Not being one to chew or mince my words, I shall ask you point blank; what on earth possessed you (TMI Editorial 5/8/99 Government 's loose cannonball) and Mr Saviour Balzan (TMI 4/8/99) to drill holes into Parliamentary Secretary Mr Edwin Vassallo? I feel you were both way out of order!

Let's start off by checking our options: some four years ago, I was in front of Castille place. A group of German tourists were on the steps of Castille enjoying the sight. Suddenly, a blue ministerial BMW stopped and the rambo-guards at Castille entrance literally split the group in two and shoved the tourists aside to grant unhindered access to one pompous minister and his mandingo assistant holding his attache case. And the guy walked through with all the airs and graces of God's gift to mankind!

 Compare: Having lived overseas for a number of years I remember the number of times that I used to board the train with our local member of Parliament. I never saw any bodyguards, chauffeurs or entourages. I saw a man going to work (Parliament) to do his bit for the constituency which, geographically, was some ten times as big as Malta. He was accessible, not sophisticated, not pompous, and actually talked in local slang. The man was not like your average Maltese politician. He was like Mr Vassallo.

Take your pick Mr Editor.

Why are you so worried that Mr Edwin Vassallo is taking on the likes of our banks and the MDC? What's the big deal! Did the Banks jump over backwards to reduce their loan interest rates when foreign rates were falling? Does MDC show the same enthusiasm when dealing with the small Maltese businessman that it shows when Mr Jack Anybody lands here with a fistful of dollars? Why, then, are you bothering? And, what about all these delicate national mechanisms? Not even a nuclear explosion (let alone Mr Vassallo) would change the inertia in this country. So why worry!

Mr Vassallo plays politics at street-level without all the polished refinements of most of his counterparts. But then I ask, what has the country gained from all the polish, lustre, pomposity, double- speak half-speak or no-speak of our political class?

Are we so accustomed to this one political mould that we just cannot stomach an alternate, simple, yet effective style? Why are guys like Mr Vassallo taken with a pinch of salt and their every mistake magnified beyond proportion? Does it matter whether all our politicians hold multiple PhD's in irrelevant, obsolete subjects or kindergarten diplomas in EU matters? Do they all need to possess the ability to spew polished macro-baloney whenever they open their mouths?

Continuous contact with the grassroots will make any person view the world from a different perspective. Mr Vassallo's extensive exposure to the nuts and bolts of the land makes him see, think, act differently from your average politician.

Working, as I do, in the services field brings me in constant contact with a large number of people, an odd variety of situations and problems. I can relate to Mr Vassallo's priorities, his actions and possibly his frustrations in not getting things moving fast enough. But as long as he continues pressing hard the way he does, I will forgive the guy a million mistakes. At least one man is trying.

Isn't it high time that somebody grabs the bull by the horn around here? The ultimate beneficiary to this direct, original and modern style is your very creation, Mr Average Man.

Edwin Vassallo gives him continuous and due attention, grants him immediate access. Above all, Mr Vassallo is one of the Island's few politicians with enough marble to venture deep in the engine room of the country and hopefully report his findings to the bridge.

With the vast majority of our parliamentarians being blank misguided shots, Malta could do with more cannonballs like Mr Edwin Vassallo. Whenever I hear the gregarious Opposition sending him to sell jeans during Parliamentary debates, I get this brotherly empathy to start trading in jeans myself despite the fact that I am not a Nationalist apologist.

With all his alleged imperfections and defects he is a credit to the popular (as in, tal-poplu) movement he represents.