Category: Mediawatch

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Campaign 2013 Mediawatch Politics

The PM & the Black Knight

Appreciators of that fine vein of British humour that is the Monty Python collection will surely be familiar with the persona of the Black Knight that makes a fleeting (and diminishing) appearance in the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail“.  For the unfortunate few who are sadly unaware of the existence of such sublime sketches let me just say that the ridiculous Black Knight appears in a short sketch (see video below) in which he duels with other knights in order to fulfil his destiny ensuring that “None shall pass”.  While battling the hero of this epic (Arthur) he ends up losing limb after limb but insists on continuing to fight (“’tis but a scratch). Hopping on one leg, armless he still manages to yell “I’m invincible” – a state of absolute comic denial as to the reality of his hopeless situation.

I was reminded of this sketch this weekend when I heard the PM insist that there was no problem of governability in one of his meetings with the people. Crisis? What crisis? The government has survived all assaults on its position (read: votes of confidence in parliament) and therefore after 4 and a half years it will not accept any talk of crisis. The government, you see, is invincible. Now a   great philosopher had once mentioned something about not being able to fool all of the people all of the time and this quote has been doing the rounds in some Labour quarters for quite some time.

PM Gonzi need not bother with the weekly maquillage any longer. If anything, last nights summary termination of all things Franco within the PN should have (as if it was necessary) given the game away to any doubters. The government lost its position of being able to horsetrade away any possibility of surviving votes of confidence towards the end of the last parliamentary session. At that point, Dr Gonzi and his staff knew full well that the business of government was to be punched in on borrowed time. Come October (if we are to wait till then) there will not be much stretching and pulling left – and no amount of distractions such as half-baked civil union bills, sudden illuminations on the censorship issue that never was or even IVF roundabouts will be able to pull off any reprieve of governance.

The difference between the situation today and the situation, say, in May, is that while it is true that for a long time the main trouble with the system of government was that “provoked” by backbenchers, the government had found a way of compromising with the troublemakers : right up to the entente pas trop cordiale reached in the Cohabitation Pact with JPO. Such compromises allowed Gonzi’s government to try to promote a business as usual attitude against all odds. That possibility has now all but waned away.

The inclement weather of the past few days allowed for more of the gemgem and placing of blame at the government’s doorstep. We even had the Msida mayor calling for more funds from government to maintain two resrvoirs at the end of valley road and to clear the tappieri. We wonder why the country gets flooded every year around the same time with uncanny regularity that Arriva can only dream of when the real culprit is the national mentality of “I’m alright so f-you Jack” that leads to clogged arteries and escape routes for the water that will still come down from the sky no matter who is in government.

Here is your check list before the election becomes the here and now: 8th September festivities with accompanying press releases and exchanges of witticisms. 21st September celebrations with similar exchanges followed by 22nd September mass meeting by Labour on Il-Fosos. A short session of “my mass meeting was bigger than yours” chivalric beatings followed by the results of (a) Labour’s Congress about the Future and (b) PN’s budget projections/electoral document.

Then Bob’s your uncle. We’ve gone on record stating that “In this country we don’t solve problems, we nurture them”.

Either that… or we deny they exist.

ADDENDUM :

I had only just posted this on J’accuse when I checked the latest news on the papers. Here is the Times reporting that “PN sources” seem to believe that Gonzi is still eyeing an early 2013 election (do note that it is not an official position – just “sources” – another way of putting out feelers?). Meanwhile MaltaToday tells us that Debono is toying with the idea of a motion of no confidence against health minister Joe Cassar. As we could put it so succinctly in the vernacular: aħdimha! (Work it out!).

 

Categories
Mediawatch Values

Strasbourg on embryo screening

In what is set to be a landmark judgement, the Strasbourg based European Court of Human Rights held that an Italian ban that prevented a couple of healthy carriers of a genetic disease (cystic fibrosis) from screening embryos for in vitro fertilisation was in violation of their right to respect for their private and family life. (Costa and Pavan vs Italy, application 54270/10 – Judgement of 28th August 2012 not yet final).

The couple in question had already had one child. It was through this child that they found out that they were both healthy carriers of the disease cystic fibrosis .  Italian law prohibits “PID” (preimplantation diagnosis) and therefore the couple would be unable to go through a pregnancy without first ensuring that the new child would not suffer from the dangerous and fatal disease of cystic fibrosis.

From the ECHR press release:

Relying on Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life), the applicants complained that the only course open to them to have a baby that did not have cystic fibrosis was to start a pregnancy by natural means and medically terminate it every time the foetus tested positive for the disease. Under Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination), they claimed that they were victims of discrimination compared with sterile couples or those where the man had a sexually transmissible disease.

The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 20 September 2010. At the applicants’ request, on 4 May 2011 it was decided to give the case priority (Rule 41 of the Rules of Court).  The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), the “Movimento per la vita” association and 52 Italian MPs, as one third party intervener, and the “Luca Coscioni”, “Amica Cicogna Onlus”, “Cerco un bimbo” and “L’altra cicogna” associations, together with 60 Italian and European MPs, as another third party intervener, were authorised to submit  written observations (Article 36 § 2 of the Convention and Rule 44 § 3 of the Rules of
Court).

The Court considered that the applicants’ desire to resort to medically-assisted procreation and PID in order to have a baby that did not suffer from cystic fibrosis was a form of expression of their private and family life that fell within the scope of Article 8. The fact that the law did not allow them to proceed in this manner therefore amounted to an interference with their right to respect for their private and family life which was “in accordance with the law”5 and pursued the legitimate aims of protecting morals and the rights and freedoms of others.

The Italian Government justified this interference by the need to protect the health of the mother and child and the dignity and freedom of conscience of the medical professions, and to avoid the risk of eugenic abuses. The Court observed first of all that the notions of “embryo” and “child” must not be confused. It could not see how, in the event that the foetus proved to have the disease, a medically-assisted abortion could be reconciled with the Government’s justifications, considering, among other things, the consequences of such a procedure for both the foetus and the parents, particularly the mother.

The Court stressed the difference between this case, which concerned PID and homologous insemination, and that of S.H. v. Austria, which concerned access to donor insemination. Furthermore, although the question of access to PID raised delicate issues of a moral and ethical nature, the legislative choices made by Parliament in the matter did not elude the Court’s supervision. The Court noted that of the 32 Council of Europe member States whose legislation it examined, PID was only prohibited in Italy, Austria and Switzerland (regulated access to PID was currently being examined in Switzerland).

The Court observed that the inconsistency in Italian law – prohibiting the implantation of only those embryos which were healthy, but authorising the abortion of foetuses which showed symptoms of the disease – left the applicants only one choice, which brought anxiety and suffering: starting a pregnancy by natural means and terminating it if prenatal tests showed the foetus to have the disease. The Court accordingly considered that the interference with the applicants’ right to respect for their private and family life was disproportionate, in breach of Article 8.

Article 14
Discrimination, within the meaning of Article 14, meant treating persons in similar situations differently without an objective and reasonable justification. Here the Court noted that, where access to PID was concerned, couples in which the man was infected with a sexually transmissible disease were not treated differently to the applicants, as the prohibition applied to all categories of people. This part of the application was therefore rejected as being manifestly ill-founded.

Just satisfaction (Article 41)
The court held that Italy was to pay the applicants 15,000 euros (EUR) in respect of nonpecuniary
damage and EUR 2,500 in respect of costs and expenses.

Categories
Mediawatch

Staring at the Sun

I have already written about the imagery surrounding Mintoff or rather the cult of Mintoff. From Saviour to Father of the Nation the persona is aggrandised as far as is superhumanly possible. Today’s Times includes an article by Joseph Vella Bonnici (My time under Dom Mintoff). Even if we dwell for a moment on the psychological implications of the title – “under” Mintoff – we find the implication of submission and subjugation. Our history books are replete with stories of Malta having been under the hold of this people or another- amazingly, no matter how independent, republican or free we may have become there are segments of the population who will speak of having lived “under” Mintoff. They reign, our leaders do you know.

Title psychology aside, Vella Bonnici’s article goes along very much in the vein of a militant Mintoffian – no harm there (I have been warned off picking on “mourners” as though questioning their historical revisionism is some form of disrespect). What really struck me is his concluding aphorism, straight off the mouth of an old friend of his:

A close friend of his once warned me that “Mintoff is like the sun. He is best seen from afar; if one gets too close there is a risk of getting burnt”.

Really? Mintoff is like the sun now? Comparisons to Le Roi Soleil and his famous “Etat c’est moi” would be facile – easy picking right? My reflection would be a little deeper – and is a direct consequence of the friend’s aphorism that fits so nicely with all that is being said and done about the Mintoff cult.

For you see Mr Vella Bonnici, it is a known fact that when you stare at the sun for too long  (no matter how near or far) there is only one consequence that is inevitable (oh the beautiful word)… you tend to go blind.

The blind followers of the sun king… now that’s a new one I hadn’t heard before.

 

Don’t try to hard to think, don’t think at all
I’m not the only one,
Staring at the sun.
Afraid of what you’d find
If you took a look inside
I’m not just deaf and dumb
Staring at the sun
Not the only one
Who’s happy to go blind

(U2 – staring at the sun)

 

Categories
Mediawatch

The Council’s Shit

The Qawra dumping news has only just made the headlines. Some contractor had been asked to dredge a part of Qawra in order to clear an area close to the slipway, only that whoever gave the contractor the order omitted to tell him what to do with the sludge. The solution? The contractor dumps the sludge – not once, not twice, but thrice – in a bathing area. His excuse? “I have permission”.

The much maligned MEPA stepped in and stopped the ridiculous activity as soon as it found out. Council Mayor Paul Salerno was quick on the scene only to inform the press that the council was fully informed of the sledging part of the deal. It turns out that while the Council had contacted MEPA with regard to the sledging business it failed to inform MEPA of the full details of the operation.

What I see in this business is the botched operation by empowered local councils. It is well and good for the “inconveniences” to be summed up and put at the doorstep of whatever government there is on the day but on the other hand what we fail to see is that these examples of hapless management are aeons away from what happened when every fart required central permission. We will surely have more complaints of Gonzi this and Gonzi that with regard to this latest episode of environmental shame but in doing so we fail to recognise one fundamental factor: this time we cannot blame “the government”.

The local council experiment is almost 20 years old now and yet we continue to elect party approved apparatchiks  who settled into their seats of decentralised power and decided to lord it in their respective joint.Without wanting to denigrate a whole tranche of Maltese politics – I am sure that many a local councillor ended his term on full marks – we ended up having an exacerbation of incompetent power politics at a lower level.

The next time your council decides to dump shit in your bathing water remember that it has nothing to do with MEPA or the government – and a lot to do with who you chose to elect to manage your locality.

Categories
Mediawatch

Mintoff: il-verità jekk nigdeb

Ma jtikx li terġa tikteb dwaru. Mhux għalissa għallinqas. Mhux filwaqt li kull min kapaċi iħażżeż żewġ linji għaddej jara’ kif jagħmel iżid jgħid tiegħu dwar il-perit. Imma jien proprja mhux fuq il-perit xtaqt nitkellem. Xtaqt nitkellem dwar l-idoli u dwar min jgħożżhom. Xtaqt nitfa’ il-lenti m’għajnejja bħal ma għamlu Galilew u Koperniku u niskopri dan l-univers ieħor fejn nipprova nifhem għaliex għal bosta nies id-dinja għada ddur mal-perit, l-univers beda mal-perit u li forsi anki l-amerikani ma kienux jaslu bi Curiosity fuq Marte li kieku ma kienx għal kbir Duminku.

Jista’ jkun li mhux hekk ta’. Jista’ jagħti l-każ li wara kollox din hija bissa karikatura li tinħoloq mill-ilsna ħżiena u mill-peċluqa tar-raħal li ma xtaqux ġid lill-kbir perit (il-Mulej jagħtih il-mistrieħ ta’ dejjem avolja hu lill-Mulej ma tantx tah wiċċ). Imma xi ftit suspett għandi. Suspett li l-moviment popolari bħalissa iqarreb iktar lejn il-beatifikazzjoni tal-perit, iva bħalissa hemm mewġa lesta biex issaħħaħ mit li kien ilu magħna u li issa sabet ix-xoqqa f’moxtha. Dan u l-waqt tal-metamorfosi tal-bniedem li issa ser isir divinita’ assoluta u infallibbli.

Ikun hemm postilli, caveats u asteriski li jżidu xi ħsieb żgħir dwar difetti jew żbalji kommessi mill-protoidolu iżda dawn ikunu biss makkjetti żgħar li jkomplu isaħħu l-immaġini totali tal-ġgant popolari. Bħat-tapit Persjan li jrid bilfors ikollu difett biex ma jieħux għalih il-Ħallieq (li Hu biss Hu perfett) hekk biss jissemmew l-għeltijiet f’personalita li kull ma jmur tibda tikber grazzi għal narrativa popolari għaġġelija. Aħna kollha orfni issa. Hekk qalilna l-aspiranti Mintoff. Le xbin. Jien ma jien orfni ta’ ħadd. Dan bħall-Amerikani li l-għada ta’ 9/11 qalulna li We are all Americans now. Tiġrix. Missieri ħaj għadu, u ommi ukoll, għal grazzja tal-Mulej Alla.

Naf nidħol fiż-żifna ukoll u nfakkar lill-Mintoff Aspiranti li ommi kienet tgħallem fl-iskejjel li kienu se jingħalqu minħabba l-wirt tal-politika tal-idolu tiegħu. Naf ngħidlu li missieri kien wisq għal qalbu jaħdem ma ditta Ingliża sakemm ma għoġbux ikeċċihom il-ġgant ta’ Malta. Jien? Orfni ta’ dak? Ħożż fl-ilma. Imma nixtieq għal ftit inwarrab l-għamad taċ-ċirkostanza u nipprova nifhem għalfejn għal xi nies il-perit qisu sar parti integra mit-trinita’. Qaltilhom waħda anzjana lil tat-Times (tal-Black Monday biex niftehmu) li għaliha l-ewwel jiġi il-Mulej imbagħad wara jiġi Mintoff. Dik hi.

Mhux dak biss. Trid tara l-lessiku. Jitkellmu dwar “twemmin” u “fidi”. Iva mhux qed niċċajta. Bħala student tal-politika naf forsi nindikalek il-valuri li fuqhom jissejjes il-Mintoffjaniżmu. Naf nindikalek in-nazzjonaliżmu sfrenat imħawwar b’imħabba għal poplu u fuq kollox għall-ħaddiem u għal dak l-inqas privileġġjat. Għaldaqshekk faċli. Teħodlu ritratt ċar lill-Mintoffjaniżmu – il-politika fuq il-karta ċara. Ta’ daqshekk biss lest ninża l-kappell (kieku kont liebes wieħed) u nsellem lill-proto-soċjalist li beda biex ħaddan politika tal-ħaddemin kif jgħid l-innu.

Pero. U dejjem ikolli pero. Meta nara il-firxa ta’ dak li sar u dak li għamel ma nasalx biex inwaħħad il-ħsieb mat-twettiq. Ma niġġustifikax l-idoliżżar. Għax m’aħniex nitkellmu fuq Ġgant Mondjali. Iva nasal biex ninfoska lil dawk ta’ madwari li lesti joqtlu biex ifakkruk li m’għandix monopolju fuq is-sewwa oġġettiv. Fl-immaġni filosofika bosta drabi rajna lill-Missier Etern impinġi bħala perit kożmiku. Ma nistax naraha taħdem bil-kontra.

L-ewwel bużillis li insiblu lill-perit hija dik tal-pożizzjoni tiegħu fl-istorja – l-istess storja li għad tiġġudikah. Jien insejħilha l-inevitabiltà. Fil-qosor nemmen li dak kollu li sar fi żmien Mintoff kien isir xorta għax kien inevitabbli. Irritanti ħafna bħala ħsieb imma jekk ngħidlek li Malta fl-1945 kienet gorboġ ġebel li qed tiffaċċja perijodu ta’ rikostruzzjoni (bħall-bqija ta’ l-Ewropa) tgħdili giddieb?

U  jekk ngħidlek li kif jixhed b’għemilu Boffa ir-riforma tas-sistema soċjali kienet diġa bdiet tissawwar qabel ma l-Perit ħa over tajjarni giddieb? Jekk ngħidlek li bi flus ir-rikostruzzjoni u l-Għajnuna Marshall kien hemm biex nibnu skejjel u infrastrutturi tgħidli li qed ngħawweġ il-fatti? Jekk ngħidlek li l-universita b’xejn inbdiet fl-1970 taħt Borg Olivier tipprova għallinqas tgiddibni bil-provi u mhux bit-tgħajjir? Jekk ngħidlek li l-vot għan-nisa kien inevitabbli fi żmien it-twelid tal-familja atomika – kontx Bombay jew il-Belt – se tgħidli li far fetched? Jekk ngħidlek li l-istorja qatt ma hi se tgħidilna jekk stajniex morna aħjar b’ekonomija differenti fis-sebgħinijiet u mhux waħda immirata għall-illużjoni tal-awtosuffiċjenza se tmerini?

Ma nafx. “Allura”, nistħajlek tgħidli, “Ja ġifa, Mintoff għalxejn ma kien tajjeb?”. Le ħabib. Tqiegħedx kliem f-ħalqi. Meta qiegħdt il-ħġieġa m’għajnejja ammirajt il-kariżma tal-bniedem. Ammirajt ir-rieda tiegħu u n-nuqqas ta’ biża. Fl-utopja Mintoffjana ammirajt d-dinja aċċessibbli għal kullħadd mingħajr biża u mingħajr dipendenza fuq ħaddieħor. Dak ammirajtu. Ammirajt il-fatt li bħal Obama kien jaf iwassal ħsibijietu lill-parti tal-poplu li l-iktar xtaqu jisma (u le, m’hix oratorija għal kullħadd – inqas intelliġenti, imma min qal li trid tkun intelliġenti biex tkun effettiv?). Għallinqas ma kienx jitnejjek bin-nies bħall-politikanti ta’ llum. Kien jgħidlek x’irid u kif iridu.

Mintoff miegħi jiżloq fit-twettiq. Dak l-entużjażmu, dik ir-retorika u fuq kollox dak il-patt imsawwar mad-dgħajjef u l-ħaddiem. Qaluli trid taraha mill-perspettiva ta’ min ħajtu inbidlet. Jiġifieri xiex? B’għajnejn dawk li bħal eluf oħra madwar il-punent gawdew mir-rivoluzzjoni edukattiva ta’ wara l-gewrra? Sewwa wisq. Iva importanti ħafna din. Tfal sa’ sittax il-sena jistudjaw u jitgħallmu. Daqshekk ħafja fit-triq jew fuq l-Għajn ta’ San Bastjan. U x’iktar? Ix-xogħol? Id-domanda tiegħi hi fejn waqfu l-aspirazzjonijiet tal-perit (u magħhom tal-pajjiż)?

Ma ħoloqx ħolma amerikana – fejn min hu tajjeb jirnexxi u min hu ħażin jaqa’ u jerġa jibda. Le. kien hemm mument fejn waqaf u tilef il-boxxla. Industrija magħżula skond il-bżonn u ħsieb ta’ l-elit soċjalista. Edukazzjoni post-sekondarja imfarrka u sakrifikata fuq l-altar tal-għira lejn elit ieħor tal-passat. Allura x’sewa li toħroġ il-ħafja mit-triq sur Perit jekk imbagħad ma jistgħux jaspiraw biex jikbru u jsibu oriżżonti ġodda sakemm mhux sanzjonati mill-burdati tal-Maċina?

Għalhekk forsi jien ma nifhimx u ma tinżillix din l-idolatrija kurrenti li hawn madwar l-immaġni tal-perit. Fil-verita tiegħi għandi miżien u bih inkejjel il-ħolm u t-twettiq ta’ dak li qed jissejjaħ Missier u Salvatur. Issa apparti li din tal-Missier u Salvatur ma tixraqx fil-lessiku tagħna u hija iktar idonea f’xi kultura tal-Korea ta’ Fuq per eżempju. Imma il-miżien tiegħi jibqa dejjem b’effett aħħari nieqes. Bl-ingliż kieku ngħidu short changed. Dak il-ħafna promessi, dak il-ħafna ħolm u ideal ma ssawrux fl-aħħar.

Forsi lanqas Mintoff stess ma kien kuntent. Naf ngħidlek li wisq huwa probabbli li anki hu ddarras b’dawk li spiċċa imdawwar bihom. Xi Lorry Sant (idolu ieħor f’xi inħawi) li għalaq il-ħsibijiet grandjużi u l-aspirazzjonijiet sovrumani tal-perit f’morsa fallibbli ta’ soċjaliżmu a la carte. Il-pjanijiet grandjużi sabu ħajt fallibbli tal-korruzzjoni umana, tas-sakra tal-poter, tal-abbuż tal-poter u tal-eżaltazzjoni tal-massa injuranta li ma fehmitx ir-responsabilta’ li kienet iġġib magħħa l-emanċipazzjoni Mintoffjana fl-istat teoretiku tagħha. Kien jgħidilhom il-perit li kien ser ikollhom jagħmlu sagrifiċċi biex iwettqu dak li xtaqu. Forsi ma fehmuħx u forsi wara ftit xeba’ jipprova jikkonvinċihom.

Qaluli li lejn l-aħħar ta’ żmienu bħala Prim Ministru kien xeba u spiċċa jgħix Ħal Tarxien imdawwar ma xi ftit ħbieb u jgħum kuljum St Peter’s Pool. Qaluli li kien qata qalbu jissielet mal-għedewwa ta’ ġewwa ħafna qabel ma qata’ qalbu jissielet ma dawk ta’ barra. Kullħadd jixba u jgħeja jitqabad mal-fallibilità umana. Hawn min jitlifa’ mod u min ieħor. Qaluli ukoll li l-aħħar att kbir ta’ Mintoff (minbarra l-1998) kien meta dilek lil Karmenu biż-żejt tas-suċċessur. Qaluli li kieku ma għamilx hekk appik kien ikollna Sant ieħor Prim Ministru. Kien jagħmel rebus, dak, bl-inevitabiltà.

Ma nafx jekk dak li qaluli hix storja apokrifa. Li naf hu li l-personalita kumplessa li hija Dom Mintoff ma ħaqqiex status ta’ idolu. Ma ngħidx hekk b’disprezz jew b’rabja jew b’xi spirtu vindikattiv ta’ min beda ħajtu politika fuq il-qasam l-ieħor. Ngħid hekk għax l-istatus ta’ idolu huwa biss frott ta’ eżaġerazzjoni, karikaturi, iperbole u iva ta miti u emozzjonijiet. Hemm bżonn li l-figura ta’ Mintoff titneżża minn dan il-velu idolatra.

Imbagħad forsi iva, imbagħad l-istorja taf tiġġudikah.

La verité si je mens.

Nota: Qabel ma jieħu għalih xi iblaħ, l-immaġini li takkumpanja din il-bloggata hija ispirata mit-t-shirt famużissimu li kien iħobb jilbes il-kantant tal-Guns’N’Roses Axl Rose. Il-wiċċ fuq dak it-t-shirt ma kienx ta’ Mintoff. Kien tas-Salvatur.

 

Categories
Mediawatch Politics

The day that Marmite died

You must be familiar with that jar of delicious liquid goo that is Marmite, or at least with its more popular beefy cousin – Bovril. Marmite’s ubiquitous presence on grocer’s shelves has divided the general public into two distinct categories that eventually became the slogan of this yeast-based product: You either love it or you hate it. The Marmite/Bovril effect is just that – spread a little of either the beef extract or its vegetarian alter ego on a bit of bread and offer it to an innocent newbie and then just watch. You will either get a an expression of finger-licking glee or a glare of absolute disgust verging on the nauseous. That’s them – the icky spreads and their effect. Both Bovril and Marmite became institutions. A quick fix in hard up times and an absolute necessity in the “economic” pre- and post- war kitchens. They ARE still institutions. Whether you love them or you hate them.

The death of Dom Mintoff brought back to the surface the Marmite effect among the Maltese. Mintoff, like Marmite, was either loved or hated. For a brief period even his most intimate of “lovers” found time to despise him when he chose to bring down a government – single handedly. I will forever remember the litany of expletives mouthed by a taxi driver in Paceville right beneath the window where I was going through my early morning revision of Criminal procedure back in 1998. This was no Mintoff-hating nationalist – this was a tattoed Mintoffian through and through – wishing that the worst of the worst would happen to the short, pipe-smoking politician following his apparent betrayal of the Socialist ideal.

Yes. I said Mintoffian. That’s because Mintoff is a large enough figure to inspire an -ism. It is a wide -ism based on a very Mintoffian cocktail of socialism and nationalism. It is a battle begun from the benches of Boffa’s government transformed into a mission that ran on slogans such as “Malta l-ewwel u qabel kollox” and “Min mhux maghna kontra taghna”. It is formed over the span of more than half a century and covers measures or interventions within a national economy supposedly intended for the benefit of the worker and the betterment of the less better off. This was no “middle class” aspiration – this was a politic that is seeded in colonial times and set out with all the intention to improve the state of the Maltese.

The whirlwind tour from the late 30’s to the mid-90s will be dissected, analysed, written and re-written. But the Mintoff effect is the same as the Marmite effect – you love him or you hate him. There are no half measures. The myth is not born today but it is definitely about to go viral. There is a party-in-waiting in Opposition that is gunning to return Mintoff cabinet members to government – it’s not exactly history that we are speaking about. Mintoffianism lives. Mintoffianism is alive in articles in last Sunday’s papers outlining how Malta can still renegotiate its deal with the EU. Mintoffianism still pulls the emotional strings of a large part of the population whose lexicon is stuck on the idea of “30 years of hurt”, on “the privileged elite vs the rest” and the new aspiration of “an open middle class”.

Some, like me, cannot get themselves to appreciate Mintoff. No matter how hard we can try to see the aspirations of the young Dom we always hit that ugly barrier come his “maturity”. Emancipation for others meant “free education” but the socialist scythe of the Mintoffian brand of politics also meant the destruction of too much aspiration. It meant continued education by godfather and the shutting down of the creative arts. It meant expropriation and nationalisation within the framework of an ever dwindling package of legal fundamental rights. More than the notorious age of violence remains the emptiness in an age when the law amounted to nothing much. The individual had no rights because the constitutional court was kept in abeyance and Malta failed to subscribe to the European Convention of Fundamental Rights.

It’s all relative some will say. Some will remain ever grateful to this tub of marmite that pulled them out of “poverty” and “gave” their sons a job and “gave” them a roof in a housing estate. Free education (with streaming first removed then reintroduced) meant more students until the age of 16. Then they would move on to what? Choice, hope and potential were all sacrificed on the all equalling altar of socialist balance. You cannot appreciate that kind of future. The hot air that was the socialist revolution petered out as would any system that attempts to dehumanise its people. Without basic rights and the possibility of expression the socialist dream fell flat on its face and was caught in its own lie. For all the talk of being on the side of the worker and on the side of the poor, the end legacy of Mintoffianism was a nation on its knees with frozen wages, nationalised dinosaur industries and an inability to contemplate the idea of meritocracy and competition. Malta’s treasury box might have been full but potential wise it was running on empty.

Yes, I am of the generation that believed the dream that came next. Our cup of Bovril was the dream of Work, Justice and Liberty of the later eighties. Comparisons are just as odious as adulations but this was our cup half full. Somewhere in this morass of political dwarves posing as giants we also were entitled to a dream. Between the campanilistic propaganda of the eighties and the mass marketing of the naughties we had an interlude of the politics that we hoped would come. Ironically Mintoff had a hand in that too and he inadvertently righted our path towards the Common Market of opportunity. Our dream too has had to subside and submit to the politics of mediocrity that have replaced the value-driven methods of Boffa’s 50s or Fenech Adami’s early 90s.

Mintoffianism is alive but Mintoff the man is dead. They tell me he was not a believer so there is no one to commend his soul to. His memory and his heritage will continue to be debated and discussed.

Until now we only have one objective certainty… Mintoff you either love him or you hate him. In the island of Saints and Fireworks there could hardly be more of a testament that this is truly one of its sons.