When Joseph Muscat and his team chose the kitchen set-up for the New Year message, they couldn't have imagined it would go so wrong and backfire to the extent that it did.
The miscalculation sent the nation spinning. In no time, clips from the 20-minute message were going viral on the social media.
So what went wrong with this video message? The team was not new to producing similar videos. The previous ones did not have this effect. Last year’s video message, for example, included drone footage and the national orchestra like this year’s. So why the disdain of so many this year?
From a media point of view, the video was simply too much. Muscat went from a 6-minute message in 2011, then as leader of the Opposition, to a 13-minute message in 2015, to an abominable, record-breaking 20-minute swollen epic in 2016.
The basic rule on duration in media is simple. If you can say something in 30 seconds, why take 1 minute, let alone 20? In other words, longer than the New Year messages of David Cameron, Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel put together.
The video was loaded with “in your face” excuses to splash out public money. Just consider two of the background elements in the video: the orchestra and the piano.
Sure, this was not the first time the orchestra was there. But this time it was not at its natural home, the Manoel Theatre. This time it was the edge of the cliff and at Fort St Angelo.
The same goes for the piano. Now, let it be said that this is no ordinary piano. If, indeed, as some have suggested, this particular piano is the Manoel Theatre Steinway grand piano, any person with a minimal love for culture would tell you that taking this piano on site is total blasphemy in cultural terms.
There is a financial element as well. The value of this piano and the insurance premium that goes with it were not factored in by those who dreamt up the grand plan of using the piano in this way.
Above all, what irked the public was the lies. Evidently the Maltese people have some tolerance for corrupt practices, lack of transparency and complete disregard for meritocracy, but they have a much lower threshold for lies, and being taken for fools.
The video message is packed with clear lies, clearly intended to misinform and misguide in a politically fraudulent manner.
The supposedly working class couple who needed Muscat’s government to be able to afford a home has a wealthy background. Their home was actually bought in 2008, five years before Muscat got into government. The centre-piece kitchen used in the video isn’t even yet available on the local market…
And now the government is evading questions from the press about the cost of the video. The cost, by the way, to you and me. Because Muscat doesn’t just lie to us – you and I pay for his expensive lies.
In a phone-in radio programme this week, a gentleman asked if there is a court, or a law, which can enforce action against the Prime Minister and his Government for fraudulent behaviour. Alas, no.
But, as Jason Azzopardi put it, there is a different kind of law and a different kind of court where such matters will find their remedy – and that is in the power of the voice of the people.
I’m convinced that Muscat’s hubris will lead him to his nemesis. His pride, which mainly stemmed from the illusion of grandeur because of the 36,000 majority, will sooner or later lead to his inescapable downfall.
Of course, the months and years to come will continue to burden our country with the consequences of the squandering of public funds by Muscat’s government. However, what I’ve heard many express in the past days gives me a strong sense of hope that people prefer an honest leader, who will do his utmost to restore trust in politics, as opposed to a salesman who throws glitter in the viewers’ eyes to stop them from seeing the truth.