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Greek mythology is a subject politicians should steer clear of at all costs.
Addressing a not so majestic crowd on the granaries, the PM accused his critics of being ‘Cassandras’. The PM with his Catholic upbringing, has exposed his poor understanding of Greek mythology.
The real Cassandra is that Cassandra who accepted Apollo as a teacher, but not as her lover. Naturally, Apollo as a god, was insulted by this refusal. So he punished Cassandra by giving her a twisted gift that made everyone who heard her true and accurate description of future events to believe that they were instead hearing lies.
In other words, the wondrous blessing bestowed upon a mortal became instead a terrible curse. And indeed, the burden of Cassandra’s “gift” is evident in mythology. She predicted the outcome of many disastrous events. In one memorable example, Cassandra announced the dire consequences of the Trojans accepting the infamous Wooden Horse from their Greek opponents. But as Apollo made certain, no one believed Cassandra when she warned her companions about the future. And this, in the end, was to be Cassandra’s tragic fate.
So, after that long preamble, I have to say the PM’s use of Cassandra is somewhat misplaced. The last time a politician chose to use Cassandra to hit out at his opponents, that politician came by the name of Alfred Sant.
But I will leave Lawrence Gonzi for a moment, so that he can ponder on history repeating itself.
Alfred Sant has called for a cabinet reshuffle. We all agree, but God forbid we see a Clyde Puli as minister – unless we want politicians with goatees to tell us what to do with our ova and sperm.
Or better still, seeing a David Agius replace a Michael Frendo. Can you imagine Mr Agius mixing with the likes of Jack Straw or Franco Frattini and Frendo once again in the back benches?
In his wisdom, Sant is playing the old game of presupposing that Dr Gonzi will reshuffle. If Gonzi does, Sant hopes he will get the credit, if Gonzi does not… it doesn’t really matter. Sant is playing Russian roulette and no one seems to have informed him that sometimes it can all be very bloody wrong.
He will not of course give names for who should be shuffled and who should be moved in and out of the cabinet. I cannot understand the man, but he continues to remind me of my short career as a peashooter at De La Salle college.
There I was shooting saliva balls of copybook paper through BIC pens at teachers and then dutifully pretend to read my Ruzar Briffa poems. Ask Sant who should be installed in the new cabinet, and he will raise his eyebrows and shrug like a cool whiz kid and say ‘I have nothing more to add.’
It is the likes of Alfred Sant that will keep the Labour party in opposition for another five years.
Now back to the Prime Minister. Here is a man who obviously refuses to divulge his intentions. Cabinet reshuffles are after all the prerogative of Prime Ministers. But that should stop us from pestering the PM. And there is no doubt that Gonzi has a problem.
The only blood transfusion that could change the state of his mind and body is bringing in the man who, let us face it, he does not feel comfortable with. The man who according to George Pullicino is a has-been.
Clyde Puli, David Agius and the other backbenchers will not be ministers, unless the PM believes porcupines are ideal for blowing children’s balloons.
Stop, stop… I just remembered that MTA were asked by one of our reporters what were the lingos spoken by some of our MTA reps. MTA has chosen not to reply. But my sources inform me that, for example in the Paris MTA office, a key official there has a knowledge of French equivalent to my knowledge of crochet.
Which is no surprise. It is now abundantly clear that to work for a government-funded institution in a foreign country you have to have one important qualification: not an appreciation of the local language but of being a Nationalist stooge.
Which takes me back to the Labour party, the only political alternative that can be elected and expected to govern, so help me God. And if that is their intention, someone in the administration of this party should be so kind as to export Alfred Sant away from the island until the day after the elections. The less he talks the better the chances for the Labour party to replace the Nationalists in this grand task of governing this grand small island we have chosen for our home.
The other day, the far-from-modest Nationalist candidate Mario Tabone Vassallo, who stands out for being the only openly camp medical practitioner and sporting a bow tie, ridiculed Minister Frendo’s decision to choose Martin Scicluna to negotiate the problem of immigrants from Libya to Malta.
Tabone Vassallo, and these are his words, poured scorn on the choice of Scicluna, citing the fact that Scicluna cannot burp a word in Maltese: “Can anyone imagine what Gaddafi has to say to all these ‘inglizati’?”
I love the Nationalists – they are such a pot-pourri of outlandish characters. But Tabone Vassallo is one of the rarer specimens – who has nothing to lose if he speaks his mind.
Which brings me back to the good old ping-pong game of politics. Some time ago, a certain reporter by the name of Ray Abdilla scribbled a letter hitting out at Alfred Sant. So far so good.
But then we read in the PN Sunday newspaper printed respectfully for the party faithful, that Ray Abdilla’s actions led to the MLP, through Jason Micallef, to chastise RTK, with whom he worked.
Now, Jason Micallef should have left Ray Abdilla to the Gods. But anyone who knows Mr Abdilla should appreciate that the last person who should be lashing out at Alfred Sant is good old Abdilla himself.
A former journalist with l-orizzont and this newspaper, he excelled in plagiarism and better still… attached himself romantically to the good old Mintoffian years. Alfred Sant may be political naïve and best described as an exocet missile with a faulty guidance system, but Ray Abdilla is all about being an appendage of old Labour and the Nationalist media should not use him to scold Labour. They should know better, but they refuse to do so.
The decision to wave the green light for the Sant’ Antnin plant is no surprise. Does anyone expect the MEPA members who are in the majority appointed by the government, to give a thumbs-down to a ‘crucial’ government project? I will leave you to answer that question.
One cannot blame people for suffering from the NIMBY syndrome – not in my backyard. Since when has government sanctioned a project and kept its promises? The obligations outlined in the recycling plant have to be adhered to. People cannot go on being promised that everything is fine only to discover it was all pie in the sky.
So all this talk of an issue being politicised is disappointing. Politicians of all hue love politicising things. So please do not blame the citizens if they voice their concerns and cry wolf.
sbalzan@mediatoday.com.mt
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