I watched the Gonzi-Sant debate. It’s difficult to say who was the winner of this debate, as both presented their arguments in a convincing way. What I think Gonzi has failed with respect to Sant, however, is to feel the pulse of disgruntlement. And I can say that because I myself am a “disgruntled” traditional Nationalist voter who, at the moment, cannot bring himself to vote PN... probably not MLP either, but definitely not PN. When Sant speaks, he’s poking his finger into the disgruntled people’s open wounds.
He harps about corruption (which is true, it’s rampant). He harps about incompetence (which exists galore). He harps about bad planning and bad financial management (one probably need only walk a few blocks away from his house and look at the nearby road which has been tarmacked, dug up again because of bad planning of some sort, and redone to the great inconvenience of the neighbours... or remember the unnerving traffic on Manuel Dimech bridge).
He harps about nepotism (it exists, and usually walks hand in hand with incompetence and corruption). He harps about bureaucracy (who isn’t fed up of that?). He harps about a dismal health service despite a state-of-the-art hospital (probably here one will remember the long waiting list to have an operation, or the blood tests the hospital staff lost for him). I’m not defending Sant here... I’m just saying that he knows where to poke his finger.
On the other hand, Gonzi is doing a Marie Antoinette. We all know how much the French queen was oblivious to the pulse of her people. Gonzi is doing the same: “tajnikom sptar gdid, dahhalnikom fl-ewro, (we gave you a new hospital, we got you into the euro zone) blah blah blah”... but he is not sensitive to the wrongdoings of his own party. Indeed, Sant was right in saying that he has “no regrets” for the wrongdoings of his party. Gonzi had four years to understand why he was losing election after election... he even commissioned a report for that. What did he do? Nothing.
What do the disgruntled nationalists want? They want Gonzi to say “Yes I admit there is corruption. Yes I admit there is nepotism. Yes I admit that we must manage our projects and their finances better.” But Gonzi doesn’t do that. He just boasts about his Mater Dei and his euro as though they were a brand new pair of tits.
Dear Gonzi, we don’t expect you to be perfect. But when you say that everything’s almost perfect when the rest of the people don’t feel that way, then you have lost the pulse of your electorate. When you do not show commitment to change what is wrong with your party in government, you cannot expect people’s votes.
Yes Gonzi is behaving like Marie Antoinette, and we all know the fate of that French queen. She was dragged out of Versailles, and Gonzi will probably be sent packing from Castile. At least the guillotine will not be a real one but a metaphorical one.
(‘Gold Roast’ on J’[email protected])