River wide

By
2021-01-11T20:01:02+01:00Mon, 11th Jan '21, 13:09|

I can understand why keen PN supporters were cheered up by Malta Today’s poll of yesterday. This is the fourth month in a row without the sort of existentially catastrophic results polled by the PN during Adrian Delia’s tenure. The good news first. The risk of a constitution-busting two-thirds majority for the Labour Party now [...]

A snail’s pace

By
2021-01-09T09:31:52+01:00Sat, 9th Jan '21, 09:30|

The government needs to submit itself to some serious questioning over its handling of the covid situation now. The policy of releasing carefully written statements that leave the reader with more questions than answers and then dodging journalists with a microphone as if they carried the plague just does not cut it. And there doesn’t [...]

Guest Verses: Sing a song of rather more than six pence

By
2021-01-07T11:24:08+01:00Thu, 7th Jan '21, 11:24|

Today's Malta in yesterday's nursery rhymes. Sent in by someone known to me. Sing a song of million pence, A pocket full of bribes, Many black “jail” birds Baked in a pie. When the inquiry pie was opened The birds began to sink— Wasn’t that a dainty dish To set before the Kink? The kink [...]

Repubblika launches Active and Responsible Citizenship campaign

By
2021-01-07T10:30:27+01:00Thu, 7th Jan '21, 10:30|

Repubblika launched this morning a campaign to promote a culture of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law. The campaign will include the publication of books for children and the production of radio and social media content to promote active and responsible citizenship. A national students’ competition will also be held yearly. [...]

RIGHT OF REPLY: Dizz Group writes in

By
2021-01-08T00:38:54+01:00Thu, 7th Jan '21, 10:16|

The following right of reply letter was received in response to this post by Godfrey Leone Ganado. Dear Mr. Delia, Further to the Guest Post written by Mr. Godfrey Leone Ganado published on your blog on 5th January 2021, kindly note the following: Contrary to what is stated in the third paragraph, The Company in [...]

The courage to tell people the truth

By
2021-01-07T10:00:29+01:00Thu, 7th Jan '21, 10:00|

I heard a commenter on TV yesterday criticise Donald Trump for being too scared of his supporters to admit to them the simple truth that he had lost the election. He dug up a Winston Churchill quote: “Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers from which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting [...]

Ranier Fsadni’s MAGA hat

By
2021-01-07T08:57:45+01:00Thu, 7th Jan '21, 08:57|

I wonder if Ranier Fsadni would have handed in his piece for The Times of today had he already seen the scenes of chaos and open violent rebellion on the US Capitol yesterday. The picture of a thug lounging on the chair of the Speaker of the House of Representatives was the sight of painful [...]

PODCAST: Expectations of TVM

By
2021-01-06T12:49:29+01:00Wed, 6th Jan '21, 12:49|

Manuel Delia · Expectations Of TVM I got this letter of complaint in my mailbox today: A desperate call for impartial broadcasting on state-controlled media Hi, I wonder why you keep failing us loyal readers and ordinary citizens with your silence when there’s a continuous scandal unfolding before our eyes - the continuous spin, fake [...]

Making Yorgen Fenech look nice

By
2021-01-05T15:29:01+01:00Tue, 5th Jan '21, 15:29|

Something very strange has happened in the background of the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech, who is accused of killing Daphne Caruana Galizia. In early December, Philip Galea Farrugia, Deputy Attorney General, filed a note in court complaining that Simon Mercieca was repeatedly attacking him, undermining him and assaulting his credibility merely because he [...]

Will you do nothing, Anġlu?

By
2021-01-05T12:00:01+01:00Tue, 5th Jan '21, 12:00|

Parliament’s standards committee has “endorsed” a report by Commissioner George Hyzler that found Joseph Muscat “abused of his power as prime minister” when he handed Konrad Mizzi a consultancy job days after Konrad Mizzi resigned as Minister. I’m going to leave that hanging there for a bit. It is not just Karol Aquilina and Carmelo [...]

The responsibility of authority

By
2021-01-05T11:05:20+01:00Tue, 5th Jan '21, 11:05|

It should not surprise us that healthy scepticism of authority is now turning into a definitively unhealthy loss of discernment about what sources can and should be trusted. Consider the lonely senior citizens of San Ġwann. They’ve been told for almost a year to stay alone at home until the Mayor, no less, told them [...]

GUEST POST: More on the Dizz Group: A review of D’Arena Mall Limited

By
2021-01-05T09:26:58+01:00Tue, 5th Jan '21, 09:26|

This article, a follow-up to my recent article on Dizz Manufacturing Limited, will seem rather technical for most readers. That doesn’t make it any less important or in the public interest especially considering the increased involvement of politically exposed persons in the commercial world. The Dizz Group is ultimately owned by two politically exposed persons. [...]

What a piece of work this Adrian Delia is

By
2021-01-05T09:16:00+01:00Tue, 5th Jan '21, 09:16|

I had hoped never to have to think of that rotten piece of damp and crumbling wood when he was finally kicked out of the leadership of the PN. But Adrian Delia is an admonishment of fate. He’s not going away. Judging by the writing of that Trump-nostalgist, Yorgen Fenech-apologist, anti-vaxxer-promoting Simon Mercieca, Adrian Delia [...]

The return of l-aqwa żmien

By
2021-01-04T13:33:13+01:00Mon, 4th Jan '21, 13:33|

As the general election looms nearer, hyperbole inflates. Robert Abela yesterday said 2021 would be “one of the best years in Malta’s history”. Best at what? What’s this forecast based on? Is it an economic projection? What is that premised on? Right now, the government should be working flat out to give this country a [...]

GUEST POST: Hands off institutions

By
2021-01-04T09:27:25+01:00Mon, 4th Jan '21, 09:27|

While I have no right to interfere, I will insist that all institutions do their work in good time. - Robert Abela, 16 February 2020 In February, addressing an extraordinary general conference to mark the first 100 years of the Labour Party, Robert Abela told his faithful that he had set up a good governance [...]

THE SUNDAY TIMES: From one year to the next

By
2021-01-03T07:51:06+01:00Sun, 3rd Jan '21, 07:51|

Robert Abela's zeal for tax compliance, prejudice ahead of Yorgen Fenech's trial, Repubblika's case at the European Court of Justice, the absence of a national policy against racism, Joseph Muscat and other fugitives from the law, and an incompetent bunch of ministers are all subjects of my piece in The Sunday Times today. Read it [...]

Go to Top