Civil society activists’ statement: Our country is approaching dark times

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2018-07-23T11:07:16+02:00Mon, 23rd Jul '18, 10:56|

Statement by civil society organisations earlier today: #occupyjustice and Awturi are very worried that a political alliance has formed between the government and the opposition. A political alliance that is ensuring the truth remain hidden and that justice isn’t served. Yesterday, this alliance was unreservedly solidified by the declarations of opposition leader Adrian Delia. It [...]

Mario Demarco: #not in my name

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2018-07-23T10:46:00+02:00Mon, 23rd Jul '18, 10:46|

Yesterday I wrote that Adrian Delia has not just put a challenge to Simon Busuttil. He has thrown down the gauntlet to all PN MPs, MEPs, officials, activists, members and voters. They need to decide and can no longer afford to be ambiguous in the interests of some mythical unity. The members of the administrative [...]

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Outside the imagined community

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2018-07-23T09:24:38+02:00Mon, 23rd Jul '18, 09:24|

This is my article published in yesterday's The Sunday Times. I handed this in before the Friday deadline. Of course, the people's interest, and mine was elsewhere by Saturday when we were told by the government it was getting ready to tell us what it wanted us to know about Egrant and so on. But [...]

The line is drawn

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2018-07-22T23:03:44+02:00Sun, 22nd Jul '18, 23:03|

All those trolls writing for Adrian Delia over the last months warning critics they are bringing about a split of the party are seeing their prophecies fulfilled but not quite the way they expected them. It had to be Adrian Delia to do it after all. He has brought the divisions of the party to [...]

Another speech rehearsed for months

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2018-07-22T14:46:38+02:00Sun, 22nd Jul '18, 14:44|

Premature ejaculation appears to be a common affliction among politicians. Adrian Delia’s o-face was all over TV. For a few minutes. Follow the logic: One: The report has not been published in full, and the PN wants it published in full so we can determine the truth. Two: Simon Busuttil must resign. I asked him [...]

One thousand five hundred pages

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2018-07-22T12:00:59+02:00Sun, 22nd Jul '18, 12:00|

In a completely controlled setting Joseph Muscat delivered an extraordinary performance this morning. His MPs looked like zombies. They were either nursing a collective hangover after a big late bash last night, or they didn't believe him. But he looked his best. The prime minister delivered a speech he has been rehearsing for 15 months, [...]

Also read this. It’s a long wait anyway.

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2018-07-21T19:19:54+02:00Sat, 21st Jul '18, 19:19|

I wrote this last February. “Confined as he is by constitutional and legal limitations, Magistrate Bugeja is also marked by a stark warning from Muscat, who on television, in an evening that will be remembered as the kristallnacht of this regime, warned him of unspecified consequences should his findings not be to his liking. After [...]

Read this while you wait

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2018-07-21T19:09:31+02:00Sat, 21st Jul '18, 19:09|

“The Prime Minister cheated everyone into thinking he was being transparent when he appointed an inquiry into the allegation he received bribes into a bank account of a secret company set up in Panama in his wife’s name. But the inquiry’s remit is extremely carefully defined and its conclusion will necessarily be limited by the [...]

Are you enjoying your massage, sir?

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2018-07-21T19:06:11+02:00Sat, 21st Jul '18, 19:03|

After a 15 month wait, we heard this morning Magistrate Aaron Bugeja passed on his inquiry report on Egrant to the Attorney General. I got a tipoff around 9 am and the source was neither the Attorney General’s office nor, of course, the Magistrate’s. At Labour HQ they were already patting each other on the [...]

Now it’s the Commission

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2018-07-20T12:23:36+02:00Fri, 20th Jul '18, 12:23|

When Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri realised they were caught red handed setting up a company in Panama they did not regret setting up structures to hide their bribes. They regretted having been caught. Of all the servers in all the legal offices in all the countries in the world, Mossack Fonseca’s in downtown Panama City [...]

Not so artful

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2018-07-19T16:38:06+02:00Thu, 19th Jul '18, 16:38|

Watch Edward Scicluna melt in front of the microphones of the press and a glorified microphone-stand working for the Labour Party. There’s a complete and utter absence of any form of logic in his response. First, the questions put to him did not accuse the FIAU but the police for failure to act on FIAU [...]

GUEST POST: Letter from a reader

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2018-07-19T12:16:49+02:00Thu, 19th Jul '18, 12:16|

I have been following you for a couple of months now. Since the tragic demise of Daphne Caruana Galizia, I struggled to find a newspaper or blog that transpired the real situation in Malta. I read her blog once and since then followed her avidly. She was the only light that in a very dark [...]

MONEY: The resident ghosts

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2018-07-19T08:03:28+02:00Thu, 19th Jul '18, 08:03|

This is my article published in this month's Money magazine.   The resident ghosts Not much information is provided by the government on the sale of citizenship. But in an interview with an industry magazine recently they did say sales are on the increase and now they’re handling an average of 20 applications a week. [...]

Passport hopping

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2018-07-18T11:42:02+02:00Wed, 18th Jul '18, 11:42|

Henley & Partners expansion strategy appears to focus on satellite countries in Russia’s orbit. Its recent entry into Moldova follows quickly on Henley’s expansion of its portfolio to include Kazakhstan. Marco Gantenbein from Henley with Chiril Gaburici Moldovan Economy Minister Selling Moldovan and Kazakh passports may not be the intuitive choice for passport [...]

The muted mandarin

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2018-07-18T09:51:58+02:00Wed, 18th Jul '18, 09:49|

When Labour came to power in 2013, they put the civil service to the guillotine putting all but two of its top managers out to pasture. The top civil servant and almost all ‘permanent’ secretaries were removed in one of the first government initiatives that would demonstrate the utter contempt this government would show to [...]

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