With hindsight, it wasn’t such a bright idea for the PN to base a whole plank of their campaign on Każingate. If you’re going to attack the credibility of your opponents because of reports of coke-dealing in a każin, you have to be pretty sure that all your każini are centres of moral excellence, where the only thing being sniffed is the lavender air freshener in the ladies’ bathrooms.

Muscat’s message is positive and non-threatening as the PN’s is tribal and divisive

Following the PN’s attempt to hype up the goings-on at the Labour Safi club to look like the scandal of the century, we read reports that a police investigation into the PN’s Mosta club ended with five people being arraigned on drug-related charges, including three who ran the bar. The investigation was sparked off by reports that there was drug activity and pole dancing going on in the Mosta club.

The PN apologists are trying to say that there’s a difference between the two cases as the PL’s Toni Abela concealed evidence from the police. Not quite. Abela did not pass on a second hand account of alleged coke cutting to the police, which is not exactly the same thing. In any case, the state of the political parties’ każini and whether they’re training centres for buxom pole dancers isn’t really that important.

The real scandal is how millions of euros have allegedly been siphoned off in commissions for oil procurements under the PN’s watch. Even if there is no direct political involvement, the fact remains that there has been a woeful failure on the part of the regulatory authorities to flag this alleged gross corruption. Now, that’s the real scandal.

• We woke up on Tuesday morning to find out that someone at PN headquarters had been let loose with a computer and photoshop. The unidentified (luckily for him/her) creator of the most ridiculous billboard of all time, gave us a giant representation of the Prime Minister with blue paint smeared over his face – looking for all the world like Papa Smurf without his white hat, next to a red-faced Joseph Muscat.

The blue Lawrence Gonzi held up a placard saying ‘Xogħol’ (employment), while the leader of the Opposition held up a placard saying ‘Qgħad’ (unemployment). Underneath them both, the caption states: “Both are Maltese, but you can only choose one.” The online comments boards rocked with howls of derision as multiple spoofs did the rounds.

Even if we had to ignore the horribly unprofessional quality of the billboards, this is another indication that the PN has lost the whole campaigning plot. The whole point of billboards, leaflets, adverts, debates and meetings is to persuade the electorate why they should vote for a party and not for another. It follows that the opponent’s shortcomings should be highlighted, however, not at the expense of promoting one’s plus points.This is exactly what the PN has done.

In a frantic bid to respond to Labour’s ‘Malta Tagħna Lkoll’ billboard featuring young people with faces painted in the colours of the Maltese flag, the PN has come up with this self-inflicted gaffe. Frankly speaking, Labour’s painted youths’ effort was not a very good one. They looked too much like a crowd of wannabe zombies at the Nadur carnival.

But the PN has become so totally engrossed in its tit-for-tat with Labour, that it has forgotten there are people out there who really aren’t that interested in who scores the most points in this puerile billboard exchange. People still want to be convinced about the soundness of the parties’ manifestos and their ability to implement their proposals. In this regard, the PN’s amateur efforts just aren’t cutting it.

The latest billboard gaffe has confirmed that the PN mindset is firmly stuck in the rut of tribalism. Simon Busuttil’s comment about “Nationalist faces” was not a chance remark, but an expression of the deeply-rooted belief that voters have to vote Nationalist for life and are considered as aberrations if they vote for another party. This contrasts greatly with Joseph Muscat’s welcoming ‘Malta Taghna Lkoll’ and his open-to-all movement.

Yes, Muscat’s are vague, meaningless mantras and I still can’t figure out how they’re going to translate into concrete benefits for the man-in-the-street. But on the face of it, Muscat’s message is positive and non-threatening as the PN’s is tribal and divisive. If this isn’t clear to the PR gurus behind the Nationalist campaign, the party really is in dire straits.

• A couple of weeks ago, a Chinese women was charged with managing or sharing a brothel, knowingly living on the earnings of prostitution, and making illicit use of commercial premises. Her name was published and snaps of her were published in practically every single newspaper. Her furry red coat was also described in detail by court reporters who suddenly evinced an interest in faux fur.

A 53-year-old man from Tarxien, was charged with similar crimes, and is one of the co-accused, but his name could not be divulged by court order. Consequently we had no pictures to be able to judge whether he had similar taste in clothing or was just an ordinary Maltese John who got lucky and avoided having his name splashed all over the papers.

When former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone and petrochemist Frank Sammut got hauled up to court, their names were published – as they should – in a case of this nature. However, when a 53-year-old jeweller from Valletta was charged with handling stolen property, the court imposed a ban on the publication of his name.

I can’t see why the names of the Chinese massage parlour girls should be published, but not that of the man allegedly living off the earnings of prostitution. Nor can I understand why the name of someone who has allegedly acted as a fence or a receiver of stolen property, should not be made known to the wider public. There is no rhyme or reason to the court decisions about these matters.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt