I’m serious, I will not vote if…

The Nationalist party needs to open its ears and really listen to the people if it wants to avoid disaster, says SAVIOUR BALZAN

Eddie Fenech Adami, interviewed by another Sunday newspaper, has stood up for his man at Pieta and is unrepentant.

And surprise, surprise he finds no fault in the campaign for the local council elections, orchestrated by secretary general, Joe Saliba. A campaign constructed around the science of culverts.

Talking to Anthony Manduca, who was unusually forthright, the Prime Minister did not stop with the praising of Joe Saliba, he concluded that holding a referendum on the same day as a national election was still an option.

As his words went to print, europhiles, on behalf of IVA, were stating that such a proposal was not a good idea.

The arguments for this are very simple. The referendum for Europe will be won with the Labourite votes.

Holding the referendum and election on the same day will ensure that many pro-Europe Labourites will read any yes in the referendum as a yes for the Nationalist party and will simply vote no.

Some Nationalists will not vote for Europe, so it follows that the Labourite vote is more significant.

Now Dr Fenech Adami believes or has been led to believe that this is not the case.

Which is very sad indeed.

The third point, which cannot be ignored, is Dr Fenech Adami’s declaration that he still has much to offer to his country.

Which, reading between the lines simply means, that he has no intention of calling it a day after the next elections.

This brings us to the other important issue.

If today’s politicians are unwilling to realise that their time is up, then alternating power between political parties is the only natural process that will give life to this country.

In this country everyone loves whispering. Many people who were dozing to Fenech Adami in October 1996 were adamant that he should go.

Today, no one and I mean no one in the Nationalist party is willing to sacrifice his career and state the obvious.

This Prime Minister wants the nation to change, the people to move with the times and society to embrace the modernity of Europe, but when it comes to facing changes himself - aha - he has a problem.

I am no marketing guru, but then I cannot see anyone with the credentials to call him/herself one. Though it has to be said that many have conveniently pretended to present themselves as the Saatchi & Saatchi of Malta with the help of a few friends.

And since the subject is marketing, may I ask who cooked up the idea of purposely leaking the news about a soul-searching meeting for Nationalist parliamentarians at the Radisson.

Well, here I am, all ears.

And can anyone explain why divulging the details of a poll and giving an analytical presentation undertaken by Lawrence Zammit of Misco to the Nationalist MPs was to be considered to be plus to the PN’s image?

To describe my reaction as baffled would be an understatement.

And why is it that every time we read such an incongruously leaked reportage it is always the same journalist who pens his name to the revelations?

We have placed our destiny (Europe) in the hands of the Nationalist party.

Given the choice, voters would gladly depart from their habit of voting PN and transfer their allegiance to another party.

I remember Austin Gatt always attributed such changes in the electorate to a protest vote, which is irrelevant.

A vote for Alfred Sant, is a vote for Alfred Sant.

Whether it is intentional, mistaken or a protest vote is besides the point.

Some people are so frustrated that they have considered doing just that, and Alfred Sant knows this.

To counter this, the Nationalist party has to appear to be doing something; but feeding silly information of how MPs were listening to the results of yet another survey is not a solution.

What the PN party needs are some new faces at Pieta and in the ministries.

Perhaps the Prime Minister should ask the security service to plant some bugs in the kitchens of Maltese families to hear something about the real world.

At my age, I cannot say that being in or out of Europe will make a great difference, but I still love my country enough to argue that yes it would do so.

But faced with a ‘fait accomplit’ and the decision to hold the referendum on the election day, I would stay home and not vote at all.

I feel very strongly about this.

My prerogative is to get into Europe but from the front door, not the back door. And anyhow, I know that holding a referendum and an election on the same day is counterproductive.

I had decided before going to print not to carry a story about complaints regarding applications to the housing authority for lifts. I was approached and told that my journalist had an agenda and her quotes were incorrect.

The journalist was also accused of being anti-Nationalist (which was not true but sounded very nice anyway).

I had decided not to carry the article when some two hours later more complaints reached the newsroom about problems with applications for lifts.

I ascertained as to whether the comments were correctly reproduced (they were) and I investigated if the MaltaToday journalist’s agenda was a bona fide one.

It was a welcome agenda; one that investigates the shortcomings of government institutions.

An agenda I will continue to encourage.

I am very much proud of my journalists, they all have minds of their own and uphold one bloody-minded agenda: bringing the news to our readers at all costs.

At least we do not foment fictitious stories about yacht and berths as one ‘yachting’ journalist did last week.