“There is no point in trying to defuse a bomb when it has already gone off. It is well nigh impossible to do so”. This is what Special FBI Agent Ryan (Harrison Ford) advised the President of the USA to do when faced with a highly charged situation.

This does not only happen in films, but we experience it throughout life from time to time. The latest example was the screw-up or cock-up, call it what you like, that was made by Paul Borg Oliver, general secretary of the PN, when he had sent a highly charged, controversial and confidential e-mail, which was supposed to be targeted for the eyes only of government ministers, parliamentary secretaries and their customer services sections, to his arch-rival and counterpart Jason Micallef, general secretary of the PL (Partit Laburista).

I am sure that this episode proved to be a nerve-racking experience for Dr Borg Oliver who has demonstrated such naivety not only by performing such a major gaffe in the first place but also by trying to cover it up when it was already common knowledge, that is, when the bomb had already gone off.

In a case like this the PN administration should have come clean and stuck to the truth. Yes, such an e-mail was sent. Yes, the PN administration was trying to give a better service to the public by investigating and following up complaints made by the

public so that the party might be in a better position to advise its parliamentary group to perform better and to improve services to the public which of course would develop in a better result at the polls come election time. No, the PN was not going to contact any person that has complained, but was only going to carry out a full study of how services could be improved. End of story.

This is lateral thinking applied to damage control which reminds me of another morsel of truth: “Do not tell lies for there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed and there is nothing covered up that will not be uncovered” as adapted from the Gospel of Thomas with modifications.

By making an appearance on Xarabank to defend the indefensible, and by trying to instigate and allege that the PL was going door to door to obtain information about constituents, made matters worse for PBO and the PN administration team. Credibility can be lost very easily and no amount of rhetoric will ever repair the damage; in fact the more that is said about this the worse it becomes.

Joseph Muscat was much wiser than PBO when he appeared on Dissett with Reno Bugeja, because he came out clean with the fact that yes, the PL was carrying out an exercise to strengthen their area network, and that he did go door to door himself to do this. Why not? Honesty is the best policy, and unless the data protection act is infringed upon there is nothing wrong in formulating information of a general nature.

Notwithstanding this, it has also come to light that Wenzu Mintoff of the PL had not so long ago sent an e-mail which landed in the computer of Architect Michael Falzon of the PN rather than the intended recipient Michael Falzon of the PL. Security does not seem to be at the top of the agenda of these two lawyers, which poses a clear and present danger to their parties and one is prone to suspect that both parties take modern communication methods for granted without due regard to the segregation of information methods intended for confidential contacts and others intended for general use.

In a recent feature on this newspaper, “A view from the outside in”, I had suggested that for the PL to start making any headway to win an election in the foreseeable future they have to re-invent themselves. I am glad to note that they have started to do just that during their recent conference “Progressivi”. They have changed parts of their statute, changed the party’s name from the MLP to PL, redesigned the party’s emblem, and abolished the long obsolete Brigata and the Board for Vigilance and Discipline which was looked upon by many as an instrument to choke free speech and to punish dissidents from within the party’s ranks.

This is a start which the PN cannot afford not to look upon as a clear and present danger that the PL means business. Change in strategies start slowly and are built into a cohesive plan of action over time and it is very advisable for the PN not to sleep on their laurels as this might be a clear and present danger that they might lose the next election. New brooms sweep cleaner and everyone and everything has a “use by” or expiry date. The PN needs new thinking and strategies if they are to maintain their momentum.

Faced with all these global problems which are certainly affecting us unfavourably here in Malta, and which are certainly producing a very clear and present danger to our future, it is good to have a good laugh from time to time at the expense of our political parties whose administrative officers seem to be more engrossed with hanging their dirty linen in public on such TV programmes as Xarabank by discussing the mix-ups and screw-ups of e-mail addresses and pressing of the wrong buttons on their computers, which I am sure have caused so much embarrassments to their party leaders.

Reno Spiteri is a Marine and Industrial Consultant