Of goats, gremlins and...

In Leviticus, one of the early books of the Bible, we read of the ancient ritual where a goat was let loose in the wilderness on Yom Kippur after the high priest symbolically laid the sins of the people on its head. This is where the definition of scapegoat comes from. A person or a group is made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place.

This has given rise to the process of scapegoatism, which consists of the act or practice of assigning blame or failure to another, as to deflect attention or responsibility away from oneself.

As millennia and centuries passed, goats gave way to gremlins. Aeroplane pilots in World War II described as "gremlins" those mischievous invisible beings who caused engine trouble and mechanical difficulties.

A few days ago the secretary general of the Nationalist Party Joe Saliba named yet another category of goats and gremlins. He drew a round of applause at his party's general council when he referred to a network of Labourites in government departments intent on putting spokes in the wheels of government and derail it. So now we know what - according to Mr Saliba - is wrong with the smooth and efficient running of this country.

Maghtab and Qortin rise higher and higher? Blame it on the Labourites for sabotaging the implementation of the action plan to remove the two rubbish dumps. Is benzene polluting our air and poisoning us? It's those Labourites again! It has nothing to do with the failure of government to build an efficient public transport system and introduce catalytic converters on motor vehicles.

Do we have, year after year, thousands of students leaving our schools functionally illiterate and without the necessary skills and competencies to work and live in the 21st century? Do we have thousands of families caught in the poverty trap, finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet? Does the middle class feel squeezed by taxes and by having to pay privately for education and health care as public services fail to deliver? Do business people resent the fact that government has increased their operating costs with too much bureaucracy and red tape? Are we failing to attract new foreign direct investment? Do we still have an unsustainable structural deficit and public debt? Is the quality of our tourist product poor compared to that of our competitors?

It must be those Labourites at it again, to ensure that our country falls behind so that people grumble and turn against the Nationalist Party! Whom do you think you're kidding, Mr Saliba? It is very strange that this network of Labourites was completely ineffective at the time it was needed most: the last few weeks before the general election. It was during those weeks that the gremlins should have struck and caused engine trouble and operational difficulties for the administrative machinery of the Nationalist government.

Whom do you think you're kidding, Mr Saliba? In those last few weeks the machinery of government functioned very efficiently and solved cases that had been pending for years. Planning Authority permits, government refunds, hefty VAT and income tax bills, promotions, scholarships, public land ...thousands of voters were targeted, their grievances - real or imagined - addressed to get them out to vote and support the Nationalist Party.

Fairness, laws and regulations were put aside as long as votes were garnered. So why is Mr Saliba mentioning now the network of Labourites out to sabotage government operations? Is it to produce scapegoats and gremlins at the beginning of the new term in office to explain why the Nationalist government is not going to deliver on its promises in the coming few years?

In a year's time we will join the European Union. Last November we were promised in parliament during the 2003 budget speech that EU membership would automatically guarantee that our environment, schools, hospitals, social services, roads, working conditions, governance ... all reach top quality European standards.

In last Saturday's address by President Guido de Marco on the occasion of the opening of the tenth parliament, we were told that accession to the European Union "will mean that we must change all that we have allowed to deteriorate, stagnate or to go wrong through lethargy, carelessness or lack of thought". No mention of goats, gremlins and networks of Labourite saboteurs there.

Elections are being decided by an increasing number of middle-ground voters who want political parties and politicians to put aside partisan differences and work together in the people's best interests. These voters want moderation, not extremism. They want consensus, not confrontation. Now that the issue of the future relations with the European Union has been resolved, voters will go back to judge governments by results and performance.

The task of governing this nation with so many unresolved problems is becoming increasingly difficult. The rhetoric of scapegoating serves only to increase these difficulties. It is divisive, trivialises complex issues and makes us more incapable as a nation of joining forces and addressing the major long-term problems facing our society.