Time to vote

Long time no blog ! Well with these wretched exams I guess my free time has shortened . As I'm sure you know by now Europe will go to the polls in these 5 days ( depending on your country) to choose their representatives in Parliament . Before moving on to campaign issues I would like to urge all those citizens who have a vote ( unlike me ) to get out and vote ! The European Parliament is one of the strongest bodies in world politics . Many people ask : But can five MEPS from Malta really make the difference ? The answer is : yes . 5 MEPs can make a difference and can put forward the issues that really concern you : immigration , the environment and so much more.


On to local campaign issues:


It dosen't take a genius to predict that the Nationalist Party will be beaten badly on Saturday . In these Euro Elections many of the governing parties will fare badly , take Gordon Brown for example. The British Prime Minister's government seems to be falling to pieces at the moment due to his handling of the credit crunch and his handling of possibly the biggest political crisis to hit the UK , the expenses scandal. So it will be no suprise that if on Sunday 7th June we are woken up to shouts of 'Viva l-Lejber Viva l-Lejber Hej Hej ! ' . It really is a sad thought that the two european parliament elections to be held in this country will won by the same party that 6 years ago was telling us that membership in the EU would see our country isolated amongst the big countries or that the fabric industry in Malta would cease to exist.
If one take's a look at Labour's campaign he would easily be fooled into believing that this was a national election campaign that was going to bring down the government . Billboards such as ' GONZI TILEF IL-KONTROLL ( Gonzi has lost conrol) would usually be put up in national campaigns however in this campaign I have only seen a few posters, billboards, leaflets explaining what the 4 Labour MEPS have done in these five years. One would also think this is a general election when he hears PL candidates like Claudete Abela Baldachinno ( yes the Super One journalist who during the referendum campaign was spreading lies about the EU ) being asked why voters should choose Labour and she blantly says 'Ax Gonzi Dahak Bik' or Joseph Cuschieri's rant on the radio this morning in which he didn't even mention the words 'Unjoni Ewropea'. Now obviously these words have no relation to the EU however let us say these words were used in a national campaign what gurantee do we have that Joseph Muscat won't do the same if he is Prime Minister ? Where are the soloutions to Malta's problems ? When Labour say that there is a problem with employment how come their manifesto only contains 6 proposals regarding work while the PN's contain's 30 ? Wasn't he doing the same during the Referendum leading the campaign of EU lies with his Super One counterparts ? Wasn't he doing the same when in 2005 he tried to lose funds in the Marsascala Recycling centre ? Hasn't he done the same when promising a new way of politics when elected leader and yet we still have the same faces from labour and the same old tricks ? Typical example : the obvious spin done by Dr.Muscat himself to PN candidate Dr. Alex Perci Calascione cutting out half of his conversation with the hunters , a trick one would expect from Joseph Muscat in his days at Super One and not from a man who wants to become Prime Minister of this country. The real issues about this campaign are the how the parties perform in the EP and it is a known Fact that Nationalist Mep's have worked harder then all the Labour MEP'S put together. Simon Busutill asked 120 questions for instance while David Casa has the highest attendence record in the EP. Meanwhile the Labour MEPS such as John Attard Montaldo and Glenn Bedigfield have asked 11 questions between them . Not only that they have voted against or abstained from voting on issues such as Burden Sharing and their excuse : I pushed the wrong button ! Not to forget that they voted in favour of the Guntanamo Bay resoloution ( to bring Terrorists to Malta ) and in favour of a report that included abortion.

So here's my appeal to everyone who are lucky enough to have a vote. When voting think about european issues and not national issues . This is not a national election. Think about the people who were always convinced Malta's place is in Europe . Think about the people who are going to Europe to reprsent Malta and not their party but Malta ! Because Malta comes first and in these times of difficulty Malta needs strong representatives in Brussels







See you next week

Socialism no cure for capitalism's ills

Capitalism's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s has provoked traditional socialists to follow this vogue and announce the death of capitalism and to hark back nostalgically to the time when nationalisation was the name of the game and privatization was a dirty word. Many people have been making the argument that socialism had been vindicated and that the nationalisation of a country's chief economic players must now be resorted to if the world economic order is to be saved. This line of thought is a nostalgic pipe-dream based on an erroneous assumption. There seems to be an obvious confusion between the necessity of a serious regulatory regime on one hand and strict control through state ownership of financial institutions on the other. Regulation by the state is not the same as absolute state control in socialist fashion.

This line of thought is a nostalgic pipe-dream based on an erroneous assumption. There seems to be an obvious confusion between the necessity of a serious regulatory regime on one hand and strict control through state ownership of financial institutions on the other. Regulation by the state is not the same as absolute state control in socialist fashion. What has failed miserably is not capitalism but the regulatory regime that is necessary to ensure that the capitalist system is not abused by greed. The financial crash has only shown how erroneous the idea of some extreme libertarians who argue that democracy fails the tradition because it subordinates to the public interests is. This, however, does not mean that capitalism 'per se' is no longer a meaningful and effective economic system when duly regulated to restrain excessive human greed and abuse. Electrocution calls for stricter observance of regulations and not for the prohibition of electricity! The world financial disaster is the result of Wall Street yuppies ridiculing the notion of money by deliberately ignoring the rules. In the US, in fact, the Bush administration gave the nod to blatant disregard of the regulatory regime that should have been in place. The institutions that were obliged to ensure that this does not happen closed more than a Nelson's eye as they were practically encouraged by Washington to knowingly abandon their own rules.

Yet, the experience of the recent financial disaster should only lead to the serious observance and fine-tuning of existing regulatory regimes and not to the notion that financial institutions should belong to the state. Socialism is the wrong tool to overcome the financial crisis, more so in Malta where we have not been directly hit because our regulatory regime withstood the test. We are now being hit by the effects of the crisis because our industrial and tourism sectors depend solely on consumer spending abroad. Giving out money for free to 'stimulate' these sectors - as some are suggesting - can never influence consumer spending abroad, while instigating consumer spending in Malta will only translate to our importing more goods and stimulating other economies. If Malta is to come out of the crisis in good shape, the tight-rope walking exercise that is on the cards cannot be inspired by socialist policies.

National Day

I always found it funny that Malta has 5 so called 'national days' . Independence Day , Freedom Day , Republic Day , Victory Day and Sette Giugno are all very important days in the country's history and all deserve a high level of commemoration .
However in Malta where political partisan opinions are split down the middle , calling some of these days a 'national' day is absurd . For example everyone refers to Freedom day as 'tal-labour ' since it was the Labour Party who where in government , therefore all celebrations this year were carried out by Joseph Muscat and co. The same applies for Indepence Day were all the celebrations are carried out by the Nationalist Party since they were in government . In the dark days of the 70's and 80's these celebrations carried out by the Nationalist party were attacked time and time again by Socialist thugs . At least Malta has now come out of that stage however it was still disgusting to hear of local council's disagreeing over the planning of celbrations of Freedom Day a few weeks ago . It was also unpleasent to hear that in the supposed 'national ' mass meeting on Freedom Day , Joseph Muscat referred to the tariffs and other political issues . These three holidays ( Indepence , Republic and Freedom Day ) have nothing 'national' about them instead we are constantly reminded about the partisan following in Malta .
In my eyes a national day should a day in which the entire nation are united celebration . Not waving blue flags or red flags but the red and white of Malta. If there is a date like this ? Yes and that is the 8th of September 1565 when the Maltese defeated the Turks and won the great siege. Only on that day were we united , only on that day were we proud to be Maltese . The only true national holiday should be the 8th of September hoewever the other days should still be comemorated and respected but not regarded as 'national' days .

Eddie Fenech Adami - A tribute

Saturday 4th April will see the end of a long and successful political career for Dr.Eddie Fenech Adami. Love him or hate him – and it seems these are the only two available options, in a country still viscerally split down the middle – few would deny that Eddie Fenech Adami has shaped Malta’s landscape like no other politician: with the possible exception of Dom Mintoff, whose career was longer, though less politically successful.
Eddie's success did not come over night , in his first elections in 1962 and 1966 he failed to get elected to Parliament but he did not give up and was finally by-elected in 1969 . 8 years later he rose up the ranks to take over from George Borg Oliver as party leader . He couldn't have taken up this post in a more dire time , the next ten years would be the darkest time in Malta's political history . Just two years after Eddie became leader (1979) his home was ransacked by Socialist thugs and his wife and kids beaten up . Any normal leader would have flipped in these circumstances but not Eddie he carried on to fight the Mintoff administration . This lead to the 1981 December Election one of the worst scenarios Malta has ever faced . The perverse result in which the Maltese electorate clearly showed their dissaproval at the Mintoff government but still couldn't gain a new government due to less seats lead to chaos in the country. The 5 and a half years to follow still makes people who remember those times tremble . Eddie fought hard to have Justice and Democracy restored in the country , he even took a gamble in boycotting parliament . Eddie alongside his deputy Guidio De Marco saw that constutional arrangments were made so that this result will never be repeated again . Violence and corruption however contiuned . There are some episodes between 1981 and 1987 that makes me thank god that I was not yet born . The murder of Raymond Caruana , The torturing of Antony Mifsud , The frame up of Pietru Pawl Busutill , the terrible incidents at Tal Barrani , the breaking of the Curia and the attack on church schools and the burning down of the Times of Malta building were just the tip of the iceberg. .Finally in 1987 , 16 years of Labour Government were over with the Nationalist Party being led to victory by Eddie .
Eddie as Prime Minister gave Malta a free market economy and allowed foreign trade to enter something which today we take for granted. In his first 9 years as Prime Minister Dr. Fenech Adami completely transformed the country . Even the most red-eyed labour supporters must admit that there was a huge difference from pre-1987. Justice was re-stored in Malta and the police force was re-formed . At the same time the Nationalist government governed with social values unseen in previoius Nationalist governments . The welfare benefeits were kept and even improved . Of course, another huge step was Eddie's decison to take Malta into the EU , a long and hard battle which looked likely to be lost when Alfred Sant took power in 1996 . However Eddie never gave up on this dream and in 2003 this milestone for Malta was finally reached .
I did not however agree with Eddie becoming President since there were better candidates and Eddie does not have the pomp culture that is fit for the title of President however he still did an excellent job as President .
In all my 17 years living in this country I have never seen Eddie Fenech Adami without a position in the country whether it is President , Prime Minister or Leader of Oppostion . As a teenager I would like to thank Dr.Fenech Adami for making Malta the country I have grown to love and appreciate . As we say in maltese "Grazzi Eddie ! '

I would like to end my post by showing two videos of Eddie in his heydays :

Sharon 4 Malta ?

Let me take you back to 2003 , 7 years ago there was the EU Referendum . In this referendum the Partit Laburista was telling us all sorts of things about the EU . They were saying that the EU would cause the fabric industries to close , that bombs from other European countries would fly over Malta and that VAT would be sky high. Of course the Maltese electorate chose not to listen to the PL and chose to join the EU .
Now 7 years later the PL is presenting a team of candidates for the upcoming EP elections , obviously almost all of these candidates were previously against the EU. I believe that in life you should look ahead and so I believe that these candidates should be judged on their ability and now that Malta is in the EU they will accept this fact. However out of all these candidates there is one candidate who's past is so anti-EU that it is impossible not to mention it. I am referring to none other than Sharon Ellul Bonnici .
If there was ever an award for the most Euro skeptic person in Malta , Sharon would win it hands down ! She formed the infamous group NO2EU , a group which campaigned heavily against the EU . I'll never forget me at 11 years old watching a particular episode of Xarabank and witnessing Sharon on the verge of TEARS since Malta were close to joining the EU . Now 7 years later she is presenting herself as woman who is looking ahead and with her slogan 'Sharon 4 Malta' she intends to fight for the rights of the maltese. If she wants to talk about the present , lets talk about the present . Sharon Ellul Bonnici has spent the past 5 years traveling regularly to Brussels and has taken part in a Euro-skeptic group !
I honestly don't know Sharon's reason for wanting to be in the European Parliament , does she want to give the impression that Malta is a euro-sceptic country ? How can this woman be trusted to represent the Maltese public in the EP ? How can the PL accept such a euro-sceptic person on their ticket after spending years trying to assure the Maltese public that the EU issue is closed ? These are questions which need answering .

Dear Mr.Obama , Please Keep Terrorists Out of the EU

Guantanamo Bay- One of the worst prisons in the world here you will find the worst criminals possible terrorists , mass murders and psychopaths. In this prison there are no human rights and torture is a routine. The new US president Barrack Obama recently announced that he is closing this prison . Now I agree that this prison needs reforms and I agree that there are some prisoners that there are prisoners over there that do not deserve to be there. However The President wants to entirely close the prison and deport the inmates to different areas - including EU countries !

The prison needs reforms , it is obvious that torture is wrong and in the 21st century it shouldn't be heard of . There are also inmates in the prison such as children and first degree murders these should also be taken out of the prison . However with terrorists it should be a different story , these are men who have made their choice in life they choose to kill thousands of people and inflict terror on society why should they have to be put in the same prison as other criminals ?

In his plans Mr.Obama also mentioned the possibility of deporting some of these terrorists to EU countries . This is something which I am completely against . Why should Obama want to hand over these terrorists to Europe ? Doesn't he realize that by 'fixing' this problem in his own country he will be inflicting an even bigger problem on Europe . Can you imagine these terrorists in Malta's prison ? This immigrant problem is big enough can you picture terrorists in Malta ? In the EP ( European Parliament) both parties the PES and EPP are in favor of closing the prison ,however the EPP have asked for a further review of the terrorists being shared with EU countries. . Why doesn't Obama keep his problems in his own country ?

Only time will tell however after this proposal my admiration for Obama is diminishing.



See you next week

Luke

Has it arrived ?

Last weeks news that the firm ST microelectronics intends to scale down operations and lay off 60% of its workforce in the coming months. This is not something which has developed recently. For the last years, the firm has been intending to reduce its presence in Malta, but it seems that now, the financial crisis is pushing it to make decisions which will see a downsizing of operations on the island.
Does this piece of news trigger the start of the recession in Malta ? Many economists have said that Malta will start feeling the effects of the crisis ,but I didn't know that they would be so specific. ST Microelectronics employes around 2000 employees and it accounts for over 50% of Malta's manufacturing industry's exports. These measures will have a bad effect on Malta's economy.
Let us hope that this news is only 'a bad apple in a frutiful basket' and that it is not the start of more bad economic news on Malta's part.




Thanks for reading

Luke