I.M. Beck - quote unquote

You can tell when a political movement is having problems when its own best supporters do things that bring the said problems out from under the comforting gloom of intra-party debate into the cold light of brutal reality.

You can tell when the problems are not so bad and exist more in the wishful imagination of the political commentators who live on the other side of the tracks when the stories appear in the media controlled by the party on the other side of the spectrum.

Within this context, when, say, KullHadd brings out a story about how splits are appearing in the Nationalist Party, generally between the factions headed by Dr Gonzi and Mr Dalli, people like me generally reach for the salt-cellar and sprinkle liberal doses over the chips wrapped within the paper, for which wrapping function it is eminently suited.

On the other hand, when the trials and tribulations of the Malta Labour Party are referred to by someone who has no Nationalist axe to grind, I tend to sit up and take a bit more notice, even if only because I would rather like there to be a decent opposition to rein in the more enthusiastic ministers in government.

According to Dr Anna Mallia, for it is to her column in MaltaToday that I refer, when she started the gestation process of MLP 2 back on June 7, 2005, she was doing this to try to kick-start the regenerative process that would see the (real) MLP re-group after the seismic shock that her schism would have dealt it.

The logic appears to have been that the schismatic process would have caused the resignation or removal (probably kicking and screaming) of Doctor Alfred Sant from the leadership, this small event being the hook which would snare the people who have been saying that they would never vote Labour while he was the boss-man, back into the fold, ensuring victory come the day.

From a Labour point of view, Dr Mallia's intentions can be seen in one of two ways, pretty much. Either she's pure as the driven snow, working selflessly for the greater good of the party in trying to rid it of the albatross or she's a scheming two-timer with delusions of grandeur.

Anyone who knows Dr Mallia, and I do somewhat, knows that she is not a scheming two-timer with delusions of grandeur. There's no way, unless you're a rabid supporter of Doctor Alfred Sant who can see no further than his leader's nose (E(m)anwel Cuschieri, come on back down) that you would believe that what Dr Mallia did when she did it, back in June, was for any personal advancement, and her column in last Sunday's MaltaToday proves this. She was genuinely trying to shake the foundations, because the edifice was rocking and needed to bed itself down with a new leader.

Sadly for Dr Mallia - and perhaps less than sadly for the Nationalist Party - the people within the Malta Labour Party who depend for their continued comfort on the grace and favour of the leader rallied around Doctor Alfred Sant and ensured, by means that are not for publication in a family paper, that MLP 2, the New Improved Version, would be stifled at birth.

So there you have it: the Malta Labour Party will continue to be led by none other than the man who led them to defeat in the 1998 general elections, the 2003 EU referendum and the 2003 general elections. He's had his hat-trick of defeats already, so the more facetious among us are prompted to ask why he's gunning for another.

Shambling on

Dr Mallia's article in MaltaToday (for those of you who are wondering why there's so much emphasis on Sunday, it's because I had to write this early this week, due to travel commitments) also referred to certain shenanigans that took place in the General Workers' Union election not so very long ago, as did Mr Michael Falzon writing in the same paper.

From what I read (and I don't know anything more than anyone else who read the papers) there was significant support from quarters within the MLP for the Old Guard down Workers' Memorial Building way.

Why is it that Mr Micallef was not seen to be a leader of the GWU who would sit comfortably with the MLP? Was someone already planning to revive the troth that the two had plighted each other back in the darker days of mis-governance of the country?

Did that someone know that Mr Micallef would not have wanted - and would have resisted - the GWU and the MLP to become bedfellows again? The GWU does not need privileged treatment to be a powerful social force - not unless its leadership is so unconvinced of its own attributes, that is, and I doubt that is the case.

Or were there those who were uncomfortable with the knowledge that Mr Micallef, whose trade union credentials and skills are as indubitable as they are extensive, would bring out clearly the serious problems of financing and membership that plague the GWU, albeit under the surface?

Better observers than I have described the leadership of the GWU as a relic of the past. We now have virtually half the country's electorate led by a survivor from three major defeats from the past and one of the powerful unions of the country led by relics from the past.

Boring, you say

Frank Muscat from Mosta wrote in to say that certain aspects of my column (which shall remain un-referred to because in truth there is a danger of boring you) were as boring as Chelsea.

Ah well, Mr Muscat, if you call a team who comes back from 1-nil down to drub, trash, annihilate, make mince-meat of and generally trounce their opposition boring, then I'm afraid you have renounced your right to make comments about me being boring.

Because, you see, freedom of expression of opinion is limited by the person expressing the opinion having to respect certain standards. In some cases, it is restricted by having to respect other people's other freedoms.

In your case, on the other hand, your freedom of expression is limited by your having to have some respect for the truth, the truth being that a team that wins 5-1, having put four past Liverpool mere days ago, just can't be called boring.

Truth in advertising

In perusing the Sunday edition of this paper, as one does on a Sunday while ingesting a nourishing snack on the terrace of St James, I came across a piece in the television section singing the praises of Tista Tkun Int to high heaven and beyond.

Now I have nothing against advertorials (my spell-checker even accepts it as a word) but not when they pose as legitimate articles. I like to think that the failure to describe the piece on TTI as an advertorial was but a small stain on the otherwise unblemished escutcheon of the folk next door.

I am convinced that this is the case, because no legitimate television critic or writer about the box would be able to string together such a paean of fulsome praise about a programme that is, frankly, at best disquieting and at worst cynically mercenary.

I describe TTI as falling between these two poles because, looking at it charitably, it just reflects the low curiosity and equally low cultural standards of the people who think human suffering is fit to broadcast, while, looking at it uncharitably, the programme is an exercise in making money out of people's personal tragedies.

And then there's the matter of the production itself and the standards that it sets itself. On the few occasions when I've managed to watch more than even a few minutes of the show, it was clear even to me that this was not good television.

Going for gold

Last week, I was eating rabbit up North and it turned out that our host was the proud father of William Chetcuti, the shooter who has done Malta prouder than proud. He took us into his home to show us the silverware that William had amassed and an impressive display it was too.

Apparently, on the same day or just before, the Malta Olympic Committee had had a press conference and made it pretty clear that Mr Chetcuti (the shooter, not the rabbit-provender) was being seen as a certainty for a medal at the next Olympics.

This is impressive stuff. Almost as impressive as the almost complete lack of real coverage by the media of William Chetcuti's exploits. And almost as impressive as the support he's not getting from certain other quarters. This is a guy who has a world record under his belt and, from what we were told, the amount of real help and encouragement he gets is not exactly, how shall I put it, impressive?

In this day and age, when citizenship is granted to sportspeople at the drop of a hat in order to help boost the granting country's medal haul, it is to be hoped that the appropriate steps are taken to ensure that when William Chetcuti wins his medal, it will be won by Malta too.

bocca@waldonet.net.mt