Protein deficiency

Apologists for the Gonzi administration pretend that there is no problem with the government's credibility. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is trying to do his best, period. We should be grateful for that. All that's happened in the past has happened. We now need to look forward and the Prime Minister, in tandem with his party, is the best person to do that for us. Labour in opposition is just trying to stir up trouble, ditto for the unions, ditto for all those who wail and cry at the current mess.

As time goes on though, this message, and those who are trying to shove it through, are facing a problem of credibility. Can the message be believed? Can the messengers have our trust?

On both counts, more people are veering from the unsure to the totally convinced: their answer is no. Were it Labour voters only and nobody else who are saying so, then that would hardly be surprising. The people firmly saying no, however, come from well beyond this "restricted" spectrum. They also come from the folds of floating voters, from a wide range of middle class families, from committed Nationalist Party supporters.

I happen to know because some of them have even been telling me. Why this is happening merits attention. For the rampant scepticism about the government's positioning is contradicting the huge public relations effort being undertaken by Dr Gonzi and the PN to get people to accept their point of view. It may not be something that the media report on but it is happening.

Let's start with the second question. The messengers who bring the PN's and Dr Gonzi's message are being believed less and less.

Not only are they the same people who, for years on end, used to splash rosy messages that now have turned out to be false. Most of them are also people who are well encrusted in the ways of doing things that the present administration has promoted for long years. In other words, the messengers are part of the ruling establishment. That might have been less of a problem two years or so back; today it is becoming a big minus for their credibility.

Citizens who are not "just" working class are asking: How can these people tell us what to think when they led us up the garden path?

And citizens understand how a number of the messengers have much to lose were Dr Gonzi's government to become discredited. They would lose chairmanships, broadcasting contracts, PR jobs, consultancies. Malta is a small community; people get to know. I am surprised by the detail they go to when reviewing this or that person; and when you argue that details distract one from the real issue, they tell you no, the devil hides in the details. Having been called a devil lots of times by PN propagandists, I must confess not to having ever been made aware of this aspect of things.

Just as significantly, some of the major frontliners for Dr Gonzi's policies have been fronting for the government for long periods. Time after time they would announce reforms, or forecast improvements in our financial, economic and social environment which never materialised.

True, Dr Gonzi got rid - in very mysterious circumstances - of the former Finance Minister who was made the scapegoat for all that is going wrong. He has his share of responsibilities to bear but so do the others who still lord it over the PN's politics. They cannot be credible. What they promised over the years has turned out to be illusory.

Which brings us to the first question. Can Dr Gonzi's message be believed... about how we can get back on the right track, as a country, as a government? Frankly no. The reason is that the government is not recognising, cannot recognise, does not want to recognise the causes for the recession or crisis we face. The Prime Minister continues to deny that there is a crisis at all. He says that what we need to do is renew things. Like what, for instance? Renew the government deficit? Or the overriding growth of taxes? Or renew the rise in prices? Or the persisting drop in new direct investment? If you deny that a problem exists how can you aspire to solve it? Up to a few days ago, the Gonzi administration used to claim that only Labour talked about a "crisis" - it's the usual scare-mongering they argued.

Now, the unions - and not just the General Workers' Union - are employing the same term. Still, the Prime Minister sticks to his guns. Good marks perhaps for his stamina when in error, bad in terms of how his government can evolve strategies to deal with the situation.

Tired and at a loss for action proposals that could make sense, the Gonzi government resorts all the time to senseless attacks on Labour and on all those who criticise its policies. Fair enough. But are these attacks convincing anybody, except the hangers-on who have everything to lose with the collapse of the PN's governing elites?

So long as the same people stay in charge, give the orders and propose themselves all the time as the selected few who can keep this country going, the government's lack of credibility will become more palpable. They will do their best to ignore the problem but like a protein deficiency, it will continue to erode the initiatives that the Prime Minister might take, not least by way of screening issues that have been left to fester under the carpet.