Am I ready for my close-up? – Muscat’s perception game

Despite the serious developments on Thursday and the bombshell revelations in this newspaper yesterday, Joseph Muscat will probably spend every day of the election campaign shifting public attention away from the serious allegations rocking the government and him personally, and speak instead about economic prosperity and social progress the Labour government has achieved. For Muscat, perception is key. For him, the campaign’s focus will always be on the image and the vision, and little on the content, and as long as he feels that he presents himself a strong leader who can take Malta forward.

Dr Muscat has put forward a number of proposals, such as the €700 million project to develop Maltese roads (just for some perspective, to completely rebuild a normal street can cost upwards of €1 million) and the idea to re-introduce public holidays falling on a weekend to be added to vacation leave.

They both seem populist ideas that were probably a knee-jerk reaction to introduce some good feel factor, but they were launched without consultation, so much so that the latter one was immediately shot down by employers.

The entire campaign has shades of 2013’s successful victory, with a logo, placards, and colour scheme that does not stretch far from that design.

This could be interpreted as signs of a ruling government that was rushed into election mode, but being almost perpetually one step ahead of the media game it seems more likely that the campaign staff did not want to mess with a tried and tested recipe.

At his first campaign rally in Zurrieq the PM continuously referred to “the strength [his] supporters showed fifty months ago,” in an attempt to bridge the enthusiasm of that election with the uncertainty of today.

All that remains to be seen is whether or not people like Ramona Frendo and William Mangion will appear again on the Labour Party’s billboards.

For this campaign, as happened in 2013, Dr Muscat has placed himself as the focal point. This, along with his selfproclaimed movement, means that he has been able to disassociate himself with the traditional Labour image to appeal to everyone across the political spectrum.

The PM understands this game and plays it well. So much so that Dr Muscat has quite consciously echoed Eddie Fenech Adami.

As much as it may pain both sides, the PM has continuously repeated that Is-sewwa jirbah zgur, a Fenech Adami template, which can be seen as another attempt to cash in on the floating vote.

Simon Busuttil’s Forza Nazzjonali can be seen as attempt to tap into the same market, since it is able to elevate the issues at hand beyond that of political parties, to a national movement in which every person is welcome.

The contrast in styles makes for an intriguing comparison. While Dr Muscat may feel that his course of action may make him seem like the stronger leader, it also easily allows people to associate every scandal within the party to the face that represents it; and he will no undoubtedly be left hung out to dry by his inner circle should he lose the upcoming election.

The PM’s centre piece status is apparent in that the various ministers who became mantelpieces at press conferences during his legislature have mysteriously faded to the background once the election campaign kicked off.

It is all about Joseph Muscat. So far, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri – embroiled in political controversies for more than a year since the Panama Papers were revealed – have not been seen anywhere.

Once the allegations surrounding Egrant came out, everyone possible was done to project Joseph Muscat in a positive way.

The Labour Party’s recent Annual General Meeting seemed to be a ‘Hail Joseph’ exercise with the various speakers singing their praises of the capabilities and strength of their leader.

There is one stark difference between the two elections. Given that Dr Muscat played this game to devastating effect back in 2013, it remains to be seen whether floating voters in particular would be able to believe the man once again after his legislature practically drowned under numerous scandals in the past couple of years.

And even though Dr Muscat may insist that the allegations played no part in the calling of snap election, he cannot deny that the perception amongst the public at large is that the latest allegations meant that he could not continue to lead without popular approval.

For example, in a response to a question from The Malta Independent, the Prime Minister repeated his 2013 pledge of accountability, meritocracy, and transparency.

Given that his legislature has been anything but that, from dubious appointments, to shady land deals, and to blanked out contracts, it seems hard to imagine that even the most die-hard Labourite would find that a hard pill to swallow.

Dr Muscat may have said throughout the few days of this campaign that his government ‘had made mistakes’, he has been cautious to mention them by name.

The Prime Minister has been astute in making it out to seem that the allegations tabled before his government is dirt created by the PL’s favourite journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia.

This clouding of the perception of the truth has meant that the many other scandals (Cafe Premier, Gaffarena, and the Visa Scandal) have also been placed under doubt, by association.

Even the ‘fact-checker’ on his campaign website appears to be more of a subjective analysis than objective examination of the content.

It could almost be admired that in the face of such damning negativity from a large portion of the public, the Prime Minister is able to present a positive image.

And whether you like it or not, in the face of a political system which a number of people have lost faith in, all the electorate want is a little bit of hope for a better future.