Snapshot #2 : Muscat – the Cheshire Cat

Muscat is another of the supposed “European” graduates and the Labour party will never cease reminding us that fact. Has the Labour leader delivered the revolution he had promised when he boldly stood on the stage and put his hand on heart stating “Inhobbkom”? We’ve been documenting the steps of this Labour party since the ex-Super One hack was proclaimed leader. Remember Labour in Labour? Remember all that hope and promise of a new direction? Well the product is there for all to see now.

It is evident that, unlike Simon Busuttil, Muscat quickly realised that there was not really much of the EP heritage that would really be useful in Malta. Sure you could bluff and boast about having sat shoulder to shoulder with an international mix of politicians and representatives. You could even have had your great moment when you refused to proceed unless Maltese interpretation could be provided. Beyond that nothing. Look at what the smiling and smug Muscat has produced in these election days and you will find anything but a European or Europeanist party.

Muscat’s solution was two fold. First of all Labour had to divest itself from being Labour. Hence the “Moviment” (they quickly dropped the progressiv business when many inherent contradictions became glaringly obvious). Muscat had learn the lesson from the PN spin team in 2008 – and the keyword here was taste. Voters are very particular about this and behind Muscat’s middle class promises lie a sensitivity to this particularly hypocritical self-assessment. A corollary of this cosmetic intervention is the apparent abolishing of “us and them” confrontational politics. This in itself was a double-sided coin. On the one hand Muscat’s movement needed to be seen as all inclusive (the magical Obama Chant Taghna Lkoll) while on the other hand if there was to be any “us and them” left it would have to be The Movement vs The Oligarchy/Clique/GonziPN leftovers.

So there was no longer a Labour party. Just a movement headed by one figure in a very presidential style approach that worked so well for GonziPN in 2008. Then came Muscat’s second part of the solution. This involved a heavy dose of populism and opportunism in policy framing that would be dished out in a breathtaking blitzkrieg approach that would not allow those who are supposed to assess it any time to think. The movement’s strategy is based on impressions – gay-friendliness, supposed green credentials and an infusion of hope that is really simply a polite way of saying “let’s get those bastards out of castille”.

You never get enough time to assess Muscat’s grin he’s already shifting and morphing to please someone else. To the seasoned political observer it is all plastic, inconsistent and very very evidently short term planning. It is also very dangerously a winning tactic. The problem with the Cheshire cat in the end was the fact that it could not be beheaded because there was no body to behead. Muscat is very much the same. His public appearances mean everything to everyone who really wants to believe that there is an alternative to that motley crew that is on it’s last hours of life. Look beneath the appearances and promises though and you find that there is nary a policy that can be holistically assessed beyond being the result of a “focus group generated policy” – which is only politispeak for “just promise whatever that particular segment wants and then we’ll deal with the consequence later.

Muscat is a star. He has fit perfectly with the Maltese way of doing politics by concocting the combined formula of cosmetic blitzkrieg and bandwagon hopping. He’s very very good at that. This will probably win the man the premiership of a country. Having seen the how of his enormous success at the polls should lead many to the obvious conclusion that he will not be so comfortable with the next step. it appears that even that conclusion is not enough to make voters change their mind.

I’d hate to see their face the moment the Cheshire Cat vanishes and we are left with an annoying grin hanging in the air.