BUT WHY, EXACTLY?
Even though the summer heat will now take some of the heat out of the political situation, a number of commentators and pundits are still whinging about how it is time for the PM to call an election, despite his recent indication that he intends to carry on with the business of governing the country.
No less an august purveyor of opinion as this newspaper’s editorial column has said this twice or more in the last couple of days, to the extent that you’d think that the Times has nothing better planned for the future than extensive campaign coverage and it wants to ensure that its resources are deployed, instead of concentrating on the fluffy summer stuff that would normally be its normal bill of fare about now. The same applies to virtually all journalists or wannabe-journalists I know, they secretly want the thrill of a campaign, because it approaches real journalism, a trade they have eschewed for their agenda-driven press-release regurgitating current pastime.
There’s the plethora of Labour’s Lil’Elves, simply reflecting their Sublime (now holidaying) Leader’s gagging for the keys to Castille, given that they think it’s a foregone conclusion that if an election was held, he’d be wafted to power on a tsunami of voter “like”, a’ la Facebook.
There’s the Respected Elders of the Columns, the Lino Spiteris and the Michael Falzons of this world, whose only raison d’etre is to snipe at the Government, to remind us, if you will, that theirs was the era that mattered and none other.
There’s the Alternattiva Demokratika, who want a shot at the polls, nice chaps that they are not noticing that it’s not about them, and never really has been.
And then there’s us, the Great Unwashed, many of whom simply repeat the mantra “the Government has problems, the country is ungovernable, they need to do something” and since calling an election is something, it should be done. The logical deficit in that, of course, is self-evident.
But, I really have to ask, why should an election be called?
Given the polls, why, in the name of all that’s sensible, would the Prime Minister call an election now, when his party is in the doldrums, just to hand over Castille to Joseph Muscat and his band of brothers and their half-baked, undefined, less clear than muddily-vague list of wishes and promises to be all things to all men? It’s not as if the country is going downhill at a rate of knots, for all Labour’s wishful thinking, after all
And when you analyse the current political “crisis”, what do you boil it down to, really?
Two, almost three, PN electees are feeling their oats, for reasons that are purely personal to them and attributable to their psychological make-up and inner motivations, factors which have little if not less to do with objective reasons why they should challenge their Government. Yes, I know, they doth protest, even if way too loudly, that their motives are as pure as the driven snow and all that, but hey, you, an intelligent reader, and I, who wasn’t born yesterday, know that this is hogwash of the first water. I’d love to see the way they’d be handled if, say, they were operating at Westminster, the place that the one amongst them who thinks he’s such a Constitutional scholar so loves to cite, and the PM had a bit of a cushion to absorb their rebellious streak.
So there we have it: just because the PM is plagued by a trio of pouting mavericks, whose motivations are pretty clear, he should abandon ship and rat out, just because everyone, each of whom has his own darn clear agenda, says so.
That’s not the way politics is run: sometimes, capitulation is inevitable, as it would be if the three turncoats were to use their strong arms (arms that are strong only because of circumstances that have nothing to do with them or their attributes, such as they are) but until that point in time, it is the PM’s duty to do right by this country and not vote for Xmas just because Joseph Muscat stamps his little foot.
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David Scicluna
Jul 28th 2012, 09:47
Puppet on a string?
Paul Ellul
Jul 24th 2012, 14:07
Let me try to explain EXACTLY why, my dear.
It is as simple as ABC.....
First I have to ask you to update yourself with the following article about how our debt has jumped to 75% of GDP.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120723/local/malta-s-national-debt-jumps-to-75-of-gdp.429794
Now if a 5% increase in debt in relation to GDP is not an indication that the situation has reached crisis point, then I'm wasting my time here.
Now let's get back to the current situation in Parliament. The projections that Minister Tonio Fenech gave last year was that our national debt was supposed to go down to 68%. Well it didn't.
Had the Government truly been commited to their projections, they would have brought it down to 68%, or close to that figure. But they didn't. And I'l bet they didn't try very hard either.
So we need to ask why, and the good minister needs to give his explanation. Then someone, most likely from the opposition (Lil Elves as you like to refer to them) ought to ask for his resignation.
Then, our self praising PM with the Par Idejn Sodi then needs to accept the opposition's request and proceed to get a real financial guru in the Ministry of Finance and start getting this figure down.
Opinion writers need to grow out of the current ' We're so good' attitude and help make the MP's realise that things need to be managed much better than they are.
And then we would be helping our Country fix the mess, rather help to make it worse.
Its quite simple really, just like at school when they told us........... it's as simple as ABC
Denis Pace
Jul 25th 2012, 22:29
this blog article convinced me that an election should NOT be called.
Thanks Paul
Gorg Sciberras
Jul 26th 2012, 08:39
I think Minister Fenech's projections were for the end of the year, so I would wait a few more months before declaring a national crisis. Seriously which part of "elected for a 5 year term" do people not get.
d. attard
Jul 23rd 2012, 10:32
The workings of Parliament are a corner stone of proper governance. So all one needs to look at is how Parliament worked these last 12 months. So obvious to see for those who want to see....
Ivan Grech Mintoff
Jul 22nd 2012, 19:35
1) Kindly do not associate yourself with the great unwashed. I think you do not live in our world at all.
2) Besides the majority of the great unwashed also fall under that rather long list of people that you mentioned that all seem to agree that an election should be called ASAP as we need stability to get things happening once more.
Not convinced?
Why just take a look at the poll running in this newspaper and you will see how out if synch you are with how the majority feel, no matter how hard you try to spin it.....
Eddy Privitera
Jul 22nd 2012, 19:05
I note that this time ABc did not take on JPO, but "the three" of them, when it is JPO who is now calling the shots. And Dr. Gonzi has to obey, or else.....! Not one word by ABC about this ridiculous situation Gonzi has brought his government into !
I wonder wheher ABc will be rewarded by the GIEH IR-REPUBBLKA for his super-human efforts to defend the indefensible !
Francis Saliba M.D.
Jul 22nd 2012, 16:20
The conspiracy between the Labour Party, starved of running the government for two decades, and a trio of disloyal Nationalist members sowing their selfish wild oats, this conspiracy is not trying to solve any crisis or any problem. The conspirators are the problem and the CAUSE of the problem. Without their shenanigans there would be no problem at all.
If they had the slightest inclination to gain their salaries as elected members of parliament and to do their duty towards the nation, they should stop obstructing the smooth running of parliament ant they should be devoting their energy to pass needed legislation.
Luke Rocco
Jul 22nd 2012, 13:13
You are right in saying that the PM would be foolish, and senseless if he where to call an Election just because Joseph Muscat 'stamps his little foot'.
But you cannot simply disregard all the other, more damning facts:
The PM no longer holds the majority of seats in parliament, and now has to get the seal of approval from JPO, who is no longer just a pawn in the hands of the party, but a 'king maker' who can decide to break the Government spell in Parliament, and quite frankly dictate what and how laws should be enacted.
Apart from JPO there are at least the other 'Two PN electees' who are quite clearly not comfortable with the way the PN is being administered. In any other situation it would not be that much of a big deal, but given that the Government had only a One Seat Majority, their weight is by far greater that anything certain media is trying to convey.
This, and the fact that the Government has been playing sitting duck for these past two years, with only discussing and passing those laws which are not controversial, and is sure to get the Opposition's consent, thus further exasperating the sense of stagnation and uncertainty which has been affecting the businesses and the population in general
Joseph E Briffa
Jul 23rd 2012, 14:12
Luke Rocco....Your assertion that the government has been acting like a sitting duck for the past two years is not borne out by events. . The government presented and the House approved two budgets; the House also approved the divorce bill. one can hardly call this acting like a sitting duck. The sense of stagnation and uncertianty you speak about in the last para must be figments of one's imagination, or simply the repetition of statements made by the Labour leadership whose actions derive solely from two things; the first is to go to Castille asap, and second to pay the PN back for the way they behaved in 1998.
Angus Black
Jul 23rd 2012, 15:00
The PM does have a majority in Parliament at least until a vote in Parliament proves otherwise.
With regard to the two 'who are not comfortable with the way the PN is being administered' reminds me of Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and Adrian Vassallo who at one point or another made no secret about how the LP is run and declared their divergent positions on certain LP policies. Fortunately for the LP they 'changed their minds' and as dumb sheep, followed their master, completely forgetting the 'principles' they touted themselves to have. I had rather have two dissenters who can be isolated but their position known than two who one day take one direction and the next, change course by 180 degrees.
I will give it to them, though, they both succumbed to the Party's Whip, wimps as they are, as compared to our two heroes (in their own minds) who defied the Whip and found themselves at the end of their political career.
Please choose the reason of your report below: