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Joseph Muscat (Labour MEP) 1 February
“I am certain of one thing: that government has to shoulder a lot of the responsibility for the current situation. If the Nationalist Party wants to take credence for job creation over the past years logic dictates that it must also shoulder responsibility for unemployment.”
Joe Saliba (PN Secretary-General) 15 February
“I don’t think Eddie Fenech Adami left under a dark cloud. I don’t agree the Meinrad Calleja trial and the performance of the economy are overshadowing factors in this resignation… The fact that he decided to initiate the electoral process to have a new leader elected to the party on his seventieth birthday is a clear sign that it was a question of age.”
Guido de Marco (President Emeritus) 7 March
“I was very involved in the most critical period of our political history to secure constitutional amendments at a time when a lot of people were predicting a civil war. Together with Dom Mintoff we found the formula guaranteeing that the party which gets the absolute majority of votes would get the absolute majority of seats. We used to spend long nights discussing how to find a solution for the good of Malta.”
Joseph Said Pullicino (Broadcasting Authority chairman) April 4
“It’s true, political polarisation has been transported to this Board… Undoubtedly, I agree with a wider representation; I actually advocate it. Widening representation on the Board would reflect public opinion more fairly, and besides, it would ensure that decisions taken would not be based only on Party political grounds.
Michael Falzon (MEP candidate Nationalist Party) 2 May
“I am one of those who has given up on consensus politics ever being possible in Malta. It seems to be in our small island nature to indulge in rivalry. This characteristic can be seen not only in politics but in various aspects of our social life.”
David Casa (Nationalist MEP) 9 May
“First of all, the PN does not oppose gay rights… It opposes abortion, yes, and even I oppose it. As regards divorce, the PN does not really oppose it, but it looks at the value of keeping the family united.”
Glenn Bedingfield (MEP candidate Malta Labour Party and journalist) 16 May
“What I would like to see from President Fenech Adami is if, should the case warrant so, he would agree to remove the presidential pardon for Joseph Fenech (Zeppi l-Hafi). I would really like to see that.”
Arnold Cassola (MEP candidate Alternattiva Demokratika) 6 June
“The general election was not a fiasco in the sense that I feel we gained the respect of the Maltese. That is going to come out in the (EP) elections. Numerically you can define it as a fiasco, but remember, we gave our heart for Malta. Harry Vassallo, myself and all of us at Alternattiva Demokratika.”
Peter Axisa (Secretary General of the Association of Farmers) 13 June
“That’s why some people said I was bought by the government. Because I started off against EU membership, but when I was given that promise I was so confident that we had solved it. But I’ve been deceived. That’s why I took it so badly.”
Harry Vassallo (Chairperson Alternattiva Demokratika) 20 June
“We’re a real option, and so our message has to reach them. It’s not just about keeping the support we’ve gained, but also about addressing those 45,000 citizens who didn’t vote. That’s an issue which should concern everyone.”
Edwin Vassallo (PS in Ministry for Communications and Competitiveness) 25 July 2004
“Every good thing can be done better. Ideally I resist every tax which will increase burdens on businesses, but certain measures have to be taken… If it were up to me I would have it (the eco-contribution) differently.”
Fr Joe Borg (Chairman of PBS editorial board) 8 August
“I believe that in general PBS used to have too much ‘respect’ towards politicians. Now the brief we have from government is that we are there in the public’s service, and our journalists should ask the public’s questions.”
Dominic Fenech (Dean of Faculty of Arts) 15 August
“I used to be sceptical of AD at the beginning, now I wish them well as they have proved themselves to be serious and can be trusted. But the same reason that has kept people away from voting AD in past national elections – and the party always decreased its votes – will remain valid.”
Dolores Cristina (Minister for Family and Social Solidarity) 19 September
“I don’t think the issue of divorce should be politicised. We are talking about people’s lives and it is an issue which politics should not go into. I don’t agree with divorce because I don’t think it is in favour of the common good.”
Mohammed el Sadi (Imam of Maltese Muslim community) 26 September
“Why does the media only concentrate on the non-Muslim victims of violence and terrorism and not on our sufferings? Does anyone know the names of the Iraqi and Palestinian victims of terrorism?”
Vince Farrugia (GRTU director-general) 10 October
“With all due respect to this Cabinet, there is a mentality that consultation is a waste of time. You are summoned one bright morning, just as Pullicino did in the case of the eco-tax, and you are shown the raw deal.”
Lino Spiteri (Former Labour minister) 31 October
“When a party has been in office for so long, arrogance and inefficiency are bound to grow. Both grew in the last period of the Labour government before 1987 when I was a minister and perhaps I too contributed to that arrogance.”
Andrew Agius Muscat (PBS Chairman) 14 November
“I won’t manage on my own, not because I don’t have experience in public broadcasting, but because you can never succeed on your own, whatever the venture.”
Lawrence Gonzi (Prime Minister) 21 November
“I am sure the whole population will be behind us, Labour or Nationalist, here or there, because they will want to have somebody who is serious and who safeguards the national interest.”
Alfred Sant (Labour leader) 12 December
“I’m not in a popularity contest. I’m not here to be Ira Losco. I want to see the Labour Party winning the elections – even the latest surveys, although I rarely trust them, show that we are well beyond the PN. I prefer being an unpopular figure but gain victory for the MLP.” |
