Straight talk

There’s no shibboleth required to know from where Georg Sapiano hails. Raised in the Nationalist party, he is moving up to politics after deciding it was time to show up or shut up.

Georg Sapiano is not the typical candidate you would expect to knock at your front door pleading for your vote. Best known for his no-nonsense approach in interviewing politicians, it is now his turn to be grilled.
It is his first interview as a prospective Nationalist candidate, spelling out his political vision, and explaining why he has ventured into the hornet’s nest. Sapiano, unmistakenly Faustian in his appearance and demeanour, harbours no illusions.
“Politics in Malta is retail, it’s one-on-one. Anyone who thinks he is about to manage the free world needs a reality check.”
And if you live in Swieqi, Ta’ Xbiex, Pietà or San Gwann, don’t be surprised if the accomplished lawyer and blunt interviewer knocks at your door to get his own reality check. “You can only find out what your country needs by going into the homes and workplaces of as many citizens as possible. Otherwise you will end up embarking on policies which are cut off from reality.”
The flamboyant talk-show host, whose hard talk approach always gives the impression of being in full control of his subjects, knows that politics is altogether a different game. “Someone who wants to become a priest with the sole aim of getting a post at the Vatican without bothering to listen to confession and administering the sacrament to people on their death bed, won’t make a good priest.”
So why enter the political world in the first place?
“In a community every law-abiding person has a contribution to make. Mothers, teachers, doctors, civil servants… all of us. My role so far has been that of a journalist asking questions, telling people ‘why did you do this’ or ‘why didn’t you do it properly’… for me it was time to stop asking questions and start thinking of doing it myself. I guess it was time to show up or shut up.”
But what does Georg have to show at a time when his party is facing a wave of disenchantment after two decades in the ascendancy? Does the PN have a rallying cry after waving the banner of democracy in the 1980s and the European flag in more recent times. What’s left?
For Sapiano, reconciling our European aspirations to living in a crowded and small country is Malta’s next challenge.
“In a larger country it’s different because whatever you do is not necessarily going to be in your neighbour’s face. The environment for us cannot be some dream fantasy or a pastime for the sophisticated. We are our environment. The space that we occupy is so small that we and the environment are intrinsically linked together.”
According to the prospective candidate, joining Europe was the most important event since independence. But now the challenge is to adjust our living conditions to living in a limited space.
“The immigration problem is so huge for us because it impacts on the smallest and most densely populated country in the European Union. The challenge we have as a nation is how we continue to exist in conditions which maximise prosperity but minimise the side-effects of overpopulation.”
But still Malta is characterised by archaic monopolies in various sectors. Has the PN failed in completing its mission to liberalise the country?
Georg disagrees. “We cannot criticise the PN for not liberalising because over the years, there was a liberalisation of various sectors. But it is true, that there are sectors like taxis, hearses, horse carriages and buses which blow black smoke in our faces which have not been opened up yet.”
But Georg is aware of the gulf separating political theory and political practice. “I am sure that the ministers who sit down with this agenda in mind held discussions with the stakeholders in these sectors. Possibly they realised that putting words to action is not that simple. You have to deal with the social impact of liberalisation.”
But despite recognising the pragmatic choices facing ministers, Georg Sapiano still holds dear a liberal vision of a minimal state. The state’s role, according to the budding politician, is to make as few reasonable rules as possible, which should then be fully enforced.
“The state should do less rather than more. It should lay down the rules. These should be sensible and as far as possible not too numerous. Its task is to have these rules enforced from the bottom upwards. It should constantly send the message that it does not tolerate low level violations, that the small crimes are as unacceptable as the larger ones because these too have an impact on our quality of life.”
Georg lauds the government for introducing wardens, littering laws and introducing black smoke testing and argues that there have been substantial improvements over the past.
“But still one can still see litter everywhere, a lot of black smoke emitted from cars driving uphill in the air and people’s driving is frequently arrogant and inconsiderate. So unless there is the keenest enforcement some people could be tempted into thinking: if I can do this in the light of the day, I can also cheat on my tax return in the privacy of my home and I can get away with it.”
Georg’s vision of a minimal state is not restricted to the economy. Back in 1998 the PN had promised that it would recognise the obligations of unmarried couples who live together. This promise has been left on the shelves. But Georg insists that social justice demands otherwise.
Consistent to his liberal views, he argues that the state should involve itself less rather than more in the affairs of consenting adults. For Georg the state should in these matters only intervene strongly to defend the welfare of minors and the unborn. The pro-life lawyer considers abortion as one of the few issues on which he is not open to persuasion and discussion.
“Beyond the age of consent the role of the state should be exercised very cautiously.”
He also cites the views expressed a month ago by the Prime Minister’s wife Kate Gonzi in an interview. “When I asked her on the rights of cohabiting couples, her reply was very deep and refreshing. Surely it was not a reply her husband and colleagues would give in a rush. Speaking as a mother and a wife and not from the perspective of a legislator she said that in every relationship, regardless of gender, there are rights and responsibilities which should be recognised. I subscribe to that view entirely.”
But still the PN has never honoured its promise to recognise co-habiting couples. “If I am sitting on a table discussing this issue in the PN and am asked for my opinion, I would clearly say that there should legal recognition of the rights and obligations of everyone involved in a lasting relationship.”
Georg makes it clear that although he agrees that even the rights and obligations of those in homosexual unions should be recognised he does not agree with gay marriages.
“Marriage in our society to date has a very clear meaning. It’s the union of a man and a woman. So you cannot call a homosexual union ‘marriage’ because there is no man and woman there. However that does not exclude extending legal recognition to, for instance, the right of a man to inherit his partner in the case he dies without a will.”
Conscious of the legal difficulties faced by co-habiting couples who cannot marry because, for instance, one or both of them were previously married, Georg underlines that recognising their union is an issue of social justice.
“Just imagine a guy who has three kids from a first marriage which failed. The same guy then has a young son from another union with a woman he can’t marry. What happens if he dies suddenly, say on a tsunami-hit holiday, and he dies without a will. Under our laws his son and the mother of his son would have virtually no rights. This is not social justice.”
Georg Sapiano is disappointed that the crux of any discussion on marriage in Malta is whether divorce should be introduced or not.
“The main thrust of any discussion on marriage should first be how the state works to help marriages survive, rather than gutting ourselves over whether divorce should be brought in or left out. We should be focusing on how to reconcile the pressures of a career and the fast pace of modern life. These pressures can be assuaged by the state, by for instance, creating more day care centres for the children of working mothers, thus making it more possible for their marriages to flourish.”
Still he acknowledges that some marriages are destined to fail. “By saying no to divorce have we solved anything?” asks Sapiano.
So how would he vote in parliament if a vote on divorce is taken? “If there is a vote in parliament on divorce and the party allows everybody to vote according to his conscience, I will vote in favour of divorce… ideally that vote would be part of a broader bill on the institution of marriage which also introduces measures to strengthen existing marriages.”
Straight talk on taboo subjects like divorce is not typical of the political class, which is facing a mood of popular disenchantment.
“The message we get from surveys do not show disenchantment with the government but a general disenchantment with the political system,” says the novel politician.
Still the Sunday Times survey gave a 70 per cent disapproval rate for the Nationalist government. Yet for Georg this is not an indication that the PN is on the brink of electoral defeat.
Although the survey showed that only 30 per cent approval of the government’s mid-term performance, different surveys including the MaltaToday survey show that less people prefer Alfred Sant to Lawrance Gonzi.
“The electorate is saying: we are not too happy with this government right now but we are even less happy with the leader of the opposition. Given that a government is, by definition, always in defence mode, it is always the party in opposition which has the opportunity to do nothing and look nice. Despite this Labour’s leader fails to score, so it is he too that has a lot to worry about from these surveys. On the other hand the government must be careful not to worry too much about its popularity ratings. One is elected to perform a good job and must believe it can be re-elected on the basis of having done it well.”
A growing number of Maltese born after 1987 do not have any memories of Labour governments. Except for a short interlude between 1996 and 1998, the Nationalist party has been in government since 1987. Would it not be healthier for democracy if the PN goes back to the opposition benches?
“In a political theory class, when the academically fielded question is: Do you think that in a healthy democracy political parties should exchange power on an alternate basis, most students would say yes. But in our political reality a democracy is healthy not only because parties alternate in power but also because the parties militating within it are worthy of the electorate’s trust. If the MLP does not enjoy the electorate’s trust it is hardly our fault.”
So is the PN destined to win by default?
“Parties always win by default. It’s always a choice of lesser evils from the electorate’s point of view,” a blunt Sapiano answers.
But there could be other reasons why people are disenchanted. One possible reason for this disenchantment is because promises of meritocracy have been betrayed. Are people disenchanted because of the prevalence of nepotism, favouritism and patronage networks?
Sapiano argues that answering this question is impossible as only someone who knows the intimacy of every transaction, of every tender, will know to what degree meritocracy played a part. But despite the MLP’s constant pandering on the friends of friends network, Georg sees no evidence of an ingrained, institutionalised and obscene system of political patronage.
He does recognise that in a small country “it’s not just a matter of how much you know but also of whom you know”, but Malta is not an exception in the world according to Georg.
Georg Sapiano has often been the target of accusations of favouritism in the adjudication of contracts. Does becoming a Nationalist Party candidate add fuel to these accusations?
Sapiano replies by saying that he has never hidden his allegiance to the Nationalist Party. “I first entered the headquarters through a small guarded back door, they kept the main one closed then because it was 1982 and I was all of 14 years old. Then I presented the first discussion programmes on Radio 101 in 1992. So, I practically grew up in the Nationalist Party. That is the way it is and I have no regrets.”
He frankly acknowledges that influential people get to know each other in the circles of a party, any party. “If someone gets appointed chairman of an authority and he knows you well and has faith in you, he might be eager to engage your services directly.”
But according to Georg this is not the end of the story. “Even if the chairman trusts you, he can’t just hire you as he has to follow the tendering process. My detractors always mention the tenders my firm wins, but there are a plenty of others that we do not get awarded. In all the accusations of favouritism levelled against me, nobody ever said ‘he got this job although he was the most expensive’. ”
Sapiano cites his firm’s failure to win a big tender for which they needed foreign expertise. Despite teaming up with DLA Piper, one of the largest firms in the world, “we went in with a high price so although we had the right skill set we were too expensive and the brief was entrusted to another firm.
“In a country as small as Malta it is useful that the person hiring services knows you and has faith in you but if other conditions do not apply, I don’t think you will get the job.”
Still, despite his shrewdness, it is going to be an uphill struggle for Sapiano to get elected from a district contested by political giants like George Pullicino, Dolores Christina, Michael Frendo and Francis Zammit Dimech. Sapiano argues that he has chosen this district because he will soon be living in it, but has no illusions about the difficulty of the task ahead. “I feel like the altar boy at the start of his first Mass, I’m hoping I manage to get beyond the offertory without dropping anything.”
While reflecting on whether to contest the elections, one of Sapiano’s major concerns was whether he was prepared for the humiliation of a possible electoral drubbing. He acknowledges that there was a time when he was not prepared to face such a prospect. But now Georg feels that he is up to the challenge
“I am presenting myself to the judgement of 25,000 people in my district and in so doing I am giving them the opportunity to tell me we don’t need you, buzz off. So, potentially I am setting myself up for a fall but if one enters politics to serve people, one must also accept their judgement. If you enter politics with the I know best attitude, you’ve just got into the wrong area.”
Sapiano says that he feels that he is now settled in his professional life and is now in a position to offer a helping hand in solving the country’s problems. He is even willing to try again if he fails the next time round.
“I want to do this because perhaps I can help out. And since I feel that way it is against my instincts not to do it. But I will give this thing only two shots. Go to jail directly, do not pass Go, do not collect 200, is what I will hear from the electorate only twice, and then if I’m sensible I’ll quit. If they don’t tell me that though,” he says with a broad smile, “I’ll be around for a little while longer.”