Would YOU buy a second-hand car from Adrian Delia? If he gave me one for FREE and PAID ME to accept
A career of almost 40 years in Human Resource Management helps to develop a thick skin. One becomes almost immune to hearing excuses, lies, inventions, fabrications, stories and everything else possible – BOTH from Management as well as employees.
On one very famous occasion, a British politician was analysing a rival Opposition politician and asked the pertinent question – “Would you buy a second-hand car from so-and-so?” The context basis of this was would you be rest-assured you are not being swindled, that you are getting a good deal from a trustworthy person and therefore have nothing to worry about.
Well, I have heard some horrendously brazen-faced howler statements in my time, but yesterday’s gushing Adrian Delia’s outbursts certainly take the prize and certainly take the biscuit.
When I thought I had heard it all – out he came with this brazen-faced piece of total nonsense that is stunningly incredible and unbelievable!
The PN Leader expressed “satisfaction” that the Government has “at last” followed the PN’s suggestion to implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission, suggestions the PN has been making but which the Government has ignored.
Stunning – that is the only word for it, a statement that left me completely speechless at the time.
Let us start at the very beginning.
When the Government approached the Venice Commission for its analysis and recommendations, the PN rubbished this and said the Government had brought shame on Malta by reaching out to the Commission to obtain this advice.
Back over the years, former PN MP Franco Debono had raved and ranted in an attempt to move the PN Government into making some of these reforms. He was totally ignored and finally resigned from the party in disgust.
The whole point was the PN Government was in a “comfort zone” of not being inclined to do anything and in fact doing nothing at all.
Well, let me re-phrase that. They did do some things such as:
Continuing to pollute the air already polluted by thousands of vehicles by obstinately sticking to the use of heavy-fuel oil;
They picked the constructor of a power station from the Yellow Pages;
They then raised energy prices sky-high and bankrupted whole families while promising to continue increasing them if needs be;
In the meanwhile the alleged trafficking of commissions on the purchase of oil consignments was allegedly rampant;
They charged double VAT on the purchase of a great number of vehicles, thus stealing money out of peoples’ pockets and obstinately refused to refund the money when ordered by the EU to do so;
They had a Finance Minister who took the first step in amassing a collection of wall clocks;
They had another Minister who was willing to bet money that manufacturing industry in Malta would collapse completely;
They had yet another Minister over who allegedly crooked Government land deals continue to hang.
The whole essence was that in TWENTY-FIVE YEARS of Government, successive PN administrations did sweet FA to carry out even ONE reform recommended by the Venice Commission.
Yet yesterday, Delia had the gall, the cheek, the brazen-facedness to issue a statement that the current Government is now following the wisdom of the PN by accepting to make its recommendations.
Would YOU buy a second-hand car from Delia?
As far as I am concerned, if he gave me one FOR FREE, if he offered me MONEY to accept it and if he PROMISED to pay for my first year’s supply of fuel for the car – I would still REFUSE to accept it.
ALBERT JEROME FENECH
