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Showing posts from December, 2015

Il-ħuta minn rasha tinten

Dan l-artiklu deher fil-ħarġa tan-Nazzjon tal-Ħamis 17 ta' Diċembru 2015 Mhux ta’ b’xejn li l-poplu huwa diżilluż mill-politika. Ta’ kuljum, ifeġġu skandli ġodda li jkomplu jgħarrqu lil dan il-Gvern u l-membri tiegħu. Safrattant, il-Prim Ministru ma jieħu l-ebda azzjoni, ħadd ma jerfa’ responsabbilit à, u l-poplu jibqa’ jħoss li l-Prim Ministru u l-klikka tiegħu jħossuhom ‘il fuq mil-liġi. Dak li japplika għalina, ma japplikax għalihom. Il-ġimgħa l-oħra l-Ombudsman ikkundanna b’mod ċar il-permess ta’ bini li inħareġ lis-Segretarju Parlamentari Ian Borġ. Dan is-Segretarju Parlamentari nħariġlu permess li lil ħaddieħor, tliet snin ilu, ġie rifjutat. L-Ombudsman qal b’mod ċar li l-applikant, Ian Borġ, kien qarrieqi meta ma għamilhiex ċara li sid il-proprjet à huwa hu, u staħba wara isem missieru. Fir-rapport tiegħu, l-Ombudsman għamilha ċara wkoll li l-fatti li ħalliet barra l- case officer tal-MEPA meta irrakkomandat l-approvazzjoni tal-permess ma jistgħux jitqiesu bħala żb

Limiting the powers of government

This article was published in the MaltaToday on Sunday 13 December 2015 http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/comment/blogs/60266/limiting_the_powers_of_government#.VnQf2ZMrL64 A scandal a day is keeping people away. Away from politics, away from public life, away from civic participation. This is not only unfortunate, but also dangerous. Politics is a force for good if it is built by active civic participation of well-meaning citizens. Worryingly, it is these citizens who are becoming the most disconcerted by the corruption and abuse of power perpetrated by members of government, and the more such citizens stay away from contributing, the more they make way for others who are more self-serving in their intentions. This will lead to corruption and indecency becoming the order of the day, tumbling in a cancerous downward spiral. The endemic root of the problem in our political system is the "winner-takes-all" mentality ingrained not only in politicians, but also in many s

Niġi għalik u nifqgħak

Dan l-artiklu deher fil-ħarġa tan-Nazzjon tal-Ħamis 3 ta' Diċembru 2015 Hija theddida li għandek tistenna jekk int tikkritika lil xi ħadd, skont il-Ministru tal-Libertajiet Ċivili u l-Ugwaljanza Helena Dalli. Ma tarax tiftaħ ħalqek, tgħidilna li qed nagħmlu l-affarijiet ħażin, u ma tistenniex li xi Deputat, xi rappreżentant tal-poplu, jheddek li jiġi għalik u jivvjolentak? F’sentenza waħda, il-Ministru Helena Dalli ħattet il-ġlidiet u l-kampanji kollha li saru minn gvernijiet suċċessivi kontra l-vjolenza domestika, kontra l-preġudizzju li dejjem żvantaġġja lill-mara. Huma ħafna n-nisa li jibżgħu jirrappurtaw vjolenza domestika. Li joqogħdu lura. Li għal snin sħaħ, meta irrappurtaw każi simili, ġew milqugħa lura mir-risposta “imma int x’għamiltlu biex għamillek hekk?” Kampanja wara kampanja ta’ informazzjoni, iġġieldet dan it-tip ta’ rispons. Il-Puliziji ġew mgħallma biex ma jaċċettaw qatt il-vjolenza domestika bħala reazzjoni ġustifikata għal xi aġir ieħor, u lanq

Going against one's own manifesto

This article was published in the MaltaToday on Sunday 22 November 2015 http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/comment/blogs/59524/going_against_ones_own_manifesto#.Vl66ta6rRTZ Marlene Farrugia’s resignation from the Labour Parliamentary Group should have prompted the government and Joseph Muscat to do some much-needed soul-searching. Instead, it has been met with an arrogant “we still command a strong majority and will go on doing what we are doing”. This is the more ironic because the hair that broke the camel’s back and led to Farrugia’s resignation has been a parliamentary vote on an amendment which would have implemented Labour’s own electoral manifesto.  First of all, what was the vote about? Parliament is currently debating the controversial MEPA demerger. Controversial not because of the demerger itself, which is something which was proposed in the electoral programme itself, but because of how the new law proposes the authorities to be set up, and what their roles and function