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Editorial
Remove
neutrality from the constitution
The neutrality clause is again at the centre of attention.
Neutrality for those who are not in the mood of downloading snippets
from our political history, was the brainchild of Dom Mintoff, that
fiery Labour leader, who now sits at The Olives writing his own
version of history.
His ‘Peace in the Mediterranean' was echoed by his media performance
in the early seventies when he held the most developed nations conference
hostage. And that included the US and the USSR.
During this session he called for the superpowers to recognise the
need to declare the Mediterranean a sea of peace.
That was 1973 and over 25 years have elapsed and times have a-changed.
There are those, however, who have refused to take note of this.
They still cling on to the belief that Malta should be a demilitarised
zone for the simple reason that we should not serve as the agent
provocateur of any military bloc.
There are other arguments linked to the transhipment or carriage
of nuclear weapons.
These arguments could be valid, if proven beyond doubt, that we
are the pawn in someone's diabolical plans. But when used to simply
bungle contracts for work at the dockyards we should bring to a
halt all this outdated ideological baggage … and, if need be,
amend the constitution and remove the neutrality clause.
We are all in it
Now, the leader of Opposition claims that we (the press) are all
in the pocket of the Nationalist party. Which is true when it comes
to certain individuals and issues, but Dr Sant must tread carefully
not to confuse convergence with mercenary spirit.
He was arguing over the overzealous media attention given to Pawlu
Muscat in contrast to the Zeppi l-Hafi affair.
This newspaper has captained a number of issues which are far from
Nationalist in morphology.
The Zeppi l-Hafi farce is one of them.
The divorce issue another.
The electoral system yet another.
And the utility bills that Dr Alfred Sant had introduced.
And many other snippety issues, which we could well record for posterity.
We have dedicated equal editorial space to Zeppi and to Pawlu. But
one issue should not be confused with the other. It is true that
both individuals seem to suffer from the ailment, the inability
to give a true version of the facts.
The problem is that Dr Sant would like to see us as Europhobes and
then only then will we fit the dimension of being anti-Nationalist.
But our europhilia or rather our understanding of accession is linked
more to a general belief that no membership is no alternative to
membership; that EU membership is the way forward, despite all the
mishaps and hiccups at Brussels.
Similarly, being europhobic should allow us to designate the Labour
party in Malta an ally of the far right and the conservative bloc
in Europe.
The world is strange, but the more time we spend looking at politics
the more we come to understand that politics is all about tribes.
And tribes are not led by ideology but by clans and dogmatic leaders
– a reality, that should be considered, before accusing anyone
of being a lackey.
Saviour
Balzan
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