I knew Ivan Fenech for many years, never very well. I knew him mostly through what I heard others say of him. That he was smart, funny, kind, patient, civil and principled. And I knew him as everyone else did, one of the most recognisable pens on Maltese newspapers. I got to know him more [...]
Repubblika filed an application in court asking that Ministers Konrad Mizzi, Edward Scicluna and Chris Cardona are ordered to give it a copy of the document they quoted in court proceedings that appeared to be an extract of the unpublished Egrant inquiry. Only around 50 of 1,500 pages of the inquiry were published by [...]
You might say that Adrian Delia’s brief and turbulent marriage with the PN is on the rocks if what you had in mind was the end of freefall from a plane without a parachute. But even now, his limbs shattered, his vision blurred, and blood pouring out of his nostrils, he still looks like he [...]
Konrad Mizzi has withdrawn his second human rights claim yesterday dispatching his lawyer John Bonello who ceded the case the Minister had filed. Konrad Mizzi filed a claim in the constitutional court that the right in the law that allowed Repubblika and Simon Busuttil to ask for an inquiry into the Panama Papers breached his [...]
The Opposition has indicated it will not support the government’s bill to amend the Constitution to split the role of the Attorney General in two, retaining, even enhancing, the control the prime minister has on the institutions that are supposed to have the power to put handcuffs on him. That is welcome news. But only [...]
This is the sixth part of a series arising from an interview with an ex-staff member at the AUM. Part 1 is here. In Post-Truth: The New War on Truth and How to Fight Back, Matthew D’Ancona writes: ‘There is a voice within each of us that resists lies, even if that voice has… been [...]
This is the fifth part of a series arising from an interview with an ex-staff member at the AUM. Part 1 is here. Despite his longstanding academic career and positions of serious responsibility in various academic institutions, including the honour of being the first university president in Azerbaijan at Khazar University, Baku, John Ryder has [...]
A Repubblika statement of earlier today: PARLIAMENT SHOULD NOT APPROVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS WITHOUT CONSULTATION Repubblika is concerned about the bill the government is piloting this evening at the House of Representatives to amend the Constitution and calls on Members of Parliament to reject the bill if they are serious about wanting proper Constitutional reforms that [...]
Remarks by the two party leaders yesterday had one common underlying theme, if you look close enough. They both want us to march in their platoon, but it’s really one tune they’re playing. Consider how Joseph Muscat yesterday said he was worried dissent within the PN might mean he would not secure the two-thirds majority [...]
From my article in The Sunday Times today: "The Partit Nazzjonalista has no exoskeleton. Its ability to communicate with the outside world is limited and its efforts to look any better than the blubbery mush we can all see make it frankly more pathetic. "The similarities with the state of the Partit Laburista exceed the [...]
This is the fourth part of a series arising from an interview with an ex-staff member at the AUM. Part 1 is here. John Ryder, Provost at the AUM, is, according to the ex-staff member interviewed, ‘making a shitload of money.’ A shitload of money was certainly invested in the AUM project which began to [...]
Sent in by a regular contributor to this site: I find myself frustrated. A section of PN supporters I speak to keep on insisting that being critical of the party at this moment is giving Labour an advantage. How’s that for the epitome of heads in the sand syndrome? Wakey, wakey! Labour HAS the advantage.... [...]
This is the point when some people think it's become desirable to protest against the Opposition party. This is how far it's come.
This is the third part of a series arising from an interview with an ex-staff member at the AUM. Part 1 is here. ‘Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve.’ [...]
Xarabank have announced that Adrian Delia will tomorrow be the star gladiator where the champion will face Franco Debono, David Thake, Wayne Hewitt, George Tabone tal-Gram Jewellers and someone Jeremy Camilleri who apparently worked at the General Workers’ Union. In what I hope is a fit of acid irony, Lovin Malta described this as a [...]
It's time to very briefly look back. Here are the top 20 most read stories on this blog in the last 6 months: 20. Add this to the case for an independent inquiry 29 January 2019 19. ‘Erba’ biċċiet bloggers’ Or ‘Stand by your man’ 3 January 2109 18. Bend the knee 11 [...]
On the 6th of June 2017, I started this blog. It was the Tuesday after the general election and I started out writing a Facebook post about what I thought were the causes of a general election result I did not predict but wanted to understand. Wanting to understand is my first reason for writing [...]
https://youtu.be/PMVdM2P5f34 Performed by Lizzie Eldridge Scenography by Sammi Davis Script by Malta Government
The European Court of Justice has dismissed a claim by John Dalli that the European Commission or its anti-fraud agency, OLAF, acted illegally when he was fired for corruption. John Dalli was fired by Commission President Manuel Barroso from the post of EU Commissioner for Health on 16 October 2012 when OLAF reported his side-kick [...]
Sent in by a regular contributor. The Nationalist Party is living out Mary Shelley’s horror story. Like Victor Frankenstein, they have created their own monster despite having had the benefit of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s foresight. Now, this monster haunts the party and ravages all that the Nationalist Party stands for. How will they deal with [...]