The Labour government’s decision to appoint Jason Micallef to head the prestigious Valletta 2018 committee is yet another partisan appointment.
In just eight weeks, the new government has managed to upset even the most moderate voter by appointing to head its entities prominent Labour officials or those who openly switched political allegiance in the March election.
For an ever growing number of people now, the Malta Tagħna Lkoll (Malta for all) slogan has morphed into a modern-day French revolution.
Since March 9 we have seen daily decapitations of chairmen to make way for Labour acolytes. The Nationalists were equally guilty of such iniquitous tactics in the past, but Labour was elected on a platform of meritocracy.
The appointment of Mr Micallef, the Labour Party’s former general secretary and media company boss to replace a chairman who managed to unify all sides, is nothing short of disgraceful.
He is also poorly qualified. This divisive candidate has no cultural background to head an area which should have no links whatsoever with partisan politics.
Mr Micallef’s talk has always been divisive, which is reason enough to make him ineligible for a post of this nature. Even after his failure to get elected, he still saw fit to attack the PBS CEO in an apparent bid for the post.
During his time as Alfred Sant’s sidekick, Mr Micallef alienated sectors of society, including Labour supporters. His style often verged on the arrogant and rather than lure moderate voters he scared them away. His crowning glory was to virtually pronounce PL victory in 2008 on the eve of electoral defeat.
On the other hand, outgoing chairman David Felice has built an enviable track record in the cultural sector, and his professional competence, not to mention his well-known love for the capital city, was vindicated when Valletta won the title of European Capital for Culture in 2018.
When Malta was declared as European Culture City for 2018, it ushered in a new style of doing politics. Instead of taking up arms and shooting down the opposing party, MPs from both sides of the House, worked hand in hand in a rare gesture of national commitment.
The innovative campaign worked – Valletta won the award, and the ever-growing Maltese artistic community looked forward to showcasing its talents. And that was down to Mr Felice’s chairmanship.
Joseph Muscat was asked on Friday why Mr Felice was replaced, he replied “why not?” Further comment is superfluous, other to say that flippancy does not a good Prime Minister make.
Artistic communities are known the world over for being difficult to work with as egos clash. Let us hope that Mr Micallef’s high opinion of himself will not take centre stage.
V-18 is expected to provide the international monitors with constant updates about its programme. Will Mr Micallef start changing the programme coordinators simply because they’re Nationalist leaning?
The international and local artistic community is merely interested in continuity, and any hint of confrontation from above could derail this wonderful initiative for the country.
But then again, for the Labour government it seems more and more as if culture is nothing more than an inconvenient footnote where it can dispose of potentially prickly individuals. Which is a pity since this small country has amassed a fine artistic community.
It is even more ironic that behind all this is a ‘movement’ which put meritocracy and inclusiveness at the centre of its campaign.