“They might still be early days to comment on Blair’s memoirs which I have not yet found the time to read. But I am sure one cannot dismiss such a book lightly coming as it does from a politician and party leader who helped Labour not only regain the middle ground but also win three elections in a row after four consecutive defeats”

The way of conveying messages in local politics in a subliminal manner is becoming increasingly evident.

One can detect this in the government-friendly media.

In the state run national (sic) TV station.

In the regular columns of well paid government ‘associates’.

That Net TV and Radio 101 do it too is rather irrelevant. Since they have a political job to do and they do it as they deem fit even though they often tip into the unethical in their approach. But when independent media act in sync with the PN media that becomes totally unacceptable.

Sometimes one cannot really blame the journalists involved because the way they migrate from the PN to the independent media and even to state television must prove to be mind boggling for them too. There have been specific instances where a former Ministerial Communications Officer working for a state television station sounded more like a Ministerial PR man than a state broadcasting corporation’s newsroom member.

Last week we had an independent daily and the state TV station, equally giving lead prominence to a counter statement by government in reply to an earlier statement by the PL, rather than having had the decency to respect the sequence of events. Regardless of the political and editorial tilt that they might have chosen to opt for.

It is high time that a complete overhaul is made of state broadcasting to ensure that taxpayers get full value of money regardless of their political views and orientation. I am still awaiting a long pending parliamentary question reply as to whatever happened to the Code of Ethics down at PBS and who is responsible for strict adherence to it. The least one could expect at this stage is for government to publish such a Code of Ethics.

But then this government has a way of playing down anything that could prove to be politically embarrassing to it even if politically expedient. One still feels mystified why the recent appointment of the new CEO at PBS has been ignored completely by certain independent media. Possibly for us to forget his not too distant track record at the helm of the PN’s broadcasting sector as well as his deep involvement in the run-up days of the last election campaign as one of the top aides of the PN itself.

Please allow me to cite some further examples of media manipulation.

If the PL comes out with an innovative idea or suggestion, they soon squash it. The moment it is cloned by government it is presented as an innovative measure or proposal.

There was a time when people who had run foul of the PL or else who fell out with it, were glorified by the PN leaning media.

The moment they came back on board they were rubbished regardless of whether they have a valid contribution to offer or not.

While every effort is made to portray certain key PL front men as past their sell-by date, I have no doubt that they will try to use the age factor the other way round regarding the party leader by trying to portray him as young and immature.

Although I recently heard that the PM became a grandad I was told that this was played down by the PN-friendly media not to underline the age difference between him and the young Opposition Leader.

When Fenech Adami was appointed PM once again as from 1998 and served on till 2004 hardly anyone commented about the fact that he was born in 1931 and thus stepped down from the Premiership at the age of 70. The same goes for the late Guido de Marco – an affable and competent politician if there ever was one – who got appointed Foreign Minister well into his 60s. In that case too, age was never mentioned.

I can vouch for the fact that in their heart of hearts many Nationalist strategists and MPs were counting on Brown winning the election in the hope of conveying the message that even in the UK continuity worked, and that it made more sense to have a 60-year-old as premier than someone Cameron’s age who got elected at 43. Obviously in view of the imminent Gonzi-Muscat parallels to be drawn.

If a Labour politician occasionally turned up late for certain events in the past, he was instantly dismissed as uncouth. If a Nationalist MP or Minister happened to do the same, this used to be instantly glossed over and even kindly joked about.

The way that the Nationalist media treat the PL deputy leaders is ambivalent and inconsistent to say the least. But political expediency is all that matters in this regard too.

If one had to summarise all these subliminal messages one will easily reach a simple conclusion – that the Nationalists are fully aware that we have a presidential style election campaign ahead, that all the odds are stacked in Muscat’s favour, and that they know that although nothing can be taken for granted, as past experience has long shown, this time round they have more than an uphill struggle to get re-elected.

And yet in their quest to cling to power they will show no mercy.

After all there is too much beef and financial clout and muscle at stake to be able to risk affording losing the reins of power.

Whether the unstinting efforts of the selected few that run the country and win the mega tenders will swing the pendulum their way once again is still to be seen.

If they will lose they will surely not do so for want of trying. On the other hand winning has become a definite must for the chosen few.

Action plans and post mortems

Last week I commented that Mepa’s Public Attitude Surveys received scant attention by the local media while a number of environmentalists were hardly aware of the survey’s findings.

My attention has been drawn to the fact that the full report has been available on the front page of their website ever since they launched the findings of the survey to the media last June. They also claim to have given a copy of the entire report to all the journalists present and that most of the media houses carried coverage on these findings the following day.

From the cuttings that I have, only summaries of preliminary findings were carried.

This apart there are various other factors that one should mention:

• Although a quick link to the document might exist – in text and not graphically as is usually done with other documents that Mepa tries to highlight – none of the media releases on the Mepa website published during last June referred to the summary conclusions of this report. This is clearly contrary to the usual procedures adopted by Mepa where each media release is published on the website.

• One would expect Mepa to be planning our way forward by basing itself on the most recent available data rather than two-year-old figures.

• Even if the information was published as claimed by the Authority, perhaps this reflects the lack of attention that Mepa is giving to the content and the message it can deliver from the documents that it publishes.

• To expect journalists to read it and come up with their own conclusions is a good thing if one wants an ‘independent message; but perhaps Mepa should have done more in analysing the significant of the public attitudes’ survey with respect to current actions/situations and presenting its views on how it is using these results in it’s day to day work.

The way things were done seem to suggest that the PR work is done through the simple traditional approach – information about a process rather than what is in it and what it really means.

Particularly after the recent Mepa Bill approval in Parliament Mepa’s task ahead has become even more gargantuan.

Alas time is running out and we need to see some real action on the ground... pretty fast.

Breaking the fast

It was an interesting and very positive event when we recently attended the breaking the fast – The Iftar – in the last week of the Ramadan at the Islamic Centre at Corradino. It highlighted the need and importance of inter cultural and inter faith dialogue and the guests present were indicative of this. Local politicians, diplomats from European and Arab states, various Maltese personalities all mixed together while the speeches delivered were in sync with one another conveying the same message and same spirit of tolerance and understanding.

Is EU funding at risk regarding the interconnector?

I sincerely hope that there will be no risks of our losing out on the EU funding linked to the interconnector with Sicily because of any inherent delays.

Perhaps in the meantime while awaiting a categorical reassurance from government in this regard – as I hope will be the case – it would be interesting were we to also be enlightened as to the following:

• How much truth is there in the rumour that Enemalta had as a condition that building and trenching permits in Sicily were the contractor’s responsibility and that the time frame for completion included time spent waiting for the relevant permits?

• Is it true that some of the contractors – the majority that is – refused to bid under these conditions?

• If so is it equally true that Enemalta persisted with the condition nonetheless with the result that only one company had originally bid – but with a stipulation that the project completion time frame would commence from the day that all necessary permits were in place?

It is high time that even if these points turned out to be mere speculation, some light should and must be shed on what in actual fact is destined to be a mega project, strategically and even financially.

Emotional intelligence

They might still be early days to comment on Blair’s memoirs which I have not yet found the time to read. But I am sure one cannot dismiss such a book lightly coming as it does from a politician and party leader who helped Labour not only regain the middle ground but also win three elections in a row after four consecutive defeats.

I had every respect for Gordon Brown but there is a telling lesson to be learnt in the way Blair described him in his memoirs as follows :

“Mr Brown lacked political instinct at the human gut level. Political calculation, yes. Political feelings, no. Analytical intelligence, absolutely. Emotional intelligence, zero.”

Deepest condolences

Please allow me to extend my deepest condolences to the Hon Prime Minister following the demise of his dear father. In difficult moments like these solidarity is the least that one can offer.

[email protected]

www.leobrincat.com

Leo Brincat is the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development & Climate Change.