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,
(Eve of Destruction, Barry McGuire)
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.
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.
