Category: Campaign 2013

Categories
Campaign 2013 Mediawatch

They promise the earth

The short man from Milan is back. His political campaign has begun (as always) on the football field with the return of the prodigal son Mario Balotelli to the Milanese fold (sponda rossonera). Berlusconi hit the headlines in Italy today with his promises of major tax cuts and institutional reforms. It should all sound familiar by now – in Italy it is the restitution of an alphabet soup of taxes from the IRAP to the IMU – and of course given the lack of popularity of politicians Silvio is also banking on promises such as halving the size of parliament and the removal of public financing of parties.

His opponents (and former allies) did not waste time in replying. There’s a huge familiarity in that too: Berlusconi promises much but never delivers is the most prominent of them all. Even Casini who had shacked up with Berlusconi for quite some time pointed an accusing finger at Berlusconi’s track record. The Cavaliere is knee dip in the populistic approach and don’t forget he is the man who reinvented political marketing in Italy. His is also an attack on the caretaker Monti government. Guess what? He claims that Monti betrayed the people and did not fulfil its duties of democratic representation.

Outspoken Nichi Vendola best described Berlusoni’s latest sortie: “Sembra Wanna Marchi” – comparing the ex-premier to a notorious fraudster who had built an empire selling rubbish on the tv. In Malta we had Mike Briguglio describing the local scene as “An electoral supermarket”… not too far off the Wanna Marchi mark.

Berlusconi built his empire starting off from the property business. In his case HE is the contractor. Will his promises be enough to win the trust of enough voters? Will the fish bite?

Wanna Marchi was condemned for 9 years and 4 months in prison – her biggest mistake was not becoming a politician. With the kind of talents that she had you never know how far she could have got.

Categories
Campaign 2013

Jeħduh f’sormhom

Forsi din ma hix espressioni li l-grupp tal-facebook Kelma Kelma se jittratta b’daqstant faċilita. Mhux għax ma ħaqqhiex. Anzi. Naħseb li tikkwalifika sew bħala espressjoni mill-iprem fl-użu kurrenti tal-poplu Malti. In-natura ipokrita tal-Malti (il-bniedem mhux l-ilsien, jaħasra) ma tippermettix pero li titkellem dwar il-kurrenti u l-magħruf jekk il-kurrenti u l-magħruf huwa – kif isejħulu is-soċjologi – taboo. U s-sorm, kif kullħadd jaf, diġa huwa taboo minnu – aħseb u ara l-espressjoni li timplika teħid ta’ oġġetti mhux neċesarjament speċifikati fil-warrani.

F’kampanja elettorali bħal ma hi din is-sorm jispikka b’mod ubikwu mingħajr qatt ma jissemma. Filwaqt li fuq il-mezzi tax-xandir jagħmlu l-għolmu tagħhom biex jagħtu xejra ta’ diċenza u (għaliex le) serjeta professjonali f’kull dibattitu mimli retorika propagandistika, huwa fl-analiżi odjerna li ssir għand tal-grocer (kif xtaq Simon) li joħroġ veru l-ispirtu razzjonali tal-votant Malti u jissemma bil-bosta s-sorm (kif forsi ma xtaqx Simon).

“Smajtu lit-tali ilbieraħ? Ma felaħx jitkellem iktar minn sormu”. Kliem espliċitu, vera, imma indikazzjoni ċara tal-andament tal-affarijiet. L-apprezzament jaf ikun partiġġjan u jaf ikun diżilluż pero is-sorm hemm jibqa’. Tista’ ukoll taqa fir-redikolu venjali – l-isplapstick tas-satira – u tgħid li bilfors dak il-kliem kollu dwar il-gass minn x’imkien kellu joħroġ.

“Kemm se jdumu jeħduħ f’sormhom (bija – suġġettiv, bina – ġeneriku)?” Il-bżar fl-għajnejn, it-tlellix u x-xinxilli, iċ-ċejċa, il-propaganda u l-ispinn. Din l-espressjoni hija l-oażi ta’ rifuġju għal min xebgħa sal-ponta ta’ imnieħru bir-retorika antika, bil-wiegħdiet foloz u bir-riżma insulti għall intelliġenza. L-irkant tal-wiegħdiet forsi jaf jingħata post speċjali fil-mezzi tax-xandir – taf int, għal għajn in-nies – imma fil-privat il-proxxmu jiżżarma minn kull ewfemiżmu inutli u jfaqqa’ verżjoni mundana ta’ “Kemm se jdumu jeħduh f’għajnhom”.

Għax iva. L-għajn hija ewfemiżmu ukoll u tfakkar wisq fl-għajn bħala fonti jew sors li f’dal każ jissarraf biss f’sors ta’ inutilta … l-anti-google. Bħal meta tisma’, biex nagħti eżempju konkret, dik il-gidba dwar “id-dekriminalizzazzjoni tal-omosesswalita“. Ma nafx int imma demmi jibda jbqabaq. Bħal dak li qallhom kien krimini qabel l-1974 li tkun omosesswali. Mhux vera. Qed jieħduh f’sormhom bik meta jgħidulek hekk.

Il-krimini kien li proprja tieħdu f’sormok. Litteralment. U li tagħtih ukoll. L-orjentazzjoni sesswali kienet irrilevanti f’għajnejn il-leġiżlatur. Kien biss l-att – magħruf teknikament bħala sodomija – li kien illegali. Biex niftehmu sas-74 il-pufti (kif kellhom tendenza kerha isejħu lill-omosesswali dak iż-żmien) setgħu ikunu pufti kemm iridu. Li ma setgħux jagħmlu  kien l-att as-sodomoija. U mhux huma biss – għax teknikament jekk kont tinqabad fl-att ma kienx se joqgħod jistaqsi jekk intix pufta jew le. Ftakar li il-fetiċċju li tieħdu f’sormok jaf ma kienx limitat għall-irġiel biss. U le il-ktieb ma jismux “50 Shades of Gay“.

Illum għal grazzja kbira m’għadniex nużaw it-terminu pufta avolja li għal żmien twil wara’ kienu l-istess psewdo-liberali ta’ nofs is-sebgħinijiet li baqgħu jużawha bħala insult – insult li jsib il-benniena tiegħu fil-biża u fl-injuranza. Pero ftakar. Meta jgħidulek li iddekriminalizzaw l-omosesswalita ma jkunu qed jagħmlu xejn ħlief jeħduh f’sormhom. Bik. Għax issa legali hux.

Ħabib tiegħi jirrakkonta storja li taf tkun apokrifa dwar Duminku Mintoff. Meta kien ikun irrabjat b’xi problema kien jgħid “Min se jiġi ineħħili dan iż-ż* minn sormi u jsibli sorm ieħor fejn nitfgħu?” Inkredibbli. Mhux talli l-lingwaġġ huwa popolari u ġenwin iżda huwa anki rikonoxximent tal-irwol importanti tal-warrani fejn jidħlu problemi u soluzzjonijiet. Jispikka ukoll l-altruwiżmu ta’ Dear Dom li ma kienx se jħalli xi ż* jiġri mas-saqajn.

“Naħseb kien b’sormha meta ħareġ biha”. Għax il-kelma għandha mitt użu u l-għodda t-tajba tiswa mitqla deheb f’idejn l-imgħallem. B’sormha… għal darb’ oħra insibu ġustifikazzjoni għan-nuqqas ta’ sens. Għax jekk mhux qed jeħduh f’sormhom bik bi ħsieb allura forsi qed jiżbaljaw għax ħadu grokk żejjed il-każin.

Hemm qiegħdin. Wasalna f’punt fil-kampanja fejn iċ-ċittadin qed jirrikorri għall-espressjonijiet vernakulari iktar u iktar kull ma jmur. Iktar milli xebgħa huwa għajjien. Strafinit. Dak li jiġrilu. Jħalli lil min iħaddmu bi storbju, b’muntanja wiegħdiet u beżgħat. Minkejja li jaf x’qed jagħmlulu iħalli lil min jieħdu f’sormu bih.

U dakinhar tal-vot imur u jagħtihulhom… qisu qatt ma kien xejn. Ħasra. Għax bir-rata li għaddejin biha x’iktarx li naqgħu għal sormna.

Categories
Campaign 2013

Show me the tablet

Our country does not lie on a vast oil deposit. If it does have one then we either haven’t found it or somebody is very good at keeping it well hidden. We do not export massive amounts of goods and notwithstanding all the talk about the gaming industry and tourism there is only so much you can “earn” to justify spending. We are not even a diligent country in the fashion of Norway that invests most of the money it gets from its oil deposits into a fund for future generations. Inevitably when elections come round even though we may be completely drunk with partisan euphoria the crux of the matter will (or should) always be the same: “Show me the money”.

The tablet wars late last week had a strange effect on me. It was one thing having pointed out for a very long time the atrocious “race to the bottom” that the PLPN dichotomy signifies. It was another to see the manner in which this tongue-in-cheek brazen approach to having a go at insulting the voter’s intelligence has been developed. All the elements coincided – you had the auction of promises and the typical partisan reaction from both sides of our Lilliputian gap. Without batting an eyelid both parties had promised millions of euros of electronic equipment to our younger generations and both parties claimed a monopoly on this move being part of some wider education plan.

Wider plan my foot. Suffice it to say that the Malta Union of Teachers was far from impressed by this tomfoolery. How bloody typical. Remember this is the government that followed our decision to get into the EU but that failed to factor a course for translators and interpreters at University in the run up to membership. How is that relevant? It’s relevant because it is one thing to shoot ambitious plans off the cuff and another thing to actually be in a position to implement them. Ask Manuel Delia.

Before you run away with some twisted idea, this is not an amish attack on all things technological. Of course technology is the future but that is not the point. The point is that both parties very evidently treat this tablet business superficially. Rent-a-pundits will link to a single article in a Microsoft Public Network magazine and will tell you that this is proof that the PN’s tablet proposal has concrete background. Sure. With all due respect to the Mark Azzopardi who has been interviewed in the article I have my doubts how much a Miss World style wish at the end of an article in a Microsoft promotional e-zine to boot can be taken as “background to a government policy” costing 25€ million of taxpayers’ money.

Not to mention of course the fact that if this were really the background then I would begin to worry about how the government already is looking into one particular company (Microsoft) and then I would begin to ask more questions – specifically who represents Microsoft in Malta and who would stand to gain from a deal that puts Microsoft’s learning programme in every school?

As for Labour. Don’t get me started. Their approach is even more bungled and transparent when it comes to the lack of planning. We are lumped with another “remedial class”. Do you remember all the bla bla about consultation with social partners? Do you remember how open Labour is even on the social networks? Well, have I got news from you. They were not listening. Had they been listening to the educators of this country they would have known the immense logistical mountain that faces the schools should the tablet in every hand become a reality. What of LSAs and teachers who suddenly have four or five kids in class with some error on their tablet? Does Labour know that there is no logisitical IT support for every school? From what I am told even LSA coordination is bad enough with government schools having one coordinator for ten schools. That’s without the tablets.

This is not a case of a country not being ready for development and progress. This is a case of a country not affording the truckloads of bullshit that are being heaped upon it daily in this election. The worst thing about it all is not that “Everybody lies” but rather that “everybody is eager to swallow the lies” so long as it’s their party feeding them the bull.

J’accuse challenges both parties to admit that their tablet promise is the result of the drunken euphoria and passion that this election has brought about. We challenge both parties to take back their empty promise and instead to promise a planned introduction of a proper IT project – one that takes into account all participants in the equation, all cogs in the wheel – like teachers for example.

Tablets for all? Thanks, but no thanks.

Categories
Campaign 2013

J’accuse in Oz

We’re back from our weekend break in Paris – a welcome pause from the early part of the election campaign (both for myself and for the readers I guess). In the meantime the first programme on SBS featuring a J’accuse round-up of the previous week’s electoral campaign has gone online. We are hoping to keep this weekly appointment with Marlene Cassandra Galea (time zones permitting) and look forward to some interaction with our readers from the other side of the globe. Click on the player below to listen to the interview.

 

Here is the SBS player:

Click here to go to the stream on the SBS website.

Credits: Marlene Cassandra Galea for the programme, Toni Sant for the link up.

 

 

Categories
Campaign 2013

The Love Labour’s Lost

Enough. Really. There’s only so long that you can keep a straight face and try to fit into what this sad excuse of a political caravan considers to be politically correct. Joseph Muscat’s  five year honeymoon with the electorate as heir to the throne is coming to an end. Sadly, he is winning. Sadly, he is managing to con his way into Castille. I’ve had it up to here with “defending” this blog from accusations of being “inherently nationalist”. It’s a waste of time and resources.

What this blog tries to do (and quite frankly I think it manages) is to point out the realities that are hidden behind the marketing ploys and messages that the PLPN system has refined to quasi-perfection. When we look at Joseph and Labour we do not see it in contrast to Lawrence and PN but rather we try to give the party and its leader a chance to shine in its own right – to prove itself on its own steam.

So what remains once you remove the repetitive mantra that boils down to “how bad, corrupt and dangerous the PN is”? Nothing. Our verdict on the energy plan is a damning “Could Do Better (hopefully)”. Then we have to suffer the pain of hearing about how Muscat’s measures are all inspired by some latter-day Keynesian fiction of putting more money in pockets. What money though? If you stand up and say that the “savings” on the electricity bill will not go a long way to reviving an ailing economy then you are either nationalist or ignorant. This is not me blaming Labour for whatever is happening in the Standard & Poor’s rating department (tort ta’ min?). This is me not believing that Labour is the solution to the problems that they themselves are so keen on highlighting.

***

AD BREAK

Thank you for reading… you might like this link once you’ve finished with this post: A time for lemons

***

Whenever Muscat comes up with a new proposal – take free child care – he forgets that nothing comes for free and that someone, somewhere will be paying it. Will the savings on the new power bills be paying for the child carers wages too? It’s insane. It’s like standing and watching the Pied Piper charm a village into oblivion. He’s done his homework all right. From where we are standing (and that’s a safe distance from the two camps) we can easily see why the warts and arrogance of the PN crowd will always outweigh any measure of reasonable doubt with regards to who can best manage the country and its finances – especially once you throw in the “twenty-five years have hurt” bit into the equation. But is that enough?

Yes. We are victims of our winner takes all electoral system. Yes I will end up being labelled “nationalist” a the end of this rant even though it is not intended to tell you to Vote PN but simply is an exposition of why I can not Vote Labour. The worst part of Muscat’s plan is the rhetoric. It’s the one based around “Malta Taghna Lkoll” and the falso buonismo that really gets on your tits. It is the dumbing down of argumentation by aiming for the questionable mantra of setting aside disagreement for the sake of the country. It is built on relativist opportunism where opinions count more than facts and has a fairy tale wishy washy feeling all round.

Lawrence Gonzi has gone on record yesterday stating that “Muscat is so ashamed of Labour that he speaks, dresses and acts like a Nationalist.” What is that supposed to mean? The only truth I see in that statement is that Muscat has hooked on to what kind of façade is appealing to the electorate and has taken to mimicking those who have hitherto been the masters of the PR. It has nothing to do with dressing “like a Nationalist” or “like a Labourite” (although the fact that Gonzi thinks that way is worrying in itself) – but rather it has a lot to do with knowing what appeals best to the electorate that you are trying to win over. Xinxilli we’d call them in Maltese.

If we really wanted to play the “blame game” (tort ta’ min) then we’d find out that the new Labour outfit – more noise and colour than substance – is just what the spin doctor had ordered of the PN team for the last couple of elections. They’re in sync now – promising the earth on the eve of an election, turning their enemy into a monster in the process (iva Narcy, ibezzghu… kollha kemm huma), and investing heavily in special effects (remember how the campaign kicked off). This time round the money factor swung heavily in favour of the PL – our wonderful entrepreneurial sector having sniffed a possibility of change are now hedging their bets with those fantastic donations that will never be seen in the accounts that Labour never really publishes.

What does that say to all of us? That Labour is change? If Labour is about change then I’m Mother Therese reincarnate. This election is once again not about change. It’s about Same, same but different. It could not have been otherwise – our system is fine tuned to force us into the Hobson’s Choice equation every five years. The dilution of real politics has been a constant for over ten years now and there seems to be no hope in sight unless somebody is brave enough to break the mould.

As for Labour. Chapeau for the campaign – it is deceptively brilliant. I’d hate to be in Joseph Muscat’s shoes the moment the carcades peter out, the last firework explodes and the door of his office opens for the first day in Castille. I’m sure that on that day his promise of resigning if things go Pete Tong will not be of any consolation.

To anyone.

P.S. Happy Birthday Joseph.

Categories
Campaign 2013

A time for lemons

This morning’s Sunday paper sequence had a not too comfy surprise in store for the blue side of this election campaign. As the mass meeting attending acolytes packed their flags and horns for the second of their electoral xalati we read in MaltaToday about yet another scandal exploding in GonziPN’s face. A bloke who goes by the name of Frank Sammut and who has up until now enjoyed the veil of anonimity is at the centre of this scandal. Apparently while sitting on some board that is entrusted with the procurement of oil for our greater benefits (and with the wherewithal to purchase such oil – to the tune of 360 million euros annually), Sammut also allegedly acted as “consultant” to one of the oil companies, pocketing loadsamoney in the process.

Smashing isn’t it? Here we were again with yet another Silvio Zammit sounding story. Maltese “businessmen” who do what they do best when linked with political masters. In this case Sammut is an appointee – a nationalist government appointee. If the “hard proof” that Saviour Balzan is crowing about right now is real then shit has really hit the proverbial fan and I don’t think that the PN machine will pull off another JPO spin to cover up Sammut.

Let’s leave that story and its facts unfold for now. We cannot do much at the moment except take note. I am sure that Monday will bring much more information. Meanwhile we now have an even bigger quandary when it comes to the election and more particularly the energy sector.

On the one hand you have Labour and Konrad Mizzi’s “plans” that look like they leak unpreparedness from whichever point you look. This blog need not apologise when it reaches the conclusion that Mizzi and Labour do not seem to have their act together and are not able to cough up enough guarantees that their plan works.

On the other hand you have PN who can be all smiles and expert when it comes to shooting down Labour’s plans but who are a huge fail when it comes to managing their very own personnel. Most importantly it becomes increasingly harder for the nationalist party to sell their pitch that they operate in the interests of the nation and not in the interests of many groups of many men with an interest in having their part of the pie. And insofar as this particular point is concerned it is of no consolation that should Labour be elected there would still be pie sharing but by different people.

So there you have it. The clueless vs the corrupt. Which brings me to the little party with the big manifesto. It’s a long long read. I still haven’t digested it all and there are quite a few points I definitely disagree with (here’s two: I’m not for any glorification of the president and his powers nor am I for any political party wishing to interfere in how student unions are run) but hey alternattiva have a concrete set of proposals.

The way I see it when it comes to economy and energy AD have concrete ideas. Better still the ideas are based on principles such as taxing progressively, a social conscience and studying solutions based on renewable, clean energy. It’s all there waiting to be put into action or at worst to be copied by the empty vessel parties in five or ten years time. The media will try to minimise AD’s contribution to the usual shocking positions on drugs and LGBT rights.

The truth is that there has never been a moment more than today, more than now, when the role of a third party – possibly as a minor partner in a coalition government – could be crucial to returning any semblance of sanity and direction to our political system. Now, more than ever, should the intelligent beings who do not flock blindly to mass meetings or cheer their leaders at “debates” on Xarabank really be investing their vote in the third party.

Electoral Manifesto (Alternattiva Demokratika)