It is true that political discourse in this country has again gotten greatly polarised during the past few weeks. I will not say here who I think is responsible, though I have no doubt about who should be blamed.

I lived through other times when there was too a huge polarisation. So I can compare and contrast. In what is happening now though, we are not following previous patterns in the ways by which we turn on each other, with arguments and at times other means.

Also true: the social media serve as distorting mirrors. If you follow what they present and what gets written in the papers, both in print and electronically, you easily come to the conclusion that shortly all limits will be thrown away in the ways by which Maltese people get angry at each other.

But then, when you come face to face with people, you find that the situation is much calmer than you had been led to believe. In the past, during other “hot” situations which became polarised, you would discover that face to face, confrontation could be harsher than in the media. Not this time round.

Is it why according to opinion polls being published, the government has won not lost, an increased share of the public trust?  

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The Opposition

The Nationalist Opposition lost too much time in setting up its new structures following its election defeat. It is clear who is responsible but why should I comment about this?

On the other hand, it is in the national interest that there should be a united and constructive Opposition. I hope that now the conditions to make this happen have been attained (independently of the views one might hold about the new leaders). They face a daunting challenge. Yet in politics, it is always a mistake to underestimate the potential for the underdog to move upfront.

I believe however that for this to happen, the Opposition needs to consider different strategies to the ones it has followed in past months. I can still hear the pathetic calls made by Nationalist MEPs in the hall where the EP plenary was being held: Help us! Save us!

It was the call of people who had lost all hope that the time would come for them to take their turn at running the country.

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Zimbabwe

The downfall of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe happened very fast. It was surprising how it developed practically overnight.

Still, all things considered, it was perhaps not so surprising. During the long time he spent in office, Mugabe certainly had to carry out lots of manoeuvres to sustain his position. Sure enough, he must have also increased the number of his enemies and false friends. As time passed, he would have grown increasingly certain of his ability to carry everything through, while noticing less of the calculations being made by those around him regarding how to get rid of him.

Then he would take one decision that to him might appear as tough and perspicacious. And the dikes would burst.

What most puzzles me in the behaviour of leaders like Mugabe is this determination to pass their position on to some other member of their own family. What is the logic of that?