A Camel’s Fart
Although it may seem like a long time ago, it was only some months back that Malta began to stir with the allegations of a minister who had visited a brothel, followed by a disproportionate response by the same minister, stirring a sense of outrage in ord
Rachel Borg is an independent columnist based in the tourism industry eizing the wave of protest, coming upon other protests at the also disproportionate involvement of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, thenMinister for Energy Konrad Mizzi with spouse and OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri in the Panama scandal and allegations of corruption, people had become agitated and sensed that more than a mass meeting or programme by David Thake was needed to counter the growing threat and blows to freedom of speech.
Perhaps the spirit was willing but the body was weak and although substantial crowds turned out for one protest after another, ultimately the agitation and indignation was dissipated without further ado by an astute Joseph Muscat who in one fell swoop, created his own coup and sabotaged the sentiment of disdain and any risk to his government, by chastising the people into a take it or leave it option.
What about the wave of support for honest politics from the aroused protesters then? Did it just sink overnight? As a proverb in the Maldives goes – “When a camel farts, it makes a huge show, it sways and turns, but at the end there is very little noise, and even less smell.”
The pre-mature decision to trust the PN, at an unexpected time in the course of the fiveyear mandate of the Labour Party, to lead the government was not in the gut of the people who faced this dilemma and opted to turn their head and pretend the camel had not farted. One can always blame the neighbour for letting it rip, if you keep a straight face.
The result is that the people voted in their majority for reelecting Joseph Muscat, ignoring the many implications of corruption and the concealed threat to the economy and decided to pretend that the danger had passed and we could go back to life as usual.
Unfortunately, no, it has not passed and the people grow more and more demoralised by the day. As always, Muscat is very clever in detecting any change in people’s reactions and has once again managed to deflect the same demoralisation onto the election of the new Nationalist Party leader and the candidates it would not prefer to be elected.
Instead of realising that the excess construction of property and disregard of priorities and double standards is causing disquiet among us, people turn to the Opposition and once again blame it for not having done enough to get elected and therefore preventing all this abuse from harming their peace of mind. They prefer to have it both ways, a kind of reversible T-shirt.
The government occasionally tries to lift the morale of the people by reporting on the fictitious surplus or the new A rating from Fitch. They also perpetuate the Telenovela with special appearances by Tony Blair and repeats of the rapturous scenes with Michelle Muscat as the main protagonist with her soft capes and sideswept hair.
Down in the street, the rumblings are growing again and Muscat knows that it is not in his interest to have a weak opposition because too many reflectors will fall on him if does not have a counter persona to bash and make fun of.
Like a woman who at a crucial time chose to forget her husband’s infidelities for the sake of keeping the family going, the frustration and anger is rising again and soon it will do what most women do and end up by kicking the unfaithful pretender out of the house.
One incident after another is causing many to doubt the trust put in Joseph Muscat to discipline himself and his team. Like acne on a teenager, one spot after another is falling to the speculators and giving rise to ill-fitting constructions and encroaching ever closer to the neighbourhoods who did not think that their home town or village was the next target and still continue to cross the street as they did before only to risk getting run over at any time. The frustration at the mad traffic is taking its toll on innocent people and we read nearly every day of some accident or fatality.
The interest generated in the story of the woman in the scammel and the man streaking in Balluta and trying to get into church, was not out of morbid curiosity or as some commented, women dissing other women. Women are quick to notice that there is something else behind a story and this time it was clear to many that some drugs are likely causing this unnatural behaviour and if so, we need to have assurance that a police unit is specially trained and equipped to recognise and handle such a threat to our society.
We need more than ever to be able to rely on a leadership that will deal not just with one interest of staying in power. So much energy was spent on the early election, the mysterious disappearances of suitcases, private planes, paternalistic speeches, promises of new investments and countercharges in the media against the opposition and other persons who dared to uncover the web of scandals coming out of Castille and beyond.
Turning a blind eye to corruption is now having a negative effect on people who are becoming entrenched in defending their extreme views and is leading us towards a dictatorship of morals and a transgression from healthy diverse opinions to sublime abuse.
On the surface it may appear sane and liberal and that the new Labour is just the ticket for a prosperous island. But the conscious ignores the intellect in that way and speaks its own voice. When not allowed to do so, it will emerge in depression and other ways. And slowly, we are becoming rather depressed. Some think that more spending is the answer but it only makes the problem worse.
Muscat should do something and do it fast before a collective protest really begins to undermine his power. This time it will not be a camel’s fart but a real threat from within his own base. Various quarters are saying that the limit has been reached and breached.
Firstly, he should stop the puerile attacks from the media and internal sources on anything and anyone PN. Second, he should instruct on a better standard from all his parliamentarians and civil servants and lead by example. Thirdly, he must come clean about the Panama papers, Egrant and the relationship with Nexia BT.
He urgently needs to set the police force free from interference and put in place a worthy police commissioner. The dodgy promotions and installation of party apparatchiks to high positions and the law courts must stop and proper mechanisms created to ensure impartiality and those discriminated against deserve better. Any pending investigations need the green light now and all the unpublished contracts should be explained and justified without delay. Persons who have shadows on their integrity should be let go from any partnerships or investments immediately, even if it means that projects will not go ahead. There can be other reasonable ways of implementing good investments. And last, but not least, a proper plan for the economy should be created that will ensure long term benefit for the island and not just for the few.
People should be given jobs in important offices not because of partisanship and nepotism but because they can deliver on their mission. Favouritism must end now. There can be no two “Mistras” with caravans on one side and ordinary people on the other and two laws. The whole of the government also needs to act together and in a coherent and consistent manner. The impression presently is that the real race is taking place not in the PN, but amongst the Labour ministers who seek to impress with their initiative by going off in their own direction. Transport Malta goes one way and Tourism the other, and the same with the economy and the PM who says quite different things to the reality, to give but two examples.
The time of reckoning is drawing close, even before the new Parliament meets again.