Two cuttings, two stories

The other day, I was hosting an edition of the TV programme Reporter. The PN speaker on the programme - Noel Muscat - was not just super-eloquent: he was bloody forceful.

He said that the problem with a certain segment of the electorate is that they cannot distinguish between a headache and a heart problem. He said the PN had been working on problems of the heart and had been absent-minded on the peripheral headache.

That may have sounded arrogant but really and truly, it wasn't. He was simply pointing out that the electorate was not realising that the acute problems of the country were being solved.

And perhaps this is the ultimate failure of the PN: failing to realise that most people - whether selfishly or justifiably - cannot really see beyond their patch of land.

The justification for this is not surprising at all.

The boast that we have dozens of gaming companies and hundreds of foreign companies registered in Malta may reflect on the diversity in the gaming sector and financial services, but it does little to have a direct influence on the 'purchasing power' of the depressed middle class.

Few people analyse the intricate influence of these businesses and the multiplier effect and the impetus they give to business in general, and to the economy.

Because it is true that the PN has managed to give energy to business. And despite everything, I, for one, have to acknowledge that.

But the problem doesn't lie with the politics. The root of the problem is in the way this country has been hijacked by the few. People do not look at the deficit and debt of a country, or the inflation and labour supply at that moment. They could not give a flying hoot what these stats mean. 

They are interested in how their quality of life is affected, and more importantly, about whether they can pay bills and better their situation. They are also find themselves alienated from this administration, and its sheer arrogance. Many of them have become indifferent.

I have selected two newspaper cuttings from my extensive scrapbook and I thought I would share them with all of you. One dates back to 6 April 2003, where I tell readers to vote for PN just before the 2003 general elections, after we had voted in favour of EU membership.

Needless to say, I will not be asking anyone what to do with their vote this time.

I will be accused - as I was in 2003 - of having been some sort of lackey. Now it seems I am abdicating on the assumed obligation to argue that there is only "one party, one policy and one chance for democracy".

I apologise for being human. How can I publicly support a party that has forgotten its own origins, and where it is going, and which has treated people like hogwash?

The other cutting is from October 2012, and comes from In-Nazzjon. I have no comments to make. It simply shows finance minister Tonio Fenech, the Prime Minister, and Mr & Mrs Farrugia: no comment  needed here. You may well be entertaining the thought that In-Nazzjon have created an illusory photograph - a photomontage. I assure you that they have not.

Of course, I wouldn't expect TVAM to show any of these cuttings on State broadcasting. These are public documents - that's all. The private ones I have kept for when I revisit Volume I of 'Saying It As It Is', for a sorely-needed revision.