There is only one near certainty in these times of turbulence and uncertainty in Malta – that if the PN executive draws to any conclusion this evening, regardless of the strength or weakness of JPO’s case, Richard Cachia Caruana will be almost definitely let off

the hook

It was hard not to draw parallels between the ongoing Romney-Obama spat and the worrying political situation developing locally as a result of the poor, inconsistent and weak leadership of GonziPN. Let us draw on some lessons that can be easily learnt from the developing US saga.

People are uneasy when politicians are unwilling to disclose full details. The moment you go for full disclosure, some of the second guessing goes away. In GonziPN’s case he is still holding back certain vital information on RCC’s financial package. Why, only God knows! Unless the PM effectively has his hands tied, which would be even worse.

I recently came across an excellent quote by a commentator on the US saga which ran something like this:

My mother used to say – if you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember what you said. The simple truth makes sense, stands on its own and can be proved.

Nine times out of 10, things that require constant clarification and endless appending aren’t the simple truth.

In an even slyer manner the same political analyst concluded: That’s mother’s wit and everyone has a mother!

The lesson to be learnt is that even if an official reply might sound technically true or correct, the slipperiness of an explanation can say more things about what it leaves out than what it actually says.

In Romney’s case he is being accused that his reluctance to reveal more suggests that there is more that is distasteful. If any local parallels can be drawn even at this level, I will leave it for your readers to conclude.

Suffice to say that in a staff article of 13 July the following point was made in your newspaper:

“That although on the Karmenu Vella and RCC dispute on the RJ70s Vella will be believed by the Labour side and its followers, and RCC wounded but still fighting will be believed by the Nationalist Party’s followers, though their numbers must have dwindled somewhat in his regard after the amount of his earnings in Brussels became public knowledge.”

To my mind the PN’s measures of last Thursday were not solely restricted to party discipline. On the contrary, they were just a knee-jerk reaction to the fall from political grace of RCC at the hands of the Maltese Parliament.

Until hours before, Franco Debono was still being fussed over and cosseted by the PN even though earlier on he had toppled a key Cabinet minister – so much so that he was given as much space to rant on and on in Parliament without limits at the same time when he was being censured at Dar Ċentrali.

The mind boggles as to how the political future of this government can remain sustainable when within less than 24 hours last weekend, Debono hit out at the Prime Minister’s allegedly dictatorial ways of governing, at Austin Gatt’s presence in the Cabinet (even though he is touted to bow out in October to focus on the campaign), at the extension of Gatt’s influence on the party list when many expected his wings to be clipped due to the related aura of arrogance as well as his full frontal attack on President Emeritus Fenech Adami for joining the fray so decisively during the recent weeks and days. On Sunday, he even called on Gonzi to call on the President of the Republic.

Gonzi’s meek reply that they – that is his party – remained consistent with its principles and values, reminds me of the captain of the Titanic trying to re-arrange the tables on deck as the ship sank fast, especially when he spoke of a mandate to govern at all costs for five whole years. Which government does not have such a mandate when elected?

It was with this in mind that I recently tweeted that the Prime Minister reminded me of someone desperately seeking to run up a down escalator.

In the same breadth I genuinely believe what I had also tweeted that the plot continues to thicken, while the gurus run like headless chickens, adding that in my opinion, this time round The Chorus Line might not manage to save the day.

Uncertainty is so rife at the moment that while until recently there was much speculation as to whether we would have an autumn or a spring election, at present, many people I know – resident and non-resident diplomats included – are seeking to establish what the Constitution really says on how and under which circumstances could Parliament be convened during the Summer recess should the need arise. If at all.

All of a sudden the opening date of Parliament on 1 October has become as irrelevant as the official opening of the New Parliament Building which will be an irrelevance whenever it may take place – particularly if it so happens during these politically turbulent and highly charged times.

While in no way denigrating any of the new candidates that the PN will be fielding during the forthcoming elections, GonziPN must have sent the wrong kind of message when he chose to take on board Claudio Grech and Manwel Delia when I know of so many people – diehard Nationalists included – who either migrated from MITA due to the former’s alleged approach or else who are determined to switch votes simply because of the way the latter’s influence and attitude is rightly or wrongly perceived to have caused contagion within Transport Malta.

I am saying so without for a moment underlining the fact that while the former had been part of the misleading and hollow 08 PR spin that SmartCity should have created almost 6,000 jobs by now, the latter will go down in our political history for the mother of all botched operations – the mismanaged birth of Arriva.

By this evening we shall find out who has been proved right.

Whether it was GonziPN who once again chose to go against the grain of The Times, The Malta Independent on Sunday and other daily editorials, public sentiment within PN ranks, and AD as a political party or else whether logic dictates that he should take heed of and even take on board Muscat’s urging of Sunday last to take the necessary decisions in the national interest without any further procrastination.