I.M. Jack – the one about Cyrusgate

Our commenting on recent events have catapulted J’accuse into the fence of “nationalist apologist” in the eyes of many a partisan reader. There is a very simple reason for that – whenever w analyse the ills of our political society we always seem to conclude that this is a result of PLPN politics. Readers who have the tendency to (even subconsciously) want Labour in power and PN out at all costs tend to not like this conclusion because they would love to believe the alternation of government to be the solution to this kind of ills. Our most poignant observation – that alternation will only bring in same, same but different – is anathema to anyone who is itching to have their best linked power circles in power. Plus ca change… (Note: This is a long post – read it in snippets for better enjoyment).

Cyrusgate – They thought it was all over

It isn’t now. The police swoops on pater et filius Engerer shortly after the famous/infamous “switch” to Labour by Engerer Jr reminded a few of us of the haranguing of Dr Harry Vassallo (then AD Chairperson) right before the election in 2008 (see the end result here). It was not, in other words, the first time that the long arm of the law moved with curious timing and with apparent synch with the needs of the party in government. The public reaction this time round was louder because it was not insignificant AD who is “never in the news” (never did so much bullshit uttered by so many make so little sense) but newly baptised Labourite Cyrus. The young upstart who had been enjoying his meteoric rise to the political limelight was suddenly the subject of investigations relating to that conservative anathema that has the bad habit of popping up recently: porn and the dealing thereof.

We sat back and watched events unfold: from the morning indignation at the news of the police investigations to the afternoon defences by the police commissioner and  the head of the Pm’s private secretariat, to the calls for people’s heads by Joseph Muscat (ever the flamboyant populist, blissfully unaware of the wider picture). Having heard the story from the press and press conferences we can draw a few conclusions from this latest track in the Cyrus LP.

“The Tangled Web”

I will start from the end. 1984 has often been cited on the social networks but 1984 and similar Kafkesque novels imply a hidden Big Brother that is centrally organised and operates intelligently. I would like to offer a different hypothesis. What if what we are talking about is a multiplicity of power structures that have been nurtured over time and thrive in the stale, unproductive environment of PLPN generated politics? Forget the metaphor of a gene-pool of PL or PN DNA and think in terms of stagnating mentalities in a cesspit of power-sharing. It is a world that most people know about but that we have become numbed by: failing to react with indignation when we see things happen.

The cesspit has generated Malta’s version of backhanders, nepotism, favours and a rota of privileged elite. It is the machine behind the skipping of the queue (thanks to recommendations and connections) and behind our race to the bottom (because of the absence of a meritocracy). The reason most people cannot bring themselves to criticise it is because at least in one point in their lives they have made use of it with a wink, wink, nudge, nudge attitude: and comfortable in the idea that “cosi fan tutti“.

What has this got to do with people like Edgar Galea Curmi and Police Commissioner Rizzo?

“The Private Lives of Public Personae”

Here’s a telling quote from Edgar Galea Curmi’s reaction:

On a personal level, I am Cyrus’s Confirmation Godfather and care a lot for Cyrus and his family. I am deeply upset by the way certain elements in the media are manipulating two unfortunate incidents of people I deeply care for with the sole aim of defaming the Prime Minister and the people around him. As a result of these malicious stories, I have instructed my lawyer to institute libel proceedings against MaltaToday.

Let’s leave the “manipulation” bit for a little later. Let’s get into Edgar Galea Curmi’s head for a second. A Nationalist Secretary to the PM has just told the press that he picked up a phone – upon instigation of New Labour Cyrus – to call the Commissioner of Police. Somehow Edgar seems to be comforted by the idea that Cyrus (by then a representative of the opposition party) was present when he chose to phone Commissioner Rizzo.

That in itself is a big fail. When Edgar Galea Curmi calls Commissioner Rizzo there can be only two ways to interpret it. Either he is calling him in a private capacity and speaking to Mr Rizzo in a private capacity OR it is the Prime Minister’s Head of Secretariat calling the Commissioner of Police. Now given that EGC did not call Commissioner Rizzo for a convivial chat but was actually asking about events falling under the official capacity of Mr Rizzo we can safely rule the first option out. This is worse than a Minister taking a private jet plane for a private trip for example. We have an “admission” as to the content of the phone call – and it was not a private matter.

The point though is that EGC seems to be somehow comforted by his “private” link with Cyrus thanks to having been his Confirmation Godfather. The unfortunate connotations of the word “Godfather” will not help EGC’s cause much. It is also interesting to note how a relationship deeply steeped in Catholic tradition can still create such bonds in a Malta that is still shedding it’s conservative bonds. EGC’s manner of thinking is not unique. Our PLPN society is built on webs and connections and networks. You publicly move up the ladder and before you know it you are wheel in the power machine: sometimes using that wheel’s power in complicated rituals involving the exchanging of favours. Within that power system lies an unwritten rule that family and close friends might be given an added consideration: it’s private you know. Think of the last time you saw someone getting his friend through on the VIP list in some nightclub and then think wider, bigger.

“The Indignation”

 The phone call between Galea Curmi and Rizzo is dangerous not because a PM Secretary has enquired about the operations of a part of the executive branch. This might, in other circumstances be entirely justified. If we were to accept that the PM’s office is worried about police action being shackled by political considerations a phone call might be the start of a wider enquiry: a public, official enquiry. The nature of the phone call and the justification makes the whole thing collapse on its face though. That kind of phone call can never be justified with private links. It is a public phone call with public repercussions (which is also why EGC should be less worried about “malicious interpretations” at this point).

Joseph Muscat would have been entirely justified for his indignation at the phone call and calls for resignation. But – and here comes the but – what Joseph failed to factor (unless he has already cynically factored this) was Cyrus Engerer’s role behind the infamous phone call. If, as Edgar Galea Curmi says, the phone call was made upon instigation and in the presence of Cyrus then we have the ultimate example of PLPN twisted thinking. Some people would say “the Lord is my witness” but in our convoluted way of thinking in the cesspit of our politics what better and stronger an argument than “a man from the opposition is my witness”? 

What many people will not see is that behind that kind of justification lies the very existence and spinal column of PLPN networking. They can and will work together if necessary. In most other instances EGC’s phone call would have been ok by their standards. It could, after all, very well be Joseph’s head of secretariat in a few years time who is returning the favour. The only problem here is that Cyrus is a hot potato at the moment and Joseph can rarely resist a foray into quick vote grabbing fields. By pointing his finger at EGC though, Muscat has also inadvertently (or full-knowingly) pointed his finger at Cyrus. Muscat probably knows that right now (as we said earlier) he can get away with murder… and is probably banking on the fact that voters will be too preoccupied with the hubbub to be able to see the side of the equation that implicates his own party’s latest prodigal son.

“The Police”

A few words on the police. I have discussed this case with card-carrying Labourites and card-carrying Nationalists and moderates. Three  hypotheses stood out. “The Nationalist Revenge” – a policeman in the Sliema District out on a payback mission for Cyrus’ defection. “The Big Brother Revenge” – this elaborates further with various power circles from the PN fold implicated as instigators for the police action (imagine the pressure from a district heavyweight who has been royally pissed off at Cyrus for example). Thirdly “the Sacrificial Lamb” – with a labourite push (either labour-leaning police alone or with the connivance of some Labourite politician) to use Cyrus in order to damage the government’s credibility even further. Nobody seemed to subscribe to “the Harry Vassallo Option” – in August 2008 the police report into Harry’s case showed that the timing was simply due to incompetence and slow working of the police force.

Even without proof to confirm any of the three theories what impresses me most is the fact that strongly convincing theories can be advanced that involve power-circles topped in each case by members, sympathisers and well-wishers of the two political parties. To me it matters little at that point whether one or the other turns out to be the hero/villain in this particular case.

What matters to me is that I would like to see both wiped out of their concentric circles of influence. What turns me into the cynical armchair critic that I am is the realisation after so many years that the system is so inbuilt into our thinking that it is near impossible to get it to budge one inch.

Se vogliamo che tutto cambi, bisogna che tutto rimanga lo stesso – what a motto for the PLPN mentality.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodies? asked the wittier on social networks. Who will guard us from our guardians? Maybe we should stop worrying about our guardians and ask a more important question:

“Who will protect us from ourselves?“

 

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,

Related articles

• J’accuse : Wasted (akkuza.com)
• Apologia for the PN (akkuza.com)
• Veiled Arguments (akkuza.com)
• **UPDATED** Cyrus u l-Pastazati (andrewazzopardi.wordpress.com)
• J’accuse : Sophistry, Protagoras & San Ċipress (akkuza.com)