Progressive versus conservative

There once was a socialist government that had managed to form partnerships with what is now Russia, as well as some eastern bloc and a handful of African countries. True to socialist fashion, everybody was equal (although some party officials were more equal than other persons!) and the country's wealth was shared, even though there was not much that deserved to be called wealth, which was worth sharing.

In order to buy a car, a television, a house, huge hurdles in the form of permits and waiting lists spanning many years had to be overcome, and if you did not have the right connections at your disposal, it could well never happen. Upon rumours that a shipment of fresh fruit had been delivered, long queues would form immediately in front of the state-run groceries. Foreign media were taboo, and getting caught reading a foreign news magazine that did not have the government's approval, or having a television roof aerial face the wrong direction, could get you into prison.

To add insult to injury, a wall was built around the territory in order to keep its citizens in and foreign interference out. The socialist regime of the former "German Democratic Republic" did literally everything in its power to conserve the same.

I do not know whether I should laugh or cry when I hear Alfred Sant in a speech broadcast on television liken our government to the Soviet dictatorship. Either the man is actually ignorant of what such dictatorship meant, or it is yet another one of his calculated statements to divert his listeners from his own party's government style. It is said that attack is the best form of defence.

Traditionally, right-wing parties and especially "Nationalists" are regarded as conservative in the western world. It seems in Malta this principle is turned upside down, where a progressive right-wing party is run by forward-looking and open minded people. While these people are working hard for a brighter future, an ultra-conservative opposition leader's sole objective seems to be to regain the power that eluded him in the past. For him to reach that end justifies any means, including the hijacking of votes of bedridden or dead people.

It would be almost interesting to see Dr Sant win the next election, even if only to find out what "partnership" would actually look like. But his statement that terms for this "partnership" could be negotiated within 18 months is hard to swallow. Probably he was far more accurate a month ago when he estimated the process to take up to 10 years. Time is too precious for experiments of this sort.