Only in Malta

A hilarious local website exposes the absurd and ridiculous situations witnessed in our country and which, ostensibly, only happen in Malta. From misspelt road markings, ponies transported on the back seat of a small hatchback to a police car driven with steel barriers precariously hanging out of an open boot.

Such things don’t just happen here. But there’s one thing that will soon be truly ‘only in Malta’ – 16-year-old mayors.

That’s right.  No other country in the world allows 16-year-olds to become mayors. In fact, nowhere in the world can 16-year-olds become local councillors or MPs. The only other country that comes close is North Korea, which allows 17-year-olds to become members of the Supreme People’s Assembly.

In North Korea, all citizens aged 17 and over must vote. Turnout is always close to 100%, and approval for the governing alliance is unanimous. When it’s your turn to vote, you receive your ballot with only one name on it.  You don’t have boxes to tick, nothing to fill, no choice to make.  All you have to do is turn up, queue for hours, and deposit your ballot.  

Once you leave the polling station, you’re expected to join cheering crowds outside to express your happiness about being allowed to vote for the country’s leadership. What you elect is the Supreme People’s Assembly, which has absolutely no power and serves only as a rubber-stamp for the supreme leader’s whims.

Malta will now allow 16-year-olds to become mayors.  And Labour has the totalitarian language to compete with the hilariously named Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  “The will of the people is sovereign, and I believe the law should never hamper it,” our own supreme leader, Robert Abela, announced. 

Of course, he didn’t ask the people whether it is their will for teenagers still in school to become mayors.  But he’s the supreme leader. He knows the will of the people.  His will is the people’s will.

“Now if somebody doesn’t want a 16-year-old to be mayor, then they are free to choose at the polls.  But I don’t think age should be a limiting factor in selecting our candidates.  Rather, I think it is a question of maturity that counts,” Abela added.

The United States Constitution requires that presidential candidates must be at least 35 years of age. What’s so magical about 35? Age is obviously no guarantee of maturity or good judgement.  Look at Robert Abela and his infantile cabinet – Clayton Bartolo, Silvio Schembri, Ian Borg, Aaron Farrugia, Clint Camilleri, Byron Camilleri, Jonathan Attard, Chris Bonett, Owen Bonnici.  But the idea that age brings wisdom, maturity and experience is what the USA’s founding fathers had in mind when they put a minimum age of 35 years as a requirement to contest.

There has been a movement in many countries to let anyone old enough to vote to run for office. France allows 18-year-olds to run for President. Yet the vast majority of countries have set out significantly higher age limits for assuming high office.

In Canada and Brazil, you need to be 35 before you’re allowed to run for the highest office. The same applies in Chile, Iceland and Cyprus. In Germany, you need to be 40 before you can become President. In Italy, you need to be 50. But in every single country in the world, you need to be 18 before taking up any office.

The only exceptions are North Korea and East Timor, where the age is 17.   Only in Malta will that minimum age be down to 16.

“It would be contradictory to face young people and tell them that they are the future leaders of our country and then place limitations when they attempt to fill leadership roles,” was Abela’s piece of nonsense. 

The key word is “future”.  Today’s young people are our “future leaders”.  Nobody disputes that.  What many reject is that 16-year-olds should be our “current leaders”.

There is nothing contradictory at all in telling your 16-year-old daughter she could be a future pilot.  But you certainly wouldn’t want her to fly the aircraft you’re travelling on today.

There’s nothing contradictory in telling your 16-year-old son he’s a future cardiac surgeon. But would you let him open your chest to perform your heart surgery today? Of course not. Because flying a plane and performing open heart surgery are complex tasks.  They’re difficult skills to master. 

It takes years and years of hard work, discipline and experience to master those skills. We all know that.  So, if you wouldn’t let a 16-year-old pilot a commercial aircraft or perform cardiac surgery, why would you dream of allowing them to administer a whole city?

That’s exactly what Robert Abela is doing.  “If a young person has the right qualities to lead, then why should the law impede them?” Abela asked. 

If Abela genuinely believes a 16-year-old could ever have the skills and qualities for such a role, it’s clear Abela has absolutely no understanding of the complexities and challenges of such roles.

Abela epitomises the Dunning-Kruger effect. The less you know about something, the easier you think it is. And the most inexperienced and the least knowledgeable believe they are the most competent at the role.

Those who don’t know have no clue how much they don’t know.

But Abela must know that being mayor is no joke. He should know it takes considerable skill, experience and competence.  He must understand it carries a huge responsibility.

Instead, with unadulterated cynicism, he mounts a naked attempt to win the young vote. And exploits an opportunity to deflect and distract from far more serious issues – such as Labour’s €4 billion euro Vitals fraud.

                           

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makjavel
makjavel
11 months ago

Does a 16 year old qualify for a life sentence?

VCZ
VCZ
11 months ago

What takes the biscuit is that the Children’s Commissioner approves of the move. According to the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, from which her office derives, a child reaches majority at 18 years of age.
Unless the Commissioner has read the Convention and chose to ignore it, she wants to Malta have child mayors. “Only in Malta” at its best!

chris
chris
11 months ago

Hey! Let’s have a sixteen yer old President.

All she or she needs to do is to:

  • Wear a blue T-shirt (instead of red) for the President’s Walk
  • Read out speeches written by others
  • Throw a tantrum if construction works are too close to home
  • Refuse to endorse an internally elected female PN leader owing to absolute legal ignorance and innate misogyny
  • Act ultra-awkwardly in the presence of the President of the European Parliament
  • Be very immature and very afraid of addressing Women’s critical reproductive dilemmas
  • Stick your fingers firmly inside your ears and throw a tantrum if a bill which addresses very delicate reproductive issues (a topic you have never really discussed or let alone understood) is presented in parliament
  • Engage an Acting President when your testacles (if you’re male) irretrievably fail you
  • Model how a self-centred, self-entitled git behaves

Finally, remember to grow bushy eyebrows (or get transplants). It might very well be the only tool you have to scare people away – particularly those who ask you awkward questions.

I vouch my ten year old can do all of the above.

Mario Galea
Mario Galea
11 months ago

L-aqwa li nigbdu l-voti

Francis Said
Francis Said
11 months ago

Government should be encouraging our youths, our future to concentrate on furthering their studies.
We have more than enough individuals interested in involving themselves is politics.
The reason is simple, politics leads to contacts, highly paid jobs with government and it’s entities. If well brainwashed by the PL hierarchy their financial future is secure.

C. Fenech
11 months ago

4 billion Ewro Vitals fraud, oh my God, incredible

Steve
Steve
11 months ago
Reply to  C. Fenech

Whilst not being a 4 billion Vitals fraud, we do have have a 10 billion (and growing) National Debt thanks to Labour

Maria C. Xuereb
Maria C. Xuereb
11 months ago

The prin makes fun of our poor councils and a mayor of 16 would be a puppet on a string like his rest of cabinet.

Judy
Judy
11 months ago

They want the young ones to manipulate them even more then they do to the so called mature ones around them. At present these have been showing us that they are their master s voice..

Aggie
Aggie
11 months ago

An adult is deemed to be 18 years of age, if the country is going to be run by children, it might be an improvement to the current clowns

Anne R. key
Anne R. key
11 months ago

Abela is the epitome of imbecility

Mark Debono
Mark Debono
11 months ago
Reply to  Anne R. key

And noddy

Emanuel Galdes
Emanuel Galdes
11 months ago

Dan Abela mhux biss ghandu d-dehra definittiva ta’ tuba imma ma jridekx tizbalja li ma tirrealizzax li fil-fatt huwa tuba imnissel minn ex president ta’ Malta mhux wisq impressjonanti li sab ruhu president per kumbinazzjoni politika nobis. Il-Maltin joghgbuhom dawn it-tip ta’ tubi ghax jirriflettu l-livell tal-poplu ingenerali.

Oliver Paul Vassallo
Oliver Paul Vassallo
11 months ago
Reply to  Emanuel Galdes

Spot on mate. Yes it reflects the level of maturity (immaturity) of the majority of the people, who have let themselves to be duped and corrupted in mind, heart, body and soul by this soulless and abject Government who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Maddy
Maddy
11 months ago

long live the banana republic

Joseph Tabone Adami
Joseph Tabone Adami
11 months ago
Reply to  Maddy

Long live Kiddy-land!!

Andrew Zammit
Andrew Zammit
11 months ago

I don’t understand why you are comparing mayors to presidents… most countries have a minimum age of candidacy at 18 yrs old… which I believe should be the right age.

Joe l ghasfur
Joe l ghasfur
11 months ago

Artiklu tajjeb bhal dejjem Kevin, prosit. Ta 16 il sena nhegighom biex ikomplu jistudjaw u jaghmlu mohhom hemm biex jigradwaw mela noqod nimlilhom mohhom bil kunsil u sindki.
Sindku naghmel lil dawk li jkunu pensjonanti u li ghandhom l esperjenzja ghax jafu x taghti id dinja u ghandhom hafna hin liberu li jisthu jofrù mela lit tfal ta 16 ghejdlu lil dan il prim tuba.
Izda il gahan malti b dawn ic cuccati jehda ma hemmx x taghmel.

Albert Mamo
Albert Mamo
11 months ago

BOBBY IS SO CORRUPT THAT HE USES THE EXCUSE TO LET 16 YEAR OLDS VOTE.

OF COURSE ITS A VOTE CATCHER, BUT BOBBY DOESN’T CARE. THE COUNTRY IS IN MAYHEM. ABSOLUTELY RUDDERLESS. NO CAPTAIN AT THE HELM THAT CAN DIRECT THE (SHIP) COUNTRY. HE’S JUST A UNLESS IMBECILLE, WHO’S ONLY GOAL IS ONE…MONEY MONEY AND ONLY MONEY. KEPT IN POWER. HE IS FREE TO PLUNDER AT WILL!!!

GiraffeyLegend
GiraffeyLegend
11 months ago

Job posting: Major
Contract: Part time, temporary
Experience: Entry level (0-12 months)
Qualifications required: None
Desired skills: 10,000+ followers on social media
Job description: Be the face of your locality.

Alfred Stafrace
Alfred Stafrace
11 months ago

Prosit Kevin
Vera only in Malta
Tinsiex li PN ser jivvota favour

Leonard Schembri
Leonard Schembri
11 months ago

Abela neither understands human nature nor does he understand how to run our country. But he understands well how to make money off other people’s backs and how to manipulate stuff in his favour.

wenzu
wenzu
11 months ago

I’ve come across some REAL ars—-s in my time, but Abela beats them all.

Francis Grech
Francis Grech
11 months ago

Kevin qieghed tinsa haġa importanti hafna . Dak iz-zaghzugh/a ma telghatx eletta wehidha. Ġiet eletta mil votanti. Mela jekk il maġġoranza Tal lokal ghanda fiduċja fiha, min ser jirribatija? Mela iskot ,tkomplix tghid balla ċuċati. Insejta l-frazi Tal maġġoranza tirbaħ.???!?

Josette Portelli
Josette Portelli
11 months ago

Abela is stupid and all of us have to pay for his stupidity, whether we like it or not, unfortunately. Well, when D day arrives, I so much hope that many of us whose mind is working to the full, will come out with an answer which our archipelago truly deserves!

John Vella
11 months ago

You are dead and buried with the past.
I have witnessed older people just doing nothing in office, with no respect for their own voters. I say begone and let anyone with stamina and enthusiasm come on. Mistakes are the prelude for learning.
Only the P. N. Never learns as it is full of has beens.
They just want to stick to their seats. No enthusiasm there.

Kevin Hodkin
Kevin Hodkin
11 months ago

Hapless Hopeless Abela Muscats puppy

Joseph Galea Cavallazzi
Joseph Galea Cavallazzi
11 months ago

Can a 16 year old get a driving licence?

JDG
JDG
11 months ago

The part that concerns me is the impact on the individual. At 16 you do not have enough life experiences to manage a political career. A slight miscommunication or mismanagement may result in a massive impact on the childs life. This government and the opposition who voted for this are either naive, or fishing for votes either way they are incompetent

Last edited 11 months ago by JDG
Joseph
Joseph
11 months ago

Always friendly with communist people. There comes the idea of certain individuals. L’irgulija qatt ma sabet postha fil-lejber. Tahwid u tahwid u tgerfix u haxi kemm trid.

Jim Bo
Jim Bo
11 months ago

Robert Abela is not Supreme Leader as he does the bidding of Joseph Muscat…

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