More reflections on a defeat

Desmond Zammit Marmarà ("Reflections on a defeat", April 15) has got it wrong again. In arriving at his conclusions on the cause of the Labour Party's defeat, he exhibits the same blindness and self-delusion with which the MLP is afflicted. No, the causes of the party's downfall lie squarely with the party.

He blames the English language press for the defeat. This is simply not true. His claim (echoing that of the MLP) that "...the editors (of the English language newspapers) have to follow an editorial policy which is sometimes not in line with MLP policy" is truly extraordinary.

By what stretch of the imagination, or delusion, does he expect the editors of independent newspaper to ape the policies of the MLP or any other political party for that matter?

By virtue of its perverse policies, the MLP condemned itself to being castigated by the free press. In the case of Malta's application to join the EU, the MLP's stance against membership was based on misinformation and distortion (one contributor to this newspaper listed 36 gross MLP anti-EU untruths).

Uncomfortable truths were consistently branded by the MLP as evil propaganda and brain-washing. Every positive achievement in Malta's negotiations with the EU was repeatedly rubbished by Alfred Sant in his relentless, mindless opposition to EU membership.

In the circumstances, does Mr Zammit Marmarà seriously expect newspaper editors to accept untruths and kowtow to Dr Sant? No self-respecting editor could be expected to pay tribute to such political farce as we witnessed before this election.

Just to give three examples, did Mr Zammit Marmarà expect any sane editor to endorse Dr Sant's claim that a two-month tax holiday will kick start the economy?

Did he expect newspapers to accept the monstrous calculation whereby a positive referendum (by a majority of 19,000) was converted into a negative one?

Could any sane editor possibly have no reservations about the absurd mathematical transformation whereby Lm81 million of EU funds became Lm6 million?

Would any newspaper in a civilised country applaud the utter irresponsibility of a party leader who exhorts supporters to celebrate a loss?

Worse than this were the intolerance and intimidation. A handful of party members and supporters who had the courage to speak their mind and express disagreement were castigated.

Take the case of Ivan Bartolo, for example, who acted honourably and courageously and was publicly insulted by Jimmy Magro who tried to humiliate him by calling him a "weak character" in need of our prayers.

Or the case of Kenneth Wain who was verbally abused in public and threatened with dismissal from his post for expressing an opinion which was found distasteful to the MLP.

What about Xarabank and Bondì+? Both these programmes had such widespread appeal precisely because they were truthful, but the MLP feared truth. Not only did the party boycott them, it also tried to have their programmes taken off the air.

No, this is a civilised, free democratic country; thank heaven that our independent newspapers, irrespective of language, are free to reflect truth, decency, sound principles and what is wholesome and good for our country.

A political party or anybody in a position of power that tries to muzzle the press, or deceive people, will ultimately have to pay the price for it. The MLP had to pay such price. It deserved it. Had the MLP behaved more honourably in the run-up to the election, it would have gained the approbation of the press. This is what freedom of expression is all about.

Mr Zammit Marmarà has the audacity to say: "... the result of the April 12 general election leaves no room for doubt (about the majority of Maltese being in favour of EU membership)..." Excuse me, but what about the March 8 referendum?

Sadly, the MLP is no longer "a great political party", as Mr Zammit Marmarà asserts. It has been seriously diminished by Dr Sant and his predecessor. It is a sad parody of what a popular movement should be and is in great need of rehabilitation.

The MLP's archaic ideology based on blind allegiance to the party, intolerance and mind control harks back to the defunct regimes of eastern Europe. It has no place on the agenda of a civilised country.

Labour needs a new face. It is time the MLP starts to respect the intelligence of its supporters and ceases to rely on character assassination, intimidation and cheap gossip to retain power. Such political conditioning only serves to exacerbate division.