Norman Hamilton’s political views might be well known but he is such a professional broadcaster that for him, media standards come first and foremost before any political considerations he might have in mind.

When he chose to go to Dubai City to interview the Internet City Dubai people he did so on his own steam, as part of one of his many programmes of Bla Agenda broadcast from that particular Gulf Emirate.

I am still mystified why the Nationalists who should have been ecstatic about Budget 07 – if it were really that good – chose to give vent to their political spleen against one of the most highly respected broadcasters on the island.

Could it be that they are trying to pave the way for any hiccups regarding the project by blaming it on Labour or one of its media’s anchormen?

Otherwise what point would there have been in Austin Gatt stating the following in a very recent Sunday interview with a competitor publication:

“We are still negotiating with the Dubai investors. I am making it very clear that although the project is close to my heart and I want it to materialise, I am not willing to do the project at all costs...’

What does this mean? That the promoters are making demands which even Austin Gatt is finding unacceptable?

The way they allegedly demanded that the sewage plant be shifted to ix-Xghajra is indicative enough.

There have been three instances where the PN evidently tried to pin the blame on the delay in signing the Smart City deal on the opposition.

Instance 1: Tonio Fenech’s reaction on Xarabank

Instance 2: The Prime Minister’s accusing finger against Alfred Sant on RTK

Instance 3: Austin Gatt’s unbelievable and shocking decision to reply to my pertinent parliamentary question on SmartCity by claiming that the biggest difficulty in the way of the SmartCity project is the opposition!

A moderate Palestinian with a sense of purpose

Although I had to give a miss to the lecture that former Palestinian presidential candidate Mustafa Barghouti gave at the CNL last week due to a Public Accounts Committee meeting in parliament, I had an interesting discussion with him together with deputy leader Charles Mangion while also having had the opportunity to listen to his presentation and ask questions during the Foreign and European Affairs Committee meeting that he addressed.

He struck me as a moderate Palestinian with a sense of purpose, very clear-minded and highly articulate and a person with whom Europeans and even Americans can do business.

In fact, he spoke highly of the positive meeting he had with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

His Palestinian National Initiative could serve as an excellent interlocutor to bring together moderate forces in both the Fatah movement and the Hamas government. He explained how most of the Fatah vote had floated in the direction of Hamas, given the former’s mismanagement and corrupt practices which do not seem to have been rectified since then, in spite of President Abbas’s good intentions.

We spoke at length on how the Lebanese conflict impacted on the Middle Eastern scenario as well as on Hamas itself. We also spoke about the need for the Palestinians and other Arab countries to attend international and European fora rather than excluding themselves just because Israel might be present in an observer capacity.

It is no coincidence that his opinions ran parallel to a recent International Herald Tribune editorial which stated that the soundest way to resist the spread of Iran’s influence – which worries Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the smaller Gulf states as much as it does Israel – would be for Washington to change the status quo by shepherding Israelis and Palestinians into an end of conflict peace accord.

In fact, Barghouti’s ultimate objective is to organise an international peace conference that will bring all the major parties involved in the conflict together. What is Malta waiting for to try and take the lead on this interesting initiative?

This might be the right time particularly when the Lebanese war has shown that Israel is not as invulnerable and militarily mighty as it might have been perceived as being until then.

Meanwhile it would be interesting were Israeli politicians to also visit our shores to give the Maltese public the opportunity to hear and assess the alternate views to this rather doom-laden and truly shocking scenario, particularly as outlined during his riveting presentation to the Foreign and European Affairs Committee.

Upstaged and outsmarted

It was deplorable of an “independent” PBS anchorman of a popular Where’s Everybody show to come out strongly dismissing Alfred Sant as “arrogant” and “a snob” on Net TV during Georg Sapiano’s chat show when he usually tries to give the impression that he is politically neutral and that he steers above partisan politics.

Thanks to MLP general secretary Jason Micallef, the guy was upstaged and outsmarted!

Where on earth does a TV station discuss the Opposition Leader during budget week rather than focus on the so-called “goodies” one was given the impression that the budget contained? The whole show seemed to be meant as a diversionary ploy to steer attention away from the budget itself.

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Leo Brincat is the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and IT