable government of JPO (number one in Bidnija), Franco Debono and Jesmond Mugliett. We were told then (remember Dudu?) that we should give priority to keeping Sant out then the PN would magically reform the electoral nonsense and give the world a fairer system. Ha!

Five years on

Voting AD is a statement. A positive one. It has nothing to do with tribal politics and everything to do with it. Right now AD carries the sole responsibility of being the third alternative. Ideally you would be voting AD because you found their proposals convincing. Another reason would be your refusal to be an accomplice to the PLPN hegemony – and that is becoming an important reason too. This campaign has shown us more than ever the true colours of the PLPN. Both parties are deeply indebted to wider circles of power prominent among which are the business community. They are parties that can shrug off a quarter of a million load as though it was everyday business, they deal in bartering and they seem to be inexplicably able to fund multi-millionaire campaigns.

You might have an inbuilt sympathy for one of the two parties that might come from an upbringing within a partisan milieu – the kind that the Labour Courage video tried to tap – but that does not make you a nationalist or labourite. It might help you find it easier not to vote for one of the parties and a little less easier not to vote for another. It’s a bad habit though nothing more. Remember nobody owns your vote. Your vote needs to be deserved. It cannot be won over on the eve of an election with the usual fear-mongering.

You reflected. You saw the rot that the PLPN have given us and the rot they are promising to propagate. You chose to vote AD and are determined to vote AD come election day. Nobody is losing your vote. Your vote goes towards making history. Towards change.

Nivvota AD. Ghax ma nibzax minnek.

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Campaign 2013

The Barrel’s Bottom

Did you ever wonder where we got the expression “scraping the bottom of the barrel”? Why the barrel? What’s wrong with the bottom? Well it comes from the time when fruit – apples for example – were stored in barrels and the apples that would be left at the bottom of the barrel would be bruised and not the best quality. Hence “scraping the bottom of the barrel” or choosing from what is left. Choosing from among the worst because you have no other choice. Yep, you can see where I am going with this but I cannot help it can I?

Here we are getting ever closer to E-day (that’s election not ecstasy) and the level of political discourse has descended into predictable levels of exchanges of circum tauri (that’s bullshit in the vernacular). Do you remember those early halcyon days when we all yearned for political programmes/manifestos to be published so as to see what the parties have to offer or criticise? Well they came and went in a flurry of billboards, buzzwords and bull. We are now left with the dark side of politics doing the works.

The gullibility gene is not very common in my family and therefore I insist on looking at what  the parties have to offer with a critical eye that is above any partisan impulse – much to either side’s chagrin of course. So, at this point, what do the parties have to offer to the arms-length observer? Nothing. Well, not nothing really but an exchange of accusations and finger-pointing that are meant to point out to us that “the other side” is up to its neck in corruption.

Joseph’s Labour is high on a wave of enthusiasm. It has mastered the “unity” con to perfection. Hi party spent five years spinning the yarn that Malta is the pits and practically in need of salvation with half the country (or more) living in appalling conditions and who cannot afford the slightest bit of distraction let alone luxury. Built on the platform of the expensive utilities, wrought around the eccentricities of Franco Debono’s earthquakes and decorated with the stucco of “the face of change” complete with new logo and the  practical disapparition of the political party, Joseph’s movement spun it’s own fairytale where the inevitable conclusion would be a brighter future under what would supposedly be a government for all.

Underneath all the rhetoric lie a ramshackle set of populist measures and a team that is far from promising for the future. Yet the plan sells. It sells mainly because the build up fed what Maltese know how to do best and that is be generally dissatisfied and grumble. It also sells because the other lot have proceeded down the slippery slope to mediocrity and have become an easier target than ever.

In fact, speaking of the other lot, what were they thinking? The blue and red faces from the latest billboard must win the prize for the worst premeditated electoral gaffe ever. The nationalist don’t only seem to have lost it but they are also forming committees trying hard to find out what “it” is and how to possibly bring “it” back. For one time too many they have fallen in this false trap laid by Joseph’s minions – playing into the role of “evil divisive party”. They don’t even seem to understand the fallout of this “blue or red face” business in real terms. “Look beyond the rhetoric” they tell us. Sure. We’re trying but there’s nothing, nowhere.

The truth is out there but nobody seems to be bothering to look for it. The panem et circenses of the parties’ criminal spin has reached new heights of popularity. Labour are trying their damnedest to link the PN (and particularly Minister Gatt) to the oil scandals. Joseph keeps dropping hints that are supposed to “raise eyebrows” but end up being intellectual demi-farts that can only be fawned upon by a journalistic class that has been trained to ask “How high?” whenever he says “jump”. Truth is there is nothing linking the PN or government to the oil commissions. It is definitely a corrupt web that has been uncovered but a web that could have existed under any government.

Then the PN comes along and brings out its undercover recordings. Sure we have documented evidence of dirty business in party clubs being covered up by high level party members – a deputy leader and now possibly a leader to boot. It’s bad. Very bad. But something tells me that party clubs across the island are not exactly hosting M.U.S.E.U.M. meetings as the nationalist party pole dancing club proved back in 2010. Then again there’s another point to be made here. Why did the PN bring out 2010 recordings now? Was it ok to sit on them for so long?

The tired spin is now going to extremes. We are in what I call a Magritte moment – you are slammed with a pipe right in front of you and then you are told “This is not a pipe”. What I find is that the more time passes the more the enthusiastic carcading voters are willing to believe the words that are being channelled into their head and not the big picture that is being painted so clearly before them.

In a normal world the picture would tell them a very clear message: that not everything (if anything) is right in both the houses. Yes, I will take the arrogant position and judge voters by accusing them of ignoring the possibility of an alternative vote. While both parties scrape the bottom of the barrel we should be dismissing them as an option. At least those of us who refuse to have our intelligence insulted. We should not be carried away by the simple puerile motivation of “they’ve been too long in power” or “they haven’t changed one bit”. Instead of letting the filth cancel each other out and returning to our instinctive partisan bias we should be rejecting the idea of abetting the return of the PLPN hegemony to power one more time.

There are no more excuses not to vote different. No amount of baseless accusations about “wasted vote” or “responsible voting” should stand in the way of a nation that desperately deserves much more than this barrel-bottom politics that it so gullibly accepts every five years or so.

This time round you could really make the difference. It’s either that or more of the usual shit guaranteed.

 

 

Categories
Campaign 2013

The Love Labour’s Lost

Enough. Really. There’s only so long that you can keep a straight face and try to fit into what this sad excuse of a political caravan considers to be politically correct. Joseph Muscat’s  five year honeymoon with the electorate as heir to the throne is coming to an end. Sadly, he is winning. Sadly, he is managing to con his way into Castille. I’ve had it up to here with “defending” this blog from accusations of being “inherently nationalist”. It’s a waste of time and resources.

What this blog tries to do (and quite frankly I think it manages) is to point out the realities that are hidden behind the marketing ploys and messages that the PLPN system has refined to quasi-perfection. When we look at Joseph and Labour we do not see it in contrast to Lawrence and PN but rather we try to give the party and its leader a chance to shine in its own right – to prove itself on its own steam.

So what remains once you remove the repetitive mantra that boils down to “how bad, corrupt and dangerous the PN is”? Nothing. Our verdict on the energy plan is a damning “Could Do Better (hopefully)”. Then we have to suffer the pain of hearing about how Muscat’s measures are all inspired by some latter-day Keynesian fiction of putting more money in pockets. What money though? If you stand up and say that the “savings” on the electricity bill will not go a long way to reviving an ailing economy then you are either nationalist or ignorant. This is not me blaming Labour for whatever is happening in the Standard & Poor’s rating department (tort ta’ min?). This is me not believing that Labour is the solution to the problems that they themselves are so keen on highlighting.

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AD BREAK

Thank you for reading… you might like this link once you’ve finished with this post: A time for lemons

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Whenever Muscat comes up with a new proposal – take free child care – he forgets that nothing comes for free and that someone, somewhere will be paying it. Will the savings on the new power bills be paying for the child carers wages too? It’s insane. It’s like standing and watching the Pied Piper charm a village into oblivion. He’s done his homework all right. From where we are standing (and that’s a safe distance from the two camps) we can easily see why the warts and arrogance of the PN crowd will always outweigh any measure of reasonable doubt with regards to who can best manage the country and its finances – especially once you throw in the “twenty-five years have hurt” bit into the equation. But is that enough?

Yes. We are victims of our winner takes all electoral system. Yes I will end up being labelled “nationalist” a the end of this rant even though it is not intended to tell you to Vote PN but simply is an exposition of why I can not Vote Labour. The worst part of Muscat’s plan is the rhetoric. It’s the one based around “Malta Taghna Lkoll” and the falso buonismo that really gets on your tits. It is the dumbing down of argumentation by aiming for the questionable mantra of setting aside disagreement for the sake of the country. It is built on relativist opportunism where opinions count more than facts and has a fairy tale wishy washy feeling all round.

Lawrence Gonzi has gone on record yesterday stating that “Muscat is so ashamed of Labour that he speaks, dresses and acts like a Nationalist.” What is that supposed to mean? The only truth I see in that statement is that Muscat has hooked on to what kind of façade is appealing to the electorate and has taken to mimicking those who have hitherto been the masters of the PR. It has nothing to do with dressing “like a Nationalist” or “like a Labourite” (although the fact that Gonzi thinks that way is worrying in itself) – but rather it has a lot to do with knowing what appeals best to the electorate that you are trying to win over. Xinxilli we’d call them in Maltese.

If we really wanted to play the “blame game” (tort ta’ min) then we’d find out that the new Labour outfit – more noise and colour than substance – is just what the spin doctor had ordered of the PN team for the last couple of elections. They’re in sync now – promising the earth on the eve of an election, turning their enemy into a monster in the process (iva Narcy, ibezzghu… kollha kemm huma), and investing heavily in special effects (remember how the campaign kicked off). This time round the money factor swung heavily in favour of the PL – our wonderful entrepreneurial sector having sniffed a possibility of change are now hedging their bets with those fantastic donations that will never be seen in the accounts that Labour never really publishes.

What does that say to all of us? That Labour is change? If Labour is about change then I’m Mother Therese reincarnate. This election is once again not about change. It’s about Same, same but different. It could not have been otherwise – our system is fine tuned to force us into the Hobson’s Choice equation every five years. The dilution of real politics has been a constant for over ten years now and there seems to be no hope in sight unless somebody is brave enough to break the mould.

As for Labour. Chapeau for the campaign – it is deceptively brilliant. I’d hate to be in Joseph Muscat’s shoes the moment the carcades peter out, the last firework explodes and the door of his office opens for the first day in Castille. I’m sure that on that day his promise of resigning if things go Pete Tong will not be of any consolation.

To anyone.

P.S. Happy Birthday Joseph.

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Campaign 2013 Mediawatch

Swing!

A long weekend away from the hustle and bustle of politics is not going to stop “everything” from happening. Try as you may to minimise access to wifi you still get whispers of the goings-on beyond the breakwater at Sète or the Place de la Comedie in Montpellier. Comedic much of it turned out to be – particularly the extension of the simulated obsession with All Things Franco. I get the nagging feeling that the obsession is “simulated” and forms part of the general distraction that has fortuitously blown in the PN government’s direction since Dalligate exploded. It’s a bit like a circus with a multiplicity of acts (if Silvio Zammit will pardon the reference) uncannily well placed to become a modern day “panem et circenses” for the easily distracted multitude.

Where to begin? The Debono-Calleja spat might have hogged the limelight of the absurdly surreal to such an extent as to rudely eclipse Malta’s feeble attempt at approximating the Obama – Romney debates. Somehow the gossip circle and the politically amateur auras that pervade Maltese savoir-faire manage to keep the likes of Franco Debono, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando (and in other circles Emmy Bezzina) floating at the centre of attention in much the same manner as  undesirable pieces of excrement suddenly turn up floating close to a beach and draw the attention away from all other forms of beach-side frolic. Lest you forget J’accuse has long pronounced a verdict of “irrelevant” on the side-shows that are the backbench relics – dedicating columns of opinion space to their antics and “ideas” is just a waste of time.

Back to the “main parties” then. Yes the ones who happily insist on ignoring the blatant need for an electoral law reform and engage in Punch and Judy tactics on such issues as “voters abroad” or “balance of information in public media” while gainfully exploiting every nook and loophole designed for their greater comfort. It turns out that the Gonzi – Muscat debate was anything but a blast. The feeling I get was that the experienced PM got one better than Muscat but that this victory was achieved in much the same way as Mourinho’s stellar team would win matches – entrenched in defence in the hope that one long ball to a speedy long-legged attacker could do the trick. Apparently the long ball came early with some exchange about a Brasilian company that did or did not set up quarter in Malta.

First things first. What emerged clearly from the reporting of the debate is that both parties insist on keeping the level of discussion strictly away from presenting ideas and plans for the future and to confine the chitchat to “You are ugly” and “Your family stinks” sort of behaviour as best manifested by the billboards. James Debono expressed my exact sentiments when he described Joseph Muscat’s attitude to electoral plans as an “I show you mine you show me yours” approach. Drawing parallels to kindergarten banter is fast becoming a cliché in itself but this is what our political intelligentia have to offer us in 2012 ladies and gentlemen.

In a way it should have been obvious. If we want everything to change then everything must remain the same. It’s as old as the hills in the Mediterranean. I read about Alaric, a Goth or Wisigoth, who had decided to take on the Roman regions of Narbonne and had grand plans to obliterate the memory of Rome and replace it with some Goth equivalent (at the time not exclusively linked to black make up). When he noticed it would be a tad difficult he opted for the Med option – he took the place of the Romans and acted as though nothing ever changed. That was in the 7th century AD. It still works today. The battleground for a symbol of change has never been so wide – and so confusing. On the one hand you have Prince Simon the anointed one (in yet another pointless distraction) exclaiming how yes – change is necessary and he is the one to bring it about. On the other you have Joseph who is trying hard to explain that we need to rid ourselves of the nationalist scourge but at the same time he is at pains to point out that the switchover to his party will be painless : almost as though no change has really happened.

Contradictions? You’ll get plenty of them. We still have not spoken about Tonio Borg but we’ll leave that for another time. Today is the day we should be focusing on the US where Republicans are hoping to swing the vote from the agent of change himself. Reporting from across the pond has it that this has been very much of a déja-vu campaign. Both the GOP and the Democrats are recycling old speeches. I strongly suspect that this has much to do with an increasingly unfathomable and volatile electorate. The post-crisis world has shaken liberal democracy at its very foundations – it is not in trouble but some major tweaking might be in order to re-establish the age old Hobbesian covenant upon new terms and criteria.

Representation is not what it used to be and the represented are beginning to take note… (finally I would add). Last night we had a vivid exchange between two MPs. One ended up asking the other (sarcastically, we hope) whether he had inherited parliament from his aunt. Ironically we should be asking the question to both our main parties – or at least reminding them that parliament is not theirs to own but ours to entrust.

In the end… all that matters might be the swing.

 

Categories
Campaign 2013

The surreal case of (ex) Commissioner Dalli

The next time there is an election for Sliema’s local council don’t expect a long list of potential candidates queueing outside Paul Borg Olivier’s door.  Silvio Zammit (no relation) is the latest PN councillor (and deputy mayor) to resign from his post citing “personal reasons”. Of course, the fact that he is embroiled in the scandal that has rocked the European Commission might be much more than a personal reason but hey… who’s nitpicking here? At the time of writing this post we do not have much to rely upon other than a statement by John Dalli (no surprise there – denial of involvement) and press statements by the Commission shedding light on the results of an OLAF (anti-Fraud office) report into the matter.

The unavailability of any further facts precludes anyone from acting as judge and jury on John Dalli, Silvio Zammit or the OLAF office for all that matters – without facts it is all based on speculation. This does not mean however that the goings-on over the last 24 hours do not merit more than a passing observation since a number of conclusions can be drawn – irrespective of the where the final proof will ultimately take us. Here goes:

1. Malta’s shame – PN’s dishonour

There’s a scandal in the Commission and it involves a Maltese nominated Commissioner. No amount of “boo-ya I told you so” celebrations on the part of some anti-Dalli factions within the PN will compensate for that one. If, as seems to be the general theory, the post of Commissioner was used as a sort of “kicking upstairs” of an inconvenient politician (a policy that seems to make party priorities trump national interest) then it is clear where the responsibility lies. If a one-man show blog could come up with this kind of CV for Dalli we can really see the nomination for Commissioner in perspective.

In comparison to the pie-on-the-face that comes along with a disgraced Commissioner, the  Silvio Zammit bit of the scandal is tantamount to a few crumbs on one’s beard. Be that as it may, it is no insignificant fact that Silvio Zammit was until a few hours ago a PN councillor who ran for elections in a locality on a PN ticket. The mere existence of the emails linking him with the Swedish company suffice to demonstrate that Silvio Zammit is used to an unorthodox way of approaching politics and that is a euphemism. His antics have contributed to adding him to an increasingly long list of ex-PN councillors who fail to understand the basic concept of proper political behaviour. This is a massive fail for the nationalist party – a huge glitch in the system that can only be exacerbated if the right scrutiny is not exercised on future candidates: at both local and national level.

2. Media wars

There was a banal exercise of mental masturbation yesterday as different “media companies” battled for the unenviable prize of having “broken the news” of Dalli’s resignation. I first heard of it via a phone call of a relative of mine who told me that RTK had just included a flash news in the bulletin. I am no authority on “who came first” in this instance though and quite frankly being first to get the news is nowadays much less important since the “scoop” is liable to lose its unique value in minutes if not seconds. What is more important is getting the right news and the right information. Not giving the news a particular slant at an early stage is important (as Natalino Fenech rightly could teach a few elements within the Labour party) .

So what did we know and what did the media tell us? Here’s a list of statements lifted from different media sources with a CONFIRMED OR UNVERIFIED quotient:

  1. 1. John Dalli has resigned from his post of Commissioner – (CONFIRMED) – (ALL NEWS)
  2. His resignation follows an OLAF investigation into alleged fraudulent activities – (CONFIRMED) – (ALL NEWS)
  3. The alleged activities involve contacts between a businessman and acquaintance of John Dalli & a Swedish Tobacco company (CONFIRMED) – (CM RELEASE)
  4. OLAF found conclusive proof of exchanges between this businessman and the Swedish Company. (CONFIRMED) – (REPORTS OF EMAILS & CM RELEASE)
  5. The OLAF report did not find any conclusive evidence of the direct participation of Mr Dalli but did consider that he was aware of these events (CONFIRMED) – (CM RELEASE)
  6. John Dalli categorically denies being aware of these events (CONFIRMED) – (PBS TVHEMM interview)
  7. The OLAF report showed clearly that the European Commission’s decision-making process and the position of the services concerned has not been affected at all by the matters under investigation. (CONFIRMED) – (CM RELEASE)
  8. The corrupt activity involved a Maltese businessman named as Silvio Zammit (TIMES, MALTATODAY, DI-VE – no explanation of how his name is out).
  9. The corrupt activity involved a Maltese entrepreneur who had approached the company using his contacts with Mr Dalli and sought to gain financial advantages in exchange for influence over a possible future legislative proposal on snus. (CONFIRMED – CM RELEASE, OLAF REPORT)

At this point we have to look at an article by MaltaToday that stands out for a particular slant that it gives to the correspondence between Zammit and Swedish Match. All the information gleaned from most sources (and in particular the Commission’s press statement) indicated that Zammit had contacted Swedish Match and that he “sought to gain financial advantages in exchange for influence over a possible future legislative proposal”. Whatever way that is read you get the idea that Zammit contacted Swedish Match and offered to use his confidence with John Dalli in order to influence future Tobacco law. The phrase “sought to gain financial advantage” clearly implies that Zammit offered his services for a fee.

Yet. And this is a bit yet. Maltatoday, having claimed to have seen part or all of the email exchange, titles its article “Silvio Zammit was offered fee to set up meeting with John Dalli – email“. In the article in question we find the following paragraphs:

MaltaToday is informed that Zammit was in contact with Swedish Match over the possibility of influencing John Dalli ahead of a major revision of the Tobacco Products Directive that would have further regulated the access of tobacco to minors and other non-tobacco products like Swedish Match’s snus.

Swedish Match told MaltaToday that had they received an “indecent proposal that was a real and credible offer” by a Maltese businessman who claimed he could influence Dalli on his anti-tobacco legislation.

According to the email between Zammit and Swedish Match, the Nationalist councillor was offered a fee to broker a meeting between the company and John Dalli.

This information does not result from any other publicly available piece of news. MaltaToday is giving a diametrically opposite twist to the events by implying that “according to the email between Zammit and Swedish match”, Silvio Zammit was offered a fee to broker a meeting between the company and John Dalli. So it would seem that rather than sending an email to the Swedish company in which he offered his services in exchange for a fee, Zammit – once contact was established – actually received an offer of a fee to broker the meeting. Which would be rather strange since the Swedish company then proceeded to report the facts to the Commission/OLAF for investigation.

It is in John Dalli’s interests to first and foremost prove that he had no knowledge of the going-on. Insofar as the current situation is concerned that would exclude him from the corrupt activities that allegedly involve the former Sliema PN Councillor. Whether or not the Swedish company or Silvio Zammit was doing the “offering” is irrelevant to John Dalli once he manages to prove that he was extraneous to the whole events.

Meanwhile, MaltaToday would do well to either publish the emails in its possession or rewrite the article in question in order to eliminate any ambiguity. Unless of course ambiguity was the original intention of the article (not that the headline leaves much space to imagination).

3. Conclusions

In this pre-election run up Dalli finds himself once again out of the game. New scandals, new allegations mean that any aspirations he had to join the dagger-fest that is brewing in Pietà must perforce be put on hold. The nationalist party does not come out of this series of events any stronger. Pie on Dalli’s face is pie on Lawrence Gonzi’s nomination for commissioner – a serious post that commands respect (which also puts a huge petard on the ridiculous conspiracy theories involving a nationalist plot to rid themselves of Dalli).

For starters the PN government has to nominate a new commissioner – and if this is to be a valid, face-saving politician it means disqualifying one of the big guns from the forthcoming national election. Tonio Borg is being mentioned and I would not be surprised if Simon Busuttil get a few virtual votes either. Everybody seems to be forgetting about our Ambassador Emeritus at this point – who better to sit wisely on a Commission seat? Labour exponents seem to be fantasticating about “Labour’s right” to nominate the commissioner. Nothing would be more ridiculous. That bright europarliamentarian Joseph Cuschieri has even suggested Alfred Sant – of course, Alfred “Switzerland in the Mediterranean” Sant. As they like to say with so much tongue in cheek in their parts… bir-rispett kollu!

As for Silvio Zammit. Well, he is definitely not the last of the PN circus act (pardon the pun) to have hit a brick wall when it comes to politics. Unless something is done about having a proper school of politicians – not the yes men kind who dwell on the mistaken idea that it is all about power and networking – then we surely have more surprises in the waiting from the nationalist party stables.

 

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CM RELEASE – PRESS STATEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION – 16 OCTOBER 2012

Press statement on behalf of the European Commission

Commissioner John Dalli has today announced his resignation as a member of the Commission, with immediate effect.

Mr Dalli informed the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso of his decision following an investigation by OLAF, the EU’s antifraud office, into a complaint made in May 2012 by the tobacco producer, Swedish Match. The company alleged that a Maltese entrepreneur had used his contacts with Mr Dalli to try to gain financial advantages from the company in return for seeking to influence a possible future legislative proposal on tobacco products, in particular on the EU export ban on snus . As soon as the Commission received the complaint it immediately requested OLAF to investigate.

The OLAF final report was sent to the Commission on 15 October. It found that the Maltese entrepreneur had approached the company using his contacts with Mr Dalli and sought to gain financial advantages in exchange for influence over a possible future legislative proposal on snus. No transaction was concluded between the company and the entrepreneur and no payment was made. The OLAF report did not find any conclusive evidence of the direct participation of Mr Dalli but did consider that he was aware of these events.

The OLAF report showed clearly that the European Commission’s decision making process and the position of the services concerned has not been affected at all by the matters under investigation.

The final OLAF report and its recommendations are being sent by OLAF to the Attorney General of Malta. It will now be for the Maltese judiciary to decide how to follow up.

After the President informed Mr Dalli about the report received from OLAF, Mr Dalli decided to resign in order to be able to defend his reputation and that of the Commission. Mr Dalli categorically rejects these findings.

Mr Barroso has decided that Vice President Maros Sefcovic will take over the portfolio of Mr Dalli on an interim basis until a new Commissioner of Maltese nationality is appointed in accordance with article 246 (2) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union.

Mr Giovanni Kessler, Director-General of OLAF will be available in the press room after the midday briefing tomorrow.