A word of caution.
Soon you will be walking down the streets unaided as you return to an ordinary life.
Joseph, you will like many other leaders, in due course fade into forgetfulness. Watch Dr George Abela, Dr Eddie Fenech Adami, Dr Lawrence Gonzi, Dr Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici and Perit Duminku Mintroff. These all ended reminiscing the echoes of the crowds that adulated them. With some luck you will get your own bronze statute probably in Castille square.
I am terribly sorry for you but like all your predecessors you will evaporate in the horizon of lonesomeness, meaning almost nothing to the people who elevated and flattered you, who made you their hero, their idol, their conqueror - who followed your every step in your succinct but eminent career. Like every other leader, like any pin-up, you are only destined to serve the populace a scope. Sorry for bringing you down to earth but before long your followers will be applauding and hysterically adoring the one who comes after you. You will soon be elapsed and merely become a part of the collective memory.
But fear not, this is normal and this is how it has to be.
Joseph, you will in a while become a common mortal and a rumination – that is the best you can hope for. True, it sounds like a terrible waste that such a young person gives it up assuming you keep to your intention to hang up your sword.
But I guess your mission is almost complete now and I am sure there will be life after Joseph Muscat. Notwithstanding, the PL will feel the impact of your superannuation, being the trump card (pun not intended) your Party were waiting for in these last thirty years or so.
I am still convinced, as I was 10 years ago when I had first interviewed you on Campus FM Radio, that you were the best choice at the time for the PL and eventually as Prime Minister of Malta.
Joseph, however, after all this idolisation and exaltation you got, I feel duty bound to tell you that I don’t think you are as faultless as you were shown to be.
Firstly, because it was the group of people around you that have taken the flak and protected you well, where and when necessary.
Secondly, you developed a media and party engine that cantered around creating the ‘Joseph myth’.
Thirdly, because you are fluky. Nothing seems to stick to you, not even the preposterous stance you took against the EU membership or the throng of cock-ups that a number of your Ministers managed to rake up or the push-back saga or the previous bigoted positioning on LGBTQi issues - if I had to mention just a few.
On the contrary, these clangers seem to have given you even more momentum!
True, the statistics are evidence of your success.
And let’s say it as it is; you have created the right ambiance for a good economy that is reaping the dividends, managed to generate a surplus no one believed would happen in our lifetime and ensured zero unemployment. We saw a drop in illegal migration (even though the ‘how’ remains a mystery), new industries and services have made their way to Malta, a generally improved efficiency in the civil service and we are now seeing a gentle exponential growth in improved road traffic management. This is further compounded with the start of a revamped road infrastructure, commendable social measures, top ranking in civil rights with your name sealed in golden letters as you championed LGBTQi rights and the cause of couples who cannot have children.
But your success was also attributed to circumstances, as you know.
Some call it luck, whilst others might call it a windfall.
The truth is, it is a bit of both!
For example, the international economic crises died down as soon as you came in power. Apart from that you took over when the tiring Dr Lawrence Gonzi was with his back to the wall. The proverbial eating of the pudding was tasteless when it came to Dr Simon Busuttil, who never lived up to expectations and Dr Adrian Delia, even if I see hope in him, seems to have too many issues internally to create the much needed impetus any time soon.
Even though I understand that you read the polls and react to them as if they were the Bible itself, you still had a couple of fiascos, even because you choose a selected reading of these surveys.
Now, let’s talk a bit about your washouts.
Joseph, you have been broadly abortive when it comes to governance. It is true that you have included new legislation that was intended to guarantee transparency and improve the control over power but legislation hasn’t made up for the blunders, the bloopers and the bungles.
Your Government will be remembered for the Panama Papers outrage and the connected Egrant Inc debacle. Your legacy has been overshadowed by the assassination of Blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, the closeness with countries like Azerbaijan and the numerous corruption cases that surfaced during your tenure, not to mention some dicey appointments on government entities.
You will also be evoked for turning this country into a non-secular state (which is commendable) but at the same time this Country has been morphed into a neo-liberal country that values everything solely in ‘pounds, shillings and cents’ – this indeed sadness me. The suffocating construction industry and the low score on the environment tops it up.
It is a pity that your articulate, soft spoken, pragmatic and logical way of dealing with the public were blotted because of these situations that I feel you managed through silence rather than direct action. Choosing the latter strategy I am sure would have left a stronger impact. You know, in politics you need to be seen doing the right thing as well and yes, the myth has to match the man.
And in my opinion, you have lost your right for statesmanship, not because you underperformed, but because of the way you did (not) tackle these issues.
Mind you, this doesn’t lower the estimation I have of you.
You have done well and scored high. The balance has still tilted on the ‘right’ side of things. You have developed a prototype model of administering that can make Malta more prosperous, essentially based on three constituents; ‘risk taking’, ‘maximising resources’ and ‘the adoption of business merits’.
True, you exuded energy and enthusiasm.
But Joseph, you are a human.
And much as we think otherwise, you have limits that your supporters blindly might make you think you don’t have.
In fact, I feel that you seem to be losing your sheen and smoothness.
This gleam seems to come out only when you are seen with your children.
Other than that you are showing strains and tiredness and at times boredom. I am also noticing that you are starting to lift your foot off the pedal, a dangerous thing for a politician to do because it advocates the finite.
I think we all agree that you have given it all.
I am pretty certain that the people around you did give you a piece of their mind when you declared that “no circumstances” will make you change your mind and you will step down as Prime Minister after two terms in Government. Your advisors know that if you are not to lead, the PL will find itself in a quagmire. I agree. I predict a difficult time for the Party after you depart.
Everyone keeps asking, ‘but what will be of Joseph after he retires?’
I think there are a couple of possible scenarios.
Joseph, you may opt for an EU career even though there was a bit of a hiccup. With the way you have developed yourself you will quickly find a way to brush off the disapproval that may have accumulated. Or maybe your managerial skills and vision and style of play will fit in one of these multinational companies. You are talented and endowed with leadership and managerial skills and you would have learnt the ropes as you led this country. Who knows, we might also see another scenario, where we will witness your return to politics as leader of the PL after the new Leader would have faltered.
Whatever happens, Joseph, you have my admiration and esteem for what you have achieved and I still believe that you are good news for Malta.
Very true, a couple of things could have taken a different twist and you know this, maybe you are still in time to rectify in the years that are left.
I am grateful to you for one important issue that you took up with passion and desire; the disability sector. A lot has been achieved and you kept to your promise of putting this issue back on the national agenda – a field of play that I am deeply passionate about. And I cannot but show my gratefulness on what you have done for young people as you led the charge for the Vote 16+.
Now I commend you to keep at it. You are still in a position to put in a royal flush and some things that you didn’t deal with you are still in time to change. In the meantime, so long .
This article was written on Saturday, 9 June