First of all I want to be amongst the first to congratulate Dr Tonio Borg on being appointed European Commissioner for Health after such a gruelling experience to prove that he is capable to administer his portfolio.

At the same time I would like to show my utter shame at the way a good number of members tried to push forward their personal agenda at the expense of our Maltese nominee. Despite the fact that almost everyone present and experienced commentators expressed satisfaction at the excellent way Dr Borg responded to the numerous amount of difficult questions, they still declared their outright opposition and expressed their intention to vote against.

Liberals and Greens only want to have it their way without any consideration to  Dr Borg’s capabilities and experience.

Following the grilling, Dr Borg , and all of us true Maltese, were on tiptoes as reports from Brussels were very conflicting.

The Socialists themselves swayed from one side to the other, especially Mr Svoboda, the Socialist leader, who changed his mind more than on one occasion.

But finally Dr Borg was vindicated with an excellent result which made us all very proud. It was useless for Prof. Cassola to campaign against his appointment and he should be ashamed to say that he’s Maltese because he did his best to spoil Dr Borg’s chances.

The voting itself was also a shame because it seemed that a film festival award proved more important to the European Parliament than the voting itself as it was given first preference.

Secondly the way Mr Schultz conducted the voting reminded me of an election of a prefect in a kindergarten class in Timbuktu. He could not control the noisy gathering and rushed the proceedings, failing to give it the importance it deserved.

May Dr Borg once again prove that values and principles are not to be bartered.

George Calleja

St Julians