… because we just can’t seem to stop talking about him, can we? I’m sure that when he entered the political fray, he was not banking on this kind of notoriety.

Some people cannot seem to understand why so much fuss is being made about the Jeffrey Pullicino-Orlando story, or as some are calling it “Mistragate”. As has been pointed out, there have been many other instances when politicians have been caught with their finger in the pie; when blatant conflicts of interest, abuse of power or unethical behaviour have caused a mild uproar only to eventually fizzle out because something more “interesting” came along.

So why, some are demanding, hands on their hips and in outraged tones, is everyone picking on poor old Jeffrey?

Well, since you’ve asked…

Public opinion

Public opinion is a funny thing. It can be manipulated, used to suit one’s own ends and even skewed through careful manoeuvring, but sometimes it takes on a life of its own. Suddenly, those who like to pull strings behind the scenes wake up to find that public opinion is not on their side any more.

Those who are astounded by the unprecedented angry wave of public opinion against JPO are forgetting one cardinal rule: people don’t like being made to look foolish. It is becoming quite clear that, apart from all those who voted for Jeffrey simply to spite Alfred Sant, there were quite a few others who were genuinely taken in by the tears and sobs of what seemed to them a broken man, who had been unfairly targeted by “that nasty old Sant”.

Notice how the tables were turned and the issue became about Sant not confronting JPO rather than whether JPO did something wrong.

That is what they were led to believe; that is what was dished out to them by various sections of the media, and that is what, in the end, motivated the way they voted.

(Now here, there is also a classic example of seeing what you want to see. All those who were predisposed to hate Sant were eager to swallow hook, line and sinker the perception that the former Opposition leader is an evil man, a “fascist” even, who ordered the police to drag Jeffrey away during that infamous press conference. What I, and many others saw was Alfred Sant looking at Jeffrey with the same “my patience is wearing thin” kind of look that parents give to attention-seeking children when they throw a screaming tantrum in the middle of the supermarket. Frankly, while some saw JPO “the victim”, others saw a grown man, bursting into tears on cue, barging into a press conference on false pretences and causing an embarrassing scene, all of which only made him look pathetically ridiculous.)

But, the theatrics worked, the PN won, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Scrreeeech! Wait a minute, not so fast – this is where the carefully orchestrated plan hit a mighty wall. No one (I think) was banking on there actually being documented evidence proving Jeffrey’s knowledge of the Mistra development. Then came shock number two when Prime Minister Gonzi immediately poured cold water on Jeffrey getting any kind of ministerial post. When that prize door clanged firmly shut, people, particularly members of the Jeffrey fan club on the 7th and 11th districts, started asking questions. Did Jeffrey lie to the Prime Minister, did he lie to the party, and did he lie to us, his constituents who put him there in the first place because we believed him?

After that, one revelation followed the other so fast that the public barely had time to absorb it all. Voters were, however, able to grasp the real crux of the whole matter: Jeffrey did not tell the truth when he said he did not know anything about the Mistra development permit. That is why those who are saying, “It’s not fair to call for his resignation, let’s wait for the results of the police investigation” are missing the whole point. It was the original fib, shall we call it, which is the issue.

(At times like this I always remember my father’s words of wisdom. To teach us the importance of telling the truth, he used to say, “Once you start lying, you have to keep on lying to cover up that first lie.” He had other sayings too, such as once you tell that first lie, subsequent lies become easier and easier; that in the end a liar is always caught out; and that once you have been found to be dishonest people will find it very hard to trust you again.)

No wonder then, that those who cast their vote because they sincerely felt sorry for Jeffrey now feel that they were emotionally manipulated. Do you blame them for being angry, for feeling that they have been deceived and basically taken for a ride?

I would not be surprised that, after seeing all that “dramatic” footage from the last days of the campaign replayed again, some people’s perception has completely shifted, just like when a mist which has been obscuring your vision, abruptly lifts and everything becomes crystal clear.

Of course, those who are jaded will brush this off as another “so what?” but these are probably the same people who are still in denial about why so many Nationalist voters preferred to stay home, even at the risk of having Labour win by default.

If anything good has come out all of this (apart from Mistra valley being saved from development, of course) it is that there are still people out there who believe that ethics should count for something. Politicians should and must be held to a higher standard, and no, someone should not get away with it, just because others have done the same or much worse in the past. Forgive me if I quote my Dad again: Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Right and wrong

It always amazes me that for a country so busying making the sign of the cross at every opportunity, we can be so blasé about the thin line between right and wrong.

“Oh, come on, everyone does it, we’re all ‘corrupt’, we all ask for political favours, we all make those kind of phone calls, we all try to get away with something illegal if we can, we all use our connections to get something even though we’re not entitled to it….” and on and on this argument goes. This was the refrain I heard so many times prior to the election when people were pooh-poohing Alfred Sant’s statement that his would be a government that shows ‘zero tolerance’ against corruption. This cynicism of ours is so entrenched that people were actually guffawing at the very idea (while others were seriously nervous at the mere prospect).

Of course, this reasoning conveniently ignores the fact that there are many decent, law-abiding citizens who do things by the book, who wouldn’t dream of using their influence on a government official or expect favours from a politician. Or have we come to the point where these people are to be mocked for being on the straight and narrow?

Sant, meanwhile, droning on and on about there being corruption under every bed started to resemble an annoying, nagging parent who goes on and on against the danger of drugs.

(It didn’t help his credibility that other allegations he has made in the past could never be proved.)

So when, in this case, he has been proved so very right, the public has been stopped in its tracks, blinking in disbelief. And then the niggling doubts set in: Was Alfred Sant the fastest mudslinger in the West or was he truly an honest politician intent on weeding out corruption?

Finally, we cannot ignore that the JPO story has another important element that other cases didn’t have. From the facts which are emerging and from what party officials have said, it really is looking like the entire balance of the election literally hinged on who was to be believed: Jeffrey or Alfred Sant.

No wonder people can’t stop talking about it.

Long walks in the

countryside

…is listed as one of Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s hobbies on his website. Now, now don’t laugh! He’s a sensitive kind of guy and we don’t want him blubbering again. Someone, please hand the guy a tissue.

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