Watching Lawrence Gonzi being interviewed by Glenn Bedingfield about the chaos at Mater Dei during one of the Independence Day activities, I noticed that the Prime Minister seemed to be veering back and forth between two personalities. To answer Glenn’s questions he came across as all stern, forceful and manly like (as if to show the crowd, you see, I am in control), but then at the end of each reply, as if to take the edge off, he tilted his head and flashed his famous grin.

Is he flirting with him? I asked myself.

It seemed like Gonzi was trying to come across as being the good guy, perhaps conscious of the fact that his popularity is at an all time low. So even though he was saying one thing (“there is no crisis at Mater Dei”), his body language was saying another (“please like me, ple-e-e-ase”).

Then there was the mass meeting, which to my eye was not as heavily attended as usual, perhaps because there’s no election in sight. Here, we had another example of mixed messages. On the one hand Gonzi is asking us to unite as a people and have one national holiday – preferably 21 September – and on the other, the DJs were screeching “Nazzjonalisti!” at the top of their voice to the crowd waving PN banners. Huh?

I think most people would genuinely like to forget all the “us” and “them” stuff and find one day we can all celebrate, but we can forget about it being 21 September – that’s never going to happen.

Not when the event continues to be hijacked by one political party.

This always happens in Malta. The party elected to government doesn’t ever quite manage to draw a line between its identity as a political animal and its function as a government for the whole nation. For example, what comes first for Lawrence Gonzi, his role as the leader of the PN, or his role as Prime Minister of Malta?

Enquiring minds want to know.

There he was at the patently Nationalist mass meeting, coming out on stage and pointing at members of the audience in that cheesy way that aging rock stars do. I half expected him to do a stage dive.

Paul Borg Olivier’s speech too, was directed solely at the audience in terms of them being Nationalist voters. The first word that came out of his mouth was a high-pitched “Nazzjonalisti” (watching from my living room, without wanting to, I shocked myself by standing to attention and responding with “Heil!” – you see how easy it is to become brainwashed?)

As I continued to watch, I realised that everyone on stage was trying a bit too hard to create a euphoria that did not exist. Which made me wonder: is the PN getting a teeny bit nervous that it is losing its core vote? The DJs had been obviously instructed to try and whip the audience into some kind of enthusiasm, but apart from the fanatics in the front rows, everyone else looked like they were just there for the bigilla.

To drive the point home that this was, and always will be, a Nationalist celebration, the meeting ended with the PN anthem. Now, unfortunately for the Nationalist Party, this anthem has too many fascist connotations which, given the current mood of the country, makes me wonder who the heck thought that playing the anthem would be a good idea. Not to mention the fact that some naughty MPs did not know the words (memo to PBO: send everyone the lyrics and make sure they learn them by heart).

Incongruously they also played Toto Cutugno’s Unite, Unite Europe. As if we didn’t have enough of an identity crisis, we are now playing an Italian song about the EU to commemorate our independence from Britain.

No wonder this country is so confused.

If the Prime Minister really wanted Independence Day to be Malta’s national day he would have not called a mass meeting for his supporters and the speeches would not have been full of attacks against the Labour Party.

Now, would that have been so hard?

The long and the short of it

The Prime Minister’s people seem to be slipping in the PR department lately. Whoever had the bright idea of having him pose between the towering Michelle and Barack Obama should have his hand slapped. Poor Lawrence looked like a little boy who has just done his Holy Communion.

Math time

Tonio Fenech has already prepared us for the worst: there will be no Christmas goodies in this year’s budget. So there it is – all of you who were basing your income for 2010 on revised tax bands can now all go back to the drawing board, coz it ain’t gonna’ happen. No wonder people wrack their brains on how they can do a second part-time job on the sly. Who wants to earn more money simply for it to be siphoned off to the taxman?

It’s the inconsistency that gets me. The Finance Minister has set his sights on social services abuse, which is a good thing, but in the context of the VAT scam and income tax evaders (which run into millions) picking on teenage mothers seems petty and heartless. Sure, let’s try and stop the drain on our coffers, but let’s do it with as much zeal on all fronts. When honest taxpayers hear about amnesties and light sentences, it makes them livid, especially when fiscal immorality seems to have become the norm rather than the exception. You can’t help but think: am I the only fool who does things by the book?

No problem, no money

Meanwhile, on Friday the National Statistics Office confirmed what we have been suspecting all along – the country is broke.

We’re told that the government deficit in the first eight months of this year grew to e345.1 million, an increase of e84.6 million over the same months last year.

Now, let me think, where have I heard the figure of e80 million before? Wait, wait don’t tell me...

Oh, now I remember. That’s how much money our politicians have decided should be spent on themselves so that they can have a new-fangled building. No matter which way you slice it, in the circumstances, it’s the stupidest decision ever made by this administration.

But hey, I guess Gonzi must know what he’s doing, right?

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