The biggest question
There are small questions like which is the next restaurant I must try. There are greater questions like will my salary last till the end of the month. Will I have a job next month? Who will win the next election? Will Daphne’s killers get what they deserve? Where is the next terrorist attack going [...]
Byron Camilleri has a case to answer
Now that prosecutors have opened a case against prison warders for culpability in the suicide of a prisoner in their custody, the question of political responsibility needs to be addressed. This country is in a perpetual state of election fever. Even four years away from a general election the government are too afraid of losing [...]
Our woman in New York
She calls it multi-tasking. But really our Ambassador in New York, Vanessa Frazier, is posting on her Instagram account her contempt for the General Assembly of the United Nations. So she gets bored and switches football on her phone letting ambassadors from the rest of the world mumble on while she ignores them. As the [...]
By all means praise the crossing of the milestones, but only the finish ribbon counts
At her state of the EU speech yesterday Ursula von der Leyen had words of praise for Malta’s judicial reforms of last year. She was talking about the changes to the way Malta chooses its judges. Labour trolls somehow took this as a club to bash in the heads of the government’s critics. ‘Do you [...]
Tonight: Vigil for Truth and Justice
The strides that have been made should encourage us to continue even if the temptation is to stop. There's still much to learn and justice is still a long way off. And they won't happen without our continued effort. A vigil gathers in Valletta tonight at 7 pm at the Great Siege Square in Valletta [...]
Debrief
I am sorry for having stayed away from my computer for these past several days. If you will indulge me, I was struck by the most devastating illness of them all, a man-cold, from which I am still recovering. I realise now I haven't had a man-cold for nearly two years. What with all the [...]
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Truth will breach the flimsy walls
From my article in The Sunday Times last Sunday: "There, without qualification and reservation, were the words we’ve been saying all along. But, this time, someone from the Labour Party was saying them. And that matters. It matters because when truth is shared across tribal divides we can live together as a nation. "Miriam Spiteri [...]
RIGHT OF REPLY: Kevin Deguara denies links with Keith Schembri
The following was sent by Kevin Deguara in response to my earlier article today about reported raids to his home and office in connection with the ongoing VGH scandal inquiry. https://manueldelia.com/2021/09/vgh-inquiry-raids-reported/ As is customary on this website comments will not be published under a post carrying a statement made by way of right or reply. [...]
UPDATED: VGH inquiry: raids reported
Updated: 10:45 am with response from Kevin Deguara Police have raided the offices and the home of lawyer Kevin Deguara, senior partner of DF advocates and one of the shareholders of the Shoreline project at Smart City, this website is informed. The raids were are believed to be connected to ongoing investigations and a magisterial [...]
Rosianne Cutajar misses Strasbourg hearing in conflict of interest probe
Rosianne Cutajar has been given a final opportunity to respond to accusations that she breached Council of Europe rules by hiding her relationship with Yorgen Fenech when she spoke at the Parliamentary Assembly in 2019. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe groups together Members of Parliament from all 44 member states. Rosianne Cutajar [...]
Repubblika now an “anti-mafia organisation”
A meeting of the members of Repubblika adopt yesterday changes to its Statute adding to its list of functions the mission of an anti-mafia organisation. Repubblika has since its inception campaigned to raise awareness of the infiltration of the mafia in the economy of Malta as well as its government and state institutions. In the [...]
Parties need to be the change too
Football clubs are not allowed to spend beyond their means. NGOs are required to share with the regulator information on everything they earn and everything they spend. Anyone in the employment of someone else has their taxes deducted before they even collect their salaries. These rules are set for all of us by parliament. Members [...]
Hang it next to an Edvard Munch
I’m no art critic so I will not evaluate the technical or artistic qualities of Patrick Dalli’s portrait of Joseph Muscat. My concern is the subject matter. A portrait of Genghis Khan can capture the character, be a masterpiece of contemporary brush techniques, immortalise a posture never before seen in its genre. It will still [...]
PEN Malta tells PM to fix the words and move to action
Free speech NGO PEN Malta has published today a letter it sent to Prime Minister Robert Abela responding to his request for the organisation's advice on how to deal with the disinformation campaign against journalists that flared up over the past few weeks. The NGO said it is consulting technical experts on possible technical solutions [...]
Central Bank tightens employee bank accounts to avoid money laundering
The Central Bank has issued new rules severely restricting the use of personal bank accounts it holds for its employees. The bank’s employees have been told they can only receive their salaries in their bank accounts and use their account to withdraw those funds. They will need to set up a bank account with a [...]
Casino games supplier “pauses” services to Tumas Group
Leading supplier of slot machines and casino games Novomatic has “paused” services to the Tumas Group’s casinos Portomaso and Oracle after a court ruled that Yorgen Fenech and other senior officials of the Tumas Group have a case to answer in charges of using the casinos for money laundering. Sources within the Tumas Group told [...]
Myriam Spiteri Debono calls for national redemption after the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia
I am translating an extract from the speech delivered yesterday by Notary Myriam Spiteri Debono at the official gathering in front of the Great Siege Memorial in Valletta marking the anniversary of the end of the 1565 siege. Myriam Spiteri Debono is the only woman ever to have served as the Speaker of Malta’s Parliament. [...]
UPDATED: M didn’t quote her source
Updated at 14:20 Simon Mercieca thought he caught Jason Azzopardi plagiarising from M, the James Bond character. In Skyfall (2012), M testifies in front of a hostile parliamentary committee and in a flourish of drama, recited chillingly by Dame Judi Dench, she mouths some free verse that apparently Simon Mercieca found used in a speech [...]
Political calculus
I’m sorry if I’m starting to sound like a stuck record but faced with repeated behaviour, the reaction will inevitably be repeated. I can hardly doubt President George Vella would really like for this country to start the healing process after the trauma of the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia. But he’s really limiting the [...]