Most hostage-taking situations are a consequence of insecurity, retribution or for ransom. A hostage is a person held by one party in a conflict as a pledge pending the fulfillment of an agreement. This is where we are finding ourselves repeatedly. The State, the person, the refugee, the party member, the Parliamentary opposition, the individual citizen, families have become hostage of a dysfunctional government, party leader, national office and egomaniacs.
The most recent and blatant case of holding his party hostage is that of Adrian Delia, leader of the Nationalist Party who, in spite of repeated rejection and votes against him by the official organs of the party, has continued to hold the country at stake under his prejudiced and biased opinion that he is the anointed one, Puyi the Last Emperor. If it were for Adrian Delia, the PN would disintegrate but he would still maintain his right to stay on as Leader of the Opposition because, as the elements are showing, his allegiance is itself being held hostage by another interest.
The country has layer upon layer of hostages. If we were to search for the Ultimate Beneficiary we would probably go back to June 2008 when Joseph Muscat was made leader of the Labour Party.
Insecure or biased persons who depend on a Boss for their livelihood or for a totally unmerited salubrious position will pledge themselves to be taken hostage so that they can then command a more useful position and thereby protect themselves from being discarded or disposed of and in this fame-crazed world, have some attention.
The victim is our country now entrenched in this insidious climate of division, anger, fear and ruler-ship by a phantom Emperor, whichever side you look at, who will stop at nothing to command a Kingdom of wretches and wield his power over every lackey, every fool who pledges himself to this unsatiated beast, the boss of bosses.
That kind of set-up is becoming quite second-nature in Malta. But out there, there are innocent lives that are being equally held hostage by the manner of conduct in this egomaniacal island of ours. At the time of writing there are 65 immigrants on a boat in Maltese waters calling the Alarm Phone and getting no reply. We are quite used to having to wait on the line for 45 minutes to get through to a government customer care number, helpful as they are once we get through. In this case, there is no answer and that’s it. Sort it out. Get your engine started and get away from Maltese waters because you are not going to be assisted. You are possibly going to sink or drown and you should not have brought your family with you. Climate change, persecution, poverty or silly ambition for a better life in a free country are perceived as irrelevant to the action of solidarity. Because we are better, we have worked to enable ourselves to become good citizens and keep what we earn.
People who are rendered stateless, homeless, being held hostage for years and years if they survive, so that some egomaniac pops their chest out and holds their head high to the rapturous applause of public opinion on which he depends to rule over them. Children, persons, not criminals, treated like jellyfish.
Wreckage. Not the deflated boat that rests on a beach amongst the life-jackets. Wreckage of humanity. That is what we are doing to ourselves. Pretending that like the Emperor we too are Lords above others and can decide their fate because we have a State that belongs to us and a Maltese passport.
With the direction that Adrian Delia is dragging the country into, we are going to end up a one party state, which will mean tyranny and loss of freedom. Malta has dropped four ranks in the Press Freedom Index in 2020, run by Reporters Without Borders. In 2019, Malta was ranked 77th, and is now ranked 81st. Malta is ranked just above Kyrgyzstan and Haiti, and just below Hong Kong. That was reported in April. How much longer before citizens of Malta begin to look overseas for their freedom? What will we feel when our applications are left on the desk of some case officer for review? Or even in our own country, when injustices are common amongst us and we can already see that happening now, what or who can save us?
How will we judge then, when the rain has stopped, the crops fail, the dust is everywhere? When our rights are abused or taken from us? Will we just sit back and say, well, ok, we live in a nation state?
Nerves are already stretched at the moment as empty tables in restaurants or beds in hotels create a deafening sound of silence. The repercussions are like a vapour floating in the air above us. We will need solidarity. Not just from Europe but from the global order.
It is way time to set us free. We, the population of this island of the George Cross, of Independence of 1964, the Republic of Malta want an end to all this conflict and ransom. Moreover whilst all this pathetic drama is overtaking our administrations there are roads where motor-cyclists get killed. Edwin Lopez, the bike-loving, ex-bus driver, a father beloved by this family and also by his community in Malta became the 6th person who was killed in a motor-cycle accident, involving a car. He is mourned deeply. Many families in Malta appreciate the contribution of the Filipino community in caring for our loved ones. The family say they have not been spoken to properly about the circumstances of the accident. Another victim of the hostage-state.
We need to administer our country for the well-being of the people, of a better environment, health and safety. As we face one of the greatest threats to our health, the Vitals-Steward MOU is ordered found in a “pass the parcel” game. Our hospitals are taken hostage by the signatories to an unlawful concession.
Stability and continuity are the latest buzz words. Placate the children. Hide the family secret as we did in the old days. The paternal figure in an otherwise dysfunctional family dispenses his wisdom to keep stability. Not quite the way that the role was meant to be fulfilled but a hostage can suffer from Stockholm syndrome, where they actually identify with their kidnapper.
The alarm phone is ringing but nobody is answering. If it is answered you are put on hold with the repetitive music and recording of “your call is important to us; all our agents are busy right now; please hold and your call will be attended to as soon as possible.”
Ad infinitum.