Austin's tired rhetoric

Where we examine an Austin Gatt opinion article and conclude that mainstream PN has an attack of the Runs.

Yes, a Minister

Austin Gatt is not a blogger. He is Malta’s Minister for Infrastructure, Communications and Technology. When Austin Gatt decides to pen an article in a national newspaper (and invariably chooses the Times to do so), he does so as a Minister of government, as a member of the cabinet, as a member of parliament and as a leading representative of the nationalist party. Unlike a blogger or, say, a gossip columnist, he cannot easily dismiss his own words as a joke, a jibe, or as being solely representative of his views and his views only since the words he chooses (presumably carefully) will be taken to represent not just Austin Gatt’s views but those of his party (and government).

On the 5th of April, Minister Austin Gatt put his name to an article appearing in the Times entitled “Labour is out of its closet“. We say “put his name” because it could very well be that Minister Gatt could have ordered one of his minions at the ministry to scribble a few words on the subject and appended his name after skimming through it – if David Casa could (with dire consequences as he learnt) then so could Minister Gatt. In any case it is Minister Gatt signing off (curiously the Times does not remind us who Austin Gatt is in the traditional mini-bio at the end of the article – as if we needed to be reminded!!).

An elephant called the Runs

We have chosen to highlight this article because it allows us to make a few interesting observations about the prevalent mentality among the leading representatives of the nationalist party. While disgruntled backbenchers like Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando (JPO) are busy engaging in correspondence battles with fellow party MPs (Georg Sapiano) on the Times in order to battle with the ghosts of luncheons and dinners past stirred up by the gossip brigade (No wrong in lunch with magistrate), a major exponent of the party pens an article that is rife with reference to terminology and catchphrases that have peppered the gossip end of the net in the past months. The elephant imagery has become a popular reference on the Runs with regards to one of the happy trio leading Labour but it would seem that the Nationalist party too has an uncomfortable time trying to co-exist with the huge elephant that has planted itself willy-nilly firmly in the middle of its operations.

For it’s one thing if a blogger with an agenda for revenge uses colourful imagery to “back up” her argument and another if that imagery is transposed to Ministerial talk. What is good for the goose is not good for the gander in this case. Much as Austin Gatt can feel free to think in the same way as Daphne Caruana Galizia in his own mind, his public office would normally preclude him (morally, not legally) from using the same kind of rhetoric (and I use the term rhetoric loosely). Austin Gatt is a minister of the state – a servant of the people – and “the people” (a much abused term) includes the haughtiest snob to the proudest owner of the hamallu pedigree.  Austin Gatt should know that – he should just take a stroll in the lovely historic streets of the Dijuballi, Manderaggio and Camarata to find out. Plebs and patricians are all members of the same Republic but the elitist discourse put into the mouth of a minister does not do justice to our democracy. Opting to throw “Solidarjetà dejjem… kullimkien” out of the window in order to get a license for cheap jibes at the leader of the opposition is a recent development in the nationalist party.

The nationalist party had, for a very long time, managed to drive inroads into the very class divide that had previously defined Labour. I remember 1st May celebrations at ta’ Qali in the early nineties that showed a real dedication to the cause of “the worker class” – when the PN proudly stood beside the “haddiem” (worker) and promised the creation of opportunities based on solidarity and equality – this was after all Malta’s 1987 revolution based on Work, Justice and Liberty. All that is buried in the past now and a Minister of the government seems to have readily adopted the tired and divisive rhetoric of one particular blogger. A rhetoric devised before Plategate and pimped thereafter opened the gates to the attention of the masses.

Here is an extract of Gatt’s article:

Dr Muscat and his predecessors often had to compensate for appearing uncouth and insensitive to art. Their put-on machismo of preferring a burger in Sicily to a black tie state occasion was and is a natural extension of that boiler suit hero iconography they live on. Like the French revolutionary who saw the crowd run past him, Dr Muscat perceived the glitterati’s protests and thought “I have to chase that crowd so I can lead them”. Ms Vella chased the leader chasing the crowd. Falling over himself to appear bourgeois, Dr Muscat forgot to even keep the pretence of demo-cratic instinct. After nine months of careful neutrality, he now declared himself against the building of a Parliament House. Not because he would rather have an opera house (where burgers are unlikely intermission features), nor because he can think of a better use for the money: he cannot. Dr Muscat is against Parliament House because hostility to our democracy poisons the blood-stream of his party. This is why he argues that a “majority” is against this national project.

The sad thing is that J’accuse would agree on the point being made here: that the opposition to the Piano project had become a political football game and that Joseph Muscat’s ultimate position was best described as opportunist. However, Gatt chooses to adopt the “bourgeois vs chav” imagery for his own cause. It is never more obvious as when he imports the “burger vs black-tie”  discourse. There is also a small element of gloating over the “defeat” of Astrid Vella – a spin in itself that has been growing exponentially (thanks once again to the Runs among others). In ancient Rome one way to rally support of a disgruntled public was the triumph march of the imperator complete with the parading of the defeated (ask Vercingetorix) – our government must make do with the humiliation of an NGO leader after having fought and won the disparate battle. (and this is a statement coming from someone who does not agree with Astrid Vella’s policy position).

We must not ignore the “closet” reference in the title either. The anti-Labour rhetoric on the Runs is replete with reference to “pufti” and jibes at the LGBT initiatives. Frankly the reference to “outing” of Labour in the title does not even fit well with the rest of the article. Was it another gratuitous inclusion of the tired rhetoric we have until now only seen in the Runs?

j’accuse: the rhetoric

The above is just a short extract from the article but they help support two important considerations that we would like to make here:

1. The chav/middleclass/bourgeois/democracy/hamallu/ business is now “out of the closet” and into government talk. It does not come on a government letterhead but I guess the Times stops just short of being that. This will cause an interesting twist to the interaction between Gonzi’s government and the goings on in the new media. We have criticised previous calls for Dr. Gonzi to condemn whatever is written on the Runs as nonsensical – he is not the blogger’s keeper. With the divisive rhetoric having crossed the bridge and found itself in Austin Gatt’s (or his textwriter’s) inkwell it will not be so easy for a party that was indignated by a certain “DNA reference” to turn a blind eye and ignore the elephant manure flying all over its palace.

2. Taste is now back on the PN propaganda machine’s agenda. Whether proof is needed that DCG has a finger in the propaganda pie or not is absolutely irrelevant. What is relevant politically is that PN could be seen to aligning itself with this sort of argumentative fodder based on class divide, taste and the constant reference to history and precedent. Insofar as the choice before us for the next election is concerned the future is worse than bleak.

It’s non-existent.