A few decades ago we would wait an age to learn the news, and breaking news would hardly ever be immediate. Now we have instant news at our fingertips – but even this instantaneous delivery of news cannot keep up with the corruption and misdeeds of Joseph Muscat’s government.
They say times change – and they surely do. Less than four years ago we were promised a new lease of life, with a Labour movement intent on giving us a view of the sun as we had never seen it. All was promised to everyone, everything was going to be fixed, all would be happy, and all would get their just rewards.
Muscat was a beaming beacon of love and inspired hope. That was a few years ago when he was all over the media, smiling, shaking hands, telling all who wanted to listen, and even those who didn’t care, that a new era was being born where no one would consider your political beliefs but only what you could deliver. Meritocracy would be the order of the day.
Now the handshaking has stopped, the faces lack smiles and any questioning by the independent media is met with aggression and a quick exit.
Muscat and his team promised us the world but now they have totally lost the plot and all interest in even pretending they will deliver what they promised.
There was a time when Labour and its spokespersons were constantly telling us what they were doing and going to do. Now the little they utter is always hurried and usually defensive. Or rather aggressive. If they are asked about a particular case they never answer directly but deflect the question’s main thrust by mentioning something the PN did back in its time.
They are so much on the defensive that they get their Labour media to fabricate stories – as in the case of Beppe Fenech Adami’s house and swimming pool.
Their only defence to rebut the barrage of accusations is to point out that the others before them – the bad PN – did it all as well. This is of course totally irrelevant because, even if it were true, right now we are discussing the present not the past and nothing anyone did yesterday justifies the wrong of today.
Every day has become a tale of terrible news. You sleep knowing that, somewhere, someone is raking in money illegally
I will plead guilty to some mistakes a million times on behalf of the PN – but there is just no comparison to what has been done in these four years of a Labour government. And it is not exact to call it a Labour government – it is a Muscat government where only he and his select few decide what will be done. He is the one who has let national corruption soar to the levels it has reached – and it is not only me or Simon Busuttil and his PN team claiming this. This was stated by Transparency International which gave the Muscat administration a terrible whacking by giving Malta the lowest ranking on the Corruption Perception Index since it started in 2004.
Every day has become a tale of terrible news. You sleep knowing that, somewhere, someone is raking in money illegally, or attacking freedom of expression, or concocting land deals which even Muscat’s old cronies find disgusting.
Thankfully social media is relentless – all news is exposed immediately. Sadly, we hear so much about greed, bad decisions, rampant corruption and unacceptable appointments that we have almost become immune to it.
Muscat and his team would like to brand all politicians in the same way, to make us believe that they are all corrupt, crooked and untrustworthy. They want us to forget that the mistakes of nearly 25 years of PN administrations were not only few but were all swiftly dealt with when discovered. Perpetrators were immediately expelled from the party, whatever position they held. Investigations were held immediately and efficiently.
This government – this Muscat creation – goes on digging itself into more murky, troubled waters, and keeps defending the indefensible. When people are caught acting inappropriately, Muscat defends them and puts them even more on the frontline as a show of force. In this way, Muscat is making it clear he too is as guilty as Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri, Evarist Bartolo and Chris Cardona.
We were promised a rebirth of our nation by Muscat and his wonderful Labour team. Never has a birth had such a terribly long and problem-rich labour as this. Give us back peace of mind – give us back a PN team in office to get the country back on its feet.
Mario Rizzo Naudi is a Nationalist Party election candidate.