Labour takes the ‘public’ out of its ‘Government That Listens’ roadshows

Send your questions on Facebook, and two ministers inside a closed room will choose whether to answer them or not: the new Gvern Li Jisma' format

Consulting the public... Konrad Mizzi gets upstaged back in March 2017
Consulting the public... Konrad Mizzi gets upstaged back in March 2017

Public speaking is so risky these days.

One moment, a minister is lecturing his audience on Labour’s achievements while being rained upon by replica banknotes. The other, somebody is handing you a banana as you are interrupted during a great sermon.

Labour has toned down both the grandiosity and openness of its ‘Government That Listens’ consultation seminars.

Before, the bi-annual roadshows featured ministers and their junior ministers fielding questions from an attentive audience. Heavily choreographed, it employed dozens of stage-hands, big lighting, live-streaming, and even some pre-checks on the questions asked by their audience, more often than not people with some partiality for the Labour Party.

Four men in a room: the new Gvern Li Jisma live Q&As
Four men in a room: the new Gvern Li Jisma live Q&As

But the post-Budget ‘Gvern Li Jismà’ has now moved indoors, and it’s not because of the cold weather. The first of the sessions, and most of the forthcoming sessions, are being held away from the public, livestreamed via Facebook where users can post their questions there, and moderated by a presenter or OPM communications staff member. More control, easier to set up.

Government communications chief Kurt Farrugia brushed off suggestions that the government was attempting to avoid embarrassing questions or being upstaged by antagonists.

“We’re not discarding the possibility of hosting any future sessions in public. We just though it had got a bit repetitive, so we are trying this format for now.

“These public Q&As are held every six months, which is why they were becoming a tad repetitive and sometimes not even attracting press coverage. Now it’s only a month before Christmas, the logistics of the event are extremely taxing, and the events require mobilisation and employment of a lot of resources. There are clear time constraints.”

Farrugia said the public was “free to post anything it wants on Facebook” – even though that in itself does not guarantee any form of answer.

Earlier in March, tourism minister Konrad Mizzi was upstaged by a Moviment Graffitti stunt when the left-wing NGO threw replica banknotes onto the minister – a clear statement on his offshore company revealed in the Panama Papers.