“If you hit us with a sword, we will hit you back with an axe” Minister Chris Cardona warned.  During a highly charged Partit Laburista General Conference, Minister Cardona saw fit to use the threatening catch phrase to boost party delegates’ morale which, at that time, was adversely hit by the Panama scandal in which Minister Konrad Minister and the Personal Assistant to the Prime Minister Keith Schembri were, and still are, the lead actors.

For reasons which have not been disclosed, the Prime Minister Dr Joseph Muscat did not call for their resignation once it was clear that both gentlemen were not prepared to assume responsibility for trying to stash monies earned from commissions in secret accounts.  Tax evasion is punishable by the law of the land.  Successive governments strived to block loopholes in taxation legislation to stop tax evasion and curb social benefits abuse; but then, two senior public office-holders opened secret bank accounts the purpose of which remains very flimsy.      

As public pressure mounted, the Prime Minister moved Minister Mizzi to another lateral ministerial position, albeit without portfolio.  At that time, PL strategists and apologists projected the move as a drastic disciplinary measure against Minister Mizzi.  It now transpires - not that there was any doubt when the move was made - that the shift was only hog wash. 

Minister Mizzi, after all, continued to lead the energy portfolio.   The Minister without portfolio is now taking the chairmanship of the Energy Council for the duration of Malta’s presidency of the European Union.

This is sending a very wrong message to society.  But as a matter of fact, our prime minister is hijacked and cannot take action that any other level-headed person, faced with such circumstances, would.   The prime minister cannot preach about 'tough decisions' whilst quasi freezing adequate funding for persons with disability, pensioners, the working poor and other vulnerable people within our society.    Now we find that he personally intervened to protect two public office-holders holding secret trusts that are mainly intended to avoid tax and for money laundering.       

Minister Cardona skilfully managed to steal the show and diverted public attention from the corruption issues which the PL is plagued with his threatening statement.  Back then, Minister Cardona’s statement received rapturous applause from PL delegates.  However, the minister did not repeat statement which had earned him the commendation of PL delegates.   I am confident that Minister Cardona is well aware that statements of the sort are far from unifying and do not bode well with the standards of many, irrespective of their political leaning or affiliation.  I am sure we can agree that he was using the statement as figure of speech to stress a point, but nonetheless, such declarations are deplorable. The fiery threat by Minister Cardona was undoubtedly intended to intimidate political opponents and, to a higher degree, public officers.

Although the threat was perhaps a figure of speech, the implications of such a comment are utterly out of place. 

People, irrespective of their political beliefs, should not be subject to any form of intimidation. People’s rights should not be put on paper only to be swiped away or suppressed with political partisan threats. People should not feel threatened with loaded bigoted speeches.  Nor should people be labelled, or worse targeted, because of their political opinions.

Ministers and other public figures should measure their choice of words when delivering speeches.  While strong arguments should be made to put public office-holders accountable for their actions, the political jargon used should not promote hatred. 

It is true in the political arena there is no space for “pasturi”, this does not mean that current and/or aspiring politicians can resort to offensive and divisive language to stress a political point.  Such language will only fuel more offensive language, admittedly hitting the headlines but in no way addressing serious core issues which, if not addressed with a firm hand, will put our society in jeopardy. 

The alleged cases of corruption that have infested this government have reached levels which have surpassed any previous administration.  People, of whatever political leaning, should be concerned by the high incidence of corruption which now has reached unprecedented levels, equal to institutionalised corruption.          

The more our small society becomes divisive on petty issues, the more the select corrupt few will continue to hoard stacks of euros in secret banks around the globe.  The Panama Papers scandal is a case in point, but there are other serious cases of alleged corruption which have surfaced in the past months which merit a national effort to combat.  After all, corruption erodes all measures of social justice.

The people should not be fooled by populist political jargon that only serves the select few at the expense of the rest.  Although it seems that there is a wave of anti-establishment sweeping across the democratic world, the people should be wary of self-serving politicians riding on the back of public discontent, only for people to find themselves thrust from the frying pan into the fire.

"It's a movement like we've never seen anywhere in the world," the US president-elect declared at a celebratory evening concert Thursday night. To the unwavering supporters who were with him from the start, he promised: "You're not forgotten any more. You're not forgotten anymore.  I'll see you tomorrow," he called out.  It’s uncomfortably reminiscent of something we have all heard before.  I believe Prime Minister Muscat has uttered similar waffle.  What an uneasy déjà vu! 

 

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