Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has been criticised from a number of quarters for the length of his New Year’s message, as well as the cost of the slick, yet over the top video.

On New Year’s Eve, the PM’s video message to the nation was aired and it lasted for a total of 20 minutes and 52 seconds, which clocks in at a staggering 20 seconds longer than the New Year’s speeches of French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron put together.

Another notable difference was the expense that seemed to go into the Maltese PM’s videos with grandiose orchestras and overhead drone footage. In comparison, the other leaders mentioned opted for austere background sets, such as a desk or a Christmas Tree. But not  us, we had to pull out all the stops and go for a ‘mega message’.

This is something which not only seems to affect politics, the Labour Party in particular, but the Maltese psyche in general.

Unfortunately, as a people in general, we always seem to think that just because something costs a lot of money, even though it may be tacky or even kitsch, it must be the best. This was also reminiscent of the Labour Party’s election campaign in 2013. A lot of money was spent on propaganda videos – which it must be said – did have the desired effect on the electorate.

But what about the suggestion that independent MP Marlene Farrugia made, where she said that the money spent on making the message could have been much better spent on people who were in need during (and even after) the Christmas period.

This is not a one-off by the government either. It has happened on other occasions. One of the most recent was the decision to put together a marquee for a grand dinner to be held during the Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting. The idea was over the top in itself, however, when one factors in that the money went to waste anyway because it was too windy to host dinner there, it becomes even more ludicrous. Where did that money go, we wonder? The Prime Minister may well say that we got hundreds of thousands of worth of euro in exposure, but what about the here and now? How is that justifiable to the people that had to scrimp and save just to put Christmas together? So much for “taghna lkoll” and “biex had ma jibqa lura”.

Another in your face example of pomp and fanfare for no reason was the “urgent press conference” that was once oragnised at Castille. The whole courtyard was set up with cameras, microphones and all the paraphernalia usually associated with a visit by a head of state or a major announcement. By the look of the way things were organised, we might even have struck oil. But no, it was merely a two per cent drop in fuel prices. And this is where people lose faith in politics and politicians. Was this a New Year’s message from the Prime Minister to the people? Or was it Joseph’s five minutes of adulation and fame? Is the PL seriously trying to build a personality cult around Dr Muscat? If so, that would be a very dangerous path. Personality cults usually lead to nothing more than despair and harm. Stop flashing the cash, spend it where it’s needed and run the country, don’t treat it as a stage production.