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This week’s political news bulletins have been dominated by the Dubai soap opera. The running thrust in each political news bulletin has been propaganda and attacks on one’s adversaries. No attempt is made to inform or to give an impartial exposition of the facts allowing people to arrive at their own conclusion after being presented with the facts impartially. There was little intention to inform and much effort to brainwash. An attempt at alienating the country from the problems both political parties are experiencing. The low level of journalism being presented by the political parties is not only nauseating but also anti-constitutional. It breaches the Constitution and it is a matter for the broadcasting authority to enforce the law.
Feeble excuses by the chairman of the Broadcasting Authority no longer wash. He is an enforcer as per the law and enforce he must. All his attention is focused on ensuring that the public broadcasting company is balanced and impartial and no attention at all is made to bring the political stations into line. This beggars belief and is unacceptable. Against this background of accusations and counter accusations, the country remains hostage to partisan political stations.
The filming of contractors and shadow ministers following a joint meeting leaving the Labour party headquarters is an indictment of the low level politics has reached in our country. This was the clearest example of how intricately close politics and business have become. The reactions of some contractors filmed on camera was arrogant. It certainly made good journalism but bad politics.
The soap opera risks compromising the investment. It was an error to announce the investment before concluding the deal. Worse still was announcing it on the eve of local council elections in March of this year. The PN’s Independence Day slogan int@smartmalta only helped further politicise the potential investment. Keeping the real estate nature of the project under wraps only helped giving the opponents of the project a leg to stand on. Misgivings grew together with fears that the underlying intention of the investors was speculation rather than the creation of jobs which when and if materialised would have fully justified the project as beneficial to the nation.
The mishandling reached a further low point when the Labour Party sent a crew team to interview the promoters. While speaking in favour of the project they were in fact knowingly or unknowingly undermining it.
This was the clear perception following the interview and perceptions are reality in politics.
Substantial further damage was done with the joint visit by contractors with Labour leanings and shadow ministers visiting Dubai. This indeed was the height of the soap opera. Public justifications that the visits were coincidental only helped reinforce the idea that politics and business have become intimately connected.
The results of all these government mistakes and opposition false moves is that the investment now appears in the balance with the risk of much political fallout and commercial consequences. This investment has been mismanaged and turned into a public relations disaster. All the hype risks increasing the fallout, should the project not materialise.
This newspaper has always favoured this project hailed as the biggest investment in our country. Our reservations were and remain the silence surrounding the real estate nature of the project, held in our opinion unnecessarily under wraps when public opinion could well have accepted this as a necessary price to pay concurrently with the creation of five thousand jobs. We would caution a sense of responsibility from all sides. Government, or rather the Nationalist party, must stop politicising this project. It must learn from its mistakes and appreciate that with the high profile it gave to the investment before the deal was concluded, it has strengthened the negotiating hand of the promoters. It is clear that they are now pushing for even more favourable conditions. The Opposition too must regain public trust that it too is interested in seeing the project materialise for the country’s sake and not for the narrow interests of a handful of Labour leaning contractors.
The potential of such a huge investment calls for a bi-partisan approach in the interests of all the country.
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