In my opinion, that of a nonentity and an armchair critic, the consequences of the PN’s humiliating defeat in the June election have their roots and birth pangs much prior to the 2013 election. The outcome of the analysis and the post-mortem of the 2013 electoral defeat by the hierarchy of the party every time put the blame on collectivism and people’s perspective. Faults and mistakes, whether intentional or not, are made by humans. One has to point fingers and name names when policies fail. The first self-inflicted wound was the divorce referendum on May 2011. Then Prime Minister Gonzi, truly a man of religious principles, was one of the few parliamentarians who rejected the bill. Nineteen PN MPs approved the legislation. Fifty-three per cent of the electorate voted in favour of it. Then, again, the PN misread the social trend and abstained on the introduction of civil union and gay adoptions. The PL not only backtracked on its policies on this issue but also introduced a committee, composed of the LGBTIQ lobby with Labourite tendencies, to form part of the Ministry for Social Justice for the express purpose of influencing and setting its policy.

Then there is, in my opinion the knockout blow, and it is going to take more than one set of 10 counts to get up off the canvas. This is the hunters and bird catchers lobby. The hunters lobby has about 15,000 members not including their families never forgot and much less forgave the PN for failing to keep its promise on spring hunting and its closure. The Labour Party, again as it did with the civil rights group, courted and accepted to be their negotiator at Brussels and in the meantime organised ORNIS, a group whose members is made up of hunters and persons chosen to the ministry. The rigid regulations formulated at the EU Parliament with regard to hunting in Malta were, in more ways than one, circumvented and relaxed to suit their needs by the government. In the referendum on spring hunting the Prime Minister openly backed spring hunting. When and who is going to resolve and mend this breach.  

In my opinion, Simon Busuttil only merits praise. This person knowing quite well that his endeavours taken with earnest and deep conviction was a lost battle from the start, renounced his esteemed position as a member of the European parliament with all that entails to be subjected to all kind of criticism,  abuse and outright ridicule. He was a great challenger and at times more convincing than his opponent on most issues during debates. Although the blame for this debacle is the supposed negativity attributed to Simon Busutill and Daphne’s commentaries, the real cause in my opinion lies with the Maltese character and attitude, which deliberately negates and chooses to ignore the many wrongdoings. These include outright unashamed favouritism, the alleged and at times evidence of corruption and the power of incumbency to defend at all cost the one thousand and one reasons he has benefited and acquired through this government. A case in point to compare is South Korea’s recent corruption scandal when the friend and adviser to the former South Korean president was sentenced to three years in jail just for soliciting favours for her daughter. Just imagine the outcome if truth and honesty were to prevail in this supposedly Catholic country.

Francesco Simon Mercieca

Fgura