The prison authorities have been ignoring requests from journalists, including this website, to visit the prisons and assess reports of poor conditions and over-crowding. But prison warder Alexander Dalli organised a PR visit for social media "influencer" Terry Muscat. According to Terry Muscat herself, who brands her social media character as Terry ta’ Bormla or [...]
Malta Today reported today that the interdiction the court handed down to Aldo Cutajar in 2005 was just a few months later revoked by another court order. The court sympathised with Cutajar’s plea that since he had already lost his government job as a result of the case, the interdiction should be lifted to reduce [...]
L-allat u l-annimali Kien hemm bniedem għaref Laburist, Li tal-allat u l-annimali kien tarrfilna l-ġist. U b'Mario Cutajar, L-alla li jtajjar, Ah! Kemm kellu raġun Evarist! Verġni Kien hemm kap tac-ċivil li xtaq limerikka Ieħor mill-kċina ta’ Kastilja li ħa falza stikka, X'm’g’amlux dawn in-nies? Agħar minn orġa f'quddies. Imbagħad jilagħbha tal-verġni bħal sħabu tal-klikka. [...]
On a comments board I saw the admittedly cheap witticism that summed up Edward Scicluna’s statement of last week that the country was (is?) run by two levels of mutually exclusive government. There’s the now notorious ‘kitchen’ cabinet were the real decisions were taken. Edward Scicluna, the Finance Minister, was not part of that. It’s [...]
It is noble of the prime minister not to want to imprison us all. He said that when he was justifying his decision to stand back and watch the virus spread in our midst without as much as insisting we stay 2 metres apart. You get the gnawing feeling Robert Abela held back on any [...]
Ineptocracy is a system of government where the least capable to lead the country are elected and put in power. Malta is the perfect case study. Premier Robert Abela took centre stage after Health Minister Chris Fearne and Professor Charmaine Gauci, Superintendent for Public Health, managed to control the first wave of Covid-19, working through [...]
Look, the issue with Mario Cutajar is not that he is guilty by association for the deeds of his brother. This is not what this is about at all and Mario Cutajar’s defence with Lovin Malta that he is not his brother’s keeper is responding to an accusation that is not being made in his [...]
We have some perfectly capable civil servants working in the foreign office posted near and far. Governments sometimes have entirely legitimate reasons to dispatch their political appointees to run embassies usually for particularly sensitive political reasons. You can have career diplomats or you can have political appointees dispatched to diplomatic positions. You would not expect [...]
The police have asked the court this morning to order the freeze of the assets of Aldo Cutajar and his wife. They also asked the court to issue a perpetual interdiction on Aldo Cutajar “because he’s a public officer”. If the court agrees with the request by the police, he’ll lose his job at the [...]
Aldo Cutajar, brother of civil service chief Mario Cutajar, and his wife, have been arraigned on money laundering charges today. The police raided the Naxxar residence of the Cutajars late last week and they are reported to have seized a large amount of cash from their residence. The money is believed to be related to [...]
"This then is the entirety of our governing class: criminal masterminds and mindless henchmen. These are the established, the comfortably numb, the people who do not need a clean conscience and a selfless instinct for public service to mitigate their sacrifice." Read my article in The Sunday Times today.
So, Peter Grech is leaving on 9 September. His resignation becomes effective on the 10th anniversary of his appointment. His selection was announced on 3 September 2010 and he took charge a few days after that. The man is leaving office cloaked in a pitiful reputation. His collaboration with Joseph Muscat and his “kitchen cabinet”, [...]
It is said that Marie Antoinette never uttered these words but they were attributed to her by her enemies who were sick of her lavish lifestyle while the peasants of the city were trying to eke out a living in the sewers of Paris. Around lunch time on a hot, somewhat lowkey Santa Marija, the [...]
Robert Abela says children must go to school. He speaks to us as if anyone of us bring up children wouldn't want them to. He reminds us because, presumably we needed reminding that, it’s important that children miss no more schooling. And it’s important that a way is found to balance the desire of ensuring [...]
Bigoted racists who could not bear a gathering of young people in Valletta under the banner declaring that ‘black lives matter’ filed a police report because two protesters gave them the finger. This, the mock shock wimps said, was a gesture of hatred addressed at ‘patriots’. The idea here is to diffuse with a tu [...]
When last January, Robert Abela was sworn in as prime minister to replace the corrupt Joseph Muscat who was forced to resign by civil society, people thought that at last, Malta would have a down-to-earth humble man to lead it. He played his boy scout role to perfection with much ‘I love our country’ while [...]
Scroll down for my article in this month's Money magazine. Although it is by no means a certain fate, we are now seriously flirting with the prospect of being dumped into Moneyval’s grey list of countries with dubious credentials of financial propriety. For a country that is economically dependent on international banking, financial services, [...]
As potential candidates for the leadership of the PN made way for Bernard Grech, the party showed signs of life and of an ability to act like a political party rather than as an inanimate battle field. In the midst of all the devastation, there are some green shoots of hope. This does not come [...]
