One of the most common delusions that heads of government have in democracies is that the fact that they and only they decide on the dates of the election gives them a special power.

That power is only relative. Look at Robert Abela as an example. 

This week he visited the MaltaToday newsroom and he told the gathering he would like to go full term.

But if there was a war, that might upset everything. 

Call me obtuse but I can't see the logic. If the situation in Iran continues to get out of control, there would be a lot of imponderables playing around the timing of the election and who would benefit from it being the least of considerations.

Let's consider the international situation first.

I am writing this on Thursday amid reports that an American attack was imminent. Flights have been cancelled and the entire sky over Iran cleared of all civilian traffic. Then the situation cleared up. 

The worst off at this point are those who went out to protest and who are now at the mercy of the trigger-happy government toughs. Thousands have been killed so far. Those still alive have been running around but are finding all exit routes blocked. Internet has been blocked.

Americans react very negatively when the world looks at them as the world's policemen but that's what they are. And by and large they are doing well.

On the face of it, Malta is far removed from this in a direct way but it will be exposed to consequences whether that be higher prices for all the oil products, less tourists or more expenditure on arms and weapons.

According to most observers Abela still can manage to win the election given many feel they are doing well but there are huge imponderables. My feeling is he is running scared - all of a sudden he is ordering new ships for Gozo, he is ready to offer three prime sites to the people.

He is ready to offer Jason Micallef to the baying hounds.

But he's not prepared to sacrifice Roderick Galdes, though the case against him seems clear. But then Galdes is a carbon copy of Abela himself and the so many others who try to get rich on property deals.

Abela has become predictable - you have to turn his words upside down to get at the truth; it's not the war that can upset the predictions but the very real bread and butter issues.

The same issues of unfairness leading to poverty that have incinerated Iran in fact.

He has been let down by his ministers, the one for transport especially. And his predecessor who came up with all sorts of facile schemes that have only made Malta full of TCNs. These are the people he made who have not delivered.

Note of history 

Deliberate falsification of history for political reasons 

Ernle Bradford's famous The Great Siege: Malta 1565 was first published in 1961.

When it was published again in 2010 - 2019 it was noted there was a deliberate omission of any mention of Burmola. After

investigating this,  Terran MP Duggan addressed the questionable practice of adding a subtitle to an author's work after his death.

He then enquired into the omission of the name Burmola from the author's 1961 published account of the 1565 Siege.

At the time of the siege the settlement was known as Burmola. This was the location of the 'Campo di Turchi' at the time of the Siege, the Ottoman -Muslim camp after the taking of Fort St Elmo on the 23td June 1565

Duggan suggests that the reason for the omissions of the toponym from the book was due to the author's relationship with the politics in Malta at the time the book was being written in the late 1950s, it being the birthplace and power base of Dom Mintoff.