Tag: Joseph Muscat

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Politics Values

The wrong sort of talisman

talisman_akkuza

Steel at the Orpheum

That night at the Orpheum Joseph Muscat had gathered the party diehards into a mental and physical fortress. The theatre named after a Greek mythical figure who had ended up dealing with the god of the underworld had a talismanic hold on the hardcore labourites. This was Macina-style territory where the sun of the dear departed leader Dom Mintoff had shone many a time in order to rally the troops with the feel good invincible rays factor.

All this was sorely needed after Labour had taken a not so metaphorical bashing with the forced dismissal of Michael Falzon – the latest in a series of cabinet casualties. The whole Labour philosophy – an elaborate web of promises about meritocracy, transparency and collective wealth – was once again in danger of being uncovered as being the web of lies that it really is turning out to be.

So Muscat needed to rally the troops. Morale would inevitably have been down. Even the most blinkered of diehards and flag-waving troopers could have sniffed the new bombs of insecurity that were beginning to weaken the bastions of blind faith that had been so patiently constructed throughout the Taghna Lkoll election campaign. During that campaign Michael Falzon had famously (and weirdly for that campaign we could also say incongruously) let out his “Fejn huma l-iljuni?” (Where are the Lions?) speech. Montekristo they all answered – not really. This time Falzon was part of the problem. How best to solve it?

Well. Magritte came to the rescue. Muscat chose to inject a botox-cannon of talismanic fervour to the flaying bastions of belief. Ceci n’est pas un politicien corrompu! (This is not a corrupt politician). He brought down the stage by hailing the very politicians who have until now borne the brunt of the effects of the fading make-up of Labour politics. Take one good look at Euridyce, Muscat yelled, here is Manuel Mallia, here is Michael Falzon, these are men above men, these are your soldiers of steel.

Astounding really. Mallia and Falzon were dragged from the muddy pits of political incompetence and limbo to the dizzy heights of Feigned Olympic Glory there to meet that other great soldier of steel – Cyrus Engerer, yes, the very one who was found guilty of crimes that Minister Owen Bonnici would later in the week describe as heinous and disgusting – revenge porn.

While the net effects of his blatant ignoring of any kind of good governance are still to hit Muscat and his band of high flying rhetoricians, the Supreme Leader of Spin (sorry, the Salesman) prefers to hang on to the old trick of rhetoric that is probably only good for the red-eyed accolytes who actually bother to go to the Orpheum. Holding up disgraced politicians as soldiers of steel is nothing other than a retrenching in the unconstitutional ways of hapless governance. The lack of institutional respect, the disdain for a proper system of rule of law, the incredible ability to ignore all semblance of separation of powers – they are all part of the death ride on which this Labour government  is taking the nation.

Having struck a pact with the lords of the underworld Muscat is hoping to get away quickly but is still unable to resist glancing back over his shoulders and taking one look at Euridyce. At this rate he will have little hope of success.

Silk in Pieta’

Speaking of the wrong sort of talisman. While Muscat was engrossed in selling his talismanic soldiers of steel at the Orpheum, PN’s Busuttil had a golden opportunity to sit back and watch Muscat’s party choke on its own doings. Which is why I was surprised and dismayed to see the clip of Busuttil waving some old party ‘kerchief claiming that it was of a historical value and that he would keep it in his office to remind him of the party’s history and his supporters’ fervour.

Now I must admit that to me political party memorabilia – whichever party it is – is tantamount to anathema. At most I can appreciate it in a kitsch collector’s sort of way or in the sort of artistic and historic interest I may take in blasons, symbols and mottos. I cannot stand, abide, tolerate, stomach, suffer or put up with any form of memorabilia waving that represents the blind fervor that I mentioned earlier. Flag waving and flag touting party supporters are the worst kind of demographic when it comes to assessing politics. There is no processing going on in their minds other than “we have to win, the others have to lose” – victory being the ultimate purpose itself.

There is no nobility, no value, no reason behind fanatic affiliation of political parties. That we have developed a large core of party-blind voters in this country is no boon. That party politics is full of the kind of fanaticism that should only find its place on terraces in sporting grounds (and hopefully with a sporting behaviour that goes along) has long been part of the problem of our local political scenario. “Blue till I die” makes little sense outside Manchester or Cardiff (when the oriental bosses are away).

It is for this reason that I cannot imagine what went through Busuttil’s head when he chose to sing the praises of the (purported to be) 100-year old handkerchief/flag  and laud the fanatic fervour of the supporter who had donated this talisman to him. I would see no problem with Busuttil having had a quiet word in private with this supporter, thanking him or her for his/her donation and promising to hold it in his travelbag as a good luck charm of sorts. In private though.

This is not a crime of the calling Mallia, Falzon and Engerer Soldiers of Steel levels. It is still a faux pas on some levels.

Given the state of the government, Busuttil and his party have a duty towards the electorate : that of concentrating on the construction and development of the new form of politics that has until now eluded us as a nation. It is a politics that is based on a pact of trust, on governance, on institutional respect and on rational debate. There is no place for the maduma, the silk handkerchief and the glorifying of the fanatical supporter in that equation.

Shed those talismans Simon, before it is too late. Otherwise you might paint yourself into a corner and find yourself having an Orpheum moment too.

Trust me, that cannot be good. No matter how much he smiles.

 

(Illustration: Ancient Roman talisman found in Germany. Not sure if they’d call it a soldier of steel… but it’s pretty close).

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Mediawatch

Sales Report

salesreport

Chief Salesman Muscat was reporting from his business visit in Algeria. He told journalists that the Algerian authorities had laughed off any suggestion that something was amiss with the abnormal number of visas being issued by the consulate run by Muscat’s father’s cousin. Obviously the matter of visas being issued lightly and allegedly on the basis of a network of bribes is of no security consequence to Algeria. Why should it be? It is probably a laughing matter indeed. The arabs have a curious habit of referring to someone as “oncle” or “cousin” out of respect – much in the same way as some Maltese use the phrase “my friend” even if you do not know them from Adam. Muscat was reported to have replied sarcastically about his familiarity with the man running the Algeria consulate. “He’s my father’s cousin, that’s a very strong relationship,” Dr Muscat said sarcastically. Again, he seems to find these things funny. Brushing it all off as being a bit too much brouhaha.

Meanwhile. Malta’s Chief Salesman seemed positively surprised that the Algerian counterparts are eager to use Malta as a window to Europe’s pharmaceutical market. What stands out as strange is that given the linguistic and historical partnership with France, the Algerians would still need to use Malta to hitch a ride into Europe. The question really is all about standards. Is Malta becoming one of the weaker links of the European Union? Is this government once again peddling the rights and obligations that were hard earned in order to make a quick sale? We can only wait. Do not expect truthful answers from salesmen though, Their business is not governance but profit.

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Mediawatch

Sales Alert

salesalgeria_BR

In between world changing summits our PM is off on a business mission to Algeria. The press photo shows a corny group pic of the delegation standing at the foot of the stairs of an AirMalta plane. The delegation is testosterone heavy with two (visible) token women thrown into the fray. Energy and Health Minister is also on board, presumably to cook up another top secret arrangement the details of which can never be announced because of their economic sensitivity. Meanwhile our PM still cannot explain how his relative issued 7,000 visas for Europe in Algeria. The Algerian government should of course be worried since wherever Konrad Mizzi seems to go for his wheeling and dealing there seems to be a tendency of the government collapsing soon after. One, two, three… Viva l’Algerie!

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Politics

A horse for Prime Minister

cleverhans_akkuza

Let me tell you about Clever Hans. A few years before the end of the 19th century, 1895 to be exact, a horse who would be named Hans was born. Hans was owned by an eccentric guy called Wilhelm von Osten who had taken it upon himself to prove that given the right education animals could be as intelligent as humans. His didactic experiments kicked off with a bear, a cat and, of course, Hans the horse. The bear and cat soon fell back in their studies but Hans was very promising.

In fact, as Wikipedia reports, “Hans was said to have been taught to add, subtract, multiply, divide, work with fractions, tell time, keep track of the calendar, differentiate musical tones, and read, spell, and understand German. Von Osten would ask Hans, “If the eighth day of the month comes on a Tuesday, what is the date of the following Friday?” Hans would answer by tapping his hoof. Questions could be asked both orally, and in written form. Von Osten exhibited Hans throughout Germany, and never charged admission. Hans’s abilities were reported in The New York Times in 1904.” (see here for more)

Hans’ prodigious efforts attracted much attention, especially among the scientific community eager to see whether it was true that a horse could be as intelligent as a human being. Based on the type of problems Hans solved it had been estimated that the horse had acquired the intelligence of a 14-year old human. Fascinating. Better still, a panel of scientists and experts tested Hans (twice) and reported that they could find no evidence for fraud. That is until a psychologist named Oscar Pfungst studied Hans a little more and found the “trick”. There was no fraudulent intent really and everyone involved had simply been duped by a very, very clever horse. In fact what Hans had been actually doing was not answering problems but watching the reactions of human observers.

Whether answering by tapping his hoof or nodding his head, Hans had learnt to “read” whoever was watching him. The psychologist observed that whoever was testing Hans gave off “indicators” whenever Hans was approaching the right answer. Hans’s interrogators actually prompted his actions by the movement of their heads for example. When the interrogator’s head bent forward, Hans kicked off his “answering”, when it went back to being straight Hans stopped. The more the interrogator inclined the head (probably out of curiosity to see the horse at work) the faster Hans’s answers were tapped. Hans was really clever – not intelligent though, simply able to read body language in an incredibly efficient manner. Pfungst noticed that the interrogators were not conscious of the fact that they were actually leading the horse to the right answer. Hans’s fame suffered the consequences of this discovery and the poor horse died during in World War I – enrolled as one of the many war horses.

The “clever hans” effect remains cited in psychology circles and led to the development of double blind tests where both the interrogator and the person replying would not know the answer to the questions being posed. I have a strong suspicion that our current Prime Minister’s first two years in charge have been greatly infused with a strong Clever Hans effect. In our case it is Clever Joseph. With a “promise the world” campaign combined with an efficient grumble machine, Muscat got elected to power with a landslide victory. His promises then needed delivering. The self-avowed salesman has been hailed as a sort of saviour of the economy and of Malta’s state of affairs notwithstanding the fact that the facts actually prove rather the contrary when examined with a long-term ruler in mind.

Yesterday’s budget reply by Simon Busuttil was yet another step in the direction of countering the Clever Hans effect that Muscat has been (and will try to continue) milking. Busuttil’s speech was criticised because apparently it did not say what alternatives a nationalist government would offer. Aside from the PN pre-budget document, which did just that, Busuttil’s speech served as the umpteenth “Emperor has no clothes” speech which is badly needed in a country of blinded interlocutors who are still strongly convinced that the horse pulling the front of the chariot is intelligent and knows what it is doing. All the while all that Clever Joseph is doing is reading their faces and telling them that what they want is what they see… and this couldn’t be further from the truth. From Magritte (ceci n’est pas une pipe) to Clever Hans (the not so intelligent horse)… a kingdom, a kingdom for a real prime minister!

Clever Joseph’s salesman antics will work for a time yet. So long as this government for a few can throw pepper in the eyes of the electorate with a few more circus acts he will go on riding the Clever Joseph wave. Simon’s litany of figures and facts will hopefully not only serve as a stern “I told you so” when it is already too late. The ominous idea of the end of EU funding in 2020 will be no laughing matter. By then Clever Joseph will have pulled out of his circus, probably having risked one trick too many.

Categories
Mediawatch

Labour & Flames

labour_flames_akkuza

On March 9th 2013 Joseph Muscat’s Labour government decided to switch off the eternal flame (from 6am to 6pm) at the War memorial in order to save money. The move was calculated to save the government €9,000 a year.

On August 27th 2015 it was announced that Joseph Muscat’s Labour government had opted not to have a statue of Dom Mintoff in Castille square. Joseph Muscat’s Labour government opted for an abstract 5 metre high flame instead. Estimates of the cost of creating this flame are around €500,000.

That half a million euro could have kept the eternal flame going for another 55 years.

L-aqwa l-fjamma astratta f’gieh is-salvatur. 

Castille square, now bereft of greenery, will sport a design that mimics the idea of Piazza Campidoglio in Rome. It will be “adorned” with a series of statues culminating in a five metre high flame designed by a ceramic artist commissioned on direct order. In a way it is a fitting symbol of all that is wrong with the ideas behind Joseph Muscat’s Labour.

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Mediawatch

A Mess in Denial

denial_akkuza

The devil used to be in the detail. That was before the Labour government imploded. It’s a bit like what they tell us about some of the stars that we see at night. In truth they are not there, they vanished in a huge explosion a long, long time ago but since it takes light a great amount of time to reach us we still see the stars that are not there.

The Labour government has exploded on all counts. There is barely a ministry or minister who has not got it wrong – and by “it” I mean the whole business of politics. The explosion was gradual, a series of petards that began to hoist Muscat’s roadshow bit by bit. The damage containment was crucially successful at first with the “tu quoque” gambit lasting as long as the dupes who swallowed it allowed. What we are seeing now are the shards and splinters of the explosion flying past our eyes as we look on in disbelief at a government run by a PM who hails from a fireworks importing family get hoist by its own petard. Or petards.

The detail that is not so much a detail now lies in the daily exhibition of denials and weak counterarguments being doctored by government spokespersons, ministers and media. Requests for information turn quickly into denials of the shallowest kind. More often than not “public safety” or “economic sensitivity” are invoked to cover up evident blunders. And the lie is running thin.

Take Michael Falzon’s charade in parliament. The question put to him was clear – has anyone ever benefited from the same ad hoc arrangement that he has. An early retirement that is not really a retirement since he can return back to work with the company whenever he wants  (or at least in 2018). Falzon chose to focus on the sum for early retirement (and thereby distract from the crucial answer).

There were nationalists who got more. Indeed. Possibly. Setting aside the violation of privacy, Falzon failed to explain whether any of these nationalists had the right to return to the bank and get their job back notwithstanding the fact that they had obtained a retirement package. Ad hoc he said, much like the faffing in the last answer he gave before going mum – claiming that he would have to pay the retirement package back “pro rate’. How does that work exactly? Pro rata to what?

Ah the BOV. Good old BOV. The same BOV that is used by the government as a doormat at every opportunity. There it goes making good for 88 million euros out of the hundred something million that the beleaguered Electrogas is supposed to pump into the utopic power station (as promised by Shame On You Wife on Government Payroll). That’s the kind of guarantee no ordinary citizen in Taghna Lkoll Land will ever get. Basically what the bank is saying is that if something goes wrong and Electrogas cannot pay then it is the taxpayers money that will be used to make good. Do you think the government has justified this intervention? You guessed it. Another denial.

Electrogas and BOV that leads us straight to the Chris Cardona farce of a rental contract. If ever anything was evidently drafted ad hoc it is not Michael Falzon’s retirement package but rather Chris Cardona’s hastily drafted rental contract. Should it matter that this contract is signed with someone closely tied to the Electrogas business and that the contract swings excessively in favour of the tenant like no rental contract drafted in recent years has ever done before? Of course it should. We would not care if the implausible rental conditions (practically a gift given the circumstances) were between two normal citizens. But the Economy Minister accepting what is virtually a handout from a person linked to Electrogas. The alarm bells should be ringing. WHat we’ll get is more denials.

Owen Bonnici can wax lyrical about the supposed good the new party financing law will bring but so long as farces as Cardona’s can be carried out in full view then it is all exposed for what it is. A farce. A farce is what went on when Sai Mizzi Liang joined the PM to launch the ever so incredible charade that is being officially referred to as an investment by Huwawei.

The emptiness of this “investment” has been investigated at length elsewhere. We only need comment here that Mizzi Liang’s performance on this and the previous conference where she declared that “Finally we have found her” is below pathetic. Even from the little we could see, the behaviour, the gestures, the little words we got, we could tell that this was someone launched into a position that was far beyond the depth that she could cater for. It might have taken Simon Busuttil a trip to China to gauge that Sai is not fit for purpose but in truth a few minutes of a press conference gave us a glimpse of her absolute incompetence.

The Supernova in the middle of all this explosion is the hapless PM who either lives in denial or who has decided to just live out the next three years as some kind of perilous joyride. While all forms of protocol and institutional balance are thrown to the wind he persists in denying any accusation that his government and its pie in the sky projects (from Sadeen Unis to Medical Schools to Power Stations) is in absolute meltdown. He runs the most expensive cabinet ever that is proving to be the hugest bunch of incompetents ever to have (dis)graced the rooms of government.

It is a mess, in denial.