Saviour Balzan on Sunday 21/07/2002

A comic tragedy

Saviour Balzan takes a look at this week’s events arguing that political parties need people like Alfred Mifsud, perhaps not as leaders but as catalysts for internal debate

Last Friday, Alfred Mifsud who appears to have all the time in the world when it comes to writing and dishing out comments, titled a piece in one of his favourite newspapers, ‘Comic Tragedy.’

I skimmed through his thoughts expecting to read yet another denial, but there was none.

Instead there was yet another snippet about the economy, a subject that many readers prefer to skip. As Alfred has learnt to his advantage, readers love the juicy bits and not the ones on inflation and debt.

Mr Mifsud was once again in the news this week, with his joint communication with Labour’s ugly propaganda chief, Manwel Cuschieri. The man with a ‘he he’ laugh and the charm of myopic robot.

They declared that they were on the best of terms,

‘Ensemble’ they blew away any speculation about Mr Mifsud’s fall from grace in the party.

Which is sad. No not the bit about the fall from grace, but rather that there appears to be no room for a difference in opinion on issues within our political parties.

Imagine a faction in the PN in favour of divorce.

Or a faction in the MLP for Europe or a segment in Alternattiva all for incineration.

Mr Mifsud may have many flawed ideas or concepts but he has one noble feature that should be encouraged and perhaps applauded. He keeps political discourse alive and democracy within his party kicking. Now, I am not quite sure if it is all intentional, but anyhow, it makes things happen.

Mr Mifsud may not be the right man to lead a political party, but he sure is the right man to kick ass in the party.

Where is the debate on Europe, on fiscality or on how best this country should be managed?

Who debates anything in the Labour party?

No one. Even those who have more than average grey cells, stand to attention and nod their heads every time the Leader pronounces himself. They never question or deny any of his statements even those that sound bizarre or alien.

In European politics, factions and party groupings are the lifeline of a party.

To their credit, the Labour party has more colour and factionalism than the PN. The Nationalists have little or no confrontation in the political thinktank.

For example, not one nationalist MP has the gall to raise the issue of divorce.

Once upon a time, Michael Falzon the colourful ex-Nationalist minister tackled the issue of divorce. But today, the politicians willing to bounce off new ideas are as scarce as it gets. The younger ones are the greater disappointment: more concerned about their constituencies than anything else.Elite Spanish soldiers landed on Parsley Islet off Morocco this week and overpowered some eight drowsy Moroccan soldiers claiming the island back from Morocco. Newspapers in Europe talked of the first military occupation of a Western European chunk of territory, since the last war.

The Spanish flags flies once again proudly on the islands. All Spaniards are happy.

On another rock, this time Gibraltar, English subjects appear not too content as Peter Caruana, a second generation Maltese and Prime Minister of Gibraltar, fights on to keep Gibraltar British and free from Spanish rule.

The quest for holding on to possessions is proof that the arguments over territoriality and sovereignty are not a thing of the past.

There is no doubt that France, the United Kingdom and Italy, all former imperial powers, would have acted in the same arrogant way as Spain.

People all over are unable to contain their irresistible temper when it comes to homeland politics.

In this dispute, the federalist, overwhelming influence of the European Union was no where to be seen.

An offer to cool and negotiate was ignored by Spain.

For its part, Spain insisted that it had acted in self-defence. "Spain was attacked by force in a very sensitive part of its geography," Federico Trillo, the Spanish Defence Minister, argued.

One would have thought that Parsley Island was the Bosphorous, the Mount Blanc pass or the English Channel.

It is not, it is an islet, home to no human settlement and with only a few goats and lizards,

So to all the Eddie Priviteras who contribute frivolous extracts in the newspapers and claim that Malta will lose on sovreignity this should be good news. Being silly and nationalistic in this Europe of diversity, hypocrisy and change is still possible.Boats make people do odd things. But it is not the length or speed that impresses me but the dirt and waste that comes with boating. Much of which could be avoided.

Every day dozens of boats empty their bilges and toilets in our small harbours the others are slightly more considerate and offer their extras to our coastal zones.

Our ports are not only a sitting room for microbes but a depository for used oils and chemicals.

More needs to be done to stamp out these habits. I do not see any campaigns, any strong worded messages calling on people to be more caring and considerate.