What a total mis-match took place last Sunday on Castille Place.

On the stage, Dr Joseph Muscat, accompanied by his wife, faithfully ready to adorn her husband with the draping hug and smacker on cheek – at least this time he took part in it – and on the street below, the heaving crowds, chanting and carrying signs amongst which, the Labour Party emblem – the torch.

The movement has run its course and it is now back to the torch and its bright red supporters.

I expect the red tie will soon have to replace the sky blue ones that were all the rage in the 2013 election campaign and post campaign.  Last Sunday the PM opted to drop the tie and chose the open collar instead.

The Labour supporters have had enough of abstract knot monuments and polite conversation on Facebook.  It’s back on the bus and the chartered ferry from Mgarr.  Back again to pushing the middle class and the Opposition aside because they are all conspirators and the only voice that matters is the voice of the strong-man of Malta.

On one hand there was Muscat, still trying desperately to keep himself, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri legitimate and convince the crowd that the movement and the leadership are as strong as ever whilst on the other hand, the throng below were really not interested in all that baloney and the only way they could get past the whole Panamagate affair was to revert to nostalgic times when the great saviour himself, Dom Mintoff was there to save them and carry the torch.   They may wear their red T-Shirts with slogans and face prints around their bellies blessing Joseph but their heart beats for another.  What a parody!

One can only observe that either the people are a step ahead of Joseph or else they have fallen back onto their grass-roots as a remedy for the corruption they are being served.  They had placed all their hopes in this man, there on the stage in front of them, and they were not disappointed because they got the win they had been waiting for since the last 25 to 10 years.  But clearly, they sense he has lost the plot and they are there to steer him back into the fold, as it should be.  No more fancy ties or borrowed faces.  It’s back to red.  Move aside all you environmentalists and boring economists.  Selling passports is great.   Building floating LNGs is the right way to go and if the bridge didn’t work, no problem, we charter a ferry.

Did Malta need to revert back to the past as a way to avoid the responsibility of democracy and prosperity by work and education?  A period of fundamental change for our country, with economic progress, accelerated growth and social mobilisation, brought on the jitters to the extent that the people wanted to re-create the same god they worshipped before, when they ate what they wanted and took what they pleased. 

At the last election, it was easy enough for Dr Muscat to give the people what they wanted, quell their fears and stoke their envy and remove the burden of law and order from amongst us, whilst still promising the well-being and organisation of a modern state. 

But just as it may have been relatively easy to convince many, so now it is also easy to lose that power and harder to keep it.  The contradictions are exposed, the truth is emerging.

The system as projected by the Labour Party, of strong man of the past dressed for Eurovision, this secretive clique of insiders disguised as democracy, flaunting the law, the institutions and sensible economic policies, riddled by scandals and caring only about their own interests has brought on a correction from outside, from its own supporters, who can no longer bear to see the bright lights of Dubai replace their sturdy torch.

The next election will be a classic one.  The only unpredictable factor is the element of those who say they will not vote.  They must be blind. 

What the country needs now, more than ever, is not another strong man or fancy popular leader, but an enlightened party that will re-build democracy and the institutions that protect it, that will balance financial progress and social growth and allow Malta to once again take its place on the foreign stage as a democratic and dynamic nation, respecting the rule of law and showing moderation.  The show is over.  Positions of trust and all the perks have choked the fabric of the country.  It cannot sustain the discrimination at work or in business opportunity.  The time is coming back for us to roll up our sleeves and put the good of the country before narcissistic cronies intent on leaching the system for all its worth.

And the people know it.  From both sides of the divide.  Those ministers who weakly spoke out inferring they would have resigned if they were in Konrad Mizzi’s place, may be just a smokescreen.  A morsel of meat thrown to the still blue elements of the movement. Something for those who still believe that this government wants to deliver good governance, transparency and meritocracy.  Everyone in the Labour machine has his own little role and every one should move when told to and as told.   In the midst of this piece of co-ordinated theatre, there was one who actually took it seriously and honestly thought that he should take a stand against the non-decision of Dr Muscat in the so-called reshuffle.  Alas, he now must bear the jeers and calls of the team who had a clear manuscript and were well versed as to how far they could go in playing to the audience.

It is now in the hands of time.  Chronic corruption will bring about its own downfall.  Propagating myths about having found a disastrous economy and casting himself in the role of the saviour will only serve to feed the most ravenous of bellies.  Anyone with a measure of intelligence will not swallow it. 

Possibly now, the time has come to stand back and let the nostalgia flow over the crowd.  What will Dr Muscat and his friends do with it?  Ignore it or ride it?  The contradiction is now on him.  Stand with the movement – in which case he should have fired Mizzi and Schembri from day one – or revert to autocratic labour of the 1970’s and 1980’s, ditching his middle of the road voters?

It seems likely that a kind of madness is upon us.  Make hay whilst the sun shines may be the best advice for what’s to come and what has gone.

Try experiencing ordinary daily life and its needs on a basic level and you will soon notice the dysfunctionality and corruption that has taken hold of the most fundamental necessities.  There are lies within lies.  Farce upon farce.  The system has been dismantled to conform with the opaque canvas of the secretive and the privileged ones.  The pieces are moved around like shape-shifters.  Change this law here, remove that law there.  Promote this minister, demote the other.  Bring back the ones who had to leave and never, ever, under no circumstances mention Panama or Konrad or Keith.  The people have spoken.