In his magisterial work on the origins, evolution and decay of political institutions, The Origins of Political Order, the world’s top political philosopher, Francis Fukuyama, described ‘patrimonialism’ as being the practice obtained in early states were you couldn’t distinguish between the State and the ruler’s household because they favoured and worked through the ruler’s family and friends.
In his follow-up work, entitled Political Order and Political Decay, published a few months ago, Fukuyama went one step further to describe ‘neopatrimonialism’. Let me quote the relevant part:
“Today, not even the most corrupt dictators would argue, like some early kings or sultans, that they literally ‘owned’ their countries and could do with them what they liked. Everyone pays lip service to the distinction between public and private interest. Hence, patrimonialism has evolved into what is called ‘neopatrimonialism’, in which political leaders adopt the outward forms of modern States – with bureaucracies, legal systems, election and the like – and yet, in reality, rule for private gain”.
And Fukuyama adds: “Public good may be invoked during election campaigns, but the State is not impersonal: favours are doled out to networks of political supporters in exchange for votes or attendance at rallies”.
All of this readily came to mind while I sat on the Opposition benches listening to Simon Busuttil’s reply to the Budget, particularly in the second part of his speech where he dealt with Joseph Muscat’s government’s excesses regarding meritocracy, transparency and accountability.
What started in Day 1 of this administration – which many considered as being a very obvious offshoot of Labour’s euphoria following their one of the largest-ever electoral victories – continued to be fed and stimulated up to the point that now, only one year and a half later, we seem to have arrived at a point of no return, where all political decisions by Muscat and his folk are unreservedly and unashamedly taken to favour themselves and people within their immediate reach, and to boost their own party in government.
Their moral responsibility escalates by more than one grade when one considers that they were voted in office on the strength of their solemn promise that Malta will be ‘tagħna lkoll’, and to end once and for all practices which Labour used to attribute to its political adversaries.
The time for political slogans and big and impressive words is over for Muscat
Although he has been in government for such a relatively short time, it appears Muscat has already arrived to this point with his favourite protégés growing fatter and fatter by the day in their arrogance, in their greed and utter unaccountability.
Busuttil was credible in his outburst because he quoted chapter and verse in what he stated and, furthermore, not one single person sitting on the benches in front of us asked him for a clarification or challenged his facts. They couldn’t... because what Busuttil revealed was nothing but the truth.
People, even those who perhaps never bothered to ask themselves what is going on in this largest Cabinet and government in Malta’s political history, have now become wary and are asking themselves many pertinent questions to which only Muscat et al can reply.
But Muscat and his band of ministers, parliamentary secretaries and most of his MPs are ditching all these questions to cover what is being done behind the backs of all those who voted for them, or not.
When Muscat seems, and actually is, adamant to keep Manuel Mallia in his fold, notwithstanding the outright public rage for the way he is managing the political office given to him by the same Prime Minister, he is actually confirming what the editorial of Times of Malta (November 26) stated, namely that “political impropriety in government is steadily growing”.
What the Prime Minister has shown in these first 20 months of his administration speak more than enough about his willingness and ability to check the abuse within his own administration, handpicked and manipulated by him and his cronies.
The scenario which emerges after Busuttil’s true-to-life indictment of the government backbench is very worrisome. A tame and submissive backbench cannot be expected to act as a good filter of the government and the Cabinet’s actions.
The backbench is perhaps more accessible than ministers and parliamentary secretaries, who are so tightly secured in their respective ivory tower, but it will definitely not be in a position to pass on the government the worries, expectations and also the delusions of people it undoubtedly meets.
It is a real pity that things have already come to this point. The great majority of those who voted Labour in March 2013 genuinely believed they were doing the right thing for themselves, for their families and for their country. It is no wonder that many of them are continually meeting us – and some of them do this very discreetly – to vent their dismay for what they are seeing and for what they fear – ‘that we are fast returning to the 1970s and 1980s’, as some are so often confiding in me.
The time for political slogans and big and impressive words is over for Muscat. He is now being judged on his commissions, but mostly on his omissions since he took over the reins of government. What the people are seeing is only a government intent to ‘rule for private gain’ – neopatrimonialism at its very best!
Kristy Debono is the Nationalist Party’s spokeswoman for competitiveness and economic growth.