The Pet Shop Boys put it succinctly in the title of their number 1 hit, "It's a sin". But one of Italy's best comedians, Giorgio Panariello, said it at greater length and in a much funnier way.
Last Saturday, just before Il Volo celebrated their much deserved victory at San Remo, Carlo Conti welcomed Panariello on stage. After an excellent imitation of Renato Zero, Panariello went into a political monologue which I found particularly appropriate, and not just for the Italian context, either.
Unfortunately, Panariello spoilt his performance with a joke about women ministers that was in very poor taste. Before that slip-up, however, I found his act pointed, punchy and hilarious. He started off with a huge projection of the full list of the seven deadly sins.
He stressed that today the capital vices are the misuse of public funds and violence against women. He argued that Italy is condemned to a list of unpunished cases, particularly involving politicians but not only. For example, the notorious Costa Concordia captain, Francesco Schettino, has recently been found guilty of manslaughter and received a 16-year sentence; but since he’s appealing the sentence he has yet to set foot in a prison cell. Panariello’s remark was that Schettino deserves “a bit of hell”.
Panariello’s main targets, however, were politicians and Mafiosi. Watching this enjoyable moment of good television I couldn’t help feeling envious of the Italian peninsula for producing such great comedians. And I couldn’t help wondering: What would Panariello say had he been au courant with the political situation in Malta?
My guess is that he would start off with the Prime Minister, who promised a new movement which would push towards transparency and meritocracy, but who has now spent the past two years blatantly hiding major public contracts, and much else, from citizen Joe. He would give examples of misuse of public funds, including the very long list of people employed in “positions of trust”, sometimes close friends and relatives of cabinet members, like there is no tomorrow.
Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride may not be the precise words we use to define politics today. But we are being governed by a group of people who are showing us the true meaning of these words in our context.
We have all seen the writing on the wall by now. We may not refer to these traits as the seven deadly sins but, over the past two years, we have witnessed the huge desire for power at all costs, the overindulgence and consumption to the point of waste, the manipulation of authority, the failure to do the right thing, the uncontrolled anger, the pleasure of seeing others brought low and, of course, hubris itself, failing to accept the capabilities and accomplishments of others.
If we apply all this to Piano’s parliament and the Monti saga, the shady dealings related to Enemalta, Henley and Partners, and many other examples, including the recent party at the new Oncology centre, it all fits in. Panariello would have had a field day.
Gender justice
The latest reforms within the PN structures set in motion by Simon Busuttil over the past two years reflect the vision Busuttil has for the party. The PN is facing up to the basic (at times radical) changes needed for today's ever changing society. The PN government left the country with strong economic fundamentals. It was good at running the country but, as the general election result shows, it had also lost touch with how to listen to voters and civil society with empathy.
One of the key areas in which the PN is, once again, beginning to reflect the changing face of our society is in the area of gender justice. No, I don’t mean ‘gender balance’, although that’s what it used to be called. ‘Balance’ suggests a game with numbers. The real issue here is justice, which has to do with merit.
The first step taken was the revision of the party statute to enable more women to be represented in the PN Executive Council. Next came the recent shadow cabinet appointments, with its 50/50 male female representation.
With this latter action, the PN is now, once more, showing the lead for other institutions to follow. If they do, they will find that gender justice is no zero-sum game. Justice for women does not come at the expense of men. When women’s voices are heard around the decision-making table, everyone’s experience, understanding and opinion is enriched. The organisation performs better, and that’s good for everyone.