Taking the Mickey in an Orlando Style

The J’accuse Personality of the Year (2008) rides on unabashed and is poised to continue grabbing the limelight well into 2009. We thought we had seen the back of him shortly after his crocodile tears stunt that was well capitalised upon by the Nationalist pragmatists but he got re-elected by the people (thank you Joe Saliba) and is now a right royal pain in the arse to the PN government.

Of course Pullicino Orlando cannot be blamed for doing what he does best and sniffing the winds of favour as best he can in order to survive in the political game. The man’s involvement in a series of headline grabbing events since the Alfred-Sant-chasing days at Mistra is incredible. We may all be forgiven therefore if we focus our anger at the class of politicians that we get onto the Rt. Hon. Member with Economic Interests in Mistra Valley.

We should be seeing things from a slightly different perspective of course. Now that JPO has become an embarassement for pundits with a blue slant and even crops up as a subject of ridicule in their blogs and articles we might need to focus on who gave us the JPO phenomenon in the first place.

You see many people voted JPO and his party into parliament in order to keep Sant and his merry band from having a (relative) majority of votes that would translate in more bums on seats in the House. Many people were persuaded that voting on the basis of principle was not the “in thing” to do and that they should best behave like a mass of mature voters by voting the only choice possible. The only feasible choice once we took int0 account the Wasted Vote formula perfectly devised in parliament beacame a hodge-podge party of liberals and conservatives, environmentalists and liars with about as much of a cunning plan as Blackadder’s Baldrick.

Those same people who were busy threatening anyone intent on voting for anyone other than JPO’s Party now feel at ease with the fact that the concept of representation as we know it has been thrown out of the window. Cabinet makes decisions. The executive executes. And parliament? Well parliament was convenient to work out that magic formula of representation (read relative majority gets to choose who sits in Castille). Once that uncomfortable and nail-biting situation was solved… well…. parliament became an inconvenient encumbrance on the rule by edict direct from Castille.

JPO had served his purpose. People like JPO, Arrigo and more are useful to rope in the numbers. Same goes for the principled policies that vary from conservative to liberal depending on the target audience. It’s not funny. it’s sad. Especially when you know that you have an opposition that is just as willing to emulate this opportunistic win-all formula.

Representation as we know it has been thrown to the dogs. The next time you find JPO’s contradictory statements funny don’t laugh at the poor man. He’s only playing the survival game in the politics the way PLPN do it. Laugh at yourself… for getting conned into thinking that a vote for “Together everything is possible” meant that your interest and you would be part of the fun and games.

All the rest is Disneyworld.