When one speaks and accidentally inserts a word that is on one's subconscious mind in place of another, we refer to it as a Freudian slip. Technically, it is referred to as parapraxis. This Labour government is a case study in parapraxis, and one does not need to explore the convolutions of psychoanalysis to understand how Joseph Muscat and his marketing strategists have manipulated, and continue to manipulate, the electorate.  Let us consider one dimension: arrogance.

Arrogance is becoming a hallmark of Joseph Muscat’s administration, but let’s not forget that this was also the foremost battle cry of the Labour Party in opposition.  According to Joseph Muscat’s propaganda machine, the PN epitomised the concept of arrogance, and Joseph Muscat had to rid Malta of an arrogant administration and endow this country with a humble and self-effacing government, so much so that it would be efficient, effective, transparent, and accountable – the best Cabinet in the history of Malta.

Twenty-seven months have passed and people are beginning to realise that it was all parapraxis, but of the worse kind.  Joseph Muscat’s opposition was the most negative and destructive that Parliament has ever seen, and ‘arrogant’ was the staple nomenclature used by Joseph Muscat’s party and allies. This was repeated ad nauseam until it became a state of fact for one and all. I am not saying that the PN was perfect, far from it, and it does not mean that the electorate was wrong in calling a time-out on the PN – the electorate is always right and the PN must work humbly to regain and deserve the electorate’s trust. However, it is evident that when the PL in opposition accused the PN in government of arrogance, lack of transparency, cronyism, nepotism, deceit, and underhandedness, it was actually disingenuous truth twisting. There is a Maltese proverb about the oldest profession that is increasingly being resorted to when describing the PL’s behaviour prior to March 2013 – they actually believed that someone in government could act so deviously and dishonestly because it was what they would have done themselves and in fact, as soon as they actually grasped power, they started unleashing their real selves. The rest of us are bewildered and in shock.

We now have it from within the PL that Joseph Muscat pays and organizes people to denigrate and belittle anybody that dares put the great leader in a bad light. So, let me substantiate the ‘dishonest’ argument. Joseph Muscat is continuously using the Legal Notice tool to change the way in which our society has been organised under successive PN administrations. There is a clear streak in each piece of subsidiary legislation: the reversal of decentralisation and the centralisation of power in the hands of those at Castile and, in parallel, the removal of basic corporate governance checks and balances.

Let’s consider an example. The government displayed utter arrogance when Minister Owen Bonnici insisted in Parliament that a declaration by the government that the government does not intend to utilise the law relating to the Arts Council so that this Council also controls in practice the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage as well as Heritage Malta. The PN insisted that a clear separation of roles and designated checks and balances be enshrined in the law, but the Honourable Minister stated that since there was the government’s declaration of intent that this would not happen, there was no need for any amendment to the proposed law.  Well, Joseph Muscat stated solemnly and repeatedly, before and after the last General Election that he would resign if there wasn’t a new gas-fired power station operating by March of this year. Therefore, we all know how sufficient a declaration of intent by this government is. Needless to say, the laws stayed as proposed by the government and we therefore have to understand the rationale for Labour’s reluctance to enshrine basic corporate governance rules within the law.

The PN insisted that the chairman of the Arts Council shouldn’t be an executive chairman, and that there should be a clear distinction between the chairman of the Board and executive management. The chairman should not have executive powers, whereas the chief executive officer and executive management that should run the business, with the Board controlling management’s performance.  If this basic corporate governance rule is not upheld there cannot be checks and balances in place, a recipe for wrong decision making and abuse of power.  And this why the MLP displays arrogance of the worse kind.  The Minister’s declaration that the government’s assurance should be enough is a display of arrogance, the fact that the removal of such basic corporate governance rules was upheld despite the Opposition’s logical protestations is worse.

It is worse because arrogance is conducive to the intentional removal of checks and balances within an institutional decision making setup.  The government-appointed chairman can direct and control everything, and as a consequence Joseph Muscat can direct and control everything through ‘his’ chairman. Needless to say, this method of centralisation of power is pervasive under Labour administrations, only Joseph Muscat is taking it to unprecedented levels, controlling every government agency, department, entity or organisation where the government has a stake, even the smallest stake.

We were led to believe that the PN in government was arrogant. The PN could have done many things differently and taken a different approach, but any display of arrogance was a mistake, not a means to an end. As Joseph Muscat plods from one blunder to another, the electorate is realising that despite all its defects and mistakes, the PN may be a better and safer choice.

We still have a lot of reparation and convincing to do, but in the meantime the PN will make a difference to deserve to be in Government again. Evarist Bartolo rubbished me when I cried foul following the discovery of Legal Notice 76. One year later, the Legal Notice was changed to incorporate all of the PN’s points of contention. Obviously this went unnoticed, but that’s not important. The important thing is that the PN continues to make a difference for this country. We will continue to strive every day to prove that we have learnt from our mistakes, that we have changed, that we deserve the electorate’s faith again, that if we are given the opportunity we will not let the electorate down, that this country can aspire to a political class that is honest and determined to uphold the common good.

 

Dr Cassar is a Nationalist Party Member of Parliament