A touch of summer madness?

The well-known observation attributed to Euripedes: "Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad", seems to depict perfectly the way things have developed in the GWU ever since the union's national congress last October when the post of secretary-general was contested for the first time ever and Tony Zarb won the contest against his erstwhile deputy, Manwel Micallef, with a substantial majority of votes.

Instead of permanently settling an issue that had cropped up between two different factions of the union - dubbed militants and moderates by the media - the election face-off led the 'winning' side to smell blood and push for a purge the likes of which has never been seen within the GWU.

At the same time, the GWU managed to pull off a series of self-wrought debacles - such as the Sea Malta and port workers issues - that have undoubtedly pushed the whole union sliding down the slippery slope towards oblivion.

The ten months since that historic congress have seen a lot of water passing under the bridge and many no longer consider the notion, that the victory registered by Tony Zarb and Gejtu Mercieca was simply a pyrrhic one, as a pious wish of their detractors.

It is obvious that the reasons behind the sacking of the GWU public service section president and secretary by the union's national council last week go much beyond the flimsy excuse that was the official motivation set in the motion that was approved by this council - an approval that continued to confirm that the GWU is today a house divided against itself... a house that cannot stand.

I expect even more of the same until the purge is complete and the so-called 'militants' get rid of all those who were advised - through an anonymous leaflet distributed in the same congress - that they were no longer wanted in the GWU. This is how extremists settle internal family feuds!

Although not related in any way to the developments within the GWU, a few weeks ago a Gozitan Labour MP - Justyne Caruana - in a hysterical speech delivered during the MLP general conference, implied that those who do not belong to "their family" were not to be trusted and that they can only expect rancour in due course.

Dr Caruana was, of course, referring to the Nationalist Party generally and to the PN media in particular, but I recalled her phrase as soon as I grasped the connotations of the shabby treatment that the higher echelons of the GWU - the MLP's 'privileged' partner in the so-called workers' movement - were giving to those of their own family!

If the GWU type of bullying is the treatment reserved for those within their own 'family', I shudder to think what will be dished out to those who are considered to be 'outsiders'.

I have no doubt that this week's shocking episodes in the GWU's history have unleashed a backlash among well-meaning Labourites and that these developments are now a source of embarrassment for the MLP. Those who were accused by the GWU daily l-orizzont of having breached the public peace when they protested in support of their section's leaders, and who left the Workers' Memorial Building last Tuesday evening symbolically wearing muzzles, were no Nationalists.

They are the type of grass-root Labourites who give the MLP its strength and resilience. It is therefore no surprise at all that the MLP leadership and party officials last Thursday took the extraordinary step of suing the PN media for libel, over the way these have made claims that the MLP leadership and officials interfered in the GWU fall out; implying that the MLP had been covertly supporting the Tony Zarb/Gejtu Mercieca clique.

Whether this allegation is tantamount to libel - just as if the MLP were accused of consorting with criminals - is a moot point that will be decided by the courts in due course. But the MLP's knee-jerk reaction indicates a moment of panic that recognised that the foolhardiness of the GWU leadership could seriously damage the MLP.

Therefore the MLP acted - or figured out that it was acting - to ensure that the people out there are told that it is once removed from the mess that the wake of this squabble would definitely be leaving in its trail.

The public perception that the GWU is at the beck and call of the MLP has been strengthened over the years, irrespective of the extent to which this perception is actually true. Whatever it does, the MLP cannot eradicate this perception that has been established by way of the country's experience over the past 50 decades.

Alfred Sant's insistence that he is in no position to comment on an internal GWU matter cannot be taken seriously by public opinion that invariably ends up associating the MLP with the ruthlessness adopted by the GWU leadership when confronted by 'dissenters'.

This is not just a wee touch of summer madness. The so-called 'militants' are not only digging the GWU's own grave but are also embarrassing the MLP and risk damaging its electoral chances. The PN's field day with what is happening within the GWU and the MLP's reticence and panic only confirm this point of view.

micfal@maltanet.net