While it is true that the current government is embroiled in a number of scandals, presumed or real, involving a number of ministers, at the same time the Opposition should be on its guard on how to report and react to information surfacing in the media about Government ministers. It is not always very clear as to what is the purpose behind these allegations.
In the past weeks, there was much talk from a number of Opposition MPs about the presumed scandal of Chris Cardona and his renting of an apartment at Portomaso. It is possible that we have a scandal here, but the PN has to be sure that there is one. Otherwise the party risks ending up like that boy who cried wolf. When the wolf does appear, no one will take the party seriously.
Therefore, the PN should avoid entering into legal rhetoric of allegations. Any case that the PN tackles should be supported by hard facts. This will make the allegations transparent and ethical and therefore credible to the floating voter. The PN should definitely avoid going down to personal levels. The party and its strategists should avoid character assassination. Political studies are showing that mnemonic warriors are always the losers. They make the party, which sustains them, appear as loserswith the electors.
I don’t think that in the case of Cardona, the issue is whether the contract signed between a Director of the Tumas Group falls within standard practice or not. The basic question is whether it is a valid contract or not according to law. But the crux of the whole issue here is the following. One needs to remember that the Tumas Group built their controversial complex of Portomaso during the PN administration. In the perception of the common voter, this Group has the support of the two main parties.
The fact that a leading politician is given a flat in Portomaso to live in, comesas no surprise to me, as it will come to no surprise to most of us who follow politics especially if they find that counter to Cardona, the Group has its Nationalist MP too. Despite this controversy, the Tumas Group will remain in the good books of the PN. Therefore, such a campaign risks to appear politically artificial and a base attempt atcharacter assassination. The PN will appear to be attacking individuals rather than policies and ideas. When this does not happen, it risks giving the impression it is playing ‘marbles’.
This is why the PN is risking to score another auto goal. This is what happened with the Citizen by Investment Scheme, and its repercussions continued to vibrate within the party for a long time, with the result that many refused to take the PN seriously. This happened irrespective of the major PN electorate defeat in 2013.
This is why I am insisting that as a party, the PN should avoid wasting its time on giving us details and extensive descriptions of the Portomaso flat rented by Chris Cardona, even though I cannot fail to note that Government made a wrong move when it revealed its interest in defending Cardona.
What comes as a surprise is the fact that someone within the Labour fold panicked and inadvertently showed his hand. Judging from the main news in the Sunday newspapers, it is clear that the Government wants the media to focus on the Gaffarena case/s. In other words, it wants the public discussion to turn against Michael Falzon. It is clear that the Prime Minister does not want him in his cabinet any longer and is seeking the right moment to pull the carpet from under Falzon’s feet. But before doing so, the Prime Minister wants to have the people behind him.
There is hearsay of a cabinet reshuffle in the offing and one of the ministers who will lose his portfolio is Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon. Whether this is true or false is irrelevant. But the PN and its strategists should keep their ears to the ground and avoid becoming agents of occult powers paving the way for Government to implement the desired changes.
I have my doubts about the political mileage that the PN can make from the Gaffarena case because it remained in the political level without demanding concrete actions. The PN MPs did not have the guts to go to Parliament and pass a motion to annul that irresponsible deal. When suchbehaviourbased on political talk and no real action is aired in public, the PNappears to be detractingfrom more serious issues.
Thus, I join the editor of this page, Stephen Calleja, who in his last blog, pointed out that there are more important matters to be tackled by the Opposition than wasting time on what is turning out to be personal attacks on individuals.
The party should start with the dismal transport system that we have, which is even worse than Arriva and is costing the taxpayer even more than Arriva, instead of getting lost on stupidities. The question of electricity downfalls is another important issue. We are living in the twenty-first century, and despite all the fanfare from Konrad Mizzi, who is Joseph Muscat’s protégé, the electricity sector is turning out to be another nightmare for all the locals and foreigners who visit us during these hot summer days.
The Councillor for Birżebbuġa, Herman Schiavone, has written on Facebook about the dismal situation in one of the most pretty bays of the south, that of Birżebbuġa. It is plagued by oil spills but nobody appears concerned. Where are the environmentalists? He rightly asks. If the PN wants to win the next election, it should tackle social issues that touch the daily life of the citizens rather than supporting irrelevant and dangerous neo-liberal agendas.