During these last months we have lived a surreal situation. The mood of the Country is drab and gloomy. I would put my fingers on 17 reasons why;
1. Assassination: The murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia left a scar on all of us. Having someone murdered is bad enough, having a journalist slain because of her writing was unthinkable.
2. Businesspersons/Politicians: The alleged murderer being a businessman, actually one of the top-most successful businesspersons in Malta, is in itself bewildering. The fact that this businessman had ties which were so closely knit to the corridors of power simply confirms that politicians and business should never go to bed with each other.
3. Political Responsibility: We have managed to mix political responsibly with criminal responsibility. Wrong. Politicians, in terms of their public duties should not be presumed innocent until proven guilty, unlike the ‘normal’ citizen. When a sufficiently serious allegation, particularly if this is being followed up by legal recourse, should act as if they are guilty until proven innocent and temporarily suspend themselves until the outcome of the proceedings are final.
4. Misogynism: We have a misogynist society. We really need a change in the course and direction our communities are taking. We need politicians, civil society leaders, social operators, managers, leaders who are women and can take this country to the next level.
5. Ambition: When personal ambition takes over the focus, you can rest assured that the recipe for disaster is being penned. We have a political class that is overly focused on achieving ‘their individual’ aims rather than focusing on the greater cause (assuming they are cognizant of what the ‘greater cause’ is).
6. Gifts: It is useless trying to beat around the bush. The fact that a gift is given entails that those giving it want a favor or to be seen favorably. When someone goes out of his/her way to personalize the gifts it is probably even more than that.
7. Moral Compass: We have a morality deficit I have not seen in this Country for a very long time.
8. Mobile Phones: Probably being told that Schembri lost his mobile phone is the most stupid statement we heard in all that was revealed these last weeks. We should not allow such loathsome and insolent behavior to come in between us and what is just.
9. Conspiracy: I can’t believe that what we went through these last month’s sounds more like an episode of "Orange is the New Black”, “House of Cards" or "Ozark". It is so sad that the legacy of this Prime Minister will be remembered for this hullabaloo. Why are we so weak in front of power and the lust for ascendency?
10. Government Legitimacy: I am still convinced that this Government is no longer legitimate and needs to be confirmed by the electorate. The confusion that reigns, the many ends that are all over the place, the doubts that rest on so many politicians, political appointees and the fact that the Country is grinding to a halt are for all to see.
11. Intimidation: I, like many other opinion makers get our share of abuse and threats - which will not stop me. I do not subscribe to partisanism and I will continue speaking on the issues that I believe matter most.
12. Institutions: Those institutions that have been led well, have worked. Those that messed up didn’t. Let’s stop putting the onus on the ‘people’ who did not allow the Institutions to function. If the Institutions had credible leadership and were seen to be doing their job, they would have retained their impeccability.
13. Surveys: It is fine to use surveys to help us guide our policies and to sense what people are saying - but having politics solely based on statistical appraisals is sad. Democracy is not just about majorities; it is much more than that.
14. No ideologies ‘Left’: We are simply led like the Pied Piper of Hamelin to a soul-less State founded simply on the principles of money and personal wealth instead of the principle of social wellbeing.
15. Opposition: People are still not finding comfort in the current party in Opposition which should be a beacon in these circumstances. It is true that some members of the Opposition have tried to keep this organization going but in truth the citizens still do not perceive it as an alternative Government. The Nationalist Party needs to re-boot. The mood at tal-Pieta’ is gloomy.
16. Political Parties/Politicians: With all their ‘closeness’ to people, politicians are simply not present and only interested in the vote they need every 5 years or so. Ask yourself how many politicians keep in contact, visit, show any real concern. A couple might come to mind – but very few indeed.
17. Republic: It has been shown in these last weeks that the Republic is in dire need of reform. Our Constitution, the responsibilities due to the President, the hyperbolic power of the PM, the fact that most Institutions are led by loyalists to the party in Government, all point to a much needed reform from the roots .