It is soap opera stuff. And the public is expected to just watch. Tacitly, the passive viewers know that the storyline will not end with the episode. Tomorrow will bring another one, a new twist. So while the protagonists eagerly tell us that the John Dalli saga is closed, we look forward to the next episode. In these days of make-believe, people realise that the ways of politicians are infinite.
Who can honestly dispute that the Prime Minister's decision "...does not close an unfortunate chapter in Dr Gonzi's Premiership and in his leadership of the Nationalist Party", as a leader of The Times (December 3) put it? The way that the plot has evolved up to now turns Mr Dalli from villain to victim to victor. He emerges all the stronger as the audience increasingly empathises with him, detesting the back-stabbing by his own political colleagues. Dr Gonzi is the primary loser. He turns out to be the culprit who, on the basis of flimsy accusations, forced Mr Dalli to resign from his Cabinet post. And for three long years isolated Mr Dalli, and his followers, within the government and party structures. Ultimately, this saga may prove to be the final nail in Dr Gonzi's political coffin.
Dr Gonzi's style of leadership is to take everything directly upon himself. He anointed himself Minister of Finance, chairman of the inter-ministerial committee on tourism, primary mover of the Mater Dei Hospital and so on. Then once things go wrong, he has no one behind whom to hide. Would it not have been more pragmatic for Dr Gonzi to appoint some sort of commission to look into the whole matter? The banishment of Mr Dalli became generally perceived as a matter of personal rivalry. After all they were the two main contenders for the leadership of the Nationalist Party and, by default, for the post of Prime Minister.
I am sure that Dr Gonzi meant well. However, as Sun-Tzu realised 500 years BC, leaders should not embark on confrontations they are not sure that they will win. The Prime Minister was quick to accept Mr Dalli's resignation. This is in stark contrast to his sturdy defence of other Cabinet members who subsequently came under public scrutiny on charges of mismanagement or corruption.
The Prime Minister should have realised that the allegations concerning the local representation of an Iranian shipping line were a non-starter. Given what had been going on in the construction of the Mater Dei Hospital, the charges made by Simed were serious. Yet, the Prime Minister failed to act once the courts cleared Mr Dalli of any wrongdoing. At that point, the whole affair hung on the purchase of air tickets for official travel. Big deal in the light of what takes place in this country. Still, it appears that the Prime Minister ordered the Auditor General to look into the matter "with urgency". The terms of reference that the Auditor was given are not clear. Various press reports have claimed that the investigation was not about Mr Dalli's doings in this respect. Equally strange is the fact that Dr Gonzi deemed it fit to follow up on the "urgent" matter only after that "various reports in the media stated that the report was ready" (The Malta Independent, November 30). Unbelievable. And in the next episode the Prime Minister discovers that the Auditor General would not sign the report. He no longer occupied the post. Surprise, surprise!
At this stage, the Prime Minister decides that there was no scope for further procrastination. "This was not morally and ethically correct", he stated. Some collaborators claimed that he had been suffering from some sort of "crisis of conscience" on the matter. The solution was to call a press conference, declare that all accusations against Mr Dalli were "unfounded and false" and appoint him as his own personal consultant.
Whatever the reality, Dr Gonzi once again got the timing wrong. It just happens that soon we will have a general election. A few days earlier our Foreign Minister (whose post was occupied by Mr Dalli before being pressured to offer his resignation) failed to get the job of Secretary General of the Commowealth. Life can surely be stranger than fiction, but many just go by perception. The public would surely like to believe that the Prime Minister's gesture was a just and noble one, yet it smells too much of sheer political expediency.
A final consideration: Has justice been made? I believe no. Not with Mr Dalli. Appointing him as consultant on the "economy and competitiveness and energy " is not good enough. Why did Dr Gonzi not appoint him as "minister without portfolio"? A hint was given by Joe Saliba who claimed that he was not involved in Dr Gonzi's decision as this was purely a "government" and not a "political" decision. So are we to assume that Mr Dalli has been rehabilitated administratively but not "politically", given that ministers are political appointees while consultants are not? And why were these specific areas of expertise chosen, given that the Prime Minister boasts we are doing so well in all of them?
Justice has not been made with the public too. Does the government really believe it can keep taking people for a ride? Does it really believe that they are so naïve? The people deserve much better than this sort of alienation. Ultimately, they may be the major losers.
fms18@onvol.net