In investigations concerning the conduct of public affairs, nothing irritates me more than the way by which information about such conduct is spun into a soap opera. As this process continues, the facts that come to light seem to change colour and meaning according to the momentary turn taken by the controversy that they generate.
Actually what is most required would be a narrative that takes the story from beginning to end, describing coolly and clearly all the facts leading to a full judgement, so that then political, criminal and administrative responsibilites can be assumed in a just and appropriate manner.
It is in the national interest to ensure that investigative processes are carried out like so. Ortherwise, as always happen in this country, the truth will remain unclear till the very end... although often, there’s no real end, for the whole affair ends up forgotten or buried in sand. For as long as I’ve been following the Maltese political scene, that has always been the case, not least under PN administrations, despite the saintly presences on that side of the fence, which have only just now woken up to this problem.
Meanwhile the cases that have been opened recently – as should have been done with those of previous years – should be investigated to the full without further delays and with the greatest attention.
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TWO SPLITS
The split that occurred within the Labour Party towards the end of the 1940’s happened via an institutional mechansm which operated in reverse to what the PN has been experiencing as part of its split. At that time the leader in exercise was contested at the level of the party’s general conference and he lost a confidence vote. Yet if I remember correctly, a majority of Labour MPs continued to support him.
He recognized he had lost leadership of the party but went on to lead the MPs who remained loyal to him. Around them, they tried to set up a new party.
By contrast, today, the PN’s leader in exercise has lost the confidence of the majority of “his” MPs and therefore I would say, the role of Opposition leader; he remained in his leadership post. Strictly speaking, he was correct to argue that the leadership role had been set for him by the party delegates at their general congress and this independently of what could be the views of MPs.
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THE SECOND WAVE
Hardly any doubt remains about whether there can develop a second wave of the corona virus pandemic. It has emerged and big, in Israel and Australia, as well as in China, among other places. In the US, given the confused management of the containment strategy there, it is difficult to tell whether in given regions, it is the first or the second wave that is running riot, unless the spread of infections has become so erratic that everything has morphed into one huge wave.
Economic imperatives are what they are and cannot be simply ignored. On the other hand, it is clear that in order to satisfy them, we are offerring new scope for the wave of infections to again burst out. Till a secure and viable vaccine is found, it is necessary to get used to a “normality” during which a certain number of precautions should continue to be observed, with all the bother that this entails.
It does not look like this is happening in the countries which have been hit badly by the pandemic, or in others which have overcome it but now face the second wave, or in Malta.