The end of January is drawing near, and the tremors of the recent political earthquake are subsiding. The seismic events brought fear, anger and sadness. There was also a strong sense of betrayal in the air. How could the country end up in such a political disaster? Why weren’t there adequate precautions and safeguards in […] More
During the Labour Party leadership campaign, Robert Abela was presented as the “continuity candidate”. While this may have pleased the hard-core Labour Party members who voted for him, this certainly is not desired by a wider majority. People also want change. The negative elements of Joseph Muscat’s administration must be changed, not continued. Muscat has […] More
A month ago, soon after Joseph Muscat announced his forthcoming resignation as Prime Minister, the Nationalist Party published a document with a set of 15 proposals. This received relatively little attention. It was drowned out by all the tension surrounding the launch of the Labour Party leadership campaign, street protests, and widespread anger or irritation […] More
Yesterday evening, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat broadcast his final new year message. He now only has less than two weeks left as leader of the Labour Party, and he will then step down as prime minister. As usual, he listed the government’s achievements of the last year. But the big story, of course, is his […] More
Today is Christmas day and the shocking events of the last month will surely feature in the conversations of thousands of festive lunches this year. There will also be disagreements and frustration about them, as emotions are running high. Everyone would prefer to unwind and enjoy a pleasant meal with family or friends, but the […] More
Opposition leader Adrian Delia has won the Constitutional case for access to the report on the Egrant investigation conducted by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja. The Prime Minister, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici and the Attorney General had refused to publish it. They now have egg on their face. Delia published the Egrant report yesterday afternoon, on the […] More
Labour MP Robert Abela thinks that the ongoing regular protests are unnecessary, and are merely provocative. The protestors gathering in Valletta can all go away, eat turkey or pudding and drink wine, and exchange Christmas presents. And they should stop disturbing the shopkeepers. Everything is fine and business should go on as usual. Joseph Muscat’s […] More
Emotions are running very high. The gravity of the unfolding situation is overwhelming. The entire country has been described in the press as engulfed by feelings of ‘fear and foreboding’. The anger of the huge wave of protestors converging daily in the streets of Valletta is described as ‘verging on rage’, as crowds of people […] More
The situation is desperate, and even worse since Daphne Caruana Galizia put those words in her final blog post before she was murdered. There are crooks everywhere you look now, she wrote. This week the situation is also obscene and shocking. It is fluid and still taking shape. The web is unravelling. Every day, hour […] More
The three men accused of carrying out the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia were first arraigned in court on 5 December 2017, at around 10pm. That evening I happened to be having an early supper with two friends and Caruana Galizia’s husband, Peter. On receiving the phone call that the arraignment was imminent, we all […] More
The most unexpected aspect of the controversial permit for the redevelopment of a rural room in Qala, was the reaction by Nationalist MP Marthese Portelli. Her resignation from the Planning Board, after voting against the project, was a big move with wide ramifications. It raises fundamental questions about the role of politicians in the planning […] More
On Sunday morning, residents of Senglea and Cospicua braved the rain and gathered in a street rally. They demonstrated against the proposal by the American University of Malta to swallow up existing open spaces in their towns, by constructing new dormitory and administration blocks. The final decision is set to be taken in November by […] More
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