Tag: Simon Busuttil

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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).

Categories
Constitutional Development Politics

Timing Anglu’s comedy secret

timing_akkuza

 

The secret of comedy, they say, is timing. There is nothing funny about the making public of a launch of a magisterial inquiry into the amount of fuel consumed by the Leader of Opposition’s car. It is not funny at all. In actual fact it is rather worrying because it has all the makings of a perfectly-timed smear attempt. It would not be the first time in the history of this country that the machinery of one of the arms of the state is put into motion in an incredibly advantageous manner that serves the party in government. Those who are not prone to lapses of amnesia still remember the sudden summons of Alternattiva Demokratika’s Harry Vassallo when some long forgotten tax case suddenly became very very pertinent in the eyes of some police officers in Sliema.

The magisterial inquiry falls within the same lines of harassment by officialdom. It is important to keep a sense of perspective here. The investigation is about a discrepancy in fuel allowances – the kind of discrepancy that would not warrant half the attention it is getting since, assuming that it is an allowance, what one assumes happens is that if you exceed the allowance then you are not refunded the difference. In any case the irony of the matter is that this is the fuel allowance used for an official car in its official capacity. Apparently too much money is being spent on fuel. One would hope that the inquiry concludes what everyone who has not been blinded by Joseph has been telling the government over the past year or so – that fuel prices are bloody expensive when compared to international market prices.

But back to Simon’s driver. Busuttil got to know that the investigation was going on and this strangely coincided with the document full of proposals on proper governance (that this blog is still to review). Muscat was quick to confuse matters by claiming that by Busuttil’s yardstick Busuttil should resign. It turns out that the Good Governance proposals have instilled the fear of God in Muscat – this is the first time that he would rather see the back of his opponent rather than continue with the playground jibes of “ma tifhmx fl-ekonomija, ma tafx taqra” &c &c.

Speaking of math and economics it is incredible that in this democracy we have importuned a magistrate to draft a pennies inquiry as to the fuel consumption of a car when our Prime Minister still to this day rents his own private car to his office at the rate of €7,000 a year. Incredible isn’t it? The apologistas of this world will tell you that this is perfectly legal – sure, but what they do not tell you is that  this way Muscat gets to double his perk. The money the government is paying for what is supposed to be a bargain deal goes to Muscat’s pockets at a rate far above the net worth of his car. It’s as though a lawyer would charge his clients extra for having used his laptop and printer to draft his legal documents.

The whole farce of the magisterial inquiry only goes to show the urgency with which the PN proposals on Good Governance must be treated. We have long embarked on the slippery slope that ignored the important tenets that underly civic society in a liberal democracy and much time has been lost using the measure of partisan fairness instead of the rightful rule of law. Instances such as Farrugia’s comic foray into the land of inquiries are a clear indication of the tragic situation of our current political state. That so many voters are still prepared to swallow this bull if only to spite the imaginary nationalist monster that was designed in their head by Muscat’s propaganda machine is even more worrying for that means that many are still prepared to defend the indefensible.

Is-sewwa jirbah zgur they used to tell us. These are definitely tough times for the truth and for justice. Only time will tell.

Categories
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

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.

Categories
Corruption Politics

Rotten to the core

rotten_akkuzaThe scandal relating to the concrete supply at Mater Dei Hospital is turning out to be a fitting metaphor to describe the fate of Maltese politics.

In the first instance we are gradually exposing an extremely deficient system that existed back in the mid-nineties that somehow or another allowed for the provision of sub-standard building materials for a hospital. Do not for one moment allow yourself to forget that it is a hospital that we are talking about. Along with schools, hospitals are probably one of the more socially sensitive infrastructures whose standard and quality mirror the heart of a nation -this is not to say that using deficient building material in order to construct any other type of building would have been a mitigation of any kind.

The formula for this horrible state of affairs is the tried and tested combination of commercial interests that work their way (either through influence or through direct involvement) into the corridors of power. The businessman and the politician will then work together to earn a quick buck on the backs of an electorate blinded by the passion for partisan flag-waving and alternation. The metaphor becomes ever more apt when one of the protagonists (shall we say suspects) turns out to be a career politician who managed to remain a sacred cow for one or other of the parties at different times in his career. No amount of irony was spared when his decade-spanning involvement in local (and now European and World) politics mean that somehow or other he was involved with the health structures of the nation under both parties in government.

But this is not about John Dalli. This is about the politics and political system of our nation. For I say that the metaphor remains apt to this day. Whether the guardians of the nation in the mid-nineties are to be found accountable for any corrupt sales of deficient construction material when building a new national hospital remains to be seen – what is sure is that someone has to pay. It will be another notch for the pro memoria of the twisted insanity of the post-Mintoffian generation of politicians.

What we have today is another government that is intent on hiding the truth or using parts of it to its gain. As of this month Muscat’s government is strongly testing the resilience of democratic sustainability and sovereignty. While the masks had fallen a long time ago, a long line of inexplicable decisions have provided clear hints that the Taghna Lkoll ideal has long been dead and buried and that Muscat has lost the plot.

It is hard to identify where it all began. Was it the full-frontal assault on the environment that did the trick? Was it the blatant lies relating to all that is Zonqor? Was it the slip relating to the Qala Yacht Marina? Muscat had tested the waters with the Hunting Referendum and wrongly gauged the slight victory obtained by those intent on preserving the status quo of wrongly appliying a European directive. Even today his appointees in the Ornis Committee defy all odds with relation to trapping. yet, Muscat’s defiant attitude on environmental issues is not a deal breaker on democratic standards. It is after all the prerogative of his party in government to espouse a suicidal destructive environmental policy.

No, the non-democratic chasm of Muscat lies away from these “minor” spites to our environmental heritage. It lies dotted within political appointments and appointees that are starting to betray their ineptness but still remain defended by the Prime Minister himself. It lies within a Cabinet Code of Ethics that has just been announced and that exposes Muscat’s money-hungry coterie for all its hypocrisy. It lies within the recent decisions relating to government property used to line the pockets of friends of friends (oh they are back but louder and clearer) from the Premier Cafe farce to the latest Gaffarena pot of gold.

It lies with the appointment of judges and magistrates in full defiance of the reforms that were being proposed by his very government. It lies with a “What’s all the fuss?” attitude combined with the “Tu Quoque” retorts that have long been dried of all significance and only serve to reinforce the strong perception of arrogance. It lies with the regular rubbing up to despots and tinpot country leaders and running around with a begging bowl while seemingly ignorant of the atrocities and democratic deficits that exist within the nations of these much adulated partners.

It lies with the belief that the national heritage and national identity is there solely for Labour’s politicians to plunder and sell to the highest bidder. With the passport scheme Muscat began to sell our mind and identity, with the lands that he has taken to expropriating, selling under cost, or plundering from their natural value he is selling our body and heritage, as for our soul, it has long been sold to the first devil to turn up at our doorstep promising Muscat a bit of money, an investment for his developer friends and a photo opportunity in which to prance around like some latter-day Mussolini on speed.

It’s a disgusting state of affairs in which nothing is sacred – not even the institutions that should stand as a guarantee. Under a nationalist government the faulty concrete foundations were laid at Mater Dei Hospital. At the same time the rotten core of all that is wrong in our political system had begun to take root. Today we find ourselves the inheritors of a hospital that is unsafe and of a government at the helm of a political system that is ready to implode any minute.

Joseph Muscat’s Labour has its hands deeply tied and entwined with the same kind of businessmen as existed in the mid-nineties and set the path for the Mater Dei disaster. It is beyond redemption. Hope, if any, lies first of all in Simon Busuttil and his managing the re-foundation of the nationalist party before going on to re-found the Maltese State. It must be patently obvious by now that the nationalist party needs a reconstruction from the roots and not simply a renewal. A new style of politics, a new style of engagement and a new style of leadership.

Speaking at Zonqor Busuttil did say that the biggest task for his party is not to be different from Muscat but also to be different from his own party in the past.

Those words should be printed out on a concrete slab at the entrance of PN HQ. Preferably on good, sound concrete… sound enough to build the basis for a brighter future ahead.

 

 

Categories
Constitutional Development Mediawatch Politics

Politics, for example

debono_akkuza

Yes, Giovanna Debono should resign. Her position in parliament as a representative of the people is untenable so long as her husband is under investigation for abuse of office. The sad truth is that the moment a minister employs his or her spouse or close relatives within their own ministry their position should no longer be tenable. Robert Musumeci, still posing as some kind of visionary for the hypothetical “movement” (that is none other than an opportunistic collection of gravy train riders) believes that we should wait for a “fair hearing”. Musumeci sat for a law degree virtually by correspondence (he will tell you presence at a lecture does not a law student make – which could be true) and regularly suffers from literal reproduction of positivist garbage you would expect from the vast majority of what is regurgitated from university today.

Fair hearing is for the criminally accused. Sure. It has absolutely nothing to do with the recognition of administrative and political responsibility. The basic manual of political representation (let alone constitutional law principles) would tell you that in order to be above reproach a person in political power should not employ close relatives. The assumption being that the mere employment of such relatives is the beginning of the path to abuse of office. It would be hard for someone in Musumeci’s movement to grasp such a concept. Impossible even. The Gozo Minister employs his spouse within his ministry. Our energy minister’s wife was “employed” by this government without so much as a justification and with a contract of employment the terms of which are shrouded in secrecy. Even the Emperor’s (sorry, PM) wife is prone to carving out for herself a role that is nowhere mentioned in the constitution. It would be ok if such a role were not costing money to the electorate. Yet it does.

Back to DebonoGate. There is no doubt in my mind that Debono will join the blacklist of ex-PN ministers tainted with a whiff of corruption – even if Anthony Debono manages to survive the trials and tribulations of a court of justice. Ninu Zammit, Michael Falzon, Giovanna Debono. The “old way” of doing politics that was allegedly swept aside two years to this day is still waiting to be judged. Simon Busuttil’s party will still be answering for this kind of sins for quite some time yet. Incidentally, the PM should take note that he risks becoming an accomplice to covering up any crimes of corruption if he chooses to sit on reports and whistleblower information until when it pays him to cause a fracas and deviate attention from the troubles within his house. Today’s Debono news paid perfectly to help people forget that we should be inaugurating the promised Power Station.

The PLPN way is still very much alive. This blog, born in 2004, has long warned that the system is one that promotes a race to mediocrity and that will constantly produce stories of corruption, nepotism, cronyism and abuse of power. The former PN government’s sins are now being brought to light – and however erred must pay. Muscat’s government has proven only that it is a case of “same, same but different”. In many cases it is even worse because this government that was supposed to herald change is only good at justifying blatant abuses by claiming it is only repeating what was done before – u hallik mill-ottimista. Simon Busuttil is discovering that change is not only about words but also about deeds and that in order to make a difference actions must follow.

It sucks being bang in the middle between two behemoths that struggle to catch up with the twenty-first century. It sucks being so right about what is so wrong with this country. What sucks most is that we seem to never learn.

Today is a three-fold anniversary. Franco Debono turns 41, the labour government turns 2 and Internazionale FC turn 106. It never rains….

In un paese pieno di coglioni ci mancano le palle.