John Dalli, freshly erstwhile European Commissioner, has got out of ‘jail’, though perhaps not quite in the way he would have liked. Instead of embarking on a triumphal and heroic march into the leader’s office in Pietà, the manner of his going was dictated by a rather peremptory “there’s the door, don’t let it hit you on the way out”.

The swiftness with which the story developed between Tuesday at about 3pm and Thursday at the crack of dawn when I wrote this portends even more information coming out after I press the ‘send’ button, so I’ll leave it to the more quickly-reactive elements of the media to run with the facts, bad as they are, of the story.

Suffice it to say that Dalli has not added much to the country’s reputation, if you’ll allow me (or not, I don’t much care) the Anglo-Saxon way of telling him: “gee thanks, mate, you’ve really made us look sleazy in the eyes of the world”. Not since Dom Mintoff has the word ‘Malta’ conjured up such an oikish image of us all.

The Lil’Elves and Peculiar Pundits who infest the Labour-leaning portions of the media (and I include that person Debono’s blog, such as it is, here) have rallied dwarf-like behind their man, positing the crackpot theory that Dalli’s sorry plight is the result of a conspiracy between the Prime Minister, José Manuel Barroso and the forces of Evil Clickery.

What price Labour’s heroes now, ay? It is bad enough that they have been lionising two people who, up to not-so-long-ago, were targets of their venom, not to mention, in one of these cases, his not being the epitome of truthfulness and openness.

Their gleeful support for the third one, now out in his full glory for all the world to assess, scars Labour deeply as cynically opportunistic manipulators who care little for the harm they do to those vulnerable to the temptation to shoot their mouths off and lash out at everything.

In Dalli, up to Tuesday at 3pm or thereabouts, they had an asset that they must have thought outweighed the damage they have done themselves by supporting Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Jesmond Mugliett and Franco Debono. That’s now come crashing down around them, with a vengeance.

With their penchant for cheap shots, Labour keep telling us that it is the Nationalists who are in deep trouble, who have a rift the size of the San Andrea Fault running through them.

The thing is, the thinkers within Labour, attributing to them a descriptor that may be a touch OTT, don’t seem to realise that three self-seeking individuals whose heft is coincidental and dependent only on the fact that the voting structure in the House is what it is and through no merit of theirs, and one sulky ex-Big Beast (very ‘ex’, as of Tuesday) don’t constitute a ‘rift’ but an irritant, serious enough as it may be.

Labour have a long way to go to crawl out of the hole into which the Dalli Plus Three association has landed them.

That’s not to say that the Nationalist Party has an easy shot at the elections, as last Sunday’s poll makes starkly clear.

Despite Labour’s complete failure to tell us anything except what they think people want to hear and despite the birds with which they have flocked (see above), a substantial number of poll-responders put them into a rather large lead, though I suspect that this has less to do with any perceived merits on Labour’s side and more to do with the way the Government keeps shooting itself in both feet with the lousy timing and handling of various issues.

Which is unfair in the extreme, when you think about it, but such is life. No matter that the economy is trundling along quite well when all around us is calamity. No matter that the North African crisis was handled with such a deftness of touch by the Prime Minister that his peers around Europe have nothing but praise for him.

No matter that the country is generally in decent shape, with tourism, financial services and other sectors flourishing.

Forget all that, Labour and its fellow travellers’ persistent whining, their constant sniping and sometimes downright vulgar treatment of Lawrence Gonzi, the bullying tactics of Debono and people of his ilk, have created a landscape that is bleak for the Nationalists and, if it leads to Labour getting elected, quite likely bleak for the country.

That’s because, folks, we’re going to be governed, if the true content of Labour’s message is analysed, by sound-bite and by slogan. Energy prices are coming down (how?), business is going to be encouraged (how?), taxes are coming down (how?), jobs for all and in Gozo for Gozitans (how?) and we’re going to have heaven on earth, without even an inkling as to how this is going to happen. That’s no way to run a railroad.

On an upbeat note to close, a couple of places, in Malta for a change, where you can get a good meal. Ta’ Xbiex Waterpolo Club is one and Tartarun in Marsaxlokk is another. Back up North, we visited Maldonado in Rabat again, after a very acceptable Turandot at the Aurora, and our meal was also good.

imbocca@gmail.com

www.timesofmalta.com/articles/author/20

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