Cold hard facts

If anybody had a gloatometer - a machine measuring levels of smugness and self-satisfaction - its reading would have gone right off the graph when brought into close proximity to Nationalist Party general secretary Joe Saliba after the election.

During interviews he showed that he was very, very pleased with himself and his party's strategy. To a certain extent this was understandable.

A fair amount of crowing is acceptable after an electoral win which was not really expected. So everybody gave Saliba some leeway for patting himself on the back a few times too many and hailed him as the ultimate strategist.

He spoke about strategy in an interview early last month. Saliba did not reveal any far-out or complicated method but of targeting a specific group of voters who were wavering in their support for the PN.

He said: "We knew that if we were to win the election, we would also need the green vote. Our electoral programme had a large (number) of environmental proposals, which also came through in our visuals and speeches, but I think the best one was that the Prime Minister would take the Malta Environment and Planning Authority under his ministry."

This is interesting because it shows that for the first time, the PN had accepted the idea that the 'green vote' was not made up exclusively of sandal-wearing, bearded weirdos with an inordinate interest in the mating habits of indigenous fresh-water crabs.

The PN had taken on board the idea that the green vote was an important voting cohort. The feeling was that people had had enough of Mepa muddles and crazy construction everywhere and might even vote against the PN because them. Since pooh-poohing wasn't working, the PN decided to make them an offer they couldn't refuse - a manifesto chockfull of eco-friendly measures and a billboard of a girl holding a marigold.

Then they bunged in Lawrence Gonzi the Green Superman to top it all.

It worked. The PN whisked the green platform from under AD's feet. As for Labour - it wasn't even in the running was it? People preferred a prime minister who would go on widely-publicised walks with the ramblers, rather than one who tried to nail Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando for his role in the conversion of quiet Mistra Bay into the set of Saturday Night Fever.

Voters went for the smiling, benevolent Gonzi, momentarily suspending disbelief in pre-electoral promises.

Election results were announced and people scrambled over themselves to write congratulatory letters to the Prime Minister thanking him for taking Mepa under his wing.

Unfortunately, belief in super-heroes only has temporary entertainment value and at some point children realise that the guy whizzing around in tights and a bodysuit is simply Clark Kent in drag who is not going to solve the world's problems.

Similarly, we started to get an inkling that the Prime Minister had forgotten his green superhero costume back at Castille when he turned up at Mepa.

Instead of giving details of his much-touted plans for Mepa reform, he threw down a half-baked code of ethics for Mepa employees and resolutely refused to answer journalists' questions. Then news about the secret Armier deal was published.

Now we hear that the PN's manifesto pledge to retain the rebate on electricity-saving appliances will not be honoured.

And Mepa keeps on thumbing its nose at its heritage advisory committee and allowing unsightly and inconvenient development of houses of architectural value. And environmental NGOs are up in arms... again.

People have started muttering about broken electoral promises and the Mepa monster getting the better of our hapless Prime Minister. When I hear these arguments I feel like groaning and running away from the futile kvetching. But before doing so I want to sit down with the moaners and explain a couple of facts.

First, Mepa is not a monster of its own creation which has risen out of the depths of St Francis Ravelin to rampage through urban conservation areas.

It is an authority where much of the decision-making power rests with government appointees. Although they may not be removed during their term of office (except on grounds of misconduct) the Prime Minister can try not to re-appoint people who seem totally incapable of turning down ODZ applications.

He can cross off his list those who think that its okay to sanction illegal development. He could appoint a chairman who doesn't think that common sense is a luxury and who doesn't hobnob with applicants away from the public eye.

Gonzi should appoint someone who doesn't go off in a strop when criticised by the Audit Office and who thinks that effective enforcement action should not just be taken against 'owners' of uninhabited huts in Delimara.

For, contrary to what most people think, Mepa reform does not require extensive studies or even the restructuring of the authority.

What it needs is the appointment of decent, honest people who are accountable for their actions. Didn't anybody realise that the Prime Minister could have done this well before the election? Doesn't it say anything about his environmental track record that he didn't do so?

By the look of things, it's not that the Prime Minister isn't wearing his green clothes - he never had any to start off with.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt