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When the going gets tough, there is one sure way to rally support from the tired and the bored Nationalist born voter: hit out at the General Workers Union. By confronting the union, one is guaranteed a swing in public opinion in favour of the PN.
The problem with the GWU is not that it is bad or devious. It is neither. The problem with the GWU is that it is outdated and slowly but steadily facing expiry date.
That the GWU has a role to play is indisputable. To argue that we can do without a union is like saying that we can do without one-way signs or sleeping policemen. Without a union, there would be many who would take things for granted.
That unionism faces a crisis is a fact. But eradicating the union or unions altogether is anathema to a democracy as we know it in the world of non-US democracy.
Yet in the GWU many middle-of-the-road folk see visions of the uglier side of Labour. It is unfair for the union but as we say in Maltese, “hu l-fama u mur aqbez”, which really means that once you get labelled, nothing will change the perception.
It is still not entirely a wrong deduction. The umbilical chord with the MLP is still strong and the GWU media are intrinsic Labour mouthpieces. If the UHM is the government’s poodle, the GWU is Labour’s ageing doberman.
The sad thing about battling with the GWU is that now the situation has been taken to a new high. To have George Abela and Victor Scerri sought after and chosen as the legal advisors by the different port workers, is a clear indication of where they are going. Dr Abela and Dr Scerri are not exactly without a ‘political’ axe to grind – metaphorically that is to say.
Dr Abela is the former legal advisor to the GWU and a former deputy leader of the Labour party, and Dr Scerri is a upcoming candidate and one of the presidents serving in the outmoded structure still retained by the Nationalist Party.
With that observation out of the way, it is useful to get back to the issue of port reform which is doing away with the monopoly retained by port workers. The whole idea for reform is to dismantle this archaic set up. The hope is that with the reforms, the costs of handling imports of products at the ports will be cheaper, more cost effective and this will benefit the importer, the consumer and… hello! the Maltese economy.
Yet in our haste, or shall we say our earnest desire to bludgeon the GWU, we revelled in the union’s infighting and the purge of moderates by the self-appointed militants of the union. The cherry on the cake in the whole saga has been the specific choice of legal representatives Dr Abela and Dr Scerri.
Now I know, and most people in my circles know, that when you mention George Abela in the GWU building or the Centru Nazzjonali Laburista at Mile end, many officials (not all) take out their exorcism manual and chant and froth frantically at the mouth.
In the case of Victor Scerri, the reaction is not as ghastly but comparable. The irony of it all is that Victor Scerri received his political education from the Austin Gatt stable. Yet despite lacing Gatt’s charisma and chutzpah, he is nonetheless a mini-Thatcherite without the skirt.
So when he suddenly parachutes in the middle of the controversy, one is justified is saying: “Qualcosa non va!” To raise the issue of credibility or conflicts would be out of place. I mean what is so wrong to have, for example, a Victor Scerri at a PN rally state that this country needs to have a port reform on a Sunday… and on a Monday defend the status quo for the port workers?
Nothing, hanini, this is how the world functions. My dictionary calls it duplicity. Nowadays we stand by it and argue: “Victor Scerri needs an income doesn’t he?”
Which brings me back to the port reforms. What does this government wish for? Does it want to have port reform or does it wish for confrontation? Is confrontation with the union and the subsequent electoral swing more crucial than port reform?
There is only one man who can answer that question and that man is called Lawrence Gonzi. The man who has no security after 5am at his home.
If the GWU is outdated then some editorialists are simply out of synch or not up to it. I am not one for mincing words, so here we go.
Last week, and you will find a reference in the unforgettable quote of the week, the editorial of The Malta Independent daily suggested to its readership that they should keep a fire extinguisher handy at home.
The eye-opener came after a spate of arson attacks on homes and cars. When I read this piece, I could not stop laughing but it is one of those moments when you also want to cry. These are things you read in essays scribbled by eight-year-olds in a private primary school, who are commanded by their plump, motherly English teacher, to write an essay on the subject ‘a kitchen fire at our flat in Gozo’.
Maltese journalism deserves better, much better.
On a positive note, The Times, in their Saturday editorial, poignantly take to task MEPA’s spokeswoman Sylvana Debono with reference to her reply to their very relevant news story on the Xemxija mudslide. Their insistence that accountability must prevail is not only laudable but vital if we are to move on from words to deeds.
The Times too have not minced words: “… the chairman and MEPA’s board should consider their position.”
Very un-Times like but what the heck! And yet again, the Times editorial raises indirectly the nature or the problem of public relations officials and their very big problem with public relations.
When the Office of the Prime Minister had as a spokesman a certain Alan Camilleri there was a general outcry to his attitude and demeanour with reporters and editors. Mr Camilleri would simply say the wrong things to the wrong people. But he did worse: he kept certain media out of the loop. There was not only a news blackout but an advertising boycott which is more significant. His replacement was a breath of fresh air.
Camilleri was quietly moved away from the post to a cosy and well-paid posting as the coordinator of the euro changeover committee.
History should be repeating itself with MEPA’s PRO, Ms Debono. She is oversensitive and unpopular with many of my colleagues in the press world. But worse, she reacts when she is supposed to bridge out.
The other thing that MEPA should realise, and this again is a matter for the minister, is that this institution is a publicly funded organisation. They are there to serve. Over the years the officials within this organisation have been cocooned in their Floriana base and continue to believe that accountability applies to the rest of us but not to them. We pay our taxes to ensure that this country has a serious and respectable planning authority. They owe it to the taxpayer and the citizens to act with more humility and maturity.
The death of 29 boat people has left no indelible mark in the Maltese media.
The facts are as follows: the boat laden with people was sighted by the Maltese armed forces and though the maritime unit was 150 metres away from the boat, no attempt to offer assistance or communicate with boat people was made. An order was given from the ‘high command’ that the AFM should keep a distance.
Later on the boat people arrived off the coast in Sicily and then 29 people died by drowning. After that, parliamentary secretary Tony Abela said in parliament that the boat people had refused assistance.
The simple truth is that it is untrue. The AFM did not offer assistance. Tony Abela has misled parliament. And misleading parliament in a parliamentary democracy is a serious matter.
But please do not fret: the 29 people who drowned and disappeared in the sea are blacks, they are Africans. They were black not white, Africans not Europeans.
Why the fuss? Should Tony Abela offer his resignation? What? Resignation? They were illegal immigrants weren’t they? So why the fuss?
sbalzan@mediatoday.com.mt
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