Saviour Balzan on Sunday • 5 January 2003

Lotteries for charity… are we sure?

If there is a deficit in Malta it is a democratic deficit originating from the games, gimmicks and nepotism that shakes the foundations of what we believe to be a fair and honest process

A certain Steve Mallia in The Times had the gall to question the lottery for charity at Istrina. But he was damn right.

Volunteers who participated at Istrina talked of phone calls from irate callers complaining that they had given to charity but not won anything.

It was not one or two calls.

Having said this, many people I met were on a high with the Lm900,000 jackpot. In brief, most people could not give a hoot if the lottery was a rather unorthodox way of encouraging people to give money to charity.

No charity event I know of in the world does the same thing, but when I raised this point with some friends I was quickly shouted down and described as a deviant.

The lottery for charity in my eyes is typical of Maltese culture.

The same takes place in our political system, which reeks of patronage and nepotism.

Most people do not hover around politicians for the ideological kick. It is the juice that follows later, that they are interested in. It is perfectly normal in so many so-called democratic structures. Breaking this tradition would require more than a third party with a Bible of do and do nots. It would require a super grass from within willing to uncover the political machinations based, not on a rationale, but on carefully and clinically calculated actions made with the sole aim of investing in the future.

If there is a deficit in Malta it is a democratic deficit originating from the games, gimmicks and nepotism that shakes the foundations of what we believe to be a fair and honest process.

The Lm900,000 collected at Istrina has also been construed as a slap in the face for Alfred Sant.

Without the boycott it would not have been the case. With Karmenu Vella and Louis Buhagiar posing centre stage at Istrina, for a short moment charity was taken over by political expediency as cameras more than simply focused on the gentlemen.

OK, ok, I would have done the same if I was running Istrina, but then again, I am not too happy with the likes of Karmenu Vella and Louis Buhagiar.

And I say this with an overexposed dose of certainty. Karmenu Vella, however affable and cute he comes across, is a shadow from old labour and Louis Buhagiar, well, just look out for his libel case against this newspaper.

As Steve Mallia kicked started my opinion, Alfred Mifsud, the new face to Labour was lamenting on Maltacom shares and their record dip and blaming the government for it.

He was writing in The Independent and he has for the umpteenth time used his column to confuse commentaries on equities and funds with political talk.

The former Mid-Med Chairman and presently a fund advisor with more than some vested interest in equities effectively questioned the change in policy linked to lifting monopolies and subsidies.

Like so many other Maltese, I too could do with some stratospheric altitude in Maltacom shares. But there is no doubt that Maltacom would do much better if it trimmed its staff complement. The Maltese telecom company is bound by old habits and union straight jackets.

Nevertheless Maltacom has done far better than other telecom companies the World over.

There are other considerations, but I am certain that my comments would be misconstrued and taken in bad faith.

In conclusion, beware of opinions by political candidates but read on when you see something by Steve Mallia.