Anyone who might have been living away from the island for the last 10 years or so could not have been blamed for finding Lawrence Gonzi’s performance on TVM’s Reporter slick and impressive.

Listening to him talk about the merits of meritocracy (no puns intended) such people would have considered these words to offer a breath of fresh air.

The same can be said for his commitment to a clean election campaign, free from personal attacks.

But on the other hand, for those Maltese who have lived on the island through the last decade, particularly the years of Gonzi’s rule, it was a completely different story altogether.

Those left by the wayside, as well as those who have been put aside because of their political convictions, must have felt insulted by his reassurances, since he implied that all decisions and appointments made were purely made on the basis of merit.

Does this mean that all those who did not make it are just a bunch of incompetents?

He also implied that those politically appointed chairmen who resigned from certain corporations did so because they simply thought it was time to move on. It is a pity that he did not even have the decency to declare that most of them left because of the arrogance of the ministers who had appointed them in the first place.

But the cherry on the cake goes to Gonzi’s reassurance that he wants a clean campaign without any personal attacks.

At the same time that his recorded interview was being aired, Minister Austin Gatt was indulging in the most tasteless of personal insults against the Opposition Leader on the Granaries in Dr Gonzi’s presence, as has become customary with his by now traditional line of attack.

When I joined the Labour Party I was told by Nationalist friends – obviously out to discourage me – that I was mixing with the wrong crowd since my colleagues were a bunch of hamalli.

First of all this proved to be completely untrue.

And secondly if one wants to sample what a hamallu of the 21st century looks and sounds like, one need not look beyond the behaviour and statements of certain (not all) Cabinet ministers.

Those who think fairness and justice prevail under a Gonzi administration should take heed of the following.

I recently met a senior civil servant of Nationalist orientation who worked very closely in high quarters under both the Fenech Adami and the Gonzi administration.

He told me without mincing words that things have deteriorated further under the Gonzi government when it comes to the politicisation of the civil service.

From certain gate-keeping that I have come to learn of about the behaviour in office of certain very senior civil servants in Castille who are definitely political appointees with a capital P, I can see his point very clearly.

I dread to imagine how Nationalist propagandists must have felt when the young up-and-coming Nationalist candidate and Siggiewi mayor Robert Musumeci recently courageously denounced the Nationalist strategy of demonising Alfred Sant as counter productive and unjust during a Smash TV appearance, when the PN’s party machine has been making it very evident already that this is going to be the cavallo di battaglia of the forthcoming election campaign.

The hypocrisy of the PN’s strategy and tactics was further betrayed by the fact that although its leader first skilfully adopted a deft approach of mock modesty, all of a sudden everything seemed to go downhill as triumphalism began to prevail, and in what sounded like a snide remark against former Finance Minister John Dalli, the PM boastfully claimed that one of his wisest decisions in office was to take over the Finance Ministry!

I am sure that former Minister Dalli found little consolation in Gonzi’s later statement on the Granaries when interviewed by Charlon Gouder that “Il-pajjiz qed igawdi successi kbar bil-kisbiet li ghamel John Dalli bhala Ministru” (The country is benefiting from the great successes resulting from the achievements accomplished by John Dalli as Cabinet Minister).

I can take political criticism anytime but I have no time or patience for political hypocrisy. Particularly when at its worst!

How the Nationalist media managed the ‘drainage’ saga

When the Opposition Leader recently held a media conference at Balluta Bay to express his dismay at the way residents in the area were being treated because of the polluted bay itself due to a long running drainage problem, the Nationalist media were quick to claim that the MLP tried to make political capital of a problem that had already been solved. Almost one week later we were told that it was only then that the problem had been solved because it had just been identified. On the same day that this news item appeared in the media the courts were told that the drainage problem in Balluta Bay was “almost solved”.

Do we also have to experience media management and half-truths over such an issue too? It is yet another example of the inefficiencies and incompetence of the Nationalist administration on small matters that mean a lot to the ordinary citizen. As well as of their feeble attempts to resort to cover ups on such ostensibly secondary issues.

Chinese respect

for ‘old friends’

Malta has many old friends in diplomacy. But the country which has definitely proved to be the most consistent and loyal towards the Maltese people is undoubtedly the People’s Republic of China who remain ever grateful that Malta was one of the very first ever countries to normalise diplomatic relations with them when they were still considered to be pariahs by the West.

The Chinese repeatedly claim – quite correctly – that they traditionally do not forget old friends. This was also evident in the way they continued to respect Richard Nixon for having established US relations with China, even at a time when he had fallen out of grace in his own country.

With this in mind I felt very encouraged and pleased when I recently had a lengthy discussion during a courtesy visit by the new Chinese Ambassador to Malta wherein I took the opportunity to explain our party’s foreign affairs vision statement and objectives for the future once a Labour government is elected in the coming months …or weeks.

e-mail: [email protected]

Leo Brincat is opposition spokesman for foreign affairs and IT