The results of the Tsipras referendum need to be assessed in a way that brings out clearly the meaning of the choices which the Greek people – as well as the peoples of the European Union – faced and are facing. This could best be done by considering some questions that clarify how the euro zone has reached the current stage of proceedings.

First of all: Was the referendum truly about whether Greece should remain a member of the euro zone and the EU? Or was it a verdict regarding how the Greek people were treated up to now under the various “bail-out” plans designed to “help” Greece?

--Does the referendum result show to what extent the Greeks as a people are prepared to defend their position while remaining part of the EU?

--Was the referendum a choice between austerity policies carried though up to now in a free market context, and other policies that would give the state a greater say to intervene and remedy social malfunctions?

Clear replies to such questions would lead to a fair and correct understanding of a surprise referendum that has shaken the foundations on which Europe has been premised up to now.

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Pensions

Pensioners are right to argue that the situation in which are placed those among them with lower incomes, needs to be reviewed.. I am sure that the government will be considering their request positively.

During at least the past twenty years, matters have developed in such a way that pensioners on the lower income side of the scale continued to lose out. Now that the economy is growing healthily, the time has come for them to be given comfort. This has got to be done with care, so as not to create serious imbalances in the future. There should be no problem to achieve such a reform.

And the time has come too for ex-British services pensioners to get satisfaction on a longstanding claim: they want the two thirds pension they receive under Maltese law to be considered separately from the pension they get as ex-employees of the British government, and for which they had paid separate contributions.

Between 1996 and 1998, we had started to move towards this objective. The PN promised they would continue the process but went back on their word.

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T shirt

Controversy raged because minister Joe Mizzi went to vote in Parliament sporting a T shirt. He was accused of having undermined the dignity of Parliament.

Yet the dignity of Parliament is really undermined when parliamentary activity is reduced to a game of verbiage and show. Now if there is a member of Parliament who in the past and today, always endeavored to keep parliamentary work on track and was prepared to spend as much time as needed to ensure that this happened, it is Mizzi. You cannot fault him on such an issue, whether you agree or disagree with his style.

The truth is that some people are prepared to nitpick so long as they can ridicule, they believe, those who carry out the public duties for which they are responsible with the utmost dedication.