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MT 29 June 2014

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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 JUNE 2014 20 Letters Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. The resignation of John Dalli has brought to an end a very un- necessarily long drawn out affair. The resignation correspondence initiated by John Dalli and ex- changed with the Prime Minister warrants closer analysis. It would appear that the resignation is motivated by the incapacity of the Minister to function in an effective manner having been assailed by attacks and calls for him to go by the Opposition and more subtly from other quarters. The acceptance of the resigna- tion by the Prime Minister exon- erates his former colleague from any wrong doing as regards the Iranian shipping accusation and refers the allegation relating to the tourist resources limited to the Auditor General as suggested by John Dalli himself. A clinical analysis of the alleged wrongdoing reveals a dose of nepotism that inevitably carries political consequences. Modern democracies do demand a standard of ethical behaviour from the political class. To that extent it was always go- ing to be considered as a resign- ing matter. With hindsight, the matter should have been resolved and tackled the minute the first allegations were made. As a direct corollary of the argumentation in the Prime Minister's reply, one is baff led to understand the sequence of events. After all the Prime minister states that in his view, there was no wrong doing about the Iranian shipping affair. He passes over the tourist resources case to the Auditor General for his examination yet simultane- ously accepts the resignation. Could all this not have been done as soon as the allegations were announced and could not the minister have been asked to resign pending the outcome of the investigation? The Prime Minister does not accuse his former minister of any wrongdoing. The minister announces and maintains that he has done nothing that requires censoring, yet a resignation is tendered and accepted on the understanding and appreciation of the Prime Minister that his former colleague cannot function properly in the circumstances. Clearly, it is pretty understand- able that a Minister's position does become untenable if cir- cumstances exist which impede him from functioning in a proper manner. In such circumstances it was the correct line of action for the minister to take. What warrants comment in all this affair is why was it all al- lowed to drag on for so long with the inevitable consequences the delay carried, not least amongst them the accusation that the Prime Minister was dilly-dally- ing and unable to take control of the situation. The Prime Minister should have addressed the allegations earlier. By not doing so, con- sciously or otherwise, he allowed John Dalli to drown on his own, worse still there were accusations that the very PN Party machin- ery may have been involved in his own downfall. This, if shown to be correct, is diabolical and confirms the very serious cracks that are appearing in the Nationalist Party edifice. Gonzi should have resolved the issue immediately and not allowed pressures to build up, not only by the Opposition but from other quarters. The chapter could have been closed earlier and by so doing, a lot of the trial by media aspect of the affair would have been avoided. There can be little doubt that the affair has damaged the government that is showing little knowledge of how to manage information. An announcement to the media is made on the appointment of a new Foreign Minister before any resignation is made known at all. This all smacks of government by crisis. It all looks messy and lack- ing any sense of décor. It is also becoming rather difficult to identify who was driving this issue. Was it the government or the party in government? How can it all have been allowed to get out of hand, with the Opposi- tion media taking up the initia- tive and preparing the people for a decision that at the end of the day was the Prime Minister's to take after he chose his own timing? This whole affair could have been Lawrence Gonzi's mak- ing. Amazingly, it still remains unclear whether he considers his minister to have committed a wrongdoing or not. If he did, he should have sacked him but if he did not, he should have support- ed him. He did neither and in so doing has certainly not enhanced his image as a decisive person. Lawrence Gonzi should consider pondering on Harold Macmillan's political words of wisdom; 'Events, dear boy events. This is what most easily steers Government off course'. Indeed events like the John Dalli affair risk derailing the government, especially when government has shown a total incapacity to han- dle the affair expeditiously. Beyond this affair, it is worth noting that irrespective of the circumstances surrounding the resignation, Government is yet again losing the services of a competent minister. Following the departures of Eddie Fenech Adami and Joe Borg, in John Dal- li it is losing a highly qualified, energetic and goal-driven min- ister who put into place all the fiscal and financial structures. A resigning matter Editorial • July 04 2004 Malta's racism problem Two opposing views It would seem that Maltese racism and xenophobia has no limit. Every day, any number of migrants of all nationalities face discrimination at the hands of a growing number of the population, from bus driv- ers to people who comment on social media with an unsettling degree of anger, aggression and hatred. It would seem that recent efforts to integrate foreigners are somewhat one-sided. Teaching a migrant to speak Maltese and English will achieve little if the locals are not willing to break out of their racist mindset and treat that individual like a human being. Perhaps something the authorities can consider is a nationwide campaign to fight discrimination. En- force hate crime law strictly and purge inherently racist actions from the system itself (the convey- ance of migrants to court via the front entrance, in handcuffs, comes to mind). While every migrant's story is different, they are all, like us, worthy of respect and dignity. The colour of one's skin does not determine their worth. Along with making Maltese culture and society accessible to migrants, through integration, efforts should be made to make Maltese culture and soci- ety more welcoming to those who find themselves, legally or otherwise, surrounded by it. Andrew Ciantar Paola The 'Mosta cat killer' case had many people up in arms about what they perceived to be the brutal slaughter of domesticated animals. Once it emerged that the man behind the acts was mentally ill, the onslaught contin- ued, with many on Facebook calling for a harsh punishment, despite his condition. Firstly, it is pertinent to note that the police said that they did not believe that Grech killed the animals himself but rather found them on the street. Perhaps those irresponsible pet owners who leave their animals to die through disease or traffic accidents on the road are more to blame. Second, it would seem that one man with a mental illness is worthy of more bile and cruel words than the hundreds of supposedly sane individuals who carry guns about the countryside and strip our skies of anything with wings. I believe this speaks volumes, both about the country's attitude towards mental illness and about its extraordi- nary ability to comfortably hold two incongruous views on animal welfare. Anna Mifsud Birgu Whenever some new invention is proposed, there is a negative reac- tion from the invention it is going to compete with. We have seen this happening over and over again. What didn't they say when they invented the mobile, the microwave, marga- rine, artificial sweeteners and so on? I still remember when the biro was introduced, a rumour was spread that if you use a biro in the O and A level exams you fail. We are still witnessing a fight between different types of medicine - traditional and herbal. At present there is also a war between genetically modified organ- isms (GMO) and organic farming. I am not going into this argument but I am going to suggest that when a new invention is proposed, an esti- mate is made of the reduced income of the competing industry. The new invention would have to pay compensation to the outgo- ing company, until the outgoing company would have diversified into something new. The workers of the old company should be reemployed by the progressive company or paid by the progressive company until a new job is found for them. In this way, progress would not be held back and the public would not be subjected to so many conflicting theories. Josephine Gatt-Ciancio Kalkara Holding back progress

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