What happens if they pay a price?

The problem, I am afraid, is not former Nationalist diehard Cyrus Engerer, even though he is far from Mister Perfect. And I am the last one to stand by Engerer. 

I lost all respect for him when, during the MEP election campaign, he visited the hunters to support them for their stand on minorities. 

An opportunist is always an opportunist.

When he was consultant to the government before his appointment as envoy, many Labour insiders told me that he was not worth the money he was paid.  

This time round many who work in government, even in ministerial secretariats, are complaining that they do not even get paid close to his official salary, let alone to his salary and benefits.

Yet if Joseph Muscat wishes to appoint Engerer as his envoy to Brussels, he has every right to do so. Even though many doubt how effective he can be, serving as an envoy. Muscat on the other hand should not be too surprised if he gets flak for his decision.

Muscat may argue that he has a very loyal person in Engerer, and that Engerer paid the price for the ‘cruel’ decision of the criminal appeal court by standing down from a candidate for the MEP elections.  Cyrus was close to being elected, according to the MT polls.

That could be a fair assessment but it raises an important query.

My question and that of many others is very simple.  Can we ignore the fact that a criminal court found him guilty? And that tape recordings reveal him saying horrendous things about a Labour and Nationalist councillor (when Cyrus was still a Nationalist councillor).  

It also makes us query why other individuals who do not have such a high profile and are not on the right side of the border have a much tougher future ahead of them. Those that face interdiction as a result of their irregular actions are barred for life and cannot even get their job back.

Public officials who slip up, or are caught carrying out misdemeanours, face the wrath of the Public Service Commission and, worse still, the law courts.  

They are barred from many public functions or job opportunities in government and their names remain tarnished forever. And forever is forever.

Others who are not public officials also experience issues elsewhere, such as when they default with banks.  

Traditionally small businessmen or individuals who are also blacklisted find it next to impossible to be delisted even if they rediscover prosperity and are more structured and focused in their businesses.

Their new business ventures are also eternally blocked and they resort to other means to finance their projects.

But not for Cyrus Engerer, an individual who probably should be credited for one important achievement.  

He seems to have been the person who convinced the Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat about the pink vote and the issue of civil unions. Hence Muscat’s bestowal on Engerer of the soldier of steel epithet.

Joseph Muscat was never convinced on gay issues but he did become so and I have heard over and over again that Cyrus Engerer was the one who literally pushed Joseph Muscat into seeing the light.

That was a feat.  I guess for both.

Muscat identified the importance of aligning himself to the future and in doing so attracted the influential pink vote and Cyrus Engerer saw himself as a catalyst for change.

I wish Muscat could do the same for other important progressive issues. I guess that on the gender equality front he has done more than many of his European counterparts.  

Engerer has been rewarded for his loyalty, and more importantly for championing gay issues. It delivered a voters’ base which has been crucial to enhancing the perception of Muscat’s invincibility.

But in choosing Engerer, Muscat has shown tactless insensitivity to all those individuals who are stuck in a rut because of their past mistakes.

It is high time to set the record straight on people who resign or step down. Should we accept the fact that they have a second chance?

If we are going to accept this culture of resignations then we should definitely also accept that sooner or later the same people have the right to return to the fray.

There are of course impossible situations. Such as paedophilia, robbery, murder, fraud and I guess bribery. But some will argue that even these have an expiry date.

Some will argue that Cyrus Engerer should not have been allowed to return so early in the day. After all his case was all about the fact that Engerer had disseminated compromising pictures on the internet of a former boyfriend of his. Engerer was a given a suspended two year sentence and ordered not to communicate with his victim or the victim’s family for one year. I guess there is a price that one pays. We should then move on. Or not? It is a sticky question.

What I do know is that with this mindset, there is little doubt in my mind that others who have been side tracked for obvious reasons will be brought back.

Most notable of all is Manwel Mallia, who fell from grace but is being seen at most political events and is surely raring to go if asked to take up a ministerial post.

But there is one aspect of Muscat’s political chemistry that will stick out. Far different from the Lawrence Gonzi days. 

Ideologically, Muscat could very well fit in the shoes of a Nationalist government. But his personal politics chooses not to discard anyone and he is not malicious. On the contrary he embraces all those who reach out to voice their unrepentant loyalty.

It is an approach that his predecessor Gonzi perfected, the only problem for him being that he did exactly the complete opposite – ostracising people and destroying dissidence.

Muscat primes his loyalists with attention and offerings. In return he has built an impressive posse of gladiators. And as our trust barometer will show in the weeks ahead he has probably made himself more popular than the party he leads.

Which is not only a worthwhile observation but a dangerous precedent, which means that Maltese politics is no longer about the party and what it stands for.  Should charisma and elocution trump ideology?

It seems that politics today is all about the person at the top, his charisma, abilities and managerial competence.

It is a brave new world, and the likes of Cyrus Engerer have taken full advantage of this despairing change.