In an attempt to bask in the reflected glory of Donald Trump’s astonishing electoral victory, Joseph Muscat strengthened his resolve to “never become part of the establishment, but rather to work to change it from within”.
Let’s get this straight. Trump’s railing against the establishment was mainly targeted at the political elite, together with the media sponsors and wider interests which traditionally support it. Trump presented himself as a political outsider, in one of the (sadly too few) honest claims made during his campaign.
Until now, Trump belonged to another part of the social establishment – the business elite. He was not in the thick of traditional party politics. Both Democrats and Republicans represent the political establishment, which many US voters wanted to reject and punish. As a political outsider, albeit on a Republican ticket, Trump vowed to dislodge the status quo.
Muscat’s background is entirely different. He has been in politics all his working life. He began his career as a journalist with the political media owned and run by the Malta Labour Party, and rose to be assistant head of news. He studied public policy and European studies, both related to governance and politics.
Muscat was elected a member of the Labour Party executive aged 21 and later nominated education secretary of the party. He was close to Alfred Sant as Labour Prime Minister from 1996-98, while his future wife Michelle was Sant’s assistant – the inner circle within the political establishment.
Muscat then worked with Sant’s ally Alfred Mallia, a labour electoral candidate. The same political circle, again. After campaigning against EU membership, Muscat was elected as a Member of the European Parliament on the Labour Party ticket. He has since dropped his anti-EU position, and as an MEP he did not take an anti-establishment stance overall.
Today he is making the most of EU membership, selling passports to make money. A foothold in the EU also appears to have been useful for Muscat, together with Minister without Portfolio Konrad Mizzi, to attract China to Malta’s energy sector.
Muscat resigned his EU parliamentary seat when elected leader of the Labour Party in opposition. He changed its logo and name from MLP to PL, and won a landslide victory in the general election of 2013.
As Prime Minister, Muscat has not reformed the establishment, apart from inserting players more sympathetic to his ambitions. On the contrary, he has embraced the business elite and big developers, and has appointed judges and magistrates with links to the Labour Party. The new Brigadier of the Armed Forces of Malta is a family friend.
There is absolutely nothing about Joseph Muscat’s career trajectory or his actions that makes him a political outsider
Apart from the PN media, the main audiovisual outlets today are largely supportive of the Labour government. The independent press is being systematically targeted and butchered by Muscat’s aides and personal friends sitting at Castille.
One of Muscat’s earliest actions after the 2013 elections was to change the law to enable his backbenchers to head government authorities, which has diminished parliamentary oversight over the executive and thereby strengthened the hold of the political establishment over the functioning of the State.
There is absolutely nothing about Muscat’s career trajectory or his actions that makes him a political outsider. On the contrary, he is a career politician and a long-standing insider. He has no defined career path beyond politics.
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil worked privately as a lawyer, was not a political party journalist or executive, and is not married to the former assistant of a prime minister, but he has also moved in political circles for many years and was an MEP.
Both the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party represent the establishment. They are both tightly networked in the business community, the legal profession, the judiciary, trade unions, the University, the media, the army and the police. Neither of our two political party leaders can be considered as anti-establishment or as outsiders.
Being out of power for a span of some years does not imply being non-Establishment, as some Labour-oriented commentators have suggested. The US Republicans have not been in government for eight years, but they are still the establishment. Not even Trump claimed otherwise. Likewise, it is not about being politically right or left but about forming part of the Established system, the status quo.
How Trump’s Republican party will now respond to his supposed revolution is yet to be seen. Will they change their ways, or turn their backs on their ‘establishment’ contacts? More importantly, what will Trump do while holding the reins? Tragically, the best outcome to hope for is that he was lying through his teeth all along.
The laws of physics teach us that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This new shift to the political right is already increasing thirst for a shift to the left on the other side.
To be clear, I am not advocating an anti-establishment stance, away from a safe pair of hands and political correctness. If I was ever in any danger of that, Trump’s victory has assuredly cured me of it for some time. When dishonest, bigoted, extremist politicians like Trump’s supporter Nigel Farage feel they may be enjoying good company, I am out of the door in a shot.
petracdingli@gmail.com