A quick succession of developments seems to have upset the well laid out plans of the strategists at Pieta.

As the Maltese electorate approaches the run-in to the next general election, the grandees of the Nationalist party were waiting for a favourable certificate from Brussels opening the prospect for easy passage to the eurozone. That was going to be the signal to go into battle with felicitous anticipations of the budget for next year – and all of this against the background of sweet music relating to Smart City, Mater Dei Hospital and their promising future.

Suddenly the air became polluted. Before Brussels opened its mouth, a succession of nasty developments began to unfold, as if in concert. And the ugliest of these developments can best be described as PN shots in the foot.

Sudden U-turns

The first had to do with spring hunting. Initially, the government’s decision to allow spring hunting provoked the ire of the European Commission, which gave notice of its intention to institute infringement proceedings against the country. Within days, the Malta government made a U-turn, and abruptly closed the season, on the grounds that an undisclosed number of protected birds had been shot by irresponsible hunters. The decision was taken overnight, without consultation. This antagonised the law-abiding hunting community, which is as numerous as it is vocal.

The government also fell foul of the “monti” street-hawkers and their union. Once again, the government decided, without consultation, that the monti should be transferred to St James Ditch.

This time there were noisy street demonstrations and repeated attempts to find a solution round the table. The government was adamant. The stalemate jeopardised the livelihood of 120 families overnight. But the government’s dictat left a bad taste in the mouths of citizens with a democratic frame of mind. It rekindled the sense of outrage that had been simmering ever since the government, unilaterally and without warning, extended the development zone some months earlier. This, and several inexplicable decisions announced by Mepa, was a source of widespread irritation and resentment, which erupted in street demonstrations and protests in the media.

Fuel to the flames

All the above added fuel to the flames. Sustained, heavy taxation had already antagonised electoral opinion. It overburdened industry and commerce, putting the economy under strain – the hardest hit being the tourist sector. Middle and lower-income employees had been severely set back.

The situation was made worse by rising living costs which eroded spending power still further. Statistics began to highlight the existence of more families living in conditions of poverty.

Unpalatable brew

Taken in the mass, all the above, and more, constitutes an unpalatable brew, particularly so when the next general election is looming.

The strategists at Pieta have been taken aback by the unexpected turn of events and emergency measures were taken without losing any time. In a spectacular U-turn, the government decided to abort Dr Lawrence Gonzi’s proposal for a golf course at Xaghra l-Hamra, Ghajn Tuffieha, to make way for a “nature and history park, five times the size of Valletta”. Valletta, the capital city, is to be given a facelift. Measures will be taken to reveal Gozo’s hidden assets in a bid to attract tourists. The abiding hope of the Pieta strategists is that the fresh breeze from the eurozone, and the goodies will come with the next budget, will do the rest.

Whether or not any of this will charm the electorate is another matter. After all, only the wearer knows whether the shoe pinches. The wearer will be at the polling booth, not at Pieta.

Was it William Hazlitt who once said that “you know more of a road by having travelled it, than by all the conjectures and descriptions in the world”?

To most men, experience is like the stern lights of a ship, which illuminate only the track it has passed.

The PN administration has held office for the best part of the last 20 years, and the electorate is older and wiser. It knows what it had been promised. It knows where it has been short changed.

Instead of an “early spring”, it had been offered government-by-default alternating with government-by-dictat.

Above all, the electorate has assimilated the wisdom best encapsulated in a Spanish proverb which says that “He who was first an acolyte, and afterwards an abbot or curate, knows what the boys do behind the altar”!

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