Purchasing Power

This article and accompanying Bertoon appeared in yesterday’s edition of the Malta Independent on Sunday.

The next time you will be reading this column there will be five new Maltese MEP’s and one MEP in waiting. The people will have spoken and the verdict will have been read out. In all probability everyone will claim a victory of sorts. Joseph Muscat will once again show extreme naïveté and proclaim that “without any doubt” the election result is a clear indication for a change of government, Lawrence Gonzi will probably claim that given the odds this is another victory for the nationalist cause and Arnold Cassola… well Cassola will probably be mulling about his ambitious statements late in the campaign.

Far from the Trade Fair Grounds in Naxxar, where every vote has been counted, another parliament and another set of parliamentarians are still reeling from the shock caused by the uncovering of expense claims much to the general amazement of the public. Certain constituencies in the United Kingdom fell just short of stripping the shamed Westminster MPs naked and covering them with tar and feathers. The majority seem to think that these expense claiming MPs deserve extreme punishment for making such ridiculous claims from the Exchequer for such frivolous items as moats, fancy wallpaper and pornography.

Suddenly the whole ship of the political class is sinking and – funnily enough – the Lib Dems and Greens find themselves in a relative advantage. That’s bloody typical isn’t it.? They are miles away from an election, very little seems to be done in terms of immediate retribution and the people obviously poll in favour of the minor parties as the only trustworthy bunch of the lot. Even Holy David Cameron seems to have go quite a battering and he’s looking less like the Tory version of Invincible Tony Blair of late.

In all likelihood the UK voters will return to the fold of the main parties come next election. As a friend of mine likes to say, the closer they get to an election the more likely are the Lib Dems to have some earth shattering scandal and the more likely are the English voters to confirm the Tory-Labour duopoly. Still. The MEP Expenses shake up might have had a sobering effect on the electorate – particularly in realising that when the rules of the house are left in the hands of the masters of the house there is always a high probability that the masters of the house will be partying away with your money.

And Now the Gravy Train in Brussels

Because – let’s admit it – that is what we all seem to think it is all about. The latest nationalist front is all about style and panache. Even if you set aside the fact that the campaign was not even run on European issues, you could not have missed the effort to switch the whole business to a question of taste and flair. The latest spin with regards to Joseph Muscat’s Alpha Romeo is another of those baffling non sequiturs the nationalists are becoming highly skilled in producing when things do not seem to be going their way.

Remember last week how we spoke about threat and fear and how the average voter would prefer the known to the relative unknown even if the known is not so good? Well the nationalists are still banking on it. Instead of building rock solid arguments that could hold quite well against a bundle of weak opponents they are busy spinning the unspinnable. So after years of hearing the nationalists rant about Alfred Sant’s cheapness and his white car now we have the contrary. You cannot have the cheap socialist nor the champagne socialist.

Now Joseph was more than silly when he failed to draw attention to the fact that he had a vested personal interest in the VAT case he banks so heavily on. Politically naive, politically incorrect even but what could you expect from an upstart journalist made “politician”? Whether you could hold the type of car he owns against him though is only a matter for the gossip columnists and those who would like to distract you from the real issues.

What I would hold against Joseph after watching Bondi+ is the “Tusk Force” (sic) issue. Does the man really think we are so stupid? Could he not have held on to this damn report until the government actually reneged on its promise and charged for health services? Even a village paper journalist would have told him that this was no scoop. Any fool worth his salt would know that reports drafted in consultation might contain measures that never see the light of day. Take stipends. The nationalist government had a myriad of options from which to choose when reintroducing them. That does not mean it backed every one of them.

How Joseph should feel so high and mighty about the “Tusk Force” (someone please tell him the difference between Task and Tusk by the way) is beyond me. He did have a saving moment gifted to him by the PM at one point in the programme. I am referring to Gonzi’s inability to admit that the whole “votes for illegal immigrants” issue was badly milked by the nationalist spinmeisters and his insistence on remaining ambiguous about it all.

Did you say European?

What we did learn from the TV debate – and from the whole campaign – is that the major parties have absolutely no intention to have a debate about Europe and the suitability of their candidates to represent us in Brussels. Joseph wants an election test drive, Gonzi wants damage limitation and the citizens are therefore regaled with an extra-time of absolute balderdash. The two parties have proven more than ever that the price of purchasing power seats in the European Parliament is that of having the most inconsequential list of candidates who ever dared to canvass for votes.

So while Pullicino Orlando parties the night away in Mistra for the hunter’s advocate and Alan Deidun joins Roberta Triccas with her no for divorce, Edward Scicluna is busy clarifying the unclarifiable and Joseph Cuschieri is busy sending more Facebook messages repeating the same dreary slogans. Where does that leave you? I’ve said it before and I will not tire saying it again. The it leaves you as the butt of a huge joke they like to call representation.

You cannot really bank on the two main parties representing a coherent set of values. Most probably you would be better off ignoring who belongs to which party. Like Vince Farrugia at the start of the campaign, most candidates would fit on any of the two major lists. They are interchangeable – it’s just the spin that would vary a little. The only party that can actually benefit of a backbone European campaign are the Greens though the polls seem to doom them from the start.

Purchasing Power

The man parties have both invested their energies in this election to gain leverage. It is a sort of rehearsal. Joseph’s slips will provide ammo in the future mother of all elections for a sinking nationalist ship. The nationalist slide into the non-political feed of tedious gossip and ridiculous spin fuelled by persons who seem to believe that politics is all about Taste will continue. The nationalists might misread any success of this formula as a sure bet for the future and sign their own death sentence by readying for more of the same.

The two parties have essentially prostituted themselves, their values and any remaining political charisma in this two horse race. The problem we are faced with is that we are not really aware of how important proper representation in the European Parliament in all its formations is. The real purchaser of power here should be the people and this is really J’accuse’s rallying call to the few people of a sane enough mind to listen beyond the twists and spins.

Vote Crossly: Cross-Vote

Come each election they insult your intelligence. Each time round they come up with ploys designed to con you to vote in their direction only to forget about where they were coming from the next day. You are entitled to be angry. Be very angry. But do not waste your vote. Do not stay at home and fulfill the desires of those who did not work hard enough to merit your attention and deserve your mandate. It’s your turn to turn the tables… and here is how.

J’accuse strongly believes that the secret to this election is not the abstaining voter but the cross-voter. He is the one who recognises the need of having capable individuals representing his country in the Parliament of Europe. In order to maximise the efficiency of his vote he will try to influence the persons elected in as many political formations in Europe as possible. There is only one way to do this – by trying to ensure that Malta has representatives in three of the European Parliament groupings – the Greens, the Socialists and the European People’s Party.

If we start from that presumption then we next need to decide which of these three formations most needs our support. In this case it is the Greens who seem to have the least chance of getting elected. A first preference should therefore go to the Greens in order to get a voice for Malta within a third formation.Bear in mind that this time the issue of governance is irrelevant. All nationalist spin about stability of government does not work this time round. The stronger our representation in these formations the better. A Green MEP would be a magnificent achievement for our country.

Next comes the tricky part. We need to make sure that this time round the Maltese representatives in the socialist group can influence the votes of their grouping and get the socialists to back Malta on important issues. You know what I mean… we need someone who can push the right buttons. It is important to influence the choice of socialist candidates all the more because these elections will probably register the swing towards the PS being the largest formation in the EP. My guess would fall on Louis Grech, Marlene Mizzi and – notwithstanding the health issue – Edward Scicluna. Any one of these three would do.

Lastly. Should you want to influence the nationalist choice of candidate you could steer clear of Simon Says Busuttil. Rest assured he will shoot into the EP without your vote. Instead try to influence who gets chosen for Nationalist seat number two (assuming they get it). J’accuse has long settled for Ed Demicoli – a young promising politician whose main attribute this campaign has been not mincing with words.

The J’accuse List

There’s no guarantee this will work. There is not enough time to campaign for the three way vote. It would have been a great achievement. Getting enough people to vote 1 for Cassola, 2 for Marlene Mizzi and 3 for Edward Demicoli. The message would be loud and clear – we get to choose because we can. We did not fall for your gimicks. Thank you very much for insulting our intelligence year in year out but we’d rather take things in our own hands now. And this is our start.

It won’t harm anybody but I’m guessing we will be sticking to our old guns in the end. We will have our selection of the motley crues rushing up to Brussels either intent on covering up for our government’s bungled choices or embarassing us profoundly. I don’t think many people will take up the J’accuse suggestion and go three-way. Then again it was not J’accuse who said this first: those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.

Apologies for the entirely political post this week. I promise to return to more mundane topics as of the next one. Have a nice election – and remember… three…it’s a magical number.

Jacques Rene Zammit is packing his bags for voting weekend while having last minute debates on http://www.akkuza.com. Get out and vote 1,2,3 this coming weekend and join the J’accuse army of proper representation.