Every time I hear the Labour Party complain about the way its statements and events are reported by Public Broadcasting Services, I do not know whether to laugh or cry.

Laugh because it seems to have forgotten that Eddie Fenech Adami’s name was not even mentioned on State TV when he was Opposition Leader, and today it has the temerity to grumble because it was given three minutes instead of three minutes and five seconds on the 8pm news bulletin.

Cry because I think that these people will one day rule the country and, seeing that they have not learnt from their past mistakes, I do wonder what the future holds for my children.

To hear Evarist Bartolo, PL’s spokesman for the media and a communications lecturer at university, compare the PBS news service to that of Zimbabwe is an insult to our collective intelligence.

When one remembers how the Labour Party used Xandir Malta – and, remember, at the time it was the only broadcasting media – to disseminate its propaganda without giving anyone who had a different idea the chance to voice an opinion, it is incredible that someone who professes himself to be a media expert should say something so distasteful.

If Mr Bartolo says this in public, one wonders what he tells his students. Does he tell them about the “run, rabbit, run” story or the Labour emblem filling the whole screen? Does he tell them that the Nationalist Party had to transmit from Sicily in order to make its voice heard, and that Richard Muscat was not allowed back into Malta because he used to read the real news from there?

And, anyway, if he does not like it here, he can always apply for a visa and go and lecture Mugabe. We will not miss him.

* * *

The Labour Party has complained about something else. Roderick Galdes has protested about the removal of the Sette Giugno monument from St George’s Square in Valletta, when it had been previously announced that it would be incorporated in the new designs for the Parliament building in Freedom Square.

This is because the monument represents an event that is historically linked with our Parliament, and it is appropriate that it will be located near the new Parliament building.

Was this so hard to understand?

* * *

For years on end, Labour exponents and media took every opportunity to criticise John Dalli. God alone knows what they said – and sometimes invented – about him, just to put pressure on him or as part of a character assassination exercise.

Now that he has been named as Malta’s new European Commissioner, these same people are saying that the Nationalist government and party have lost one of their main assets. They are saying that Mr Dalli’s nomination is a polite way by which Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has removed him from Cabinet.

Sometimes I really cannot understand Labour’s way of thinking. In Maltese, we have an expression that fits perfectly: Hawwadni ha nifhmek (Confuse me to enable me to understand you).

* * *

In recent years, the government has scheduled the presentation of the budget for late October or early November in order to move it as far away as possible from the Christmas activities.

It was previously felt that presenting a budget close to Christmas affected business and everyone agreed.

This year, the budget was presented on 9 November, the latest day ever since this new system was introduced. Yet, with careful planning and long parliamentary sessions in the mornings and evenings, the budget debate was concluded on 25 November, a full month before Christmas.

It is therefore strange that public discussions are still being organised by the Parliamentary Secretariat for Public Dialogue with the excuse that the budget needs to be explained. The last one will be held tomorrow.

Haven’t we heard enough? Wasn’t the idea to ‘close’ the budget debate long before Christmas? Why is the government contradicting itself by holding such meetings when the budget has already been “forgotten”?

And why should I receive three invitations for one of the public dialogue events? Isn’t this a waste of the money I am paying in taxes? Even one invitation is one too many, let alone three for the same event.

* * *

I was glad that the Balluta Bay underground car park project has been abandoned by St Julian’s local council.

I was pleased, not because of the environmental aspect or because more cars would have been attracted to the area.

I was pleased because I do not think that St Julian’s local council would have been sufficiently competent to carry out the job. If it cannot prune a few trees and replace a few streetlights in Birkirkara Road – I wrote about this four weeks ago – how could it possibly have been capable of building a car park?

* * *

Journalist Julia Farrugia had only one thing on her mind when she took part in last Friday week’s Xarabank: the male sexual organ – she mentioned it twice within a few seconds. To be accurate, in the first instance she used a verb derived from the vulgar Italian word for the male organ and in the second she used the Maltese word, which describes the smaller versions.

I thought that she had – how shall I put it? – different tastes.

* * *

Whether you agree with him or not, Victor Scerri had the courage to face the Maltese people over his planned development in Bahrija, which led to so much controversy that he chose to resign as PN president; he went on Xarabank, the most popular local programme, where he had few allies and many enemies.

What was strange was the absence of all those NGOs who were the most vociferous in their complaints. Where were Astrid Vella and Lino Bugeja? Will they make a re-appearance to give Labour a push when an election is looming?

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