From Mr V. Spiteri

I marvel at Dr George Vella’s ability to argue for or against, with equally impressive vigour and conviction, according to the exigencies of the time. He is the sort of chap who could ably have argued in favour of evolution and with equal aplomb, argued for the immutability of the species. In other words, he could have been both the man of science Thomas Huxley, as well as the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, insisting that God created man in his image, and not evolved from a chimpanzee.

Dr Vella, I hasten to add, is a genuine scholar, well able to digest complicated and voluminous tomes with remarkable ease. None of the legalistic fine points, contained in the proposed EU Constitution are lost on Dr Vella. He has an excellent memory and seldom trips himself up or fluffs his lines.

However, even Dr Vella is now arguing passionately “for”, what he was vehemently arguing “against”, only yesterday.

I do have a lot of sympathy for his excessive loyalty to his leader and Party, but when the captain sets his course for the rocks, I expect the first officer to say more than aye, aye Sir.

Unfortunately for Dr Vella, due to all the meanderings of the Party under Dr Sant, he now looks more like a Goebbles than a Maximillian Kolbe.

With a leader like Dr Sant, the MLP is now in a crisis of its own making. The rank and file has been rendered agnostic by sudden and uncontemplated changes of policy. Dr Sant and Co. have managed to alienate and confound all those who put their trust in them.

I am very sceptical about their sudden U-turn, and will therefore recommend caution, before trusting them with the baby they wanted strangled before birth.

The MLP are nowhere near winning over the true floating voters. Manwel Cuschieri, Gino Cauchi, Claudette Baldacchino and a few more, do nothing towards this course. Only when people of the calibre of Jose Herrera and Edward Zammit Lewis are entrusted with the news and general reportage of the MLP, will they begin to make some headway.

In the meantime the MLP seems to be paddling furiously towards the weir, and another ignominious defeat.

Victor Spiteri

ATTARD