My article ‘No to more polarisation’ (August 8) has contributed to stir some more debate on the subject of local councils and the unfortunate abduction of Martin Galea in Libya.
The Opposition’s representative on the Vote 16 monitoring committee, Mark Anthony Sammut, made a very ferocious defence of his leader by putting forward a series of politically-biased and one-sided arguments on how the government presumably politicised the issue of Galea’s abduction.
First he accuses the government of having kept mum on this issue and for leaving the country in the dark. Then he goes on to attack the Prime Minister for turning up at the airport and making political mileage out of the successful outcome of this very unfortunate event.
The government kept mum on this issue for one very important reason, which was that, in such tragic events, experience shows that the less said the greater the chance of a successful outcome. If this were not a case of trying to square a circle, then I do not know what is.
He then continues to give us more political one-sided arguments on why the elections of the local councils should be held on the pre-established dates. In the process, he misses the wood for the trees and ignores completely my arguments as to why political parties should keep their hands off local councils.
At the end of his article, he accuses the GWU of completely ignoring the workers of Enemalta.
The GWU is working in the best interest of all Enemalta employees and also of all the other workers whose rights, conditions of work and dignity were bulldozed by the previous government and who had to succumb to precarious and indecent working conditions.
One should also remind Sammut that it was the previous government that gave birth to precarious employment in Malta. What a cheek.
Marlene Farrugia should see if the people who voted for her approve of her performance and public opinions
I was a little surprised, however, to read an article by government MP Marlene Farrugia on August 11 titled ‘Keyholes and doorknobs’.
She recounts, in the introduction, that when she uploaded a photo on her Facebook page of an eye-catching brass escutcheon without adding any comments a partisan political super-polarised debate ensued, as she puts it.
Initially, I thought my arguments had convinced her with regard to the rescheduling of the holding of local council elections and the polarisation that ensues as a result of participation by the political parties. Unfortunately for me it was not the case.
She based her arguments on the Local Councils Act of 1993, which, as she says, was specifically enacted to bring democratic governance closer to the people. She also argues that political party participation does not exclude independent entities and individuals also taking part because the law allows them to do so.
I do not know how many laws in this country are there on paper but in reality things on the ground are very much different or exactly the opposite. This is like saying that because we have a law against theft, no stealing will occur.
Facts tell us a very different story on the participation of local councils. Many independent candidates have withdrawn their participation because they felt disadvantaged by the propaganda machine of the big parties and also because they probably felt they did not want to be shown as affiliated with one party or other.
I rest my case on this subject.
What intrigued me more in her article was her defence of the leader of the Opposition. True, we live in a democratic country and she is entitled to her personal opinion and free to criticise her government if so she wishes.
However, given that this government had an astounding confirmation of its performance, governance and policies, just a few months ago, the least she could do is to survey her electorate, the people who voted for her, to see whether they approve of her performance and public opinions.
After all, democracy also dictates that our parliamentarians are accountable to the people who voted for them.
Victor Carachi is president of the General Workers’ Union.