Either the whole bunch are hiding behind Konrad Mizzi as his runners or else they have quickly learned the trade and are now setting up shop on their own. The business of establishing the non-establishment is thriving although anyone would easily be fooled into thinking it was a case of the dog ate my homework.
These past weeks have seen a rapid increase in the frequency and inventiveness of cronyism, cover-ups and run-aways from the press. At the top of the pile are the appointments to the judiciary that came thick and fast and have now completed the set of ten green bottles. The whole system was so well engineered that it makes Angela Merkel’s July 2015 open door policy for refugees look like amateur stuff compared to the smooth and steady flow of new political appointments to the bench.
Hot on the heels of the Ministry of Justice’s affairs, came the infamous contract with Vitals who have already received some serious funding into their operations but for which we have still to be informed on the prognosis of its health. Blank pages stare up at our face from contracts signed with yet more blank companies. White sheets. And they wanted to call the PN virgins!
The public consultancies on the LNG tanker and power station, the after-consultation on the master plan for Paceville, drilling at Zonqor, the list goes on and on. The non-corruption of the corruption of the Schools for Tomorrow’s administrator. And the cherry on the cake goes to the GWU for the non-scheme of the scheme to shift the unemployed into a pop-up employment agency from which they make a tidy profit.
Ministry after ministry and entity after entity now share this common policy of graft and engineering to divert assets and influence towards the Movement and other beneficiaries. That one child in the class who would always have some excuse ready for teacher as to why his homework was not done or why the misbehaviour was actually helpful. Then the class would laugh and he would once again get away with it. That trend is now entrenched into the mind-set of each and every Labourite representative or organisation. It is like a second nature that has to manifest itself because if it doesn’t there will be a build up of excess energy and pressure and nowhere for the creative juices to flow.
The replies, when they do come, are actually believed by the masses and possibly by the minister or representative upon whom it falls to make the presentation. It is an Act in two parts. Scene one with the meteoric rise of the characters and scene two with the confrontation with the public, the Opposition and the press. The routine is well rehearsed and has been proven to withstand gale force winds, although most times it is a slight breeze which challenges them and not the full force of the grigal.
At the back of this arrogant and amateurish conduct is a complete lack of discipline. I don’t know what is was like in general, but in Church schools in my time, discipline was the back bone of education. You learned discipline from your very first day in infants A or infants B.
Whether it was wearing your uniform properly, your conduct in class and with your classmates, doing your homework, punctuality or good manners, you received marks on your report card for all these qualities. Most of all, you were expected not to lie.
Maybe lack of discipline is the ugly sister of populism. That complete lack of restraint both in conduct and in opinions.
There will come a counter-action, a reaction to this though. People ultimately are not comfortable without having some boundaries in behaviour and discipline in the conduct, especially of those elected to govern a country and not just the naughty kids of the class. Because the problem contaminates households and families. It is divisive and corrosive.
There is a stress and a slow build up of anger and frustration behind it. Eventually people have enough and demand answers and respect. Ultimately when things don’t work, the wall of lies begins to crumble and then there is an avalanche.
Whether the current administration has set its own time frame and is racing to complete its job sheet by a fixed time is not yet clear. But the way in which contract after contract, deal after deal is just created through a flimsy approach from opportunistic punters or from the wrong material seems to indicate that scrutiny and standards do not factor into the realisation of these projects.
The whole plan for the health sector, with the privatisation of the three hospitals in collaboration with Vitals, could have been welcomed by the population of our island. The people who have been brought on board up to now – or who are said to have been brought on board – are surely amongst top qualified professionals in their field. It would have been nice to expand the health industry and offer different models and options for today’s needs. But the people with whom this government chooses to do business and the lack of verifiable information on the company, its owners and operators and the way it was all done and with whom, with the incidences of behind the scenes arrangements, just call the whole plan into question and degrade the not just the medical profession but also the patients.
This same mentality is prevalent throughout several schemes and ministries. Even the Audit Office cannot keep up with the demands for investigation. So, are we to simply take it at face value and stop being inquisitive? Should we accept that anyone can come to Malta and become rich off our back? They will probably also receive a medal on honours day for service to the country.
The union is now in business too. Real businesses are pushed aside to make room for pop-up businesses that are exempt from the law or that twist the spirit of the law. Everything loses its value and in the end it is the ordinary employees who suffer because work is made cheap and there is no more pride in getting a job and making a career. Many company directors are pushed aside to make way for those who are artful and able to manoeuver the murky waters better in today’s work environment. Lower expectations are imposed on everyone so that now everyone is equally low. Except for the corrupt ones at the top.
This is the de-construction of Malta. The un-assembly of structures that were in place to ensure democracy, rights, legitimacy and justice. All for a new disorder that will ensure a big advantage for the leaders of the cult.