Many people must have caught the metaphorical delicious whiff of frying bacon wafting down Republic Street in Valletta last Monday. Down from the House of Representatives where, it must be said, we had the two main parties (I am lost as what to do or say about the PD duo in there) finally showing one united front. Thank you so much, Matteo Salvini.
The obscene attitude shown by the new Italian Minister for the Interior on the issue of the ship with 600+ immigrants on board refused legitimate entry into an Italian port did what no one and nothing did or could do since we had a change of government in 2013. I was not surprised, albeit bemused, to watch the Prime Minister actually thanking the Leader of the Opposition for the common stand the two expressed on this latest – it certainly will not be the last – episode involving hundreds of poor and desolate immigrants running away from war, hunger and destitution back in their countries of origin.
Was this the volte-face that Maltese politics had been hopefully seeking since the very first days of the Joseph Muscat government when a stunned Nationalist Party ghost-led, then inherited, by Simon Busuttil immediately declared it was not prepared to play ball, evidently even on matters concerning Malta’s interests at all international and European fora? One seriously hopes so.
The shocking positions, for example, taken over the past five years by Nationalist Opposition MEPs in Brussels on several issues, among them the citizenship investment programme, the financial and gaming sectors, and the tragic murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, promised little hope, regardless of the fact that prior to 2013 Labour MEPs had made it clear they would always back, as they steadfastly did, the then Nationalist government on issues of national interest.
The advent of Adrian Delia as Leader of the Opposition in 2017, however, did kindle some hope in people’s minds. Elected by an increasingly angry rank-and-file of the party, it was obvious he would not get the support of those within the party who simply could not stomach or accept responsibility for the huge, consecutive defeat they had caused the party to suffer only a year ago. The PN internal tug-of-war still goes on uninterruptedly, as was also shown last Monday when MEP Roberta Metsola’s incredibly unfair tirade against the Maltese government’s stand on the Aquarius incident was in sharp contrast with the position taken by her party leader, if she still considers Adrian Delia as such.
However, the first seeds of national unity on issues of national interest have at least been sown. Even when united, Malta’s meagre representation at the Brussels parliament can easily be overridden and overlooked, but it goes a long way towards showing an island member state that goes strictly by international and European Union rules, and is resolute in its determination not to be deterred or bullied into submission by cowboy and neo-fascist tactics.
It is a long haul, of course, but sustainable if we want our politicians to agree to disagree on anything under the sun, but united when it comes to Malta’s national interest, name and reputation. That whiff of frying bacon may, after all, be the harbinger of better gourmet fare on the Maltese political table.
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World Cup madness
The weeks ahead look set for some World Cup madness as people all over the globe follow the footy proceedings in Russia. Coming so soon after the Trump-Kim Jong Un summit, it seems to be setting a trend for the rest of this eventful year – big things, big men, big issues, big headlines and big hopes.
It is always fun to watch how the world’s greatest football competition unfolds, as it is followed by the smaller nations which stand no chance whatsoever of ever making a presence in its final stage. While Iceland, with a smaller population than Malta, has broken the mould by just being in Russia, as it has already done in the UEFA European championship finals in France two years ago when they also gave football a new display of mass support. Places like Luxembourg, Cyprus, Lebanon, some Caribbean islands, and our tiny dot on the atlas can only watch with envy.
There is the perception that with the “traditional” England v Italy rivalry among Maltese supporters of the game, “we” tend to go to extremes. The truth is the same sad things happen in most small countries where the sheer lack of domestic football quality is made up for with effervescent and carnivalesque public emotions for glamorous foreign squads.
I have been asked by a section of the media to say which team I am going to support in this World Cup. I really do not know why people should give a fig about what I think about football, but as someone who was brought up in a British culture, my first tendency would of course be to say I am shouting for England, but today I find it so meaningless to even say that. Football has become a monstrous business machine, mainly due to the unstinting “efforts” of the likes of Sapp Blatter and Michel Platini, that one feels at odds with himself whether he should really care who wins and who doesn’t.
They even asked me whether I would miss Italy, as if football finals cannot do without Italian participation. No, I said authoritatively, the World Cup will not be missing Italy, whatever has been said by pundits and top players alike on Italy’s “tragic” absence, just as much as the World Cup did not miss other great footballing nations, including England, when they had failed to make it to the finals.
There is only one certainty: the world’s most popular sport will prevail again... with the usual madness inside and outside the marvellous Russian venues.