Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - 12:13 Joe Garcia

The GSD leadership has been patting Danny Feetham’s back suggesting that he supports the party’s direction after the return of Bossino and Llamas. Since the likes of Clinton and Hammond have not been placed in the same bracket, what does it all mean?

Conjecture continues as party leader Azopardi tries to pour glue in the cracks,although admitting that the return of Llamas has been a hard pill for some members to swallow, in the wake of much recrimination particularly between Llamas and Feetham, with phrases like ‘loss of trust’ and ‘stark differences ’being uttered.

As recently as a few weeks ago, before Llamas took the plunge, he was being accused in the GSD of being part of a virtual clandestine group which included supposedly GSD members.”Some within the GSD are working with Llamas,” quipped the Chief Minister in Parliament.

Political pandemonium was struck on 23 February when a Government motion sought to admit Llamas and one other as members of the Brexit committee. The GSD hated the thought of Llamas being a member of the committee, now a few weeks later, Llamas and the GSD are supposed to be in love.

At the time the Chief Minister rose in Parliament and said: “What a petty crusade I have just heard the hon. the subordinate to the Leader of the Party that is the Official Opposition, namely the Leader of the Opposition, embark upon, to seek to exclude an independent Member of this Parliament from a Select Committee of the House.

“I think it is probably the only time in the history of democracy in the world that an opposition has argued for less involvement from members of opposition benches in the work of a parliament. It could not happen in a dictatorship, because in a dictatorship the government is the one that is excluding the opposition, but in this democratic society in which we operate, in these complex and difficult times, the Government is seeking to include more Members of the Opposition benches in the determinative work that we are doing in respect of the future relationship that we will have with the European Union.”

ELECTRONIC MESSAGES

Picardo was addressing Phillips: “I hope he is fast receiving WhatsApp messages from his Leader outside this place to try and get himself out of the mess that he has got himself into!”

Arise Hassan Nahon: “I have to say I have been really surprised by this intervention by the GSD, I honestly did not expect it at all. I have no idea why the GSD would want to curb a voice when it suits them, while at the same time demand and consider it appropriate to be treated as an equal by the GRA, when they have a leader that is not an elected Member of the House. The double standards are totally palpable.

“And as for petty crusades, Mr Speaker, I can talk a little bit about petty crusades. Petty crusades is, for example, when Members by my side over here try to get me kicked out of the reception when David Cameron came to town and other such examples which there are many of. (Interjections) Those are petty crusades, Mr Speaker, but curbing the voice of another independent speaker, whether they are with them or not, is just an addition to our democratic voice here in this Parliament. So I have no idea why this would even be an issue and I think it is a waste of parliamentary time.”

NOT A LONE WOLF

Feetham came back to talk about wolves: “Now, Mr Llamas, we all know – we are not stupid – we all know is not a lone wolf. (Interjections) He forms part of a pack of wolves, political wolves. (Laughter) A rather timid pack of wolves, (Laughter) one that prefers to lurk in the political shadows (A Member: Hear, hear.), rather than come out openly in broad daylight, but a pack nonetheless.”

He could not resist returning to the topic of the ’clandestine group’: “Some of the people around Mr Llamas continue to be GSD members, so what are we saying? What is this?

22-05-18 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR