Malta u l-politika

PN - Il-Partit espert fil-u-turns ... u bil-provi.

Up to some years ago, it was current in government circles to defend the leasing of cars by the government departments rather than outright purchase as this was more cost-effective. It used to be argued that repairs cost far more if a car is government property, so leasing was more cost-effective. But this has now been changed right back: The government has gone back to a purchasing policy rather than leasing. This emerged last night at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee which continued to analyse the report by the Auditor General. Salvu Gauci, the Permanent Secretary in the Finance Ministry, had an original way to describe the real reason for the initial change in the government’s policy. He told the committee that when ministers were changed, they used to insist on getting a new car, so the ministry decided that it would be more cost-effective to lease than to purchase. But it ended up being not cost effective at all (iz-zalza oghla mill-huta, as Mr Gauci put it).

The Malta Independent 23.6.2005

For all the government’s efforts trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes saying that only “minor changes” are being made, it was a veritable U-turn the government made on the Property Tax, a humiliating U-turn.

Editorjal, The Malta Independent on Sunday 13.11.2005

The Nationalists are able to use their PR mega-machine and sneaky strategy to win brownie points on the environment with sharp U-turns such as that on Xaghra l- Hamra. – Edward P. Fenech (Executive Committee Member Alternattiva Demokratika)

The Malta Independent on Sunday 17.6.2007

Much of the credit of the decision to reverse the decision must go to the opposition, which was adamantly against the project right from the start and brought on several arguments as to why it was saying so. The Labour Party’s arguments were constructive, well thought out and justified in the circumstances, and the fact that there was a government u-turn is, in itself, a feather in Labour’s hat.

Editorjal, The Malta Independent 13.2.2009

The legal notice extending maternity leave by four weeks over a two year period was published today, bringing these regulations into effect as from Sunday. … The development was welcomed by the Labour Party which said it was a U-turn for the government as it had opposed the extension in the European Union.

timesofmalta.com, 30.12.2011, 13:26

The Labour Party said it has taken note of the U-turn by the government and the national airline to withdraw the senseless decision they had taken to remove the need for the Maltese language in Air Malta cabin crew recruiting.

The Malta Independent 3.12.2011

The government’s distinct change of tack on Friday as regards the plausibility of the country’s one remaining power station – Delimara – being run on clean natural gas, as stated by the Prime Minister as he emerged from this week’s European Union summit, is a distinct u-turn.

The Malta Independent 6.2.2011

Despite a very drastic U-turn by the Prime Minister, the public mood towards the whole debacle over salary increments for MPs and Ministers continues to be an ugly one.

Josanne Cassar, The Malta Independent 23.1.2011

Though it has been reported in the media, and decided by a parliamentary committee that a debate would be held today on the government’s final report on climate change, the debate is now not being held, as the opposition has been informed, Labour MP Leo Brincat, party spokesman on climate change said. This U-turn raises various questions, such as whether the report has been discussed and approved in cabinet, he added.

The Malta Independent 14.7.2009

Information Technology and Investments Minister Austin Gatt’s announcement that the surcharge rate and the fuel price would not shift until June of next year, following an agreement of hedging on fuel purchases, was another u-turn by the government, the Labour party’s infrastructural services spokesman, Joe Mizzi said in a statement.

The Malta Independent 4.12.2007

The government has made another U-turn in signing the agreement with the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, Michael Farrugia, MLP spokesman on health, said. Under the agreement, he said, first grade nurses would be given a warrant. Three years ago, during a discussion of the Professions Act, he had called for a warrant for nurses but the government had not only not accepted the suggestion, but voted against the Labour Party’s proposal.

The Malta Independent 27.10.2007

Alternattiva Demokratika organised an ecological and agricultural fest at Xaghra il-Hamra yesterday to celebrate the government’s U-turn on the proposed golf course.

The Malta Independent 10.6.2007

“At long last it appears that the government is making a reluctant U-turn on the energy policy and it is beginning to consider the tapping of renewable energy sources,” Alternattiva Demokratika’s Energy, Industry and IT spokesman, Ralph Cassar said.

The Malta Independent 11.8.2006

Although the press then did not report any of the specific changes made to what had earlier been proposed by the government following the Cabinet’s decision on the criteria, a close examination indicates that rather than “a touch here and there”, this has been a more general overhaul of what had earlier been proposed, which had provoked such negative reactions across political lines. This U-turn indicates that the original plans announced by MEPA on the basis of Cabinet’s criteria were the result of hurried work where basic and elementary considerations, such as the presence or suspected presence of archaeological remains, should have militated against that land being opened up for development.

The Malta Independent 9.7.2006

After the decision to close the Maltese embassy in Hungary, the government will also be closing the embassy in Sweden, a decision which Labour MP Leo Brincat has described as a political U-turn which proved the Malta Labour Party right.

The Malta Independent 12.2.2005

Mr Farrugia continued, those entities or people who were not present for the meetings were now introducing specifications and terms and conditions which had not been agreed in the first place. “This amounts to a double u-turn,” he said angrily. “We cannot continue running the country like this. The government has become like a yo-yo man and businesses are stuck in the middle,” he said.

The Malta Independent 17.8.2004

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s dramatic U-turn on summoning witnesses to testify before the Public Accounts Committee on the controversial BWSC contract for the Delimara Power Station extension, is tied to an internal governmental decision to also summon its own witnesses, and according to Infrastructure Austin Gatt: “there are 150 witnesses to be called.”

maltatoday.com.mt 15.12.2010 - 06:55

The latest U-turn on the rates of eco-taxation for plastic bags is indicative of a symptom which the current administration has made his hallmark. The reversal of the eco-contribution rates for plastic bags was not the most earth shattering of news and the issue cannot be compared to many others, more serious, that face us.

MaltaToday 9.1.2005

Prime Minister now says Malta cannot provide intensive care to patients from Libya because its ITU is “full”. This comes a few days after a government statement attempted to ridicule a MaltaToday story that reported how Mater Dei was not able to receive foreign patients.

maltatoday.com.mt 29.9.2011 - 10:46

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s announcement that the government is now opting for a near-shore wind farm at the Sikka l-Bajda reef stands in marked contrast with a decision taken in August 2006, which excluded “near-shore” wind farms in shallow water, in favour of an inexistent technology to develop wind farms in deeper waters. Speaking at the PN general council last week, Resources Minister George Pullicino went as far as to drop the government’s veto on building wind turbines on land, a proposal which had been discarded two years ago. The government’s U-turn vindicates the scepticism expressed two years ago by physicist Edward Mallia, who had said the decision to shelve near-shore farms in favour of a inexistent technology “was a way of saying that we are doing something even if in reality we are opting for a solution which cannot be considered realistic in the immediate future.”

MaltaToday 22.10.2008

All this ended up in a series of partial revision of routes which culminated in the government's U-turn to restore the old Valletta-based routes and the appointment of a task-force led by the Prime Minister himself to address road congestion, a problem which should have been addressed before the reform.

maltatoday.com.mt 27.12.2011 - 15:08

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