Repubblika announced today the launch of MHUX XANDIR MALTA, a satirical and irreverent podcast, describing it as "a spindle up the butt of Malta’s ridiculous but not so funny political class". From Repubblika's Facebook page: "They say laughter is the best medicine. This podcast will not cure you or the country of any sickness. It [...]

The government's bills to change the composition of the judicial appointments committee after pressure from the Venice Commission were meant to remove government control on choosing judges. But the new system gives that power to the President who is appointed by the government as well. A reform on the way the President is chosen makes [...]

“Do not be negative. Our institutions are working.” That is the standard reply by the government, its trolls and apologists when one mentions or asks about corruption, money laundering and a host of other criminal activities by ministers, government officials and their friends we face every day. Outgoing Prime Minister Joseph Muscat used to insist [...]

This is not an academic critique on the recently approved changes to the Partit Nazzjonalista statute; certainly not a reproachful exercise of an otherwise highly deliberate, researched and pragmatic political instrument focussing on party structure and rules of procedures. It is an attempt towards a dialogue on the relevance of faith in a post-modernist party. [...]

There are 50 people out in our waters who have spent another night on choppy seas lying on metal floors caked with cow dung the animals shat a week ago. That’s a result of government policy not to allow migrants to land before European countries accept to take them off our hands. The policy is [...]

Adrian Delia is the archetype of the populist tyrant. It doesn’t matter to him that he doesn’t have the support of his Members of Parliament. It does not matter to him that you can’t have a leader of opposition if the opposition does not follow him. He will stick around claiming legitimacy from his party [...]

Only Parliament can fire the attorney general. Peter Grech is not the mastermind of the corruption and crime perpetrated by Joseph Muscat’s gang. But he was their willing tool. They needed him to instruct the police to stay away from the Nexia BT offices where evidence of corruption was allowed to perish. There can be [...]

Around 50 migrants are in Malta’s territorial waters within sight of our coast. They have been sleeping on the metal floor of sea-going stables right next to the dung of animals that have been delivered to Africa and that has been fermenting and rotting for days. These pictures taken by the crew of the MV [...]

Emanuel Delia · 'I'm Behind You' For a minute, leave aside the political calculus: who wins the next election; how Labour consolidates its ample majorities even though it rightly deserves exile from government until a generation that supported, protected and perpetrated corruption is outgrown; how the PN stays afloat; whether it’s time for a third, [...]

From my article in The Sunday Times today: "It’s hard to find an accurate translation of the specific meaning of “ma npaxxuhomx” when it is used in the local political context. It literally means one should not act in a way that gives pleasure to the enemy. That does not merely mean ‘let us not [...]

Emanuel Delia · News of the death of the passport scheme has been greatly exaggerated The government is desperate to look like it's cleaning its stables before the Moneyval sword falls in October. A cosmetic clean-up of the passport scheme was inevitable but the government is risking allowing Moneyval to see through the subterfuge and [...]

Il-Koħħu’s former lawyer testified today at the inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s killing. He said he knew he was in danger but the police denied him security saying that if they were to give him protection everyone would know il-Koħħu was spilling the beans. But by then everyone knew il-Koħħu was spilling the beans. The [...]

The Commissioner for Public Standards has activated a section of the law that creates his office in cases where he finds a breach of ethics by an MP and thinks the MP should face a serious rap and a possible order to cough up some money. This hasn’t happened before because the Commissioner for Public [...]

A radio show of lackeys this morning praised Julia Farrugia Portelli for her BBC interview yesterday. They thought that her invitation to Boris Johnson to go jogging with her amounted to “a mic drop”. Truly a government of the mediocre for the mediocre. https://youtu.be/dXmYW26la2o   Julia Farrugia Portelli was an embarrassment on TV yesterday. She [...]

Glenn Bedingfield did not get Robert Abela’s memo yesterday. The party leader was telling the press outside the parliament building that being a friend, a fuck-buddy, a WhatsApp chatter or a business associate of Yorgen Fenech was ok if you stopped doing it the day he was charged with murder. Inside Parliament, Glenn Bedingfield was [...]

We Maltese are peculiar, very odd people although God has been good to us. We go back to around 6,000 BC and we built the first free standing buildings in the world, more than 2,000 years before the Egyptians had even dreamt of the pyramids. Then in AD 60, destiny, or divine action, decided to [...]

That the way the new Police Commissioner was selected was simply a bit of a smokescreen to salve consciences pricked by the Venice Commission’s Report is a given. That the PN MPs forewent their opportunity to grill the anointed one is understandable, if to some minds (mine included) perhaps unfortunate. That the it is up [...]

Robert Abela promised high standards of governance but he’s only getting his ministers to jump over hurdles set about their ankles. They seem to be set that low in case they need to skip with their trousers down. He responded today to journalists’ challenges to ministers after Paul Caruana Galizia’s tweet a few days ago [...]

Listen to the article here or scroll down for the transcript: Emanuel Delia · The Privilege To Fight Privilege Like any good thing parliamentary privilege can be abused. But if it’s taken away, our democracy will die a little bit more. Parliamentary privilege comes up ever so often when someone alleges an MP has abused [...]