"I am anti-Labour. I cannot stand Labourites. I have a phobia of Labourites." These words were uttered by a Nationalist candidate for Sliema local council almost one year ago. The same person continued boasting that if a girl tells him that she is a Labourite, he would tell her to get lost.
The question at that time was whether this just a single accident, a moment of madness and weakness, or else if it reveal a more profound sentiment in some quarters of our society. The answer to that question was provided during the last month.
During a mass meeting held on Sunday 20th January, the deputy leader of GonziPN, described the Opposition as "a fake copy" of the Nationalist Party and accused Labour leader Joseph Muscat of dressing up, speaking and acting like a Nationalist. Was this enough? No it seems. Two weeks later, in a televised political debate the same person lashed out at PL candidate Deborah Schembri and referred to her as “having the face of a Nationalist".
These thoughts reveal a sinister side of a clique which has been in power for too long. Such statements confirm a prevailing attitude which considers Labourites as second class citizens. It depicts Labourites as some sort of subgroup unable to play a leading role in the development of these islands.
Unfortunately, this line of thinking and behaviour is not new to our communities. The past half a century witnessed several episodes were the ‘others’ were casted as inferiors. During the politico-religious conflict such behaviour was the norm.
It is during times of tensions that people tend to use control and reveals their true self. When individuals or groups feel that their privilege position is threaten then the conventional moral and ethical codes concerning the treatment of others are often considered redundant.
As we move closer to the Election Day, the clique controlling the PN electoral machine will use every method of public manipulation is hold on power. GonziPN knows that convincing an average citizen to forget all the mishaps committed by this administration is extremely difficult. Some of acts are indefensible. However, through the skilful use of media, GonziPN is trying hard to succeed in doing just that.
And it seems that the strategist behind GonziPN has decided to resort to scaremongering again. But before doing this they need to picture labour as incompetent. This is the reason why the Labour Party and its supporters are being portrayed a treat to the well-being of the Maltese Islands and therefore should be an object worthy of punishment.
This is a form of stereotyping that borders on immorality. It tries to convey the message where the Labour party and its supporters are often described as extremists and a danger to the national interest while the PN are described as God’s gift to Malta.
Unfortunately, once this dehumanization of a section of our society is unleashed it is very difficult to contain as there is a strong tendency to cascade downwards onto common individuals. This is why during election time this type of narrative becomes more common and when the walls of decency and respect to each other start to shake.
It is against this type of mentality that we ought to look at some of the bloggers that constantly refer to labourers as the ‘great unwashed’ or ‘elfs’. They are simply tapping into a section of the Maltese society's innate prejudices and tying to perpetuate the creation of the "labour mob" character.
This mode of thinking must to be ultimately viewed in a context where we are repeatedly told that Malta’s only resource consists of its human resources, made up of the entire population whether they support the PN, LP or anyone else. Unfortunately, it seems that the current administration says one thing but behaves in a completely different way. It preaches reconciliation and cooperation but in reality it engage in an activity which can only be describe as a form of political apartheid, where people are discriminate against only due to their political beliefs. This is a message of division. A message that divides into “us” and “them”.
We must not fall into the temptation of responding in kind. On the contrary, our message must be that of unity. We are too small to engage in this type of behaviour. The stereotyping and the insults are things of the past. Our future depends on how much we are able to work together. This is the message that Joseph Muscat has been pushing forward for the past five years. A message where everyone is relevant and where everyone, irrespective of his beliefs, has an important role to play.