Stitches in Time (3)

Part 3 – GroundHog Day

A few hours after the PN announced its list of candidates the controversial Wayne Hewitt was updating his facebook status. Apparently he will not be voting PN in the next election:

for the first time in my life, I will not be voting in the next general elections. Between a party embezzled by a handful of religious extremists, a socialist party and a small communist party disguised in green, I choose none. Will be waiting of the real Nationalist Party to arise to its former glory. A party that puts democracy before religion.

Yep. Now while I’m quite prepared to read the status and give Mr Hewitt the benefit of the doubt I quite suspect that the reason for his sudden switch in “loyalty” goes far beyond the “religio et patria” nonsense. I suspect that Mr Hewitt was hoping to be see his name on the new list of approved PN candidates and that the absence of aforesaid name from the list is very much the reason for his sudden angry facebooking.

Which might mean that there IS some kind of streaming after all and that not ANYTHING goes. Having said that I cannot say that this streaming is working 100%. Sure I am very very glad to see the likes of Mark Anthony Sammut on that list. If he were in my district I’d have no trouble at all putting a number one next to his name. Some seem to think that “charming” Albert Fenech is a brilliant addition because he’ll bring in the lady vote – I’m not quite sure that vote-grabbing for looks is quite what is needed here.

But let me come to my pet hate. Emmanuel “Arriva” Delia is on the list too. Now those who know me will not need me declaring my political bias against Mr Delia ever since I inherited a student council that was on its financial knees thanks to his ruthless “management”. In any case I think that his arrogant displays when not representing student interests are the least of worries.

The fiasco of the introduction of the new transport system has been well documented and notwithstanding his months of underground inactivity (currently being spun as having been the result of a counter-measure to Franco Debono’s touchiness) Arriva is still the first name to come to mind (right before Austin Gatt’s) whenever mention of the stout man from St Julian’s is made.

Here’s a little itsy bitsy integrity test I urget the PN folk to run.

1. Log on to Emmanuel Delia’s site : www.delia.pn.

2. Scroll to the very very bottom. (don’t bother with the videos, he has removed the ones featuring endorsements by Lou “tax-Xirka” Bondi). You will find a little tag: Developed by 2iLtd.

3. Click on that tag and when that new page opens click on Europe and the Middle East.

4. The next page is the site for 2i in Europe (www.2ime.com) . Have a look at what these gentlemen specialise in by clicking on the PRODUCTS tab at the top. Yep, feel free to click on “BUS SCHEDULING SOFTWARE”. That’s one of the things these people tender for.

So you see. Three clicks away (one if it weren’t for the fact that 2i have a world/europe site) from a candidate’s website is a company that tenders regularly for government IT work and specialises in Bus Scheduling Software – funny Bus Scheduling and Delia right?

Cool isn’t it? Now Delia will obviously tell us that he (tee-hee) “paid” for this website set-up and that he (guffaw) can provide “receipts”. And what if he can? The point is that of all the website building companies on the face of the planet Emmanuel Delia “chose” a company that tenders regularly for government work and “sopra corna e bastonate“ one that is involved in the kind of work that he was responsible for within the bulldozing ministry. Not that he delivered anything in that field mind you.

So yes. This is a little nothing. A teeny weeny example of inconsistencies that are borne out of arrogant disregard of what is correct and what is ethical. Delia’s site has been up and running for quite some time now (long before the PN declared him to be a kosher candidate).

Not a good start for poor old Delia isn’t it?

 

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Stitches in Time (2)

Part 2 – All the Kings Horses

It’s been a while now that we have been witnessing the gradual collapse of Franco Debono and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando. The latter’s fall from grace is even more phenomenal when one compares the hero status that he enjoyed in March 2008. No it’s not an insignificant detail. No we cannot brush these facts under the carpet. Franco Debono and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando were on a list of candidates approved by the Nationalist party in the infamous “GonziPN” campaign.

Ours is a party system that has been designed to reward two parties and two parties only. It is based on the Diceyan premiss that a bipartisan system is the strongest and healthiest for our form of government. Fine. Let us accept that reasoning if only for the sake of argument. Accepting that argument means that the two main players of our political system bear a huge responsibility when selecting candidates who will then go on to represent the people in parliament. The “anything goes” approach is damaging to the system and insulting to the people who are supposed to be represented.

Parties cannot go on allowing Franco Debonos and Joseph Cuschieris to be elected by popular vote. I know it’s a democracy and the people have spoken and all that but the rules of the game are such that the parties should bear the responsibility of (at least) screening the candidates as far as possible for the signs of misfits.

Which is why the PN cannot be let off so easily with this sudden semi-expulsion. Neither can anybody who actively spun the “sale” of such candidates passionately throughout the last election campaign. Who do you think you are kidding? Take one of the most stalwart defenders of JPO’s cause in 2008 – Daphne Caruana Galizia (Vote JPO #1). Here she is on July 12th 2012 telling us this about JPO and his immediate entourage:

STEPHEN CIANGURA HAS BEEN JEFFREY’S HEAVY, CANVASSER AND SIDEKICK FOR YEARS.

He was stuck to his hip already at the general election in 2008. He was Jeffrey’s keychain, going to all his meetings with canvassers and activists, to fund-raiser parties, the works.

In the 2008 campaign, if you saw Jeffrey, you saw Ciangura, with some notable exceptions like public appearances for bawling and trying to whip up sympathy, when toughs and heavies have the reverse effect on the emotions.

When Jeffrey turned up at my house during the election campaign, he was accompanied by two heavies even then, and one of them was Stephen Ciangura.

(…) Now I suggest you Google Stephen Ciangura and find out just what kind of a person he is, breaking a young man’s jaw while moonlighting as a bouncer at Gianpula for his mother’s company, when he was a lance bombardier in the Maltese army.

Now she suggests that you Google Ciangura. Now. Why now Daphne? Why now PN executive? Funny how none of this came out in 2008 when JPO wept crocodile tears over Mistra and nasty Sant’s accusations. The truth is simple. In 2008 the PN needed JPO’s votes. It needed Franco Debono’s too in order to pull off the greatest victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.

Only now –  with parliament in recess and with probably little left to do come its re-opening other than to fall out and prepare for an election – only now is the PN comfortable baring its teeth. Only now will information hoarders tell you to google Ciangura. Makes you wonder doesn’t it what kind of information is withheld about other candidates until the time is ripe.

The PN’s move of cutting off the elements within it that were obviously functioning for their own interest and on the basis of their own personal grudges and not on political differences was correct. It was correct but ill-timed. A strong party would not have suffered the humiliation of allowing such persons to dictate the agenda of government.

Unfortunately for the PN the rules of the game are such that had they called an election at the most opportune moment (and not succumbed to months of theatrics) then they might have handed the reigns of government to a band of irresponsible power-hungry persons who still show no sign of getting clued in about the rules of the game.

Talk about painting yourself into a corner. Way to go Mr. Dicey.

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Stitches in Time? (1)

So the world did not end yesterday, the nationalist party did not implode and – much to the chagrin of (probably) many a disgruntled voter without much of a grasp of the rules of the game – the government is still in place for all to see. The rebel MP’s have had their comeuppance and JPO, Mugliett and Debono will not be allowed to contest the next elections. They have not been expelled from the party (which is convenient enough so long as this parliament is still “sitting”) but they have been served the cup of hemlock sure enough. So if the procedure ended up not expelling anyone they needed an excuse that would sound disciplinary enough but that would also send a clear message to the “rebels” – and the selection of PN’s first batch of electoral candidates was the perfect excuse to start the stitching. Or was it?

Here. For what it matters in this crazy season of politics is J’accuse’s take on these recent events:

Part 1. Labour

I just HAVE to start from the least obvious. The rebels would not have managed to wreak havoc with their promises of uncertainty had they not found a compliant opposition that bent over double to encourage their rebel activity. There is nothing wrong with an opposition taking advantage of the weaknesses of government, far from it, but the problem we see is that the connivance of the opposition was based on deceit and a blatant disregard of constitutional rule and convention.

It would be naive of us to assume that the business of politics does not include the dirty work of personal vendettas bred out of rivalry, ambition and misplaced expectations. Having said that though, it is no small matter that the opposition fails to see that the cries of “ungovernability” that it so proudly yelled over the past months were founded on a situation provoked and instigated by itself together with the flighty rebels.

The business of government might not be tip-top but it is far from the mess the opposition would have us believe exists (and far from the mess that the band of politicians presenting themselves as an alternative to government seem to reserve for us in the future). It has recently dawned on some that Labour’s inability to present clear, tangible programmes and take clear positions might serve to its advantage (no shit Sherlock). Thank God for the diversion that have been the merry band of rebels then… but now that that charade is over Labour might have to start producing and it might be a little too late.

It remains to be seen whether the public really sees the series of events as  the misuse of the institutions of the state for the purpose of personal vendettas or whether they lost the plot at some point after having been fed the “iggranfati mal-poter” and “messy business” mantra one time too many.

 

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I.M. Jack – Monday’s Highlights

Factitious parties and reconstruction

The nationalist party has as yet not imploded but we still hear of calls for its reconstruction. Back in May 2008 we were penning a little post about the Labour party and the dangers of Clique & Factions and we are today still witnessing the problems that our parties face when factions within them (even one-man-factions) decide to stir the proverbial faeces. Democratically speaking we are now witnessing the obvious corollary of all that J’accuse was warning about last election.

Voting for our political parties in this day and age involves making specific choices about the persons you are voting into parliament. When the political parties, operating under the blessing of an electoral system doctored in favour of the Diceyan bipartite mantra, fail to put into place the necessary safeguards to ensure that all candidates are party kosher (because they prefer votes to value) then it is only a matter of time before the merde hits the ventilateur.

We spoke of this in Wasted a bit more than a year ago. Then it was the manner that party representatives purported to represent the great unwashed in the divorce affair that jarred. Nowadays we have the Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando witch hunt. We can never tire of pointing out how right this blog was in 2008 to emphasise the blatant anomaly in the PN manner of doing politics. Backing anyone and anything to the hilt simply because it helps bring votes in the massive showdown of GonziPN vs Sant only gets you into government. Once you are in government you will have to face the consequences of getting “anyone” elected on your side.

We were told at the time that we were irresponsible idiots who never grew up and who were setting ourselves up as objects of hate simply because we advocated a position that people  vote for quality and content and not simply on the lines of party backing and pretty faces (though some would beg to differ on the latter count).

Great brains like Richard Cachia Caruana were busy transforming Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando into a vote grabbing machine – converting the unpalatable cosmetic dentist into a sugar-free sweetener who had become a “victim” of “nasty Alfred Sant”. The gullible ones swallowed it all – hook, line and sinker – and rushed to the ballot box to vote JPO #1 – thus shafting this unpleasant, inconsistent and hopelessly garishly naive politician upon us. Us of the wasted votes. We who had screamed and shouted irresponsibly for the PN to get its act together and to build a foundation of candidates centred around the basic values that had got it through a decade of reform.

Well. You reap what you sow I guess and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has been one hell of a harvest for the PN to handle. (picture: J’accuse Personality of the Year Award as depicted by Bertu in Bertoons). The reconstruction must perforce start from the realisation that some very very wrong choices were made.

sevenorlandos

 

Tennis worth watching

Watching Andy Murray collapse into tears after being defied at the last hurdle at SW19 by the greatest player tennis has seen must have been the most moving moment this weekend. Second best at Wimbledon earns you £560 k not to mention the added branding income that Murray will see flowing his way given his immediate boost in the “world recognition” stakes. Tennis stars earn more money off the pitch once they become a recognisable icon and yesterday’s match meant just that for the Scot from Dunblane. Roger Federer’s net worth, to give an alien example, is around $200 million but we are talking here about a man who has broken all sorts of records in the gentlemen’s sport.

Back to Murray – all this talk about money meant nothing to him yesterday afternoon. His name was not being engraved in the Olympus of Wimbledon greats and he has still not won a grand slam. Sure, he will not be having any cash flow problems for a while but that is beside the point. His is a battle to achieve, one that is ultimately not measured in pounds, shillings and pence but in victories and performance. Values that are fast being lost in today’s world – and not necessarily the sporting one.

Democracy’s value added

Libya has gone off and done the democratic thing – electing its own government and leaders. This may not be the time for the Western world to shout success: the real proof of a democracy lies not in the electing but in the democratic governance. Saturday night saw fireworks in the Libyan sky as the end of voting was celebrated. A 60% turnout seems to be the agreed figure and a liberal alliance is expected to trump the Islamist party this time round. Government will in all probability be by coalition given that over 100 parties were formed to contest these first open elections. Democracy battles to outwit any possibility of civil unrest that would favour the more unstable sides of society. Meanwhile Assad is holding on to power in Syria – claiming that he has the backing of the people.

Seems like yesterday when a bespectacled Colonel speaking to the BBC  yelled “The people… they love me all“.

 That uncanny conviction that ego-maniacs seem to have that everybody loves them. It seems to be so bloody contagious.

 

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The Auditor General’s Report and KSU

On the 3rd July 2012, the Auditor General presented the Report ‘University of Malta – Concession of parts of University House to the Kunsill Studenti Universitarji’ to the Speaker of the House. The report had been commissioned by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. You can access the report here. Here is a summary of the report as may be found on the website of the National Audit Office:

The Auditor General presented to Hon. Speaker the Report ‘University of Malta – Concession of parts of University House to the Kunsill Studenti Universitarji’ which was commissioned by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. The investigation addressed the concern from two separate, but inter-related, perspectives:

a) a legal/conceptual deliberation of the concession and the eventual use made of the conceded property; and

b) an analysis dealing with the leasing and related operations as run by the Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU), coupled with the University of Malta’s (UoM) involvement in this regard.

The Report concludes that as KSU was never granted any title over the conceded property, it was not in a position to lease out parts of same. Shortcomings on the part of UoM, especially the failure to regularise the position over years, are also discussed.

The Investigation also revealed deficiencies in the manner with which KSU manages the leasing function, with processes deployed not being best practice and not being conducive to accountability and transparency. UoM’s reluctance to deploy a control and monitoring function to ensure its property, as conceded to KSU, is being made good use of, is also reported upon.

National Audit Office (NAO) recommends that steps be immediately taken to ensure the status quo does not prevail, and that a regularisation process be embarked upon. Apart from the definition of a legal framework, an administrative supporting framework and a set of documented procedures should be designed and deployed.

On a wider scale, the Report voices NAO’s concern that the Disposal of Government Land Act does not preclude autonomous (public) bodies from disposing of immovable assets without the monitoring of competent authorities.

I read the report and was immediately inspired to prepare a counter-report that would consist of my observations and comments on the Auditor General’s operation and finding. The main inspiration for my writing the report lies in the fact that I see this kind of review as a misuse of the institutional structures of our nation. This misuse is symptomatic of a deeper malaise that has come about with the abuse of the higher institutions of our country that is in turn based on a misconstruction of such principles as are intrinsic to a system functioning on the basis of the rule of law.

J’accuse has already documented why the recent happenings in Parliament proved to the public that the principles and traditions of our hybrid legal system were being flaunted and sacrificed for political expediency. The request for the investigation into the matters existent between KSU and the University by Owen Bonnici was misguided because it took the matters of an autonomous public body and made them the business of government. This request came from the same corner of the progressives who were scandalised when somebody went running to the police for the latter to censor publications on campus. They are also the same corner of progressives who periodically call upon “the powers” to censor or even shut up bloggers and opinion writers.

This is the kind of Malta that believes that just because you have “freedom of expression” then that means that when exercising that expression you must be automatically right. It is the Malta of rash proposals to restructure a judicial system and attempt to sound like some modern day Hammurabi when the very same “reformers” seem unable to decipher the basic tenets of constitutional politics.

But back to Owen’s request for investigation. The Auditor General had a job to do once the Public Accounts Committee requested him to do it. He gave them a report that we found to be scantily based on (a) the reply to an earlier parliamentary question and (b) the legal advice of a party that had a direct interest in the outcome of the investigation. In the end J’accuse finds that the whole investigation is ultra vires and goes beyond any of the powers that the National Audit Office has.

Incidentally this is not a defence of the practices of the KSU executive whenever they are procuring services for Students’ house. I am fully aware that they have to operate in a minefield of legal uncertainty and that they also have to watch their back from a University Council that might be hungry to reclaim its rights on Dar l-iStudent. Which is why the executive is duty bound to be more transparent in its economic operation and this transparency must always show a student union that is working for the greater good of the student body.

The purpose of the J’accuse report is not only to point out the anomalies of the Auditor General’s findings but also an attempt to highlight the dangers of confusing the roles of our institutions of review. I hope that that purpose will be achieved.

Click here to read J’accuse’s report in reply to the Auditor General’s Investigation.

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