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There could no better time to hold a snap general election for the incumbent Prime Minister. In a political climate where the feelgood factor is zilch, where tolerance levels for an ageing government are next to nought, the thing that could save Gonzi & Co is a public relations disaster in the Labour camp.
Well chums, this could be it. The natural cycle in a democracy is best illustrated by the replacement of the old with the new. Gonzi’s masters are just trying their bloodiest to stop that.
18 years in government is a long time. 18 years ago… you could still walk at Delimara without looking up at a chimney, you could still walk at Imselliet and roam in the meadows, cheddar was one of the only three cheeses, Grundig the only colour TV set you could get your hands on, escalators non-existent, and The Times the only English-language newspaper with its front page featuring Queen Elisabeth’s dysfunctional corgis and simultaneously dumping arson attacks in the B pages.
Those times have passed and yet we still think the past is a good enough a reason to retain the present. It should not be so.
But does this opposition deserve to be in government? Measuring its past record, no. But then again many awful oppositions in Eastern Europe have been returned to government. Because change is inevitable.
No one deserves to be government. But no one certainly deserves to be in government forever. That is what democracy is all about.
And now the Labour party leadership faces a dilemma, a very sober one. It has all to do with leadership, and it’s not whether Sant should be leader or not. The truth is that as things stand, he has the better credentials of the Labour triumvirate and probably the vast majority of frontbenchers.
The fact that Labour has one leader and two deputy leaders is the problem. There should be one leader and no one else. But the Mintoffian legacy lives on. Mintoff always wanted two deputy leaders as an equation with which he could invest in his autocratic style.
The fate of the super-mole who informed NET TV on the presence of the building contractors who met at Mile End, has now led to some serious perception repercussions. The contractors have been made to look like some mafiosi in secret deals with politicians, a sort of network of fat cats who deal with one political party.
If this was the case, then One TV would have to set a permanent outside broadcasting unit by the Nationalist headquarters – the PN can also boast of a similar and far more colourful grouping of contractors.
For those who managed to get their hands on last Sunday’s Illum – which was once again sold out and that’s why its print run has now been increased – one would have read Alfred Sant’s unexpected commentary to a meeting of Labour acolytes in a gathering they describe as the ‘assemblea’, purportedly sending the message that enough was enough and that he had enough evidence with which to nail the “snake” who leaked the news to NET.
He said told a coterie of his faithful that the mole had been identified and would be brought to justice – justice of course, Labour style. How the mole could have been identified beats me, but Sant seems to have put his finger on the person. Read more on today’s front page. The words of the 14-year Labour leader have to be taken seriously. In a world where the sword and scimitar no longer have a function, then words are all that’s left to the politician.
It appears, at least to many insiders, that Sant is in a fix, a super-glue kind of fix. If he does nothing about the mole he will be accused of tolerating the scoundrel from within – the snake according to one MLP delegate, the rat according to another – who found no problem to inform the eternal enemy (the PN) and damage the party. If he does act he will unleash a backlash, open a wound that left to fester will be seriously infected.
If the information is correct and we believe it is, the fingers are being directed to a part-time employee at Mile End devoted to one side of the MLP party leadership, or part of it. Condemning the alleged mole appears to be a good enough reason for a head-on collision between the Sant loyalists and others.
Before I go on, I should sort of say that today most Labourites are in their vast majority behind Alfred Sant. But civil war or purges will not help the Labour party with the floating voters.
This little episode, which led NET TV journalists precipitating over to Mile End to film those burly contractors walking out of Labour HQ all sheepish and embarrassed, was the culmination for what Nationalist upstarts are always hankering for.
It is all very grim at the Mile End. When Sant’s faithful realised that a mole had informed by phone a PN news crew, the hounds were set loose and the hunt did not take long. Some of Labour’s top brass have certainly had no qualms about spelling the name of the alleged culprit to the press.
But the worse was yet to come. The individual in question is apparently embarassing one of the leaders in the Labour party who believes the accused to be innocent and not responsible for the alleged leak. It is a veritable mess.
In modern-day politics, nobody tends to be indispensable. Indeed, in politics, successful politicians tend to recognise the moment when people become disposable. But this does not seem to be the case here.
Which me brings back to the question: is this is the moment?
For the Nationalists it must be. The right ingredients for internecine conflict are in the making at Mile End. Labour’s matrimonial discord are the saving grace of the Nationalist party, which continues to believe that if Labour shoots itself badly in the foot, the PN can get catapulted back to stardom.
It is abundantly clear that with few people or nobody believing that the economy has been turned around, and with everyone sick and tired of the Nationalist reign, only something like this could save the PN.
What is the solution for the MLP? Beats me. But in the circumstances something has to give. If they want to win the election the MLP have to give the impression that they are one team. And sometimes this may require sacrifices which may include asking one of the reservists to take a long break and return when the time is ripe.
That reservist, in my opinion, is a minor official who should not be held responsible for the fate of a political party.
There has been much talk about the telephone calls to Anglu Farrugia and Josè Herrera from jailbird l-Imniehru. Again, the media, perhaps even this newspaper, gave the impression that lawyers never receive phone calls from Kordin. There was even a big fuss about how l-Imniehru acquired Anglu’s and Josè’s numbers.
I cannot understand why. The fuss should be if both these MPs were threatened.
A cursory investigation by this newspaper indicates that Anglu Farrugia received 53 phone calls (18 mobile) and Josè Herrera received 193 (45 mobile). And all this in a matter of three months.
Kate Gonzi makes it very clear in an interview published today in sister newspaper Illum, that she does not read MaltaToday. She says that it is very critical of her husband and she does not know why. She then attributes this stance to “anger” and “hidden agenda”.
It is good to know that we have one more new reader to convince and rein in with our growing audience. Mrs Gonzi has the charisma, prettiness and political nose of a first lady but she does not have the astuteness of a bridge builder. Mrs Gonzi’s line of thought is representative of the thinking in a small group at Pietà who shudder at the thought that an English-language newspaper is not sucking up to the Nationalist party. If you don’t suck up, you must be the opposition they say.
They cannot understand where we stand and Mrs Gonzi has made the awful mistake of expecting us to be a Pyongyang bulletin with one function – that of emphasising how illuminated the leader is.
For years now, the erroneous impression or obsession that has been vivaciously fanned is that MaltaToday is acting in the steps of a person who, in the eyes of the Gonzi family, is more of a demon than Alfred Sant.
Kate Gonzi should appreciate that we have retained the Maltese character in our newspaper. We have not gone overboard and hounded family members, or traced back every single link to the PM. We only raised the matter whenever it was evident that a conflict of interest may have existed, or when an equally curious matter could be interpreted as being of public interest.
Kate Gonzi should stop being conspiratorial and understand one simple thing. The media serves nobody but the reader.
The initiative to introduce biodiesel in 18 pumping stations is good news. Pippo Psaila’s company should work hard to convince diesel car owners that biodiesel is a fine replacement for real diesel. The perception is that biodiesel reduces the car engine’s performance… So Pippo, there you are. Attack that perception.
It is quite telling that both leaders of the political parties declined our invitation to accept being presented the first edition of sister newspaper Illum. Both are worthy anecdotes. In the case of the PM, the letter informing me that this would not be possible arrived three days after the launch. I am told the PM was advised from Pietà to ignore us. I am not surprised. Nationalist strategies seem to be etched in stone, nowadays.
And in the case of Alfred Sant, no real communication, just a terse and short “no”. Well guys – we will go on notwithstanding, certainly not thanks to any of the political parties.
Today is MaltaToday’s seventh year. Seven years is a long time but I guess it has been worth it!
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