Caesar's wife, musical chairs and twisted knickers

What is being said in the streets, discussed in cafes, ex-changed over bridge tables and debated online is nothing but the Ba?rija controversy where the now ex president of the Nationalist Party has put the blame entirely on the authority and has conveniently forgotten that Caesar's wife must always be above suspicion. Maybe it is because we are such a small country that we are so used to the same personalities wearing different hats. If one is an MP, for instance, and in opposition the man in the street is hardly surprised when this particular MP, while harshly criticising a sale of government land, proceeds to act as notary, raking in a fat commission in the process! Many people do not bat an eyelid. I do; both of them in fact.

Back to Caesar's wife, Pompeia, whom he divorced because some aristocratic scapegrace called Publius Clodius had disguised himself as a woman and penetrated the temple of Minerva during an all women festival and allegedly seduced her. Although Pompeia was probably innocent, the incident was enough to rid Caesar of a political alliance that had gone sour as Pompeia was Pompey's sister. His reason was that Caesar's wife must be above suspicion.

Now Victor Scerri hardly qualifies to be Pompeia, does he? However, he was, up to a few days ago, president of the PN, a party that was re-elected last year with the promise that the Prime Minister would personally address the hydra-headed monster that Mepa had become. The Pullicino Orlando story that broke in election week and which has not been concluded was the first shock to the political system while here we have another, even more serious, that, 16 months into the new ðlegislature, has brought the party, Mepa and, hence, the Prime ðMinister into embarrassing ðdisrepute.

The trials and tribulations of Lawrence Gonzi are endless with rebellious backbenchers adding fuel to the fire and the rank and file of Malta thinking that our problems are going to be solved by a Cabinet reshuffle. These people must be mad. It took months for this legislature to get its act together after the March 2008 election. It was as if the PN had been in opposition. Many people voted for PN for no other reason than to keep the superannuated then Labour Party (PL) leader out of office; they voted for "more of the same". People expected a business as usual approach, however it took ages for a new Cabinet to be formed and Malta and his wife were far more interested in who was going to be PL leader than who in the Cabinet was going to...

In 2008, Malta voted to retain a status quo but the price was an electoral promise for every day of the year. Promises that in the middle of a global recession are pies in the sky and could not have been anything but even in that lush pre-election period. Crunch or no crunch, unless Malta has lost a colossal sum due to the crash, which we do not know about, that promise remains valid. At least, after months of staring at billboards advertising the various merits of this or that energy-saving light-bulb, we have finally received our voucher that cryptically states "do not collect these lamps (sic) if you feel you are not entitled to them". What on earth is that supposed to mean? And since when is a light-bulb a lamp for crying out loud?

Enough about light bulbs and let's conclude with a look at civil rights.

Since The Today Public Policy Institute issued the For Worse For Better report about divorce, the only memorable reactions have been that of Roamer's Column in The Sunday Times that started a McEnroe/Nastase exchange and the Church's official rebuttal inclusive of recommendations that sounded more like diktats as to what the government should legislate or not.

The lack of public support for the pro divorce TPPI report can only mean that, despite the growing number of separations, most people simply do not want to marry again but prefer sitting pretty as the quaint term for it is popularly known. In fact, very few people are opting to go the whole hog and marry anyway. I don't blame them.

If that's how our extension of the Vatican in Castile wishes it that is how it is going to be. Included are the cohabitation laws, which nobody is getting their knickers in a twist about; not even the Malta Gay Rights Movement that understandably wish to be recognised as a valid section of society and not have some blanket all-inclusive legislation passed that does not acknowledge the fact that two people of the same sex can have as much of a deep and meaningful relationship as a man and a woman. One simply cannot equate a gay partnership with a sibling relationship. It is thoroughly ridiculous.

So much for Caesar's wife!

kzt@onvol.net