I genuinely see what our Prime Minister tried to do when he took a few other EU Prime Ministers and their spouses to a particular pastizzi shop to eat pastizzi on a serviette and drink a glass of tea. He wanted them to experience a traditionally Maltese culinary experience which many Maltese families actually eat on a daily basis. Had he stopped there, I am sure that many would have applauded him. But being very obsessed about driving home propaganda messages via the local media, he just could not resist the temptation to go for yet another fully staged photo session opportunity. All, I guess, to show some form of link with the common folk.

A good friend of mine – an ex Nationalist who voted PL for the first time in the last election – works sixteen hours a day to keep one such establishment running. Unlike many Taghna Lkoll off loaders however, his income is on a far lower scale than theirs is. With his wife, he works very, very hard to feed their family; it is a struggle, but it is honest, very decent work. He is a quiet, working class man doing his best for his family. Mention Muscat’s “great economic miracle” to him and he goes livid!

He tells you that many of his clientele struggle to find the money to buy simple pastizzi, a qassata or even a slice or two of pizza. Some ask for discounts (cents) as they do not have enough money in their pockets. And some even pay him at a later stage. He has shown me IOUs of people, some of whom owe him €50, some €5, and so on. And there were many of these. He calls them on a weekly basis to pay. Some have been in debt for over three months. Details, I am sure, that were not discussed during Muscat’s cheap propaganda opportunity where he used the other Prime Ministers as props to show how many Maltese families live. Details were clearly overlooked, as can be seen in all the comfortable, smiling expressions.

But how much sadder it is that, for days on end, the Prime Ministers eating pastizzi seems to have completely occupied the attention of the two major parties’ media machines and simply overshadowed the real event: the annual and ever increasing migration crisis itself? In between the pastizzi stories, how many of us actually analysed the final, useless result of the shamelessly expensive EU theatrical performance? Did anyone notice that through it all, Malta’s international reputation took yet another massive nose-dive as the international press showed its frustration at yet another “non-result event” that will simply see many more thousands drown and be exploited yet again this year?

Too many millions of euro are simply being blown away on such annual events where our ‘guests’ are given more than pastizzi and tea to enjoy while nothing of substance seems to actually come out that will help the migrants or us. Of course, the whole thing will fail. Again! And I make two simple statements to back my argument:

• Since last years’ published, and well-publicised, multi-million euro migration summit, how did the migration crisis improve, exactly?

• And how will the new EU plan (of course hailed as a great milestone and the turning point by our Prime Minister) actually help anyone when our government does not even talk officially to the very people who control the territory of the migration routes in question, let alone invite them to be part of the discussions and solution?

Is it really enough, therefore, for the Opposition to be spending its time and media resources to visit the establishment where the above theatrics took place and to stage its own photo call which to many seemed to be nothing more than PN’s own exercise in damage limitation?

Is all of the above what our representatives in Parliament have reduced themselves to, a mere year away from the next general election? Cannot they not hear how utterly fed up the general people are with this type of behaviour? Decent, hard working people are struggling to digest this type of behaviour when issues that are far, far more important are at stake. My friend has repeatedly told me (his words loosely translated from Maltese) that “They have so many plates to eat from that they end up vomiting on us while the rest of us yawn with hunger… you tell them we are hurting!!”  

Many people are now no longer happy with the pendulum merely swinging the other way only to be regaled with more unabated corruption, abuse and arrogance. It has all become unacceptable behaviour. They just can’t remain quiet any more when many thousands of lives and the future of their families are at stake.

The two traditional parties are so lost in their tit-for-tat silly media games, it is no wonder that many grassroots are simply leaving them in their droves. And in this sterile, yet dangerous political environment, it is therefore easy for ‘third-parties’ to make steady progress.

I have no doubt that the many new third parties have a very important role to play in just a few months’ time in order to sort out the mess that our bigger brothers are creating for Malta. And that in itself cannot be bad. But what can actually be very bad for Malta is if the present political environment is replaced by a worse one. I refer, of course, to the far right that is creeping in to fill the very vacuum that is being left by the two traditional parties. The buttons they need to press are simple ones and they can gain sympathy very quickly from people who are just fed up of being ignored. Their method is tried and tested. Make no mistake, it works and it works very well.

So if you wish to see the same type of intolerance and violent acts in Malta that one sees in countries around us where the far right has taken root, then carry on distracting yourself with media acts that include pastizzi and brothels.

Alleanza Bidla on the other hand wants no part in this new and dangerous direction and has stated so publicly on many occasions. Alleanza Bidla is unashamedly a Christian party. And being a Christian party means that we cannot be one while actually implementing an anti-Christian agenda. That is the very type of political opportunism that we are trying to get away from! To Alleanza Bidla, you cannot be “extreme right” and “Christian” at the same time. You can be one or the other but not both.

This is why Alleanza Bidla could never join Patrijotti with their far right ideology even if many people urge us to join forces to form a stronger party. For us this just cannot happen. For us, this will weaken what we believe in, what makes us Maltese.

Alleanza’s message is therefore clear: Malta never accepted far right wing ideology as, together with neo-liberalism, it is ultimately harmful to Maltese society. Indeed, Malta fought this harmful ideology most bravely in the past and won. And it must do so once again.

If Malta is truly to retain that which makes us Maltese, the traditional parties need to be reminded that their task is to serve us, the people of Malta, and not themselves. Their responsibility is to represent Malta and defend our interests abroad, not be used by others to implement imposed and unfamiliar customs and social concepts on us that are in direct conflict with the Maltese mentality, our rights and our culture.

Alleanza Bidla therefore gives a voice to those who want to safeguard everything that is truly Maltese. We will speak for those who want to preserve, protect and defend the Maltese identity, culture and values. We are also committed to and indeed have already started to implement a programme that will see our once-proud nation return to its former international standing.

We want our nation to reconnect with our traditional and morally high codes.

Finally, we have promised you that we will make sure the fruits of economic growth are shared fairly with all levels of society and not remain the hands of the few – the friends of the government of the day.

We believe that the only way the two parties and the government of the day will listen to the Maltese people is if we take from them the only thing they really value – their seats in Parliament. We can then form a coalition government with one of them to ensure that we act as a real-time, moral safety valve on their actions and that all laws are enacted on your behalf.

This is why I invite you to join us by becoming members, volunteers or even just donating some funds to our campaign so that together and without replacing our own beliefs with some far right ideology or other, we can make real change happen – Bidla. Change which will ensure that in the next legislation, we will finally have the serious representation we deserve and return to the decent, core beliefs of the Maltese people.