The Labour Party’s favourite Nationalist, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, has joined the other bad elements of the Nationalist Party in coming to the defence of Alex Borg. He also attributed the “attacks against Alex Borg” to Richard Cachia Caruana: a man who retired from politics over a decade ago and whom we had mostly forgotten until Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando brought him up again.
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is the current Chairman of National Skills Council at the Ministry of Education. The Shift News have recently reported that he may be appointed as Malta’s Ambassador to Rwanda. He became a bizarre appendix to the Labour Party ever since he broke ranks with the Nationalist Party to support Labour and Joseph Muscat in the 2013 election. Jeffrey Pullicino had many personal grievances against the Nationalist Party including forcing him to withdraw a development permit on his Mistra property which nearly cost the Nationalist Party the election in 2008.
For those who don’t remember those times, we used to be bombarded on a daily basis with news items and comments by the likes of Franco Debono, Saviour Balzan and Jeffrey Pullicino about the evil machinations of Richard Cachia Caruana. He was Malta’s Permanent Representative of Malta to the European Union and a close advisor to ex-Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami. Back then he was described as the “รฉminence grise of the Nationalist Party” for his influence in the Party. There was a very odd assortment of men who were obsessed by Richard Cachia Caruana back then and apparently, this obsession hasn’t faded for some.
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando actually claims credit for the PN’s 2008 electoral victory and later felt sidelined for not being appointed as a government minister, although Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi did appoint him Chairman of Malta’s Council for Science and Research, a position he retained under Joseph Muscat’s administrations.
Despite having pretensions of being a career bureaucrat or state official, he is a dentist and still does dentistry despite being a full-time government official. The Labour Party needs to reward him so that he may keep propping them up with this ridiculous kind of political discourse. He’s also a friend of Joseph Muscat and until this day defends him while attacking Muscat’s critics.
What is both worrying and interesting about all of this is that many Nationalist Party members remain unbothered by the close association and support that Alex Borg and Adrian Delia getting from the Labour Party. However this is a serious issue because a very significant faction in PN wants a status-quo with different people in government with the result that they are effectively helping the government neutralise the Opposition. This is like having a controlled Opposition under an authoritarian regime and an Opposition in name only.
Of course, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando will probably consider this article as an “attakk faฤงxi” in his typical manic rage. Jeffrey Pullicino Orland, Adrian Delia and Alex Borg, think and speak in the same way as Labour politicians.
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