“It will be like The Kardashians, but in­stead of a day in the life of Kim Kardashian it will be a day in the life of the Prime Minister.” That’s how young PN volunteer Matthew Calleja described the latest PN initiative to engage with the masses. He was talking about the ‘Prime Minister For A Day’ competition.

People wonder why their opinion is prized so much – but only late in the day, and why the Prime Minister wants to hang out now, when the election is only a few months away- Claire Bonello

For the benefit of those who haven’t split their sides laughing and who fancy a day trailing around the Prime Minister, here’s what it’s all about: you log on to the appropriate website – the one featuring attractive young people and a couple of funky grey-haired OAPs.

You send in your suggestion or a feasible proposal for improving the nation’s lot. You also suggest the names and e-mail address of three friends you would like as members of your Cabinet. If you’re the lucky (and photogenic) winner of the competition, you and your friends get to spend a day with Lawrence Gonzi as he deals with important matters of state.

If the thrill of behind-the-scenes access to Castille and Cabinet isn’t enough to entice you, there’s the added bonus of winning an iPad.

But that’s not all. If you always wanted to feature in your own TV drama and have never made it to a reality show, this is your chance to finally star on the small screen. The entire day will be filmed and produced into a TV feature.

That’s where the comparison to the Kardashians comes in. The Kardashians – a brood of vapid, fabulous nobodies – have a reality show where vacuous masses get to follow their shallow lives.

And over at PN headquarters, they think that substituting the Prime Minister for one of the interchangeable Kardashian sisters (all equally pneumatic, all equally superficial) in a reality show format is the way to connect with the public. There are a number of reasons why this is a patently ridiculous idea.

It’s quite obvious that the ‘PM for a day’ stunt is an attempt to project an image of a hip, tech-savvy Prime Minister who is not above hanging out with the man in the street.

Rather like David Cameron in the much-spoofed Webcameron, Gonzi is giving us the impression that we are going to be given an inside peek to what goes on in the corridors of power.

The competition winner, friends and the viewers of the show will be privy to the way decisions are made and how policy is formulated. We get to see the Prime Minister up close and personal. Just as Cameron padded around barefoot for the cameras and did the washing-up, viewers will get to see another side of the Prime Minister – an affable sort of chap. Just like us.

The brains behind the competition probably want us to buy into the idea that we’re seeing a sincere and unmediated portrayal of the Prime Minister. Except that it’s not going to be exactly like that is it?

Because it’s highly unlikely that we’re going to get an accurate and unfiltered view of what really goes on at Castille. Will we be let in on any conversations between the Prime Minister and Franco Debono? Can we eavesdrop on heated Cabinet discussions about controversial issues? Will we really be allowed to listen to discussions about the formulation of controversial policy? The chances of us being able to do that are close to nil.

We will be presented with a stage-managed event, with all the politicians on their best behaviour. This won’t be candid camera but a carefully edited production by NET TV. It will be a carefully-packaged Prime Minister being presented as a sincere and unedited one.

There’s more. The competition is being billed as an opportunity for people to get closer to the Nationalist Party and to generate ideas. The whole concept could have been lifted straight from Tony Blair’s ‘Big Conversation’ initiative. Launched in 2003, this included a website aimed at giving people a chance to air their views on policies.

At the time, Blair had said: “It’s time for a grown up discussion. Big issues need real debate, a big conversation between politicians and the people.”

Sounds remarkably like the puff for the PM for a day competition. The criticism of the Big Conversation is equally applicable to its local variants. People don’t want conversations, they want explanations. They wonder why their opinion is prized so much – but only late in the day, and why the Prime Minister wants to hang out now, when the election is only a few months away.

And although the prospect of that iPad may be quite enticing, there is a cohort of the electorate which is not taken in by this attempt to transform politics into another reality show. Politics has been trivialised to a great degree. We don’t need the Prime Minister to trivialise it even further.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt

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