Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is constantly speaking about transparency and accountability. Like his predecessors before him, he boasts of his government's and the Nationalist Party's trust in the people. Throughout the years, the Nationalist Administration has truly put its trust in the people and whenever this happened in an effective manner it has always been successful in whatever sought to achieve. The quest for EU membership was a case in point. But is this legacy still apparent?
Over the weekend, Dr Gonzi announced that he would be having talks with Renzo Piano on the Valletta entrance project. Yet, in what to many could only appear to be a good dosage of political arrogance - even if Dr Gonzi may not have wanted it to be that way - a spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister decreed that, at this stage, it was best not to divulge the nature of the "particular points" to be discussed.
What cheek! How dare anybody, let alone a spokesman for the Prime Minister, treat the people with such disdain!
Why, exactly, should the people, who, it must be acknowledged, behaved impeccably, at least generally speaking, in the national debate that followed the unveiling of Mr Piano's plans last summer, have to wait before being informed what Dr Gonzi will be telling the well-renowned architect about the Valletta entrance project? And how long will they have to wait? Who decides on the timing and on what criteria?
If this is a project of national importance, as, indeed, the spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister himself says it is, should the people then not be involved throughout, especially now that the plans have been made public and a consultation process launched?
Is this not a case where the Prime Minister and his close circle of "advisers" should not be seen to be deciding for the whole country without at least telling the people what they have in mind? Will such behaviour lead to this project doing what the proposed extension of the St John's Co-Cathedral museum had done: divide the country? Do some people never learn?
In the circumstances, if this is not a classical case of political arrogance at its best, one would be justified in concluding that either the government does not really trust the people or, worse, that it fears their reaction to what is to be discussed between Dr Gonzi and Mr Piano.
The government persists in distancing itself from the people. It continues to show itself as wanting to decide, "propose" what would, for all intents and purposes, be a fait accompli and then, with trumpets blaring, launch a "consultation" process.
Something is definitely very wrong in the way the government has decided to "communicate" with the electorate. And that is precisely the root of many of the problems faced by the present Gonzi Administration, whether when dealing with backbenchers, the social partners, sectoral groups, localities etc. The list is already long and, alas, keeps getting longer and longer.
What Dr Gonzi and his government desperately need is for the people to understand them better and grasp how they intend to reach their targets/vision. It is only thus that the necessary support and ownership can be secured, by taking the people in their confidence. Yet, at times, as this latest case seems to prove, the Gonzi Administration appears to have problems doing that.