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Kurt Sansone
For the first time since taking charge of the country in March, Lawrence Gonzi looked a relaxed man when addressing journalists in the front garden at the Girgenti Palace on Thursday.
In a short-sleeved striped shirt, with a Parker pen clipped to his trouser pocket and a smile on his face, Gonzi had just emerged from a day seminar with his ministers and parliamentary secretaries in preparation for the November budget.
He poured cold water on widespread hopes that government may revise downwards the income tax rates and urged for caution as the country’s finances were not yet under complete control.
Gonzi’s body language tried to convey the message that he was abreast of the situation despite the all round pessimism. Gonzi fielded questions and tried to spell out the introduction of a vision he hopes to present in full in the November budget.
With a government increasingly looking disjointed in its actions to address various problems that are hounding the economy, Thursday’s day-long meeting was an important event to bring together the different ministers and present them with a single vision.
Whether the meeting was a success is unknown and results will only become apparent in the months to come.
Gonzi was alone when addressing the press but it was not by coincidence that the last person to leave just before the press briefing started was Richard Cachia Caruana, speeding off in his Alfa Romeo and trailed closely by two plain clothes police officers. Malta’s Permanent Representative to the EU seems to have re-instated his hold on the spin machine at Castille.
Gonzi’s other two top confidantes, Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg and Nationalist Party Secretary General Joe Saliba, emerged from Girgenti just before Cachia Caruana prompting some snide remarks from journalists that the true decisions were taken after all ministers departed from the sleepy palace.
First out was parliamentary secretary Tony Abela followed by a posse of lush cars. Education Minister Louis Galea hitched a ride with Censu Galea while Health Minister Louis Deguara drove off in his personal Jaguar.
Jesmond Mugliett was the only one to lower the car’s window to briefly greet journalists. Parliamentary Secretary Edwin Vassallo sporting a broad smile drove off in a rented out Hyundai Getz. But there was no political message in Vassallo’s stunt. Contrary to what journalists thought his official car is at the mechanic for repairs.
It was Parliamentary Secretary Frans Agius who came down the driveway on foot. Apparently his driver arrived late and picked him up outside the main gate.
When the caravan of ministers finally left Girgenti it was the journalists’ turn to walk up the drive way where Gonzi greeted the media pack in an informal way.
At face value, the idyllic setting of Girgenti Palace, a former summer residence for the inquisitor and a hunting lodge for the Knights of St John, seems to have left a positive mark on a beleaguered cabinet.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
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