The Nationalist fear factory
At the same instance that Simon Busuttil announced he will be contesting the next election, he also gave us a minor insight into his mindset. He solemnly declared that his aim is to prevent Labour from taking office. The reason given? According to him, only the Nationalist Party can adequately administer these islands. However, he did not stop there. He went on, adding he was not excluding the possibility that, if Labour receives the democratic mandate to govern, Malta would find itself in a position where it will be constrained to ask the EU for help in a form of a bailout.
This sort of declaration is of particular interest for mainly two reasons, albeit differing in both substance and form. The first one was perfectly captured by financial analyst Alfred Mifsud and thus I am taking the liberty of freely reproducing his words.
Indeed, any suggestion by anyone in high places that there is any possibility of the country being forced to seek bailout rescue is not something that should be said lightly. It could make investors pause and consumers turn cautious. It could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, causing small problems to turn serious and complicated.
The second reason relates to the fact that this declaration fits perfectly into the now well-established strategy of using fear as an electoral weapon.
Fear campaigns are not restricted to our shores. A famous television campaign in the US during the mid 1960s used to show a little girl standing in a meadow picking the petals of a daisy while counting each petal slowly. At a certain point, a voice is heard counting down a missile launch. When the countdown reaches zero, a flash and then mushroom cloud appears on the screen. As the firestorm rages, a voice-over from then President Johnson states, “These are the stakes!
To make a world in which all of God’s children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die.” Such campaigns are part of a mythic war where the opponent is demonised and where the ‘other’ is stereotyped as incapable and almost devoid of any talent.
Not for the first time in its history, the PN is again trying to create a narrative in which Labour is being pictured as high risk. The PN strategists are forcefully pushing forward the image of Labour as an organisation whose purpose of existence is to cause pain to people. It is as if half of Malta is made up of persons who are benevolent in nature while the other half is evil.
This strategy of creating a fear factor in the electorate is more evident in Gozo. Presumably, basing on the notion that Gozitans are rather more conservative than their Maltese counterparts, the PN is playing the card of better the devil you know.
In the last few months, a selected but considerable number of people have been spreading false rumours aiming to put fear into voters’ mind. Such rumours include the one which claims if Labour is elected it would no longer continue subsidising the Gozo Channel fare for the elderly.
Another rumour is that Labour will reduce the subsidies given to Gozitans attending the university in Malta. Rumours are suggesting that fewer health-related services will be offered in Gozo if Labour is trusted with office and that Gozitans will be obliged to travel to Malta for specific medical treatment.
While all these rumours go around one cannot but note the irony of all this. At times it borders on the comical given that the PN has in the last five years undermined the very fabric of Gozitans’ society.
Nowadays, employment opportunities in Gozo are few and far between. Youths and young persons are simply leaving the island and they no longer see their future in Gozo. It is difficult to remember a time in which employment opportunities have been more limited than they are now.
Difficulties are not limited to employment opportunities. Health services in Gozo are a big worry to a lot of persons.
The general hospital in Gozo is in a really sorry state. The service offered at the general hospital is by far inferior to that offered in Malta and yet this Administration, instead of focusing its energy on improving things, is indulging itself in creating a strong fear of tomorrow.
The use of fear to continue clinging to power is an old and powerful tool.
The lure of holding power tends to absorb people and when few tools are left at one’s disposal to continue holding on to power, some resort to fabrication, to creating non-stories out of trivial issues, and to perpetuate a fear of real change.
Anton Refalo is the Labour spokesman on sustainable development for Gozo.
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Paul Azzopardi
Oct 7th 2012, 05:30
There is indeed this fear mongering by the PN that a PL government would see Malta's credit rating fall or be forced to seek a bail out - it's been repeated ad nauseum.
Do these insiders know something about Malta's present finances that we don't?
Maybe these "loose lips" speakers, as they are called, are implying that a new PL government would find itself between a rock and hard place by being forced to choose between revealing what it found or assuming responsibility for a financial mess.
This loose talk about what would happen to Malta's credit rating and financial position after a change in government is not only detrimental to all Maltese, but it can very easily come back to haunt the PN itself.
Be careful what you wish for but be extra careful about making others privy to your ill-wishes.
G Tonna
Oct 6th 2012, 23:09
Anton Refalo should ask himself why is it that the Nationalist party is a fear factory. And more meaningfully why it is not the other way around. The answer is clear and obvious to all. The socialist party has been a perpetrator of fear when it was in office and it terrorized the whole nation for almost two decades.
The Maltese will never forget what hell it was living under Labour at least for half the population of these islands. By contrast, when Malta has a iNationalist government, everyone can live decently and without fear.
It is no surprise that the Nationalists have won seven out of eight tests at the poll over the past 31 years.
pat muscat
Oct 6th 2012, 20:11
It is irresponsible for PN die hards to wish for-but they don't say it- a bail out. We will all suffer, both Nationalists families and Labour ones. Only irresponsible people speak about bailouts!
Eddy Privitera
Oct 6th 2012, 16:00
J. Martinelli: You are proving how right is Dr. Anton refalo ! You are resorting to precisely what Dr. Refalo wrote- trying to scare voters.
In reality, you , Simon Busuttil, Lawrence Gonzi, and his clique are doing this because all all of you are TERRIFIED of what could be revealed once GonziPN loses its stranglehold on the country !
Ronald Zammit
Oct 6th 2012, 21:39
Mr. Privitera, you are absolutely correct!! and all Gonzipn apologists confirm this in what they expressed in their comments. The only tool they have to gear for the imminent general election is composed of SPINS and LIES !!!!! Otherwise they lack almost everything including CREDIBILITY from the majority of the people including of course... quite some of their own party members.
Mr Joe Micallef
Oct 6th 2012, 15:52
The first paragraph of this piece is a text book example of dishonesty!
Not that one could expect better from the author!
A. Mifsud
Oct 6th 2012, 15:24
What Anton Refalo failed to address in his article is the fact that Simon Busuttils' fears are outright based on truth and therefore equally justified!
Eddy Privitera
Oct 6th 2012, 20:29
A.Mifsud: What truth are you referring to, when Dr. Muscat is not yet prime minister ? How can you judge him ?
Scaring voters is the only weapon GonziPN apologists like you. are hoping to save GonziPN from the jaws of defeat !
J Martinelli
Oct 6th 2012, 14:49
No need for Simon Busuttil to instill fear in the hearts of the voters. The Labour Party's own record clearly indicates that Simon is right in all respects.
Nationalist governments never relied on employing 8000 overnight, in order to make unemployment statistics look better on the eve of an election or leave the island thirsty and had tourists carrying placards protesting lack of water in their hotels and unable to flush toilets or take showers.
A Nationalist government took steps to supply the nation with adequate electricity supply and not resort to continuing planned suspensions or brownouts and built a modern award winning Airport not an obsolete dingy and inadequate structure.
The list goes on and on and is made up of essential infrastructures which, during the 'Socialist golden era' which lasted sixteen years, were completely neglected.
The common fear for those who stop to think about it, is the assurance by the Labour Party that it not only embraces past policies but that their aim is to emulate Mintoffianomics which had spelled disaster in all aspects of domestic life, be they health, education, freedom of speech and expression, total control on trade including the adoption of bulk buying and the idea that computers dulled minds and that university degrees and diplomas were just pieces of paper.
That is what people fear most. The return to that kind of mindset and I suspect that Simon Busuttil was just trying to educate the younger generation who was lucky enough to be born after the 'golden era' and never experienced the threats or beatings by thugs fully backed by the government and the police of those days. We, the 'old-timers' know first hand what the likes of former ministers are capable of repeating - and we all dread the possibility!
John Azzopoardi
Oct 6th 2012, 13:19
Mr. Refalo, today's maltese (not core PL or PN supporters) are able to vote based on who they believe will do a better job and are hard core party loyalist. That is good for democracy. I hope our politicians realize that and once elected don't cater only to party supporters.
S. Vella
Oct 6th 2012, 11:14
Labour's track record based on facts is a high risk to :-
- freedom of speech
- freedom of movement
- the economy
- employment
- EU membership
The same old persons from the Mintoff years and the anti-EU campaign are still active and strong within the PL. No amount of spin can deny that fact.
While I don't agree and in some cases loathe PN's policies (divorce for example), why should I risk on the really important issues mentioned above?
Please choose the reason of your report below: