As the triumvirate of Keith, Konrad and Joseph get ready with their tent and lights to present a media event to deflect attention from the non-event of the power station onto the grievances of the Nationalist Party, a flush of a toilet is heard in Hondoq in Gozo and everyone is invited to share in this experience.
Such is the political agenda in Malta. Nothing more than a sustained partisan attack on the Nationalist Party and little more substance than a coat in Summer. As the punters rummage around the block looking for something to do – not because they feel like it but because they have to keep up their face time – the elite of Castille are afforded a media event of their own, beyond the staged “Gvern li jisma” stunt.
Whilst the saga at Airmalta continues to slide into chaos, pensions shrink against inflation, people die tragically on our roads with increased regularity, our army and police are run like Games without Frontiers outfits, school children fail crucial exams and the people continue to clamour to see the contracts that are holding our country by the neck, what we get from this new way of doing things government is nothing more than a vacuous public statement about something still to come.
Perhaps things like Summer holidays and beachy frolicking got in the way of setting a date and since prices of fuel are stable, as we are told, there is no urgency and all of the boring serious stuff can wait.
After all, what is a power station and a corner stone of the electoral agenda of the labour party compared to the social movement it has delivered on? Just look at all the appointments that have been given out, the opportunities for cronies, the gifting of ODZ land to the big guys and the permission to do whatever one fancies without having to answer for it. Whilst the Armier squatters get their electricity sanctioned, the farmers in Ta’ Qali have it cut. Why is this government so hard on agriculture? Is it because they get a fit whenever they see good fertile land being used for cultivation instead of lucrative transactions for high rise buildings? They can’t stand the waste of big bucks lost to a cabbage.
The nag is that for this to happen, the Movement needed to be elected and are now having to face running the country. How much of that job can be set aside is a calculated risk. Every so often, the podium is brought out, the latest exposure is dressed up to appear like a well-intentioned manoeuver and the attacks on the “Opposition” come out in full force.
It is of no matter to the Movement that they haven’t the slightest idea what to do next. If it needs to a toilet on the beach, so be it. If it should be dismantling anything of substance and value, all the more. Perhaps the thinking is that in selling off important assets, it will appear like serious things are being done by the government. The more important the assets, such as the BWSC power station, the educational system, the University standard, the financial services, our national airline, the police and the army, public transport and so on, the greater will be the reflection on the party in government. That is all some people understand. Talk big and you will succeed in impressing people and thereby have them believe that these are great achievements that are being talked about.
At the same time, they infantilise Dr Busuttil and the proposals put forward by the Nationalist party who they continuously insist to refer to as the Opposition, without ever giving them an identity and equal status. The automatic method is to blankly oppose anything put forward by the Nationalist party and get the people to believe that no action is better than succumbing to anything proposed by the PN. By approaching the issues before them in this way, the Ministers and their charges go out to convince people that the Labour party has their interest at hand and will do anything to protect them from harm. They are the only ones to be trusted because they shield the common people from the bad intentions of Dr Busuttil and his party.
Anything that the PN presents to this system of control is as effective as offering to do someone’s homework when it will only earn them a fail. The argument is presented that getting a D for sloppy homework is far better than an F. So, we are content with having an acting Police Commissioner rather than have one elected by a two-third majority and if our nominations for Commissioners in Brussels fail to be approved, at least they were put forward by the “people” and not by the elite of Dr Gonzi so any other approval is superfluous. They are there on the merit of having shown support to the LP which is by far the only meritocracy of any value for those who suffered at the hands of GonziPN, or so is implied.
If the fat salaries and panama accounts are to be believed and applauded, then the common people can also believe that they too are enjoying their own part of this wealth and influence. As long as the economy is doing well, it stands to reason that they too are doing well and the fault was only of the previous government who held back from paying sky-high salaries and feeding off the tax payers or burdening the country with an excessive recurrent expenditure.
When the time of reckoning comes at the next election, who will be believed? The alternative and sound economic programme of the Nationalist Party paved with good intention but void of any gravy or the leftist propaganda packaged in luxury goodie bags? Private jets, family planning, successful business men, lax family values, a good bit of action on the side, replaceable ministers, popular bad boys and all under cover of a democratic and legitimate government heralded by the largest majority ever gained. Oligarchs on the right and the lure of the European Union on the left, whilst we wait patiently for the Libyan oil wells to start pumping again and the boat loads of migrants from Africa just happen to miss their Malta stopover.
Incompetence is often quite easy to cover up especially when there is little in the way of result expected in the first place. Worry and concern and references to standards of public service are just for a passing lip service at a “media event”, soon to be re-packaged by the news stations, some staunch newspapers and by the mob of supporters that clamour for such events.
That is the way they roll. The more vacuous the better. The less robust the more applauded. The greater the audacity the higher they rise. The lower the standards the greater the support.
When does such a joy ride end? When does the rest of the country start to breathe again? This is no weekend marathon for a good cause. This is more like a lottery which is rigged with the same winner over and over again. A junkie getting his next fix. A liar believing his own lie.
Getting to the truth of the matter means that past or cultivated grievances are not enough to rest on and the need to create becomes greater than the spin and the corruption. If you want to make a difference in people’s mind you have to start with having a crack team and developing them into a unified and energetic side capable of offering something alternative than the voters do not already have and giving it an indefinable value. Once that was freedom, then it was democracy, then it was opportunity. Now it will have to be abandoning partisanship. No more futile criticisms or righteous arguments. Do it for yourselves, for the party, and in doing so you will be doing it for the silent sufferers who may be more than they confess. Envy is always a good motivator in Malta. Live now, live well and smile as though you know something they don’t and curiosity will attract many to you. Naturally, it is not enough just to attract. You must also be able to convince. If people start to doubt that what they have is the very best, they will begin to look around and listen. That moment of doubt must be sown and when it comes, that is when the team must come together and show confidence, determination and the competence to deliver a stable and prosperous government for the times.
Let us go on and take a break from the stress and strife and come back invigorated, unburdened from limiting boundaries and confined ideas. The party is greater than the candidates and borrowing from its history and glory is no shame as we head to new challenges.