Two years ago, practically to the day, you may but probably don't recall the article I wrote right here - 'Unfaithfully yours. What's the skinny?'

The point of my article back then was what I referred to as the curious silence and omission from the local media and newspapers of the private lives of public figures, a silence which becomes all the louder when you consider that with or without the papers, everybody knows the skinny and the dirty on everybody and talks about everyone else all the time - admittedly not in the newspapers, but in coffee shops, at card games... wherever. And practically everyone has skeletons in his closet.

But we're so very good at playing the Emperor and His New Clothes here in Malta. We seem to prefer to talk about people behind closed doors. The minute something becomes official and public domain and when we can no longer pretend that we don't know what's going on because it's splashed all over the place, then we're forced to unbury our heads from the sand and acknowledge the reality of it all. And we don't really like that, because we'd rather play murderers in the dark and feel our way around. We don't ever want to turn the lights on.

This is much the way the government operates. They remind me of parents who know their underage children are having sex but rather than confront it head on, sit them down and at least make sure they're doing it the right way by being careful and taking every precaution necessary, they choose to ignore it. Because to sit down and have the 'sex chat' would somehow make them irresponsible parents, parents who permit and encourage unsavoury things to go on under their roof. So they'd rather leave it alone and hope no one gets caught or more importantly caught out, and by that I mean pregnant.

You see in their mind, the minute they admit that they know what is going on they risk coming across as wayward and might not feel as comfortable queuing up for Holy Communion; more significantly they would not really know where to look when one of their friends remarks that so and so is living in sin and is not yet married.

Every time the divorce debate erupts, I am reminded of this silly charade and political posturing.

Divorce is to the government what a rebellious teenager is to every household. With the difference that teenagers do grow up and move out, but the divorce debate in Malta never seems to go anywhere.

Perhaps it's more like the war in Afghanistan - always there, out of sight perhaps but never out of mind. And like the war, you feel there are no real solutions, no quick fix, that nothing is going to change much. The government knows that Malta is ripe and ready for divorce and the evidence abounds. It knows that many are living divorced lives, some because they actually got divorced abroad and others because they are doing the next best thing. But no amount of free voting will bring divorce in and the government and opposition know this. We'll keep up the charade for another 25 years.

When my son is my age, he'll look upon divorce in the same way that I look upon adultery and homosexuality pre-1974. I marvel that there was a time until not so long ago when both were criminal offences. And likewise he'll marvel that there was actually a time when the government refused to legislate in favour of divorce, and this in the name of Christian values in a country teeming with broken homes, with a record number of single parent families.

When there were reports that the Prime Minister informed Robert Musumeci his candidature was unsuitable, in the wake of allegations about his private life, I was once again reminded of this game of charades. I was also a little unimpressed, to say the least.

If Lawrence Gonzi really does find the mayor's lifestyle reprehensible, what has kept the Nationalist Party leader from asking him to resign as mayor? Surely, Musumeci's lifestyle this past year has not been kept secret from the Prime Minister and has not undergone significant reconstruction. So why the sudden interest and high moral ground? True, hypocrisy is definitely the Esperanto among most politicians, but can Gonzi really afford to go down this road?

There's been a lot of talk about public figures and their private lives and while I am not in with the private lives of political candidates and fellow MPs, I am sure that if I made it my business to find out, I might unearth some interesting revelations that could possibly make Gonzi more than blush.

Perhaps Musumeci is the green bottle that could easily and accidentally fall without toppling the government over, but, given the slim majority in Parliament, one of these days, there may be a green bottle that will fall and really rock their world.

And yes, I fully appreciate that public figures are accountable to the people, their private lives are very much our business, and we definitely have a right to know what goes on.

I can understand that some voters may not feel comfortable supporting a man they feel was not honourable in his marriage. Although truth be told, I am not sure whether there is always a co-relation between the two.

While George Bush may have been a better husband to Laura than Bill Clinton was to Hillary, I'd pick Clinton over Bush for President any day of the week. There have been excellent politicians who made lousy husbands and excellent husbands who made lousy politicians. Because as the saying goes, I'd rather a President who does it to a woman, than a President who does it to his country.

michelaspiteri@gmail.com