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Constitutional Development Rule of Law

Vigil: justice for Daphne

Credit: Paul Borg Olivier

Speech delivered at Vigil for Justice for Daphne. 16th November 2019.

First, Let’s Kill All the Lawyers. L-ewwel ma nagħmlu, ejja noqtolu l-avukati kollha. Xi ħsieb dak eh? Ħsieb li jxewwex il-massa. Huwa ħsieb li jmiss xi ħaġa fil-fond ta’ kull wieħed u waħda minnkom, anki jekk forsi ma tkunux lesti tammettu. X’qed ngħid? Probabbli daż-żmien ħadd ma jiddejjaq jgħidu. Daphne Caruana Galizia wkoll forsi kellha xi ħsibijiet koroh dwar l-avukati f’xi mument… imbagħad iżżewġet wieħed… mur obsor …

L-ewwel ma nagħmlu, ejja noqtolu l-avukati kollha. Dik il-frażi taslilna dritt minn triloġija ta- drammi ta’ Shakespeare dwar l-ġlieda għall-poter fi żminijiet diffiċli ħafna fir-renju tal-Ingilterra – qisu Brexit imma fil-passat. Il-mument li fih titlissen dik il-frażi jiġi hekk kif persunaġġ li jismu Jack Cade qiegħed ixewwex folla ta’ nies komuni kontra min qiegħed fil-poter. Mument populista.

Cade qed iwiegħed ikel irħas u birra irħas. Ikompli jwiegħed li ’l quddiem ma jkunx hemm bżonn flus, kulħadd jiekol u jixrob kif irid u kulħadd jilbes tajjeb. Lanqas jilħaq jispiċċa jwiegħed dan kollu li mill-folla ma tqumx l-għajta :  “L-ewwel ma nagħmlu, ejja noqtlu l-avukati kollha.”

Shakespeare kien jaf li b’dan il-vers kienu se jogħxew ħafna nies.U hekk hu. Is-sentiment li jesprimi ma huwiex sempliċement wieħed kontra l-avukati iżda kontra l-istruttura legali sħiħa illi fuqha tiddependi u topera s-soċjetà sħiħa. Il-poplu ribelluż, imxewwex minn dak li jixtieq isir Re bil-wegħda ta’ status aħjar ma jirrifjutax il-possibbiltà li jinjora obbligi, li jivvjola wegħdiet u li jikser ir-regoli.

Cade jirkeb id-dagħdigħa tal-mument u jsejjaħ lill-massa biex tkisser l-iskejjel tal-liġi u l-qrati. Minn issa ‘l quddiem il-liġijiet isiru kollha minnu u minnu biss. Cade huwa l-eroj tal-mument. Is-segwaċi tiegħu lesti jaċċettaw sistema li trendi r-rappreżentanza istituzzjonali inutli – lesti jkissru sistema sħiħa. Kollha kemm huma jafu li Cade huwa giddieb magħruf imma lesti jagħzlu l-ħolma-wiegħda tiegħu fuq kollox: “Henceforward all things shall be in common.” L-Ingilterra Tagħna Lkoll.

Cade jgħid lill-marmalja ta’ quddiemu li l-għadu huma l-litterati u l-għorriefa. Ma jdumux ma jixxewxu biex jgħallqu skriba “bil-pinna u l-klamar m’għonqu”. It-tradituri tal-kawża kollha għandhom jinġabu quddiem il-ġustizzja tal-marmalja.

Nista’ nkompli b’iktar eżempji minn dal-kapulavur storiku. Li rridu nifhmu hu li Shakespeare, li kien qed jikteb fi żmien meta stejjer dwar ribelljoni kienu ċċensurati bil-kbir, qed jikxef l-elementi taż-żelqa lejn it-tirannija.

Shakespeare qed iwissi dwar dawn is-sejħiet biex jitfarrku l-ġustizzja u l-għarfien. Twissija li tapplika ghal dawn iż-żmienijiet ukoll. Qiegħdin hawn għal darb’oħra fuq kollox sabiex infakkru kittieba, ħaddiema tal-kelma li sfat suġġett ta’ ordni moqżież : mhux li titgħallaq bil-pinna u l-klamar ma għonqha imma biex iġġarraf splużjoni b’mod barbariku.

Dik l-ordni ġiet fi żmien meta l-battalja kontra l-ġustizzja, kontra l-loġika u kontra r-raġuni kienet ġa bdiet. M’hemm l-ebda dubju – Daphne Caruana Galizia hija l-vittma tax-xewwiexa li qarrqu bin-nies bl-illużjoni ta’ ħajja aħjar, li wasslu biex inkonxjament jiġi injorat it-tkissir tas-sistema, li biegħu il-gidba li dan huwa L-Aqwa Żmien.

Is-sinjali ta’ twissija kienu ilhom hemm. Imma spjegazzjonijiet tekniċi dwar it-tkissir tas-Saltna tad-Dritt – ma jistgħu xejn kontra mewġa fuq mewġa ta’ populiżmu u demagoġija.

Xogħol Daphne kien jifforma parti minn makkinarju ikbar ta’ xogħol impekkabbli magħmul minn mewġa ġdida ta’ ġurnalisti u investigaturi – moviment ġdid kontra l-korruzzjoni fid-dinja, fl-Ewropa u f’pajjiżna.

L-istituzzjonijiet tagħna nħatfu. In-nies għadhom f’qagħda lluppjata ta’ aċċettazzjoni. Għadha ma nqalbitx il-folja. L-isfida li niffaċċjaw illum huwa li nkomplu nipperseveraw u nseddqu l-veritajiet li nies bħal Daphne kienu qalbiena biżżejjed li jikxfu. Hekk kif iktar nies jifhmu bil-qerq il-kbir li tagħha huma l-vittmi, iktar ma tikber ir-rabja għall-bidla.

Sentejn wara l-fatt, irridu naċċettaw ir-realtà patetika li dan l-assassinju ma kienx atroċità kbira biżżejjed li ssarraf f’azzjoni konkreta reali mill-poplu. Irridu naċċettaw il-verità qarsa li anki jekk rajna l-istituzzjonijiet jinħatfu wieħed wieħed, anki jekk rajna ir-rappreżentanza titmermer u titniġġeż mill-kilba partiġġjana, anki jekk rajna lill-għassiesa tagħna nnewtralizzati, dan kollu għadu ma kienx biżżejjed biex ikebbes nar ta’ moviment ta’ bidla.

L-irjus koroh tad-dubju u tan-nuqqas ta’ fidi fil-proxxmu jqumu kull meta forsi kien hemm ħjiel ta’ bidu ta’ bidla. Dak l-istess dubju u nuqqas ta’ fidi jkissru u jifframmentaw l-ilħna tal-bidla u jsaħħu lill-użurpaturi tal-poter.

Imma. Nixtieq inwassal aħbar tajba lil din il-velja. Nixtieq ngħid li l-movimenti taċ-ċittadini mgħaddba għall-istupru tal-ambjent u għall-abbuż tal-awtoritajiet tal-ippjanar, li il-kuxjenza dejjem tikber dwar differenzi kbar soċjal-ekonomiċi – huma sinjal li r-riħ qed iqum.

Nixtieq nenfasizza li minkejja li għad hawn politikanti lesti jixorbu mill-ilma mdardar tar-razziżmu, xenophobija u mibgħeda għall-barrani – hawn ukoll min lest jieqfilhom. Irrid nenfasizza dawn l-aspirazzjonijiet ġodda għal Malta verament Ewropea li taspira tkun parti mill-bidla kontinentali għal futur aħjar.

Dan kollu minkejja – u mhux grazzi għal – ħafna minn dawk li suppost jirrapreżentawna. In-nies qed tfittex vuċi ġdida, bidu ġdid li jwarrab stili qodma u li jwassal proġett ġdid għall-ġid komuni taċ-ċittadini. Il-mara li xogħlha nikkomemoraw illum ħadmet ħafna biex tikxef il-veritajiet li huma neċessarji f’din il-ġlieda. Tagħha ma kenitx qlubija fiergħa. Kif qal Peter, ir-raġel tagħha:

« Il-Qlubija waħedha ftit għandha valur jekk ma għandhiex skop. Mingħajr sens ta’ ġustizzja. »

Illum niltaqgħu biex naqtgħu ras il-mostri tad-dubju u nuqqas ta’ fidi. Niltaqgħu hawn biex inkebbsu dak is-sens ta’ skop. Niltaqgħu hawn biex nikkonfermaw li nemmnu f’socjetà ġusta. Niltaqgħu hawn biex nikkommettu ruħna għat-tfittxija tal-verità, għall-ġlieda għall-ġustizzja u għat-twelid mill-ġdid ta’ Repubblika li rat wisq uġiegħ u ġarrbet wisq dannu.

First, let’s bring them all to justice. L-ewwel ma nagħmlu, ejja naraw li jsir il-ħaqq.

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(Personal) Space Invaders

Ferragosto or Santa Marija, as it is known in our parts, is the top summer holiday. The heat feels like it is at its hottest and the feeling of living in the most densely populated islands on earth is exacerbated by the manifestations of mass movement that are the villeggjatura and festi. There has not been much of a political armistice this year, at least not as much as usual, and this has thankfully meant that the momentum gathered towards the beginning of summer by various civil society actions did not peter out with the onset of the hot damning sun.

Space seems to be a common denominator that underlies the main occurrences on the island. It began with trees. The trees were condemned to be removed because the autocentric society that we live in needed more space in which to put our traffic jams. Once the alarm was raised over the latest action of intransigence, then it would be little time before the spaces on our facebook walls would be taken over by example after example of other barbarian assaults on the scant flora that our nation can still boast of. A sense of awareness had been created and the anger was finally harnessed.

Pioneer activists wanted the online indignation to be transferred away from the ether to the physical spaces and the momentum is being continued with a date for the 7thSeptember when the angered will meet again to fill spaces with their bodies. 

Space is what our few beaches have as an important commodity. The news that the government of the expanding middle class (Invictus) has negotiated the return of 10% of certain bays to the people was announced as though this was some kind of triumph for the and by the people. That the remaining 90% should also be the people’s space and is part of the foreshore that should not be subject to commerce seems to have been ignored.

An angry businessman in another part of the island was called pastaz by a Minister’s portaborsefor the simple fact that he had complained of the invasion of an idyllic space by part of the ever-growing army of campervans in Malta. That’s something I never quite understood – campervans in Malta? Why? In any case the chances of the powers that be accepting the fact that the abuse of public spaces to feed the supposed middle-classification of the islands is a no-no are close to zilch.

Old, traditional public places are in danger of being morphed by the government’s frenzied approach to development. Rows of houses in Rabat under threat by the unplanning authority that together with the motor vehicle authority (read transport malta) has declared war on the Maltese landscape. Their invasion of space is beyond the barbaric. The determination to succeed is strengthened by the far from meritocratic filling of spaces by the Invictus elected. No stone will be left unturned. Every day brings a new item of news announcing the perversion of Maltese space for the satisfaction of the middle-class laureates.

Access to property is tougher and tougher – making that personal space all the harder to come by. Meanwhile the annual exodus to the ‘sister island’ will surely mean more complaints of lack of space, lack of place, lack of air. The air they breathe incidentally is ever so unhealthy much to the chagrin of the asthmatic community – never enough space in the lungs to take in the much-needed oxygen.

The open seas around the island are also full of ‘invaders’ of another kind. Bodies upon bodies will be bartered by governments and NGOs for the sake of understanding which space they are entitled to scrape a living upon. 

At PN HQ they have already started planning ahead about which space to fill for the traditional Independence Day celebrations. The Fososmight seem dauntingly like too large an expanse for the second largest party in Malta so they will try to make do with the space in front of the HQ in Pieta’. Much space for irony there. 

No irony was lost when newly anointed Minister for Pinkwashing paraded a made-up Malta-LGBTQ flag with the rainbow colours replacing the Red part of the Maltese flag. Yet another exercise of facile endearment risked turning sour as the nationalists (not the PN ones) felt angered and offended by what they considered to be a desecration of a national symbol. 

Old men and ministerial lackeys also seem to be offended on a daily basis by the continuing manifestation of solidarity with the cause of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The calls for justice are manifested in a small space opposite the law courts and they are also removed on a daily basis by those who cannot seem to be able to survive the fact of being reminded daily that justice has not been served.

There’s a general feeling of suffocation. It’s claustrophobic. Something has got to give. Watch this space.

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Mediawatch

Eyes Wide Shut: Santa Lucia & Lady Justice

In my childhood Santa Lucia meant a visit to an uncle of mine. Wikipedia tells me that the village was named after a 16th Century chapel in the vicinity, which is quite extraordinary given how that particular century kept cropping up as I ‘researched’ the background behind my ideas for this post.

The village is really a 20th century invention – ta’ Mintoff, some would say. An idea of a neatly laid out village snuggled between Luqa and Tarxien underneath the Addolorata Cemetery. In my mind I associate Santa Lucia with Mintoffian street furniture – stone benches, planters and some greenery – and an idea of a centre where one would find a grocer, a butcher and some other amenities put together. The village houses that I remember had their front parapets with some greenery.

Santa Lucia’s streets are colourfully given the name of flowers and trees, From Vjal l-Oleandri to Narcis, Petunja, Vjol, Znuber, Rand, Bruka, Iris, Ibisku to Stefanotis – the idea behind a green modern civic centre was there all right. It was a social experiment that to an extent had worked. Lining the village to the north is the Chinese Garden of Serenity. Described in this way Santa Lucia is definitely an oasis of green idealism far from the destructive obsessions that we are used to today.

Santa Lucia – Ville Fleurie

Saints, Cemeteries and Blind Justice

Ian Borg’s latest pet project – the one where he claims to have consulted and not heard any response – involves the massacre of a green part of Santa Lucia (and a jogging track). The cemetery has shifted closer within the confines of the village but instead of the souls at the Addolorata (sorrows) we have the sorrowful sight of hundreds of trees being axed in the name of the God of Vehicles and Progress. A vox pop on Maltatoday clearly showed the anxious confusion of the Santa Lucia residents who on the one hand are loath to criticise anything the government of the tattoed undefeated decides to do while on the other they are visibly shaken by the loss of their immediate green surroundings.

There seems to be no justice when opposing such horrible developments. Blind justice seems to peek through her bandages and always, inevitably sides with the developer, the permit seeker and the tree-slayer. Civil society is reduced to holding wakes for the dying after belatedly realising that the justice’s blindness was rigged. Santa Lucia, the village named after a 16th century chapel will be raped in the name of progress – against the inner will of its citizens but to the sound of much acclaim for this government that privileges development above all.

A blindness acquired

Now to a serendipitous series of uncanny coincidences that I came across prompted by the fact that two figures in this modern fable seem to be associated with “blindness” of sorts. Saint Lucy, to begin with. Lucy hailed from nearby Syracuse and was a great devotee of Saint Agatha (one of Malta’s trilogy of patron saints). To cut a long story short, Lucy died a martyr, refusing to renounce her religion. “The Christian tradition states that when the guards came to take her away, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. Bundles of wood were then heaped about her and set on fire, but would not burn. Finally, she met her death by the sword thrust into her throat.” (Wikipedia)

What is absent from Christian tradition – at least not until the 16th century – is any mention of the eye-gouging with which Saint Lucy is associated nowadays.

Which brings me to Lady Justice. The image of Blind Justice is imprinted in our collective minds. The “blindness” is really a blindfoldedJustice and the reason for it is to guarantee impartiality – justice is applied without regard to wealth, power or status (or it should be). Other symbols are normally to be found around images or statues of Justice. Most common of all are the scales of justice – they have been around since depictions by the Egyptians. The Ancient Book of Death depicts a scales in which a heart is balanced by a feather of truth. Justice is often seen carrying a sword that represents the authority of swift and final justice. Sometimes the sword is replaced by a book representing the law.

But back to the blindfold. I was extremely surprised to find out that early depictions of justice never included it. The Greek Themis and Roman Justitia had their eyes uncovered. It is only since the 16th century that justice has been depicted wearing a blindfold. The first known representation of blind Justice is Hans Gieng’s 1543 statue on the Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen (Fountain of Justice) in Berne.

So there you have it. That chapel that gave its name to the 20th century village of Santa Lucia dates from the 16th century. That’s the century when Lucy “lost” her eyes and Justice “gained” her blindfold. In the 21st century, the village of the streets of flowers and trees is losing its greenery. Justice seems to be looking the other way and the only blindness that is apparent is among the citizens who find it hard to criticise the decision-makers… even if their own quality of life is at stake.

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The Road to Perdition

Il-proġett li se jeqred 48,000 metru kwadru ta’ art agrikola, joqtol iktar minn 600 siġra, jiżola 1,200 ruħ u jkeċċi 47 bidwi – filwaqt li ma jsolvi assolutament xejn -għadu kemm għadda mill-Bord tal-Awtorità tal-Ippjanar bi 3 vota kontra u 9 favur.

Moviment Graffitti react to PA vote

Mad dogs and artists

Seven. That’s seven football fields worth of agricultural land. They are being frittered away in order to purportedly give way to a more fluid transport situation. Cars have to move apparently. To do so 600 trees have to die. Forget about replanting and make no mistake about it. The trees will die. There will be less trees, more tarmac and if the artists’ impression is anything to go by two parallel high walls locking the cars in their smog driven ecstasy of a trip.

The artists’ impresssion also includes a madman walking his dog on a superhighway of a pavement. No billboards or lamposts feature in this impression but then again the impression is only there to give some form of ‘substance’ for the ‘visionaries’ backing Ian Borg’s latest transport brainwave. According to the twitter reactions by the idiot savants who trumpet Borg’s cause, the people will soon forget the minor inconvenience of environmental armageddon once they gain their 5 extra seconds on their commute to Saqajja.

#thesystemisbroken (reprise)

The guys at Moviment Graffitti are rightly taking up the challenge. They speak of encouragement because residents, environmentalists and farmers got together to argue against the development. The arguments, they say, were rock solid and unquestionable. The problem is that the Planning Authority – a regulator that should be acting in the interests of the people voted in the large part in favour of the road – they call it the Central Link.

Unlike what happened in the case of the Marsa Racetrack development where the PN barely lifted an eyelid, it would seem that the PN rep on the PA board voted against the development. The other two votes against came from an NGO and from an Attard councillor. Still, votes against notwithstanding, the system remains heavily rigged in favour of a party in government that has no qualms about bulldozering over the real public interest.

It should already be shocking that the distribution of positions on such boards has to take into consideration a form of par condicio for the two parties. Instead of experts in the field acting on a clear policy remit we have party interests represented. Add to that the blatant interest of strong lobbies such as the construction and development lobby paired with a state captured in their interests and you will begin to understand how the backsliding of the rule of law in this particular quarter is having its undesirable effects.

Steve Bonello – Soon to become history…
This iconic farmhouse in the area known as Taht ir-Rahal in Attard is set to be demolished as part of the Central Link Project which has just been approved by that criminal organisation otherwise known as the Planning Authority.

A Republic based on Automobiles

Public transport policy and the general management of cars is a farce. An island that should be aiming to reduce cars to the bare minimum instead plans and builds around the dreaded automobile. Proper public transport is shunned for the exaltation of the private vehicle. More roads, more tarmac, more development.

Don’t forget more petrol stations too. This notwithstanding the lip service paid to a supposed target date for going electric. There is really no way out. Today’s lesson is that the livelihood of 47 farmers is of no consequence to policy makers and shapers so long as cars will supposedly shave a couple of seconds of their commute (which they will not).

What about the trees? 600 of them. The “replanting” lie has not yet been put paid but the more it gets exposed the harder it gets to use it next time. If there is a next time of course.

Ezekiel 25:17

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the
Inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men 
Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will 
shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness 
for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children 
And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious
Anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers 
And you will know
My name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee

Ezekiel 25:17, Pulp Fiction (Quentin Jerome Tarantino)

Unfortunately the battles that need to be fought by the likes of Moviment Graffitti are twice as hard because the system is rigged against them. Where equity, justice and common sense should apply there is a state capture of gargantuan proportions led by the corrupt and the selfish. It is time to transform the multiple minor skirmishes into the full battle on all fronts that leads to systemic change.

It’s either that or continue down the road to perdition.

perdition/pəˈdɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

  1. (in Christian theology) a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unrepentant person passes after death.
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Pretty in Pink

Muscat visits Luxembourg

Bettel the Strong

Luxembourg’s PM Xavier Bettel was criticized this week for his decision not to attend a farewell dinner for Simona Frankel, the Israeli ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg. Reports in the Israeli and Luxembourg press suggested that Bettel declined the invitation to the dinner in Brussels because of the support for gay conversion therapy by Israeli education minister Rafi Peretz.

Bettel is the PM many would dream of having. Europe’s first openly gay and married PM, he was confirmed for a second term in 2018. During a recent summit in February between EU and Arab states he took Arab leaders to task over the repression of gay-rights. Bettel’s politics is definitely not limited to the LGBT agenda and extends to strong programmes of integration and inclusivity, solid economic planning and a progressive environmental policy.

This week Bettel will be receiving Malta’s PM Joseph Muscat. Muscat and his government love to trumpet their achievements on paper regarding LGBT rights in Malta – achievements that rocketed Malta to the forefront of states endorsing gay rights. The sincerity of Muscat’s government though leaves much to be desired; one could safely say that to a large extent his is an exercise at pinkwashing.

The way the corpus of gay legislation gets bandied about in Malta’s defence against the criticisms on rule of law backsliding in international institutions does leave a sour taste about it all. You get that lasting suspicion that citizen rights is the last thing on Muscat and his governments’ mind.

Bettel will understandably not refuse to meet a fellow EU leader. A few strong words regarding the rule of law backsliding would be most welcome though. After all, Muscat’s weakening of regulatory bodies and his golden passport scheme are a direct threat to all the partners in the European Union – Luxembourg included. Bettel should not let Muscat’s pink mask dazzle him away from the real problems. The danger of the weak back door entry into Europe can no longer afford to be ignored.

Muscat the disgraced

Muscat’s visit in one of his first visits on the continent since failing to clinch one of the top EU jobs at the last EU council meeting. Muscat had made no secret of having coveted one of the jobs available at the latest musical chairs in Europe but left Brussels empty-handed. That night of negotiations, Muscat’s communications aide retweeted that the Maltese PM had been very close to becoming European Council President – a claim that was later denied by political assistants and journalists present in Brussels.

Muscat’s fall from potential new star on the European block to toxic candidate has spiralled quickly ever since he chose to stand full square behind Minister Konrad Mizzi and right-hand man Keith Schembri – both heavily implicated in the Panama Papers scandal. Unlike other politicians around the world, from Iceland to Pakistan to Brazil, the Muscat led-government refused to accept any responsibility for whatever proof was forwarded with regard to possible networks of corruption.

Matters were not made easier for Muscat with the assassination of prominent journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. At the time of her death the journalist had been turned into a pariah thanks to a veritable “witch-hunt” encouraged amongst others by Muscat’s party machine. Caruana Galizia had faced a long list of economically crippling libel suits yet persisted in uncovering scandal after scandal in areas such as public procurement, sale of public assets, sale of passports and the aforementioned Panama Papers scandal.

The journalist’s assassination brought international attention to what had hitherto been a local scenario. Report after report by leading European institutions was published that warned about weak rule of law mechanisms, and the concentration of power in the Prime Minister’s hands. In this context, concerns were expressed on the lack of progress on the investigation into the journalist’s death.

Only this month, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe approved a report on the investigation into the assassination of Caruana Galizia and the rule of law in Malta with an overwhelming majority. It concluded that the situation in the country was so serious it put the whole of Europe at risk. Civil society in the country has been mobilized. Attempts to commemorate Daphne Caruana Galizia and renew calls for justice are constantly thwarted by the Government in the guise of Justice Minister Owen Bonnici.

Muscat’s government sends out contradictory and unconvincing messages of an intention to reform while at the same time refusing to assume any responsibility for the backsliding of the rule of law. Government critics are labelled as traitors of the nation, supposedly because they are attempting to undermine Muscat’s economic miracle that, his government claims, makes Malta “the Best in Europe”. Bolstered by regular positive results from ratings companies, Muscat manages to use the “economic miracle” mantra to hide the obvious faults in the institutional set-up of the nation.

The latest challenge by civil society opposition is in the Maltese courts – a direct challenge to the method of appointment of the judiciary in Malta. Taking their cue from recent developments in Poland and Hungary, the civil society activists are requesting a referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union in order to have the method of appointment of the judiciary thoroughly examined. The judiciary remains the last institution that risks falling to a complete state capture – in a nation where meritocracy is just a by-word for “jobs for the boys”.

Malta’s PM continues to dodge calls for a public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia following the Council of Europe resolution. Under Muscat, Malta has quickly shifted from star performer to the sick soft underbelly of Europe with weakened administrative and monitoring authorities meaning an open backdoor into the European Union for all sorts of shifty business.

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Quantum of Solace – an apologia

Dr. No

Raphael Vassallo dedicated his latest opinion column on Saviour Balzan’s portal to what purports to be an analysis of the last post on this blog – The PN must die. Preliminary remarks are in order before tackling the actual content of the column. It would seem that Raphael fell from the sky and suddenly discovered this blog and blogging for the first time. The spectre of that great risk of acknowledging another opinion and its value runs throughout the piece – typical of political engagement nowadays. J’accuse is used to that.

Ah yes, J’accuse. That’s the name of the blog Raphael. I’m sure you know that – we go far back (practically from the start), – the truth if I lie. One important part of the propaganda rule-book nowadays is of course the “shoot the messenger” chapter and nothing works more than attempting to belittle the source. Still, it’s not as though J’accuse is for your eyes only Raphael, it’s been part of the local opinion forum for quite a while now – maybe less frequently lately but still there quietly making its mark when needed.

One last thing on a formal level. It overlaps with content but it’s biggie. The “former nationalists”, “people like Jacques” boxing in. Really Raphael? I’d have hoped to never have to say never again but here we are in 2019 – fourteen years since this blog saw the (living) daylight and we are still confronted with that yawn-inducing argument of having a political party affiliation thrown at us. You almost made me think of my tiffs with Daphne there. Almost of course, because that was a wholly different league. It’s not worth a reply – just pointing out the ridiculous levels to which you descended in order to prop a weak argument.

J’accuse the “former nationalist” will be added to the long line of other masks attributed to me over the years including “the labourite”, the “AD activist” the “liberal” and the “Luxembourger who smells of Gozo cheese” (that was another Vassallo). Lastly, I do no think I should bother with whatever Daily Mail inspired trash led Raphael to play the “cushy Euro jobs” card. We are not here on His Majesty the Kink’s Service but there are probably other cushy jobs that deserve investigative journalists’ attention – much closer to home.

Live and let die

Allow me to start with the end. Raphael got the gist of the argument wrong. His assessment is quite alright insofar as it looks into the issue of the “PN dying”. We may agree or disagree whether it will be a natural death or a euthanasia sped up by circumstances. Whether the PN will die today or another day is an issue and conundrum that forms part of the disquisitions tied directly to playing the game as it stands – within the confines of the rules and expectations of these times.

My argument is completely extricable from the current operating system and as such does not and will not take into consideration the existence and aim of current factions within the PN insofar as their ultimate concern is gaining control of the party as is and resetting it to function within the current system. Therein lies the huge difference.

This was an article about the PN but could have very well been (and there will definitely one day be one) an article about how the PL must die. “The PN’ and “The PL” are much more than the physical parties and institutions that occasionally face internal struggles that cause them to slightly reset. As I have already tried to explain they are also the two parties around which the Constitution and our whole institutional, political and social mindset have been set.

The PN that must die is that PN that is still willing to own and participate in this systemic set-up. That PN is dangerous just as much as the current PL is dangerous. They are both machines created to feed on and abuse the system. Unless that point is grasped then all other parts of the assumptions made by Raphael are useless or, if useful, then they are useful only to prop up a part in the struggle that accepts the constitutional status quo.

The world is not enough

Outside the PLPN there is a civil society that is slowly but surely growing stronger. In spite of attempts at denigration (“dwindle to roughly the size of those monthly gatherings at the Great Siege Monument in Valletta”) that are to be expected from those who defend the status quo, civil society is increasingly becoming aware of the importance of systemic change.

It is a slow transformation. The calls for focusing on the Rule of Law found a tough soil to land on and grow. That was because the problem was technical to explain and had no immediate tangible effects for the man in the street. What happened later down the line though is the real eye opener. The sudden construction crisis led to another growing section of civil society becoming more and more vociferous and demanding accountability. Tangibility of the problems led to more direct action.

The environment, the socio-economic gaps and health issues coupled with disastrous urban planning might soon overtake the purely financial corruption problems which are less easily identified by citizens. The Applegren Effect works wonders because it is immediate, tangible and begins to rock the waters. Moviment Graffitti have brought feet to the ground and given shape to citizen discontent. Meanwhile the heritage from the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia is also making headway in the form of different organisations, such as Occupy Justice.

In all of this, the PN is in its death throes. Talk of refounding and rebuilding is good. It is better if it challenges the main problem head on: that the PN must denounce its current shape and form as main participant and cause of the denaturation of our Constitution. That is why a new PN must be very very new. Away from the mindset that seeks to preserve the old.

Is it about destruction? Raphael imputes the destructive wishes to a faction of the PN. Destruction though is happening at a higher level. The backsliding of the rule of law is a sign of systemic implosion. You either don’t see it because you don’t understand or you don’t see it because you don’t want to believe it’s there.

Ah, you may leave here, for four days in space,
But when your return, it’s the same old place,
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace,
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace,
Hate your next door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace,
And you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend,
You don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.

(Eve of Destruction, Barry McGuire)

Raphael speaks of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu and he could very well have quoted the Beastie Boys (it takes a second to wreck it). I am very aware that a destroyed PN leaves a vacuum that needs to be filled. Even from my cushy seat in the EU (I wonder whether Raphael ever asked himself why I need bother about Malta if my seat is so cushy – he might find an answer there) I know that this is the case.

Malta is in need of a huge constitutional change. The deaths of the PLPN behemoths would only be a prelude for that. We are in dire need of a reform of parliament, executive, judiciary and of the constituted bodies. Muscat’s government is edging its way to a one-sided reform that will be the King fashioning a nation in his image. That is where the danger lies. The current PN leadership is in danger of becoming a prop to this governments machinations – just see the latest land deals that zipped through parliament without a whimper from the PN.

Hope never dies

As a political observer my instinct would tell me that a vacuum left by the PN could be filled by a movement. A movement of and for change. Experience has shown us that the current political scenario has led to a situation where few are reluctant to lead that movement. Internal mistrust and imputation of agendas among civil society does the rest to kill off any impetus.

The movement of change should be one above factions and above the current system and its workings. Unfortunately, as we have seen, unless this change is provoked by an even worse crisis we will remain in the vicious circle of PLPN alternation. The outcome of the factional disputes within the PN (and within the PL but that seems to have been postponed for a while thanks to Muscat’s failure in Europe) will be simply a resetting within the system that is pushing us all on the brink of destruction.

Predicting that the PN will die is easy, advocating for the change that counts is not. Raphael is right on one point: the potential leaders for change out there should be making their voice heard not working in the background.

Over and out for now. From Luxembourg with love.

apologia
/ˌapəˈləʊdʒɪə/

noun
a formal written defence of one’s opinions or conduct.