From Mr A. Saliba

Lawrence Gonzi finally admitted last Thursday that John Dalli is not guilty of three accusations made against him in 2004 and that he was going to appoint him his personal secretary. Funnily enough, Net news reported this event in its headlines on the same day saying that with this political move Dr Gonzi was destroying all the lies One News had been reporting over the last years. But one immediately realises that Dr Gonzi wants to take us for another ride a few months before the general election.

After months and years of this ongoing saga, when accusations flew between the Gonzi and Dalli camps, a panicky Dr Gonzi is trying to gather and glue the scattered pieces that are left of his party.

When taking stock of this situation one is bound to ask a few questions, Was Dr Gonzi afraid of more attacks from Dalli during the electoral campaign? Was Gonzi afraid of losing a considerable number of votes if the impression of keeping Dalli out was maintained? Was there some pressure at tal-Pieta exerted by the inner core of the party to appoint Dalli again to the Cabinet? I don’t think Dr Gonzi would be happy to answer these questions but I leave them open for discussion.

But I am sure it was no coincidence that Dalli was appointed personal consultant only a couple of days after Frendo’s defeat in the Commonwealth elections. Maybe Gonzi wanted to carry out a reshuffle of convenience had Frendo been elected secretary general of the Commonwealth; now that the plan has failed he could only do so in this cowardly manner. Many questions and only a few answers, but one answer is sure and crystal clear - Gonzi is really in need of making some radical changes to keep up appearances!

Alex Saliba

TARXIEN