We have all suffered it, witnessed it or been a part of it at some point in our lives. Be it at home, at school, in social circles or at work, there always seems to be that someone who bullies his or her way through things and situations and who believes that he or she can get away with it.
The most natural reaction is to ignore it or attempt to neutralise it, until one fine day we rebel and react, often excluding the bully concerned from our lives and our social circles.
When observing the government’s actions and attitude over the past months, in particular that of our Prime Minister, I am sorry to say that I cannot but think of precisely that sort of behaviour: plain and simple schoolyard bullying!
For how else can one interpret the seemingly irresistible urge displayed by Joseph Muscat to inflict calculated hurt, disrepute and damage onto the Opposition, its leader and its representatives? How else can one interpret the Prime Minister’s constant dabbling in perfectly timed manipulation and deceitful spin to deflect attention from his government’s staggering abuse of power, position and taxpayer money?
The theory goes that the electorate thinks, because Muscat indoctrinated it so, that the naughty Nats did this and that, so the Labour government can copy them and do far worse, and then spin, spin and spin their way out of any and all scrutiny and criticism they are subjected to, even if by doing so they are weakening and at times even vilifying those institutions that are there to guarantee fairness and impartiality in our democratic system.
Who cares, after all – the truth, fairness and honesty are not important – what is important is that they can pig out and enjoy one long roller coaster ride at the expense of taxpayers, without the latter even noticing. Alistair Campbell would be proud indeed!
Every time Muscat is caught out on this and that, and no matter how serious and wholly undemocratic the misdemeanor may be, the very next day we are fed, Pravda style, some information about some seemingly suspicious contract, practice or other news relating to the pre-March 2013 period, needless to say none of which have been proven to date.
How else can one interpret the Prime Minister’s constant dabbling in perfectly timed manipulation and deceitful spin to deflect attention from his government’s staggering abuse of power?
The tactic is now nauseatingly predictable, just as nauseating as its perpetrators have become in just over two years, at least to those with eyes and ears that are wide open, not selectively closed or clouded with misplaced prejudice or a healthy dose of conflict of interest.
It almost comes through as if the Prime Minister enjoys it and revels in this cheap and immature ‘show of force’, forgetting perhaps that each time he acts in such a cheap, ‘vulgar’ and morally violent manner he is debasing the noble office he holds and devaluing the institutions we have painstakingly built ever since this nation won its right to self-rule.
Each time the Prime Minister stoops to such levels he is muddying the honour and allure of the office he holds and he is weakening the democratic foundations of our nation. This is a far cry from the noble efforts of Eddie Fenech Adami and Guido de Marco to foster a sense of national reconciliation in the aftermath of those horrible pre-1987 years.
This is not about red or blue, this is about the highest democratic institutions of the land that we are meant to respect and have faith in.
In March 2013 our Prime Minister, indeed my Prime Minister, was entrusted with the leadership and care of amongst the highest and most fundamental democratic institutions in our nation, and instead of honouring them and further elevating them in our collective esteem, he is constantly belittling them, using them for purely petty political gain and tarnishing their standing in the nation’s collective psyche. All with the aim of getting one over the Nats, as though that was why the people elected him to office, rather than to pursue that great big electoral lie that was meritocracy, transparency and good governance.
That is not leadership, Prime Minister! That is not honest and wise decision-making for the collective good. That is not statesmanship. That is an immature, careless and irresponsible schoolyard bullying tactic, unworthy of the high office you occupy!
The electorate did not elect you to bully the Opposition when convenient! We do not pay taxes so that you may spend them on a cheap and immature strategy to weaken the democratic institutions of our nation, including the Opposition, which is, after all, a fundamental cog in our democracy.
You were elected to govern fairly and maturely, exercising full respect for the democratic institutions of this nation, so stop acting like an infantile and cheap 12-year-old schoolyard bully, will you!
David Griscti is president of the AŻAD Foundation.