I sometimes wonder whether the Maltese are verbally economical or just plain lazy. I remember being vastly amused when an ex-HSBC British colleague of mine, fresh from an overseas posting, said that he could not understand why everyone called him Jer and not Jeremy as if the two extra syllables were too taxing to enunciate! In fact, it was Jeremy Hunt who made me aware of this nationwide trait to pare down names to the least common denominator. I had never given it a thought before! Therefore, all Christines, Christophers, Christians etc are shortened to Chris or even Cri indiscriminately! The list is inexhaustible. Think of the Mars, Sebs, Jos, Yases, Lus, Jeffs, Los, Als etc. At the bank I was very often referred to as KZT and it is not the first time that in print the chore of writing my seven syllable name in full has proved too exhausting; as when I have had two reviews on the same page of the Weekender; the top one is written by Kenneth Zammit Tabona and the one underneath by KZT!
Referring to Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando's nine syllable name so often in the news lately has brought even him into the realm of shortened initials; JPO has, malgre lui, become a household name. As the new legislature settles down again after the cataclysmic and emotionally charged election we all experienced, Malta waits, with bated (not baited per carità) breath, for the outcome of three vital issues that drastically affect us all.
The first issue is the JPO case. The end result of this, at worst, could render the PN electoral victory even more Pyrrhic than it is already. Despite the hype, the crowing and the self-congratulation, everyone who is not politically blinkered knows full well that the PN victory was marginal and can be overturned as easily as a punt on the river with Mrs Bucket as passenger!
The second issue is spring hunting. All Malta knows that I am against hunting per se. I, however, will abide by the law irrespective of my personal feelings on the subject. As a country-lover myself (Can you just hear Hyacinth now?) I feel that too long have the hunters and trappers monopolised it to the detriment of hikers, walkers, artists and photographers etc who all have to watch out for the aggression and abuse of the denizens sitting in their RTO dugouts! The countryside belongs to us all. There is a vast difference between Kenneth Zammit Tabona at Salib ta' l-Għolja armed with a paintbrush and a Lino Farrugia armed with a large rifle! The sooner that issue is settled the better off we will all be.
The third and most important issue will not be settled for some time yet, and, till it is, Malta will perforce be in a state of acute anxiety; the choice of leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition, the man or woman who by the law of averages should be Malta's next Prime Minister.
I sometimes wonder whether the MLP fully realises what a grave responsibility the choice of a new leader at this juncture is. In fact, I am fully in favour of opening up the voting to the paid up tesserati not because I particularly want George Abela to win but because, after the skullduggery that happened in the last leadership tussle, the party should have learned that it would lend greater transparency and, hence, greater legitimacy to the process. The battle for leadership of the MLP has deep and lasting repercussions and is of fundamental national interest, practically as much as a general election for it is a natural and logical process that after 25 years of rule the PN should be given a breather.
The move to stymie Dr Abela's chances is a strange one. This affable and smart-looking lawyer who was an integral part of the New Labour triumvirate that won in 1996, had warned against going to the polls in 1998 and, if my memory serves me right, resigned before the long and winding road of the MLP's string of defeats was mapped out. Because Dr Abela refused to join this inexplicable self-flagellation he has been called a traitor by some! Frankly, it is a question of people not being able to accept the "I told you so" that he represents. It slaps them in the face like a wet lampuka every time his name is mentioned. The irony is that Dr Abela could become the sort of leader who could be accepted by the MLP supporter in the street and, more importantly, will probably be welcomed by the rest of the country.
Pjan Għal Bidu Ġdid (a plan for a new beginning) and a tired and reserved Alfred Sant did not pull off an electoral hat trick but an affable and charismatic Lawrence Gonzi and his Iva Flimkien Kollox Possibli (together everything is possible) did. The next MLP leader must have as little to do with the outgoing one as possible. It is sometimes amusing to listen to various aspirants pointedly disassociating themselves from Dr Sant just like St Peter in the Passion. I wish I were a cockerel to crow three times on cue. Strange that it should all emerge now from the mouths of those who wish to succeed the man who must have been the most headstrong and stubborn one ever to play the supposedly subtle game of politics! The MLP tried to keep up appearances as desperately as Mrs Bucket but now all hell's broken loose.
Dr Sant is a man who right to the end declared that he regrets nothing. He was like a captain of a football team who decided that he should be goal-keeper, centre-forward, defender and winger all at once, a decision that inevitably ended up with him as left outside and his team wallowing in the shambles of defeat! Therefore, any potential candidate within the present shadow setup, no matter how many times they deny being on Dr Sant's wavelength or under his protective aegis, will, in the end, be unable to convince us that he is or was not a creature of Dr Sant and, hence, party to his quixotic policies.
All the MLP is collectively responsible for what has happened in the last 10 years by allowing him to go on leading them. Following the humiliating defeats of 1998 and the double whammy of 2003 the decision was incomprehensible. Because of this, the dispute about whether to open up the voting to the paid-up members or not then becomes an eye-opener. If the pundits at the top persist they will ruin the party and, subsequently, ruin Malta too. The role of the new Labour leader, from day one of his incumbency (to use the latest buzzword), is to convince the floaters and the pink Nationalists that his or her eventual premiership will be, in the immortal words of Sellars and Yeatman, "A Good Thing"! Boats will not be rocked and apple-carts will not be upset and the Maltese can go on doing what they love doing best; making money, however, wherever, whenever, off whomever!
Is Dr Sant history? Not quite and not yet. Till the new leader is elected there is nothing in the rule book that discounts the fact that history could repeat itself; which it usually does, again and again ad nauseam.
kzt@onvol.net