The networks constituted by friends of friends never seem to cease their activity, some for the better, most times for the worst. They exist in all that men and women do, because it is in our nature to feel that one had better trust people one knows best; also because the clear calculation is that one gets a better deal when both sides to an arrangement can rub each other’s back on a reciprocal basis.

There is a downside: what makes sense to members of such networks, is not necessarily a good thing for society as a whole. Many times it is not.

So, a safeguard against potential abuses is full transparency in the conduct of public affairs. Here too though, the problem is that if the network of friends of friends is sufficiently robust, even transparency mechanisms can be manipulated. What is presented within an aura of “transparency” would have been set up beforehand to ensure that outcomes satisfy the wishes of friends in the networks.

This happens mostly in “advanced” democracies. In others that are not so sophisticated, the manoeuverings of the networks of “friends” often get caught out. As a result, to ensure that they still have matters settled their way, the rules governing transparency get bent.

***

Grilling of commissioners

Next week, the members nominated to the European Commission that will be led by Ursula von der Leyen appear before the European Parliament’s committees to reply to questions put by MEPs. Some time ago, they received a whole lot of queries in writing to which they are also expected to reply in writing.

It has been noted that in these questions drafted jointly by representatives of the political groups in the Parliament, personal and controversial issues about conflicts of interest and dubious incidents in the neo-Commissioners’ past were avoided. Practically all the groups have in their ranks a nominee or other under suspicion! So at this stage, the matter has not been raised. One expects that during the face to face hearings, this will not happen.

Even so, as of now, it seems like the really big problems will arise about the Hungarian nominee who not so long ago, was justice minister in the Orban government.

***

Poems

It was good to learn that my friend Albert Marshall will soon publish a complete edition of the poems he wrote since the mid-1960s, when Independence was still fresh, to today. I liked the news not just because he is a friend, but as well because I have always admired his output: I kept following his writings since I got first to know them in the book of poetry he issued with Ġorġ Borg and Oliver Friggieri entitled “Dħaħen fl-Imħuħ”. I still have a copy of that publication; for some years I believed I had “lost” it and was very pleased when at last I found it hiding inside the cover of a much larger tome.

Right from the start, Albert’s poems were powered by a vital and spontaneous flow, which even when it turned towards the “vulgar” stayed within the banks of ceremonial ... or indeed sacramental... rituals. To be quite honest, what I still like best are his Australian poems, perhaps because the sense of distance drove them towards a deeper reflection about fundamental Maltese realities. Still, the more recent poems of his later years might make me change my mind.