The fall of the Libyan dynasty has been good for Labour.  It gave them an opportunity to seek new friends and rich financial support.   Baku is the capital of energy-rich Azerbaijan, a republic of the former Soviet Union with a population of eight million. With an oil fund in excess of $32 billion and projected revenues of $200 billion by 2024, Azerbaijan is fast becoming the Kuwait of the former Soviet Union.

In Azerbaijan,  the Government of Malta has found a partner for endless cooperation and agreements.  PM Muscat said that Azerbaijan is turning into an important trade partner for Malta and that two new agreements “create good conditions for expanding the cooperation.”

Energy and Health Minister Konrad Mizzi signed two memorandums of understanding on strategic cooperation in the oil and gas sector with his Azerbaijani counterpart Natig Aliyev and state-run oil company (SOCAR) president Rovnag Abdullayev.

PM Muscat said Malta aims to open up more opportunities in the Mediterranean as it can serve as a bridge between Africa and Europe. Malta also supports wider cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.

As things currently stand in Africa, I would say that serving as a bridge between Africa and Europe is just a cliché’.   On the other hand, becoming a strategic partner leading to lucrative EU contracts and business assets is probably the main attraction here. 

Another area of interest with Azerbaijan, as mentioned by the PM is in the education sector.  Recent media reports state Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev discussed the possibility of cooperation between the two countries in the education sector.
In a press statement, the government said that this discussion took place following the recent agreement between France and Azerbaijain on the establishment of an Azerbaijani-French University in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.
Muscat and Aliyev are said to continue examining the possibility of educational cooperation at a future date.

I have the impression that that date is now.

Malta is not the only country with which Azerbaijan seeks strong relations.  In 2014, speaking about the Azerbaijan-Jordan relations,  Sabir Aghaboyov, who is Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Jordan, noted that the two countries had signed nearly 40 agreements and officials had paid reciprocal visits. 

The diplomat also expressed hope that the newly established Friendship Group for Azerbaijan at the Jordan Senate would contribute to strengthen the bilateral ties.

The Jordan Kingdom relates to Azerbaijan as a reliable economic and political ally. Jordan repeatedly voiced intention to activate ties with Azerbaijan, which turns recently to the leading country in South Caucasus and to invest heavily in the economy of the country.

Amman and Baku also have ambitious plans to expand their cooperation in education, culture and other fields to serve the interests of their peoples.

The French President  Francois Hollande  signed an agreement for the setting up of a university in partnership with Azerbaijan.

And Baku has also invested in Education in Baltimore in Maryland in the USA.  The Urban Alliance's Baltimore program, the recipient of Azerbaijan's donation, is dedicated to preparing low-income and otherwise disadvantage youth to succeed in the workplace through paid internships, training and mentoring.

Go full circle and the Jordanian construction company, Sadeen Group, has signed an agreement with the Government of Malta  to build the University in the south and ‘DePaul’ American University is said to become the Institution that will run this campus.

So, enough with little Tripoli in Sliema. Our country will now have a ready-made gateway for a new dynasty.  Passports are sorted already.  The MDA and Sadeen will see to the real estate construction and Azerbaijan and other Middle Eastern nationals can establish themselves comfortably in Malta, before going on to the USA and the UK, which is their true desire, as with so many immigrants.

In the long term, the Labour party can assure itself of enough funds to keep on contesting elections till they exhaust the PN and have a good chunk of the population muttering to itself.

But this University has to be sold to the Maltese people, especially those in the south, so being the salesman that he is, PM Muscat, started to sow the seeds of discord and division by saying that the “monopoly” of the University of Malta will end.   If ever there was a blatant disservice to the people, this surely is it.  After centuries of providing internationally recognised degrees in Medicine, Law, the Arts and other faculties, with one arrogant statement from Muscat, the reputation and confidence enjoyed by the UOM is wiped aside.  Resentment  and class hatred is stoked again.  That one never fails, does it?  Having borne the brunt of the tal-pepe’ and student worker schemes, my radar is quite clearly picking up the same tones here. 

The University said it hopes the new nursing programme ‘will not be jeopardised by the new nursing school’.  That is just one faculty. 

To  succeed,  Muscat’s idea of establishing the training camp in the south, has to become the ‘new Jerusalem’.  

If anyone thinks that Labour is the party for education, you are in for the biggest disappointment. 

There is nothing whatsoever of a “monopoly” by our University.  Firstly, it does not charge fees and offers free education, secondly, there are several other private schools in Malta which offer courses for tertiary degrees and more.   We could say that the Gozo Channel has a monopoly or Malta Lotteries and Malta Public Transport.   But to dismiss the important role that the UOM has played through the decades tochannel propagandafor  the Labour party’s business schemes,  is a big shame and ought to be exposed without hesitation.

Queen Magrethe of Denmark says:  “ When you are tolerant, you have to know whether it is a matter of convenience or conviction”.“Because we are tolerant - and rather lazy. I really do not think it's easy.  And not very nice. "

If we allow this attack on the education system in Malta to go unchecked, our youth and future generations will not be around to build this country.   They will have left the island to study abroad.

The UOM will become as relative to the Government as the local councils are. 

It is time too, for the students themselves to take stock of the implications facing them.  The American University of DePaul, if ever it does materialise, is nothing more than a screen for business and property speculation which would otherwise have not been possible.  Education is often used as a vehicle to enable other less worthy projects which would otherwise be illicit or unacceptable, to pass.   Is it worth ruining the feasibility of the tertiary education sector for the sake of appearances?   Students in Malta enjoyed a 25 year window of opportunity under the PN government  and they may not appreciate that it can all be lost under one PL legislature.

I am sure that the St Lucian Tower can be converted into a luxury suite of rooms for visiting “Professors”  for extended stays and other villas, camouflaged as part of the University campus,  will be handed over for private use by some dignitaries and other officials from overseas whilst they wait for their papers because buying property in Malta never did go down very well with the “investors”  looking for an EU passport.Now, with service to the country, in the form of educational investment, they can do away with the whole citizenship application and follow the yellow brick road to Article 10 as tried and tested by Manuel Mallia’s wife. 

Never has our island been at risk of exploitation as it is now.  And that’s saying something, after all the abuse of the past.  We stand to lose our dignity, our land and our heritage.  All for the sake of money.