Some days ago I was awakened by the disrespectful bleeps of the telephone in the small hours of the morning. A soft-spoken lady must have put her finger on the wrong digits of her telephone. “Nikol” she whispered politely. Who? I replied, still half asleep. She quickly realised that she had the wrong person. Politely she excused herself for the disturbance at that hour. The conversation ended there.
In pitch darkness I made my way towards the kitchen to prepare myself a cup of tea. By this time I was wide awake. I switched my computer on and set myself for the remaining hours of the night to browse the various foreign and local news portals. Unexpectedly, at one point, I hit bingo. I found that on Saturday 26 June 2010 Dr Toni Abela, PL Deputy Leader for Party Affairs had penned a challenging and promising article under the heading ‘Monkey Business’ on his blog on the Malta Today news portal. For ease of reference, I have reproduced the last two paragraphs below, as penned by Dr Toni Abela.
“Until such time that true national interests do not come into play when it comes to the appointment to and removal of people from key public positions, this area of the public administration shall remain farcical and tragic at the same time. Other controversies will unavoidably come to haunt us.
Having the government laying down a national policy on how things are to be managed is one thing, appointing the right people to implement it is another thing. This, I believe, is fertile ground for a true and honest debate about necessary institutional reforms. Until such times come, we’ll be having more monkeys and less peanuts.”
Only on very rare occasions a tossed coin in mid-air lands upright on its edge rather than falling - as expected - on one of the two sides of the coin, either heads or tails. The article penned by Dr Abela landed on its edge. Similarly, too many people are being pushed towards the edge because the number of political appointees is getting unwisely longer. Long-standing, loyal PL supporters and switchers have begun to realise they have been short-changed.
During the last five years the PL was working out numbers to ensure that it snares a comfortable electoral victory, rather than labouring and drafting policies to further improve the quality of life of people. During those world-wide difficult economic woes, the PL leadership took a conscious decision to create an illusion which led many to believe that the party had just and fair solutions to all. The PL, then in Opposition had the leisure and pleasure to skirt hot potatoes from a distance. Today the PL - now in office - had to change this approach. Today, rightly so, people expect the PL to implement promised policy and strategies to address complex issues rather than fire-fight people’s concerns.
PL strategists were organising meetings with various people, organisations and NGOs, many disgruntled for one reason or another. Deputy PL Leader for Party Affairs Dr Toni Abela joined the bandwagon and penned in his blog an article which was in sync with the ideals, values, principles and the paradigms shifts which were being peddled by the PL. The general election result showed that the PL strategy had captured the imagination of many, who believed the promises that were being made by the PL. The article in question throws light on the stark difference between the strategy which the PL adopted during the electioneering months and the application of such strategies now that the PL is actually in the driving seat.
I need not give you the astute credentials of Dr Toni Abela. Love him or hate him, Dr Abela is an outspoken person, a lawyer by profession who has proved on many occasions that he was ready to fight with energy and determination for what he believed was right, just and upright. The last two paragraphs of his article, which he penned in 2010, are clear enough. His political beliefs and line of thought are clear and ample proof of what this gentleman is made of. He has a mind of his own and will not be pushed into corners easily. He upholds sound values and dearly leaves no elbow room for interpretation. For his beliefs, he was prepared to walk alone and took his party to task when he believed it was necessary.
When he was much younger Dr Abela and other Labour Party delegates broke ranks with the Labour Party and formed a pressure group which later morphed into a political party. Over time, Dr Abela returned to his innate political beliefs home after mending his differences and disagreements with the PL. He was welcomed again with open arms within the folds of the PL and, to his credit, gained the trust and respect which allowed him to climb the ladder of the PL leadership within a short span of time. His determination, tireless efforts working at grass roots levels and re-organising the party structures has led the PL to a landslide victory. It is clear that Dr Abela stands no beating round the bush.
I do not think that I would be too far off the mark if I say that the values which the PL has promised and which have attracted many to its folds were of his making, or at least that he has contributed substantially during the process which lead the PL to own basic standards like meritocracy, accountability and transparency as if these values were a PL monopoly.
The crux of the matter lies here. The PL has led many to believe that they have a political agenda which included a completely different strategy from the one adopted by the previous administration.
The PL has been in power for almost six months now, and though it’s rather a short span of time, it nonetheless gives quite a clear picture of the line of thought of the new administration style. During this short period Government has appointed many who offered, or were willing, to be used during the run up to the last general election. The more attractive ones were photographed, some pledged their support for the PL and others went a step further and addressed mass meetings. Going through the list of appointments one would find that within the first six months the new administration has appointed most of those who had more conspicuously participated in the PL electoral activities. This is a far cry from the PL promises prior March 2013.
Putting into context the bold statements made by Dr Abela in his writing, I believe he is finding the series of appointments as a serious shortcoming from the party which he believes can give us a better performance. He must be going through very difficult times, debating and questioning himself whether this is what he had in mind when his party was at the drawing board stage. This must be very far from what he believed and penned very clearly in 2010.
I am almost certain that Dr Abela still holds firmly his strong beliefs which he courageously penned in 2010. Dr Abela must be struggling hard seeing his Party abandoning completely the promises it had pledged. Dr Abela today is positioned very close to where decisions are taken, and can see many more monkeys coming to the peanuts and be appointed to various key public positions.
Dr Toni Abela, a senior official within the PL group, has a duty to ensure that his Party honours the promises of accountability, transparency and meritocracy both for the sake of the nation and his own credibility. I can understand that appointments should not bar people because of their political allegiances but political allegiances should not qualify people to hold key public offices. This is one hot potato for Dr Abela unless he had a change of heart and is now in charge of feeding the monkeys.
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