Exploiting tragedy, sowing discord

The tragedy of the hit and run victim, which grievously injured a police officer saw the country come together in a show of support and empathy eight days ago.

All political parties showed their solidarity with the injured officer and his family and with the Police in general. Even as the protest was being organised, however, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando tried to change the message saying it should be a march in support of the Police Commissioner. MEP Marlene Mizzi was the first to try to shift the blame from that young lunatic to civil society and the NGOs which have been protesting against corruption.

After the march, the Labour Party propaganda machine went into overdrive, trying to create a link between the tragedy and anti-corruption activities. It was a perfect opportunity for the government to try to dodge recent scandals. Smoke and mirrors were used to evade responsibility and to score political points from a tragedy that should not have been politicised. In reality, there is a world of difference between the Police Commissioner and the ordinary people who are men and women from every background, and should not be generalised.

Recently, it was discovered that the Labour Party condones hateful messages spread across six groups made up of 60,000 Labour Party activists. While others have been quick to apologise for the slightest hint of offense caused, it seems that those within the Labour Party are unable to follow a good example. There is a difference between freedom of speech and hate speech.

Unfortunately, two weights and two measures have been applied in the case of the police officer, as three have been charged with inciting violence for their horrible comments on Facebook, yet no action has been taken against the repeated vulgar and aggressive messages written by these Labour groups, which practise a 1984 Orwellian “Two Minutes Hate”. In George Orwell’s book, it is when Party members in Oceania must watch, every day, a film which exposes the Party’s enemies. Such treatment was given, for example, to Tina Urso of the anti-corruption movement Kenniesa.

The Labour Party has recently tried to score points by creating confusion and exploiting tragedy. Similarly, we must always think about what politicians are not saying, and not just focus on what they are saying. For example, with the ITS monster project, representatives of all four political parties have spoken against it. Yet, of the two parties represented in Parliament, only the PD has opposed ITS officially at party level.

That political parties are able to own newspapers, radio and television stations has led to an increasingly polarised country, where people live in opposite worlds and where facts are as good as opinions. I am reminded of how Adrian Delia patted himself on the back for interrupting PD’s attempts to restore the Majjistral Park hunting hours to their original state. His claim was that he would bring all stakeholders around the table to negotiate a solution. That never happened, but in the eyes of his supporters, he appeared the diplomat. Instead, the hours were extended and that was the end of the affair. Unfortunately, propaganda in Malta would have made Hermann Göring proud.