You can reboot a movie franchise that might appear to be losing steam. This was done successfully with the Bond movies in Casino Royale and in the case of the recent Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
… GonziPN will continue to ramble on under whatever name or franchise- Leo Brincat
But it is far more difficult to reboot a politician – and a Prime Minister at that – after a political franchise that he built around him not only ran out of ideas but also risked derailing badly, particularly since it was so patently built on a system that creaked, failed and risked imploding anytime.
If it was only weeks ago that the Prime Minister really became aware of certain problems that have been eating away at Maltese society these last four years, it proves two things. That he has been living in cuckoo land and that, once it took him so long to identify these burning issues and problems, no one should be blamed for concluding that he is still light years away from even dreaming up any form of solution.
If, on the other hand, he did so merely to secure the vote of his own delegates during his reconfirmation at the helm of the party then that smacks even more of sheer opportunism and politics of convenience.
Many found it strange that, last week, the Nationalist Party celebrated their fourth anniversary at the helm of the country so silently, having won in March 2008 by less than half an electoral quota.
The fact that they chose to not only downplay it but also virtually ignore it shows that they feel that these last four years were, in the main, wasted years. Many strategic and tactical gross mistakes were committed and a number of priorities were put in the wrong order. We also had particularly ill-advised mega projects at the expense of bread and butter issues.
I always distinguish between serious-minded Nationalists – a number of whom often welcome me in their residences during house visits – and the clan that seems to be running the country in an almost tribal manner.
The local council elections have shown the great divide between these two types of Nationalists. The first always did and will continue to command my respect even if they choose to remain unbending in their beliefs so long as they remain men and women of principle. I wish I could say the same for some of the strategists down at the PN headquarters who make it so obvious that power broking remains their sole agenda item. Things are likely to get worse after Saturday’s poll!
Not only did they try to give the impression that certain localities simply had to be regained during the elections because they belonged to the PN “by right”. Through their actions they persist in giving manifest proof of their determination to continue running the country for another couple of decades or so. At all costs. Almost by divine right.
It was good of the Minister of Finance to speak in favour of good governance last Friday. The pity is that he remained politically impotent when lack of corporate governance was the major shortcoming that Standard & Poor’s tagged Enemalta with in the first of two downgrades within 13 months in January 2011.
Instead of addressing core issues, the government has remained far more inclined to go for a blend of reverse psychology and window dressing, attacking the people and organisations that dared convey the bad news rather than the causes of the bad news itself.
If Transparency International gives us a poor rating, the government invariably tends to cast doubts on the organisation’s “warped perceptions”.
If Moody’s downgrade us, the government attacks the credit agency directly by considering it “unfair and unjust”.
If any whistleblower comes forward, we try to nail them, while other countries reward such people.
The Whistleblower Act meanwhile remains virtually a dead letter. The Freedom of Information Act has been in a state of limbo for years on end under the pretext that it takes time to train people in so many departments to be up to the job and to respond to the potentially numerous public requests and demands.
A recent two-page interview with “special delegate” Simon Busuttil was full of not-so-subtle admissions of failure by the Nationalist Administration. In addition, after his party had rubbished Joseph Muscat’s formula of how any ministerial salary adjustments should be worked out if/when the economic situation so permits, Dr Busuttil actually admitted that Dr Muscat’s was the best and most practical way forward.
Recent attempts to demonise the Labour Party have proved to be ineffective and also counter-productive, particularly since the recent local council elections campaign has shown in whose ranks the extremists happen to militate.
Certain shocking statements made during this campaign galvanised voters in the same manner in which extremist and fundamentalist outbursts by senior members of the clergy – particularly in Gozo – galvanised the pro-divorce vote in last year’s referendum.
It is not for me to tell whether the recent local elections result will influence in any manner the general election date proper. What is certain is that this will still be chosen by PN strategists purely out of partisan interests to suit strictly party considerations.
Meanwhile, GonziPN will continue to ramble on under whatever name or franchise. Rebooted or not. This is a process that cannot be switched on and off like a light switch. Even though I can “understand” the PN’s concerns about how a once winning formula has suddenly developed all the qualities of an effective boomerang.
Last Saturday’s local elections gave us further proof of that. A week earlier, the overwhelming pro-Gonzi delegate vote merely entrenched GonziPN.
Brincat.leo@gmail.com
www.leobrincat.com
The author, an MP, is the Labour Party’s spokesman on the environment, sustainable development and climate change.