Like many I admit I was shocked last Sunday with the results of the monthly survey on MaltaToday. It showed PN losing more ground and PL regaining the majority.

I was then shocked even more when party leader Bernard Grech just did not refer to the survey at all and continued with his Sunday round of average or less than average speeches about the Labour administration.

I was then shocked to see that those media that reported him just did not mention this and went along and reported just his words.

The results of the survey were a body blow to the party, however, and this was shown by the extremely worried comments from all levels of the party as time went by on Sunday.

From what I could gather there was far less confrontation such as used to take place some years ago when Adrian Delia was party leader.

There was instead a far higher dose of pessimism and acceptance that the party faces yet another drubbing at the polls notwithstanding the many scandals surfacing daily.

The party, it seemed, was on death-watch.

Slowly, however, a couple of points started to be made, even though, at the end, they did not change matters much:

- Labour's majority is of under 2%, around the number of votes Arnold Cassola's new party Momentum is expected to get.

- The number of Don't Knows, Don't Says is still too  high and presumably will decrease as the election draws nearer.

- The power of incumbency held by the party in government is awesome.

- Yet, as said, the number and extent of cases of corruption keeps multiplying.

- But with the world turned upside down by Trump's antics people with their lives coming under threat will turn more and more to their governments for protection.

All the Nationalist speakers I came across urged unity and hard work but I wonder. Every day Net television has a prime time programme on current affairs. Every day you get to hear the same adverts in the same sing-song voice with the accents misplaced. Don't the leaders ever ask why is this? Or are they happy to hog the programme and getting interviewed?

It's always the same people being interviewed just as on Sundays it's always the same faces you see welcoming the leader.

The people in Net and in the party have it so good and maybe that's why they are so laid back. They own the party in a way One TV never does.

They expect to coast up the Castile steps on public acclamation and slip into their old roles as if nothing happened in the meantime.

The party now has a new secretary general, a nice and hard-working chap but whatever he may say he reminds people of Lawrence Gonzi and whatever he might think that is a very toxic past.

It reminds people of a government voting 'with pleasure' for price increases. Of a government being pig-headed against divorce. Of a government who saddled us till this very day with the Abela dynasty.

And neither Bonello nor his leader have ever apologised for the mistakes for which the country has so soundly punished them. And us.

An ominous day

So today is celebrated as Easter all over the Christian world though that does not seem to stop the Christian Putin from bombing equally Christian Ukraine.

It also happens to be Adolf Hitler's birthday, though this is a coincidence.

Less of a coincidence is that in a landscape often marred by disinformation, recent social media chatter has ignited concerns around a rumour involving Donald Trump and the potential declaration of martial law. 

Specifically, a number of users have shared a prediction claiming that precisely today Trump may invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 effectively allowing for military control over civilian governance during times of unrest.

The origins of this rumour can be traced back to a series of articles on the publishing platform Medium. The author, who goes by the handle Aletheisthenes, has put forward alarming projections of future events, warning that this declaration could lead to a cascade of oppressive state measures, including the arrest of journalists and politicians, restricted movement at state borders, and postponed elections.

Aletheisthenes explained: "On April 20, 2025 the United States may initiate its final steps into authoritarian rule.

"This echoes other fears that have permeated discussions during Trump's presidency, especially in light of his previous comments suggesting he considered invoking martial law during times of social upheaval.

"These anxieties resurfaced prominently in communications that highlighted an executive order issued by Trump on January 20, 2025, which declared a national emergency at the southern US border and required reports from the secretaries of defence and homeland security within 90 days. This timeframe points directly to 20 April."

[email protected]