The fall of a misfit

The decision to do away with Pawlu Muscat makes sense for the Labour party but little sense for the future of democracy. Pawlu Muscat is a household name to anyone who takes an interest in politics.

In politics, a unified and disciplined party fares better on the battleground.

In democracy, a dissident, fragmented, multi-lingual grouping looks much fresher and healthier. But good looks and good disposition doesn't secure election victories .

Dr Alfred Sant cannot forgive Pawlu Muscat for cooking up or not cooking up a story about his leadership battle with former Finance Minister Lino Spiteri in 1992.

Pawlu Muscat was banned from the Labour Party but retained his seat as Mayor of the labourite stronghold at Cospicua.

This locality has suffered from a number of blows. All refer to top Labour personalities.

The first incident featured Dom Mintoff, who shocked his life-long constituency with his performance in Parliament in the summer of 1998. That unexpected incident led to an immeasurable amount of anger from Mintoffian voters that may well have contributed to the demise of Prime Minister Sant in 1998. The confusion was compounded when Cospicua Mayor Joe Carbonaro, old Mintoffian and all appeared to go soft on Lawrence Gonzi's social policy after the 1998 Labour election debacle. The Sant clan ousted him from the mayorship and, of all people, picked Pawlu Muscat to replace him.

Whatever happens, the impact on national politics of Pawlu Muscat’s fall from disgrace, may be limited if not insignificant.

Yet on a district level, there is a very reasonable chance that Pawlu Muscat’s departure may confirm the Nationalist hold on their second seat in a Labourite stronghold.

The chaos on the roads

The chaos brought about by the road works taking place all over the country is proof of blinkered disorganisation and a blissful lack of concern for the motorist.

The narrowing of the roads for safety reasons is understandable, but surely this new measure has been taken to the extreme with the creation of concrete partitions in very possible bit of road.

There can be no criticism for the new style of foundation packing involved in the ‘building’ of this new generation of roads. However the newfangled road narrowing idea looks likely to cause some serious traffic flow congestion any time soon.

And with little in the way of an efficient public transport system or else a moratorium on private vehicles, the future of traffic in Malta can only become a nightmare.

Apart from the quality of road works, one cannot help but comment about the near absence of warnings to motorists.

Poor signage, little or no lighting and an apparent disregard for the placing of appropriate signs for traffic deviation, have left many a Maltese motorist frustrated and fuming. What visitors make of it God alone knows.

Planning chaos seems to be a Maltese speciality. The Roads Department a looking to become past masters in the art.

Saviour Balzan