In 2013 the need for a change in the political landscape was there for all to see.  

The state of the Nationalist Party was that of complete disarray. It was a Party that had lost its focus and was running on empty with an endless list of renegades pulling the carpet from under the feet of its leadership, critics it should have taken cognizance of and an arrogance in the seasoned Ministers second to none.  

People in the Party were sitting on the moral high ground whilst others took their share of the cake.  At the same time, the country was being banged around by an international economic crisis.  

The writing on the wall was for all to see, a change was at hand.  25 years or so of the same had become humdrum.    

On the other hand, the PL ‘trump card’ was emerging from the ashes like a phoenix. A fresh former MEP who had a strong bond with the Labour grassroots was being packaged as innovative and willing to reinvigorate a fatigued Party.  The inaccessible walls of exclusion the MLP was known for were pulled down and a previous incestual political organization was opening up to people from all walks of life. It was becoming hip to be part of the Labour Party. The Party was moving from a dog-tired and dreary experience to a revived Party with a revised image, with an attraction to the middle and business-class and with star candidates (some of which fell from on high) who were inchoate.  

Not only, this Joseph Muscat I had first interviewed on Campus FM Radio prior to his election in 2008 (and he impressed me), was being endorsed by the diehards and long-standing politicians as well as people who traditionally supported the opposite political spectrum. People were flocking to the Moviment tal-Progressivi u Moderati, a new concept that was all marketing (kudos to Keith) and which in substance meant nothing - but people still salivated. 

People were starting to find his message pleasant to the ears. Joseph Muscat came up with a narrative that drifted away from the bigoted model that repelled people from the hoary MLP.  

Joseph Muscat ‘the Machiavellian’ (he admitted so on record during an interview he had given me on his 10 years anniversary as Leader) was running at full strength, few believing what was lying in the background.  

He met with me and many others prior to the 2013 election and was interested to listen to people who were concentrated on the ‘cause’, rather than their own self-sustenance. Some for sure had different motives, as they spent their time at the infamous Fourth Floor. Joseph Muscat was reaching out and like an efficient Leader, at the time, he was trying to engage everyone in this ‘project’. 

This man grew from strength to strength. I was in awe how he was chiseled into this (almost) unbeatable political figure. Joseph Muscat developed into an orator and with his Midas touch he turned everything into gold (for some more than others). My admiration, not adulation, was for all to see. I wrote one article after another, even in this newspaper, defending his policies. People were slobbering.  

He was winning one election after another, a serial winner, in the process pulling down the Nationalist Party, reversing the Church back into its niche, bringing forth secularism and creating an economic model that was lucrative. Minority and social issues, which I was so passionate about, were finally being addressed head-on; LGBTQi+ rights, disability rights, young person’s rights, to name just a few.  

The whole concept of Socjeta’ Gusta, a concept a colleague and myself had come up with, was brought into the political programme. It was enticing and as an ‘issues focused person’ I was excited to see so many social matters being addressed, and so expediently with clear deliverables and a business model that was being adopted to meet targets. For some 3-4 years it seemed to blur out the negatives that were starting to shake the earth.  

With a Nationalist Party struggling for relevance (which it is only starting to find its feet now) I just couldn’t conceive, maybe wasn’t even interested, what was happening in the backrooms of Castille.  

There he was, Joseph Muscat the Pied Piper of Malta seemingly leading us, but really and truly he was just consciously or unconsciously distracting people of good will on what was happening in the hush-hush. When I realized what was ensuing, I was so defunct because I was really interested in making this country a better place for our communities and the minorities issues that for so long had been relegated and I saw Joseph Muscat as an opportunity to make things right.  

I just didn’t want to believe that the work of so many was going to recede. 

It took me years to realise that the negative started to outweigh the positive and the balance was quickly tipping towards the bad. The popularity of Joseph Muscat was clouding people’s thinking, mine included. Joseph Muscat believed that fame had given him a carte blanche. 

Now, did Joseph Muscat know about all that was happening; the Café Premier sham, the clean sweep of the Permanent Secretaries, the sense of impunity that was building up fast, the Gaffarena debacle and in the process ousting one of the most genuine politicians I know, Dr Michael Falzon, possibly to deflect the impact (taf inti hux naqa’ haruf tas-sagrificju ghal-Leader?).  Well, Joseph Muscat was either blinded by his feelings of grandiose (who could forget the Invictus tattoo) or he might have been taken for a ride by his closest aides. I am pretty sure that if he wasn’t aware, people in and close to the Labour Party would flag what was happening around him.   

Either way he was guilty by omission.  

The list of blunders continued to grow; the pact with the Italians for migrants to be rerouted to Italy, the former IIP scheme, his enamor with the deceitful business community and with the benefit of hindsight the Panama connections of his closest aid and most trusted Minister.  Apart from that, the Electrogas Power Station was, metaphorically speaking, another nail in his political coffin.  This much touted project had shades of vile around it from the word ‘go’. 

My other remorse in all of this was seeing Dr Busuttil being butchered and I was not doing anything about it. 

To be quite honest, looking back, I myself started to lose hope in Dr Busuttil, notwithstanding I believed strongly that he was good news for the Nationalist Party when first elected as Leader.  But along the years, I felt that Dr Busuttil was ineffectual, inapt and bungling. The media and certain decisions that he made led me to lose my belief in him. I still think that there was something intrinsically wrong with the PN’s strategy, but I admit that I threw the baby out with the bathwater.  

Was he always right, was he a good leader, was he the right choice for the Nationalist Party? These are legitimate questions that need to be discussed and debated at length, but in as far as his integrity there was no doubt. Dr Busuttil was decorous, took the loss on the chin, was focused on the country and not on becoming unconquerable.  Not only that, from what we are witnessing in the compilation of evidence and the inquiry related to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination,  his claims about corruption were spot-on. 

In all of this, the desolate voices of Daphne Caruana Galizia and Dr Simon Busuttil were amongst the few to decry what was happening in this country. This brought about demonization and belittling of these people and the strategy worked wonders.  There was also a concerted effort to counter-attack Daphne with a strategy that in the end, as we all know, contributed to her assassination.  

What was worse in all of this is that the Institutions were left hanging. They became a joke. The corrupt business community, the criminals and the defunct politicians were what imploded our Institutions.  Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder is evidence of all of this. Criminality was swarming around Castille, with killers, bomb-makers, those who were calling for Daphne’s murder all allegedly frequent visitors at Castille with enough time to take photos. What a fiasco. This was nothing short of a Netflix series.  

Prime Minister Robert Abela has an uphill struggle in front of him but I feel that he has already marked his Office with some notable decisions which are starting to revamp our Institutions.  Lest we forget, the most important Institutions had lost their credibility; namely, the former Commissioner of Police and many high-ranking officials in the police force, a number of politicians who raked in money, the questionable decision making by the former AG, the pseud-advisors, the motivation of some of the party MPs and former Parliamentary Secretaries and Minsters, the way magistrates and judges were appointed, the over-reliance on the power of the PM, the chancy contracts and the happenings at Castille were a hard nut to crack – but progress is being duly noted.  

However, what was there for all to see was the fact that Joseph Muscat was walking on the edge thinking that lady luck will be on his side forever. This Invictus who betrayed the trust of many people, including mine, will remain known as the obnoxious politician whose idea of grandiose begot devastation and shame to the political class.  Has all off this turned me into a Nationalist or Labourite?  By no means it hasn’t. I remain convinced that this country lacks and needs free-thinkers who are focused on the ‘issues’ and I hope that I will one day deserve to be part of that cohort. In the meantime, I will keep reflecting and surveilling our communities as my interest is to bring to the fore the many vulnerable citizens who remain without a voice.