If only I could find the time

The leader of Malta’s second largest political party Alfred Sant has just published a voluminous historical fiction. He is either a wonderful time management genius or else he gets little in the way of sleep. I cannot imagine finding the time to read such a lengthy work, let alone write one. Apart from the fact that I lack the imagination, writing skills and the creativity of Dr Alfred Sant.

I have always envied those politicians, businessmen, decision makers who find the time to do other things. It requires a combination of dedication and iron rod discipline to find free slots in one’s diary.

I am particularly gobsmacked by the ability of some men and women to do more than writing books. Having an affair is one such example.

The time and energy needed to have an extra-marital affair and conceal this from your spouse must be tremendous to say the least.

Not only does it require a bonanza of lies and excuses but it also calls for Milosevic style cleansing techniques to rid oneself of traces of guilt.

I am incredulous - either I have missed the plot, or else I am a nerd. I do not believe myself to be a lazy bum, so how in heaven’s name do they do it?

How can one be a full time politician and a novelist at the same time? How can one be a commissioner, head of the security service, husband and a lover? How can one be lawyer, politician, husband, lover and football freak? They must be supermen. Which is probably the case with Alfred Sant although I have an inkling that he is quite a loner and many of the things that he says or decides or proposes are not exactly debated at committee level.

Which does not go for him only.

Other politicians tend to be very much the same. But many give the impression of being great democrats. Which, incidentally, is a laugh.

This takes me to the congresses, meetings and annual events organised by political groups.

These are the most extensively manipulated circuses one can cook up in a lifetime.

I love the one that sees a Net or Super One journalist introduce the secretary general of his/her party with the opening statement: "Thank you for sparing your time and being with us."

“Jesus, what next!”

But the best is yet to come.

The congresses or call them what you like are presented with ‘fait accomplit’ reports and motions which are printed before the debate truly commences. The rest is history; there are the usual slogans, declarations and political denunciations.

But really and truly debate is very superficial and surface-like.

The only congresses of significance are the ones that change political animals and bring in new faces.

From a journalist’s point of view, the more revolution we see at the congress, the better the reporting. If everything turns out to be a repetitive adulation of how successful we have been, the end product tends to be bland and very dry.

After over two years editor at Network Publications, the Nationalist party HQ still addresses stuff to a non-existent editor. Worse still, they do not even care to send in a copy of the document ‘Insahhu pajjizna’.

Obviously I did get my hands on a copy and read through it.

Going through this document I am filled with the sensation that Serracino Inglott’s hand has been at work. For those who do not know who Serracino Inglott is, he is the former rector who served as a mentorfor people such as Joe Saliba and Joe Azzopardi. He was also a very close aide to Louis Galea and Eddie Fenech Adami.

Nothing wrong with that. Peter Serracino Inglott is, after all, quite a thinker.

And thinkers are difficult to come by. Not quite my type, but in the circumstances, not bad at all.

The problem with this document Insahhu Pajjizna, however, is that it does little in the way of proposing things. It talks of the so-called achievements but does not come forward and talk of steps that can be taken.

The document is more a statement of fact than anything else, and it does not go beyond revamping slogans in Maltese prose.

The Nationalist party must have concrete proposals.

Smaller government, less red tape, more decision-making, clearer communication, a more liberal approach and new concepts is what people are waiting for.

Indeed it could very well be that the people are not waiting for anything and are simply in no mood to be lectured by political apparatchiks.

saviourbalzan@maltamag.com