The Malta Independent 4 May 2024, Saturday
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Can the Labour Party keep stretching the rubber band?

Victor Calleja Sunday, 4 October 2020, 08:41 Last update: about 5 years ago

The Indian electorate is over 900 million and last year’s election and vote-counting took a staggering 42 days. In miniscule Malta, to get 20,000 or less PN members to cast their vote and count them it takes over a week. Maths apart, we sure have to thank God or Shiva that our numbers are so small, otherwise we’d know the result of a general election after 100 years.

With luck, we have a new PN leader today. I have no clue who the winner is but the outcome is quite serious for the local scene. If Adrian Delia has won, the Labour Party is celebrating. If Bernard Grech, the small PN could garner some life back into its zombified state.

As I don’t have that crystal ball to see the winner, I’ll go back to bashing our Labour overlords.

Labour goons, including top-ranking (even if half-witted) people like George Vella, Evarist Bartolo, Edward Scicluna, Owen Bonnici and Chris Fearne (yes him too!), seem to have the same silly mentality ingrained in them. This is that they are Laburisti sal-Mewt (Labourites till death).

This truly encapsulates all that is wrong with this country. Most of the inhabitants follow their leader even if he (usually a “he” here in Malta) talks a load of rubbish and is close to criminal in intent or deed.

The mantra Laburisti sal-Mewt could, in fact, be easily and more prosaically translated as: in crap we trust.

I know history is for historians and other bores. But let’s go on a fantastical tour of what Labour fanatics, who number quite a sizeable part of our population, have experienced. And what the people behind labour have done or attempted to achieve.

1955: Malta’s Labour Party led by the erstwhile Dom Mintoff promises the electorate that he will seek integration with the United Kingdom. The electorate is all for Mintoff, Labour and integration. We, the Med wogs, have promised the Queen total fealty. We, a British colony, far from hating our occupiers and asking them to get the hell out, tell them we want to become part of them. We are going to become fully integrated Brits.

We, represented by Dom Mintoff, want to become a backwater constituency of Britain. And the followers are given Union Jacks to wave and idolise. These Labourites love the chant and idea of us suddenly turning into newly christened Brits. Most probably Labourites are even assured that we will make a difference and that one of us could become prime minister of the land that has ruled over us for so long.

1958: From total integration to a full flip-flop. The Brits don’t like the idea of integration and so, after agreeing, they take it all back. Trust the Brits, the colonisers, to be totally untrustworthy. Mintoff tells his followers: if we can’t be part of Britain then all Brits go home. Suddenly the Brit-loving labourites become the ones who hate Britain most. Out with the Union Jack. In with the local Maltese flag.

1964: Ever the big controversy lovers, Labour supporters are also against independence. But if they now want the Brits to leave how can they be against seeing the Brits depart our home ground? Maybe a historian can clear this: did the Labour fans dump the Maltese flag at this juncture?

1979: At long last Mintoff, back in power, fires the Brits from our midst. Malta is now truly non-aligned and neutral and Labour supporters pledge with Mintoff to fight to the death for our country never being close to any super, or little, power. Mintoff, totally unfettered, now can choose for Malta whoever he likes to be our guarantors, backers and friends. But the writing - even on the constitution – is clear. We cannot be aligned to any big power. We are, in fact, neutralised.

Mintoff, as the Labour media and idolisers sang back then, truly set Malta free. We were then, according to the Labour throng, truly independent. Fiercely free, finally unshackled.

1987 and after: The PN bootlickers get into power. These rats go running back to mummy Western Europe and cuddle close to her. They kickstart the long road to get into the EU fold. Labour is disgusted. We will, so their chant went, be shackled once more, be dependent once more.

Labourites wave the Maltese flag. They also burn EU flags. Joseph Muscat and Alfred Sant fight hard to keep us truly independent, truly cut off from the EU. Dom Mintoff, the old man of Maltese politics, fights against our reintegration with the EU. The supporters, ever vigilant, ever faithful, fight to stop the EU devil destroying us.

2013: Labour wins the election. Suddenly all is forgiven. The EU now, far from being a devil, is our saviour, our source of power and even a dependable cash cow (EU funds and selling EU passports is lucrative). Joseph Muscat sings its (the EU with its lucre) praises so much that he, and his fellow goons, start dishing out EU flags for their followers to wave during mass meetings.

Labour has done another flipping U-turn. The steadfast party of strange wavering principles and ideals has changed its chant once more. Some supporters are baffled but, as good loyal soldiers, they wave, cheer and chant hurrah to the benefits of the EU. The devil has changed its cloak once more.

2020: Labour are still steadily and stealthily in power. And now what was denied the USA by the bootlickers PN is about to be given to them by Robert Abela and his troupe. The chameleon Labour Party which changes its skin fast and nonchalantly has agreed with the American authorities to put SOFA into practice. Ministers have agreed with Robert Abela’s  controversial deal that would hand the US jurisdictional powers in Malta.

Labour, or at least the top brass, have gone full circle again. And have handed, on a golden plate, authority back to a foreign force.

We haven’t yet heard the Labour supporters’ reaction. Unless they are all struck by lightning and have a Damascene conversion, they will no doubt sing the praises of SOFA.

Who cares about values, principles and independence when you are a Labour Party fan? Bring out the American flags let’s hand them out to all true, death-defying Labour men and women.

 

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