The nation seems to be caught between two distinct feelings. On the one hand its holding its breath for some massive occurrence such as the demise of GonziPN while on the other hand the deja vu sense of “Yeah right, pull the other one” has begun to take over many a level-headed observer. Last night’s curtain raiser in the “Great Motion of No Confidence” debate did nothing to lessen either of the two camps’ expectations and we were limited to such ancillary gossip surrounding the VIP MP.
What book was Franco reading in court? How many government MPs visited Franco in his impromptu backbench confessional? How many opposition MPs were left sitting by the end of the debate? Above all, what the hell did Francis Zammit Dimech say?
Meanwhile Joseph Muscat continues to strut around as a Prime Minister in all but form. We have long left the realm of the surreal and entered the psychedelic frontiers of the dysfunctionally deranged that defy any sort of pundit interpretation. In order to have an opinion on the actions and reactions of our political clan you have to be on some form of drugs. At least.
How else can you explain that in a week when the Eurozone president confirmed that Malta’s economic performance was good and that we would not be needing further tweaking during these crisis moments we have a nation obsessed with the “Malta Falluta” spiel? The way J’accuse sees it, this parade risks only getting worse. You’re not reading it here first but the way things are going the man with the most tomatoes on his face at the end of this week risks being Joseph Muscat.
It is evident that Franco has been moved towards abstaining (again – we told you so what seems like ages ago). Which would leave Dr Gonzi at the head of a government that has undeniably shifted to pre-election mode and will stay as such – a bit of embarrassment there no doubt but still with the support of a majority in parliament. That is crucial.
After the vote, Joseph is left with a party that has moved a motion of no confidence gambling on the fact that it will succeed. He either believed it will succeed or just wanted to stir the waters. If the no-confidence motion fails then his political noux has once again failed him. It will also mean that Labour’s only motive for such a motion was to yell crisis where there is none. And this is the ugly part.
Yes. Hard as it may be to swallow for those who already believed Joseph’s principle-free party had one foot inside Castille, the sudden shift on Monday night by “il-mexxej” to the position that “beyond the numbers government is in crisis” is telling on how Joseph’s real motives can no longer be hidden behind empty words. What the flying progressive donkey is “beyond the numbers government is in crisis” supposed to mean?
Because either the government is in crisis – and the numbers based on the constitutional rules of support in parliament prove it – or it isn’t. In which case the Labour party’s opportunistic motion backed by a Mexxej who claims to be “lest biex immexxi” is uncovered for what it is. There is no economic crisis in Malta. The performance of this government’s economic management compared to that of its EU peers passes many an exam – and it is not J’accuse who says it.
So what crisis is left? Is the maladroit Donquixotism of Debono at any point equiparable to a crisis? Is it Tahrir Square style crisis? Is it Athenian and Madrid style crisis? We all know it isn’t. Joseph knows. But Joseph doesn’t care. Joseph does not give a flying progressive donkey about whether the ship is relatively stable notwithstanding the stormy seas. Joseph will not stop jumping opportunistically at every opportunity to destabilise this government if that means an earlier chance to grab at the Castille seat.
I’d like to think that Debono had this legerdemain in mind when he kicked off this confidence motion bluff. I’d like to but I don’t. In any case his move, intentional or otherwise, has shown Muscat up for what he is. To many of us it has become evident that Muscat will put his unbridled ambition before the interests of the country – will it be evident to the disgruntled voters, to the reformists within PN and most of all to Franco Debono.
Crucially, the dice have not all been thrown yet. Hold your breath there is still some time before we can yell “alea iacta est”.
2 replies on “Iacta Est?”
I think that the above makes too much of a mountain out of a molehill. The simple facts are that Dr Debono said that he had withdrawn his support to a Dr Gonzi Government. Since Government has a one seat, Dr Debono’s position results in a Governance crises. I do not know what this has to do with economic crises and the like.
I think that it was the responsibility of Government to confirm Dr Debono’s statement through a vote of confidence (as I believed happened after the Divorce saga). Government did not and the responsibility fell on the opposition to move a motion of no confidence. Now three things can happen 1. Debono makes a U turn and supports Government and gives his assurance that he will stir no shite up to next election 2. He will vote for the motion meaning early elections, or he will, as expected, abstain (which in my opinion will be the worst case scenario because it will augment the Governance crises and would probably lead to an election campaign that could be the worst ever experienced on this island). I think that any responsible opposition would have acted the way labour has done. I do not see why we have to attribute unbridled this or that in so far as the above elements are concerned. Yet if Government wants to hold on to power at all costs for whatever reason, then so be it. A year is a blip on the history of a Nation no matter what happens throughout that year. What is certainly interesting in these circumstances is the length to which the Government is prepared to go to retain power which will possibly reflect the extent of the underlying unseen interests that no one ever talk about. Fun.
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