The nonsense of politics

When the party in government fails to notice that it is actually in government after more than hundred days that it has been warming the seat of power then what you have is a bomb that is ticking away waiting to explode. While the nationalist party’s Rapport tat-telfa (Election defeat report) was published last week, the future Labour party’s report is actually a work in progress – being drafted daily by the government, the party and its apologists.

The ethics of convenience

The Franco Mercieca affair was a perfect litmus test to illustrate what is going on. The red lights flashed at so many levels that it was impossible to keep up. First of all, and most importantly, was the blatant disregard of the concept of a Code of Ethics and how it should work. A code of ethics, by its very nature, works only when there is no waiver. A “waiver” – whatever that means in Taghna Lkoll talk – flies in the face of the very purpose of why a code of ethics exist. [Note: I do not question whether the waiver was justified or not. I question whether the power of the Prime Minister to grant such a waiver does or should exist. It should not.] A code of ethics needs to be applied in a blanket manner. Should the need to apply a “waiver” arise then that should set the alarm bells ringing because what that really says is that a person appointed to a position within the cabinet has an ethical conflict of interest. The question is not whether he should get a waiver but whether he should still hold that position.

Much has been made of the unique healing qualities of Franco Mercieca. Even if it were so and this Gozitan turns out to be more efficient than the Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary votive section that should only mean that Franco Mercieca’s place is more valuable in his clinic than on a seat in the patchwork cabinet  formed at the Taghna Lkoll horse-trading market. Joseph Muscat can glare at the questioning press all he likes and qualify his Imperial Waiver with all the postillas and caveats that he may invent on the spot. He may even come up with witty retorts about past deeds of the Evil Gonzi clan. None of that lessens the fact that this cabinet’s operation insofar as conflicts and interests are concerned seems to be fast requiring a Manuel Mallia Amnesty – or better a box of amnesia pills. Thank god that the Taghna Lkoll Pills seem to still work on the general congregation.

Before you accuse me

There’s a story in the Indy this week. It’s a follow up to the saga at San Vincent de Paule residence where the order of the day seems to have been a series of musical chairs and “politically motivated” transfers. SVDP is not the first, nor the last, of workplaces where “meritocratic” moves are being put into effect. I know of a particularly jarring story of a career diplomat in the foreign affairs who found himself plonked on a desk rubber stamping papers from one day to the next – you know because in this case meritocracy means: “if you run for a local council on the PN ticket then you deserve to be demoted to nothingness”. Back to SVPR. The botta e risposta by the two parties is interesting if only for the manner in which it throws us back aeons in political development. The race to  mediocrity is still on ladies and gentlemen.

Having first transferred some workers then returned them to the original job after reactions from Unions (UHM of course – we’re back to the blue and red union delineation) the Labour party issues one of its Newspeak reactions peppered with TaghnaLkoll talk. The useless transfer and re-transfer were apparently made because “the government listens” and “is working to find solutions”. The TaghnaLkoll release continues “The decisions taken were all in the best interests”. Really?

It all makes sense now. “Jiena nemmen f’Joseph ghax hu jemmen fija”. You’d be surprised how many people there are out there ready to believe the shoddy explanations coming out of TaghnaLkoll HQ. The nationalist party better pull its socks up and stop flirting with the marketing politics of Joseph Muscat. Forget the TeamPN cock and bull and get down to some real team building. The country has had enough of rhetoric…  in fact it is drowning in it and risks becoming a lost Atlantis.

 

The Nationalist Party has called on Social Solidarity Minister Marie Louise Coleiro Preca to apologise to workers who were transferred and later returned to their original job, rather than boast that the decision was reversed because the government listens. In a statement, spokesman Mario Galea said that the transfers were withdrawn after pressure from the UHM and the Opposition, and some are still to be reversed. On another matter, Mr Galea said that the government should stop the clique who had taken over the running of the hospital. It is a shame that the home has been turned into a political football with employees working with fear and tension. In a reply, the Labour Party said that the PN has not learnt the lessons of the election and is still a negative party. The PN had left the situation in shambles and was now criticising the Labour government for working to find solutions. The decisions taken were all in the best interests and agreed to with the union, the PL said. (The Malta Independent)

 

 

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Valletta per noi

I only started using the Sliema – Valletta ferry after I had moved to Luxembourg for work. When I still lived in Malta the ferry was something that only tourists did. They had time. They could afford to take in the splendid views of Marsamxett. Not for me the dilly-dallying. My commute to the city was for work and time was money, so I dutifully got in line with the hundreds of other sensible car-owners (one per-car) and sucked in on the carbon emissions all the way through the Porte des Bombes and Saint Anne Street.

These days whenever I come back home I always make it a point to use the ferry. At least once. Sure it’s not the same deal as walking into the majestic city through its main gate but the arrival by boat seems to be so much more fitting for the city built for gentlemen. This was, after all, the city built by a sea-faring order that threw its weight around the middle sea. Ignoring Valletta’s littoral element is like thinking of London without the Thames or Venice without its canals.

Majestic the city may be but its majesty exists also because of the sea. At the foot of the bastions that skirt the Humble City lie the lapping waters of the Mediterranean – a constant reminder of the place of the Most Proud city in time and space. The sea wraps the gated peninsula – alternating idyllic moments of calm with sudden bouts of fury, when Poseidon and Aeolus unleash their power and besiege its walls all over again.

Gates. The city does not hide its nature. It will always remain a fortified city – no matter how modern it can get. Internationally renowned architects may do away with doors and barriers and introduce open spaces but you will always have a sense of foreboding when you approach the Proud City.

Will it welcome you once more? Will it let you walk lazily through its deserted streets on a hot August afternoon, and allow you to stop at one of the myriad eating joints that have sprung along its streets? Will it engulf you in the darkness of the night as you drunkenly attempt to quit its narrow streets and newborn drinking holes? Will the ghosts of Valletta past entrap you in a winding desolation of brothels, murders and intrigue?

Or will Valletta be itself and gracefully adorn every step that you take on its streets with memorable  moments of historic ecstasy – from the smallest nook to the grandest palazzo? Will its church bells toll happily to welcome the many sons and daughters of the nation who find refuge in its proud symbolism? Will it let the sweet winds cool you as they breeze through its narrow, shaded streets? Will Valletta be the capital for everyone?

I have never left Valletta feeling  unsatisfied. The sense of foreboding is quickly replaced with a renewed sense of belonging. I was not born or brought up in Valletta but it is my capital. Any street in Valletta is my street. Our street. Every cobbled step down Republic Street, every mooring place near the waterfront, every smell on Lascaris Wharf and every balcony on Saint Barbara’s Bastion. They’re all there to tell you that no matter how far from Malta you may be, the city of gentlemen is there to remind you that there is a place that you can call home.

 

This post first appeared as a guest post on the Valletta 2018 Foundation’s Official Blog.

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Minority reports

If it is up to the victors to write history then the losers are busy writing reports. That is just what the PN has just finished doing and it has published an executive summary of this analysis of the 2013 election result. Chaired by the papabile Anne Fenech the committee produced a litany of reasons divided into three parts: Why the Nationalist party lost, Why the Labour party won, and a part that includes suggestions for the future. Unlike the trend in Labour documents the executive summary does not have an obsession with numbering (check out the Law Commission’s latest report for a veritable OCD of numbering) but contains a list all the same. In the words of Eco “We like lists because we don’t want to die“.

In actual fact the first two lists are just a survey – a sort of vox pop  the likes of which could have been obtained by any kind of survey company operating on the market. They are not in themselves the reasons why the nationalist party lost the election (or why Labour won) – they are the reasons why people did not vote for the PN and voted for the PL (sometimes, but not always, “instead” could fit at the end of that sentence). It might seem to be the same but it is different. A survey company would only have omitted those grating praises of the outgoing nationalist party and its achievements (the truth is hard to swallow indeed).

As a political party (and for heavens’ sake don’t give me the movement crap), the Nationalist party is duty bound to look deeper into its soul than simply listing the ills of the people in a quasi-maniacal manner. Idiots without a clue about politics had come up with such lists and polluted the facebook pages with obsessive statuses much before the commission could even start applying its enigmatic PESTLE approach (Ghallinqas kelli ragun fuq din). Worse still the report falls short (but only just) of blaming an ungrateful electorate for not rewarding a highly successful administration – admittedly the temptation is always there (just look at AD).

The report also risks glorifying Joseph Muscat’s “success” notwithstanding the jibes and qualifications that are present at every point in part two. The two lists  – the anti-PN grievances and the analysis of the carrots that Labour distributed for its success – are dangerous in that they seem to push the PN into the ugly ground of emulating the Taghna Lkoll formula. That formula is not about politics but about marketing and building on dissatisfaction. It is the push towards the most mediocre of “political” methodologies represented by a manipulation of people’s needs in order to get into power (promising Turkeys to abolish Christmas) followed up by a display of ineptitude, abuse and lack of direction once such power is achieved.

The PN is in a much luckier position than AD in that it holds the lucky seat of alternation and the dice are seriously tricked in its favour when it comes to having to convince a Labour voter to switch back to itself. The committee is aware of this and has grounded its third part on that type of recommendation – of bringing voter into the fold of this “familja nazzjonalista”. J’accuse has always found this hermeneutic apartheid that grounds our political thinking both distasteful and counterproductive. The labour backlash in government is also a result of this way of thinking.

What the PN needs is to think different. To think outside the box. It risks wasting lots of precious time falsely “rebuilding” by thinking in the same terms as its Commission. What the PN really requires at this point is a look within itself – a hard thought evaluation about what the party means and what it wants to achieve for itself but more importantly for the nation. it needs to ask important questions that define its value and ethical make-up and build upon that block. As the Golden Circle goes it needs to be asking less about what it does or how it does it and focus much, much more on Why.

Once that message is clear Chris Said’s horses and men can begin to put Humpty together again.

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Rossini

Dan l-aħħar innutajt li “tal-liġi” reġgħu qed itellgħu bosta statuses dwar l-eżamijiet. Ma tantx tgħid “O żmien ħlejju” x’ħin tiftakar l-istress u t-tensjoni dwar x’ħiereġ għall-eżami jew kemm jiflaħ il-moħħ uman jiddiġerixxi informazzjoni u jikklassifikah. L-impossibilta tal-isfida tittaffa biss b’markinġenji varji li suppositament jgħinu biex issalva sal-eżami li jmiss. Bejn bott nutella, litru kafe u xi erbat ikratal redbull (kelma waħda) suppost taf ittawwal dawk l-iljieli koroh ta’ qabel l-eżami. (come fanno le segretarie con gli occhiali a farsi sposare dagli avvocati).

Jien kelli ħafna ritwali dak iż-żmien. Fosthom bejn superstizzjoni u bżonn tar-ritmu kont nitfa erba klassiċi. Minn Grieg għal filgħodu, Ravel għall-estasi Tereżjana, Vivaldi għall mumenti ta’ raptus ċivili u l-iprem wieħed il-crescendo goljardiku tal-William Tell ta’ Rossini. Għax tgħid kont dejjem nagħlaq għajnejja u nimmaġinah rqiq u sportiv lil Ġwakkin Rossini. Il-mużika tiegħu hekk tagħtik x’tifhem. Qatt ma kont fittixt xi immaġni tiegħu imma bilfors dawk ir-ritmi ħlejjin li fi żmien ieħor kienu jakkumpanjaw lil Zorro f’xi telenovela ma setgħux ikunu xogħol wieħed mogħni b’sovrappiż.

Eppur fu boċċu. Sibt ritratt tiegħu u ma setax ikollu wiċċ iktar ta’ wikkiel minn hekk Ġwakkin. Rossini kien Rossone. Imbagħad ftakart. Hemm dak il-pjatt famiġerat li tant jagħmel ħsara lill-arterji iżda tant jagħti pjaċir lill-palat – it-Tournedos Rossini. Rossini u ngħid. Fittixt fil-Wikipedia u sure enough.

Tournedos Rossini is a French steak dish, purportedly created for the composer Gioachino Rossini by French master chef Marie-Antoine Carême. The dish comprises a tournedos (filet mignon) of beef, pan-fried in butter, served on a crouton, and topped with a hot slice of fresh whole foie gras briefly pan-fried at the last minute. The dish is garnished with slices of black truffle, and finished with a Madeira demi-glace sauce.

Hemm aħna. Fillet moqli fil-butir, itfagħlu crouton u żejnu bil-fois gras li għallgrazzjatalmulejalla kienet hi ukoll moqlija. Żiedilha truffle u naqa sauce u għidli x’mintix tiekol. Allafaccia ta’ William Tell. Jekk il-ktieb ma tiġġudikaħx mill-qoxra lanqas m’għandek tiġġudika kompożitur mill-mużika tiegħu. Imbagħad skoprejt li Rossini kien iħobbu u kif l-ikel (ara link isfel). Sar jogħġobni iktar.

Awguri għall-eżamijiet ,…iġri jgħaddu ħa tgawdu il-ħajja u l-pjaċiri tagħha.

I know of no more admirable occupation than eating, that is really eating. Appetite is for the stomach what love is for the heart. The stomach is the conductor, who rules the grand orchestra of our passions, and rouses it to action. The bassoon or the piccolo, grumbling its discontent or shrilling its longing, personify the empty stomach for me. The stomach, replete, on the other hand, is the triangle of enjoyment or the kettledrum of joy. As for love, I regard her as the prima donna par excellence, the goddess who sings cavatinas to the brain, intoxicates the ear, and delights the heart. Eating, loving, singing and digesting are, in truth, the four acts of the comic opera known as life, and they pass like the bubbles of a bottle of champagne. Whoever lets them break without having enjoyed them is a complete fool. – Gioachino Rossini

 

iktar dwar Rossini  u l-ikel jinstab hawn: Gioachino Rossini’s Haute Cuisine

 

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The Emperor’s Purse

Much like what happened in the case of his new clothes, the emperor’s purse and his dealings with it tend to be talked about in a very circumstantial manner. The norm is either that of criticising the corrupt wastage or applauding some genius plan – much depends on which side one’s bread is buttered. There are a few reflections to be made as to recent developments in matters relating to the Emperor’s purse.

First up, the Emperor in government. We read that the Commission has recommended the opening of an Excessive Deficit Procedure against Malta and that Malta is the only EU state that will be facing this predicament. What it means is that since Malta has exceeded the 3% deficit threshold it will have to succumb to recommendations and suggestions by the Council as to how it could reduce that figure to below 3%. Still geared in “opposition” thinking, the Taghnalkoll government is eager to put the blame on its predecessor – insofar as the existence of the excessive deficit is concerned (and this even after Muscat claimed that he did not want to make a political football out of it).

There is a contradiction that was identifiable early on – while cost-cutting measures such as creating the world’s first part-time eternal flame were still being announced  (and less than 10,000 euros will be saved by the cabinet that is costing the citizen 60 million 6 million euro more than the previous per year) we heard this absolute gem from the government in reaction to the Commission’s assessment:

Although Malta is the only country set to be placed under fresh EDP, the Maltese government insisted that the Commission’s recommendations were a positive sign for its own economic and fiscal plan in its reaction to them this afternoon. It pointed out that the Commission did not impose additional measures on the country’s budget, stating that this showed its confidence in the new government’s plan.

Which is great no? Only there is one big flaw. Everybody who is anybody knows that the budget referred to in this quote is the same budget that was first voted against by the current government (disguised as a constructive opposition) then approved quickly once it was in government (disguised as a progressive government). Whatsmore that budget is the very same budget devised by that devious and scheming ex-Minister Tonio Fenech – yep, the Nationalist Party In Government Budget. So the emperor is lying… because if anything the fact that the commission did not deem fit to impose additional  measures on the country’s budget only goes to show that the previous stewards of our financial ship had steadied it in the right direction.

Which brings me to the stewards’ current predicament. The appointment of Ray Bugeja to head the PN commission on party finances has been hailed as excellent because the commission is supposedly full of competent people. The whole hand clapping and back slapping exercise might still prove to be futile because what many people are failing to see (or to want to see) is that this is not the case of a company with a profitable product needing tweaking. This is a political party that operates very much in the PLPN tried and tested system of bartering that is only another way of trading in influence.

Short of recommending a complete meltdown of debt-carrying party “resources” there is little that any bunch of King’s Men could do in an honest fashion to put this particular Humpty Dumpty together again. Though the work of Bugeja’s commission is shrouded in economic terms (Sibna sponsor!) the truth remains that it is an issue of party finances and financing – one that has recently been pushed to the discussion table without any particular happy ending in sight. It is a political and maybe even a constitutional issue that will only be solved superficially by an internal party committee. Bugeja’s work seems doomed to be a rubber stamp for more bartering systems, more trading in influence… in short more of the same.

Unless of course the PN gets serious about the business of politics and abandons that very damaging route of politics of business. Int taf x’ifisser!

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il-Maltin ta’ barra

Kemm idum Malti il-Malti ta’ barra? Hemm xi sustanza fl-eteru li żżommu Malti għal dejjem jew hemm xi punt li minnu ma jistax jerġa’ lura? Malti tibqa’ għal dejjem għax Malta art twelidek u Malti l-ilsien li tagħtek ommok (jew forsi xi sekondarja wara ħafna tlaqliq, like). Imma hemm xi mument allura meta l-Malti barra minn Malta isir il-barrani li kien minn Malta? Teżisti differenza? Tagħmel differenza?

L-expat li ma jitħammilx f’pajjiżu huwa klixe li drajna mill-bidu. Erħilhom jironiżżaw bil-filosofija taż-żewġ ċenteżmi dwar l-iben il-għaqli li telaq għal għonq it-triq. Se nagħlqu disa snin fl-Ewropa. Disa’ snin li fihom bosta bint u iben artna telqu lejn Brussell – mhux Brussell il-belt mind you imma Brussell l-idea li tfarradna bilmod.

S’intendi fejn jaqbel lill-Malti l-esperjenza fi Brussell m’hawnx bħalha. Ara Dossier Muscat u Dossier Busuttil għal iktar dettalji. Imma grossomodo jibqgħu fuq l-istonku dawn l-erbat ifriefet li ittajru ‘l hemm. S’issa qajla impurtana li konna nissemmew fil-batal. L-ironija u s-sarkażmu dwar xi gravy train ftit kienet tinfluwenza ħsibijietna (minbarra l-ovvju tal-“jaħasra miskin” dedikata lil min tenna jew kanta dik l-insinwazzjoni).

Imma issa l-gravy train tagħna lkoll. Ma hemmx għalfejn tmur Brussell biex iddawwar sold. Anzi ta’ Malta aħjar minn ta’ barra għax flok concours u eżami kemm tippoża tnejn fuq billboard u prattikament taħlef  li temmen f’Joseph. Joseph wara’ kollox prodott ta’ Brussell hux hekk?

Le ta. Mhux hekk. Aħna dawk li tkażajtu bina għax għażilna naħdmu barra. Dawk li “bgħatnikom taqilgħu sold waqt li aħna inħallsu t-taxxi”. Dawk li “issa tiġi btala b’xejn minn fuq darna biex tivvota”. Aħna dawk li “issa int f’hiex tifhem għax mort ygħix barra”? Dawk li issa wara disgħa snin mhux talli jiddarrsu meta jisimgħu miġemgħa ilħna Maltin f’xi ajruport tal-Ewropa Tagħna Lkoll talli bdew jistaqsu imma aħna Maltin ta’ barra jew barranin minn Malta?

U fil-pront tiżbokka blog mimli nejk veritier (pastizz.tumblr.com) illi jurik li xi affarijiet ma jiġrux lilek biss… Għax forsi Malta qiegħdha f’moħħna u jekk konna mitt bniedem mitt fehma meta konna għadna fuq gżira gremxul ma jfissirx li se nwaħħdu fehemitna issa li ħriġna barra.

Imma xi ħaġa inbidel żgur. Xi ftit iktar barrani sirt. Forsi għax infsadt mill-fosdqa kennija tal-ħsieb ġewwa l-għar irnexxielek tistkenn mill-mard mentali li kull ma jmur qed jikber. Ma xrobtx mill-bjar tal-għerf li wasslu biex ikkonvinċew l-eluf li wasal żmien il-bidla biex imbagħad reddgħulhom kazz daqsiex.

Għaddew disa’ snin u ħsieb il-Malti ta’ barra baqa’ jhewden u jvenven mal-imħuħ. Forsi huwa dak il-ħsieb stess li jagħmlu daqshekk differenti u li fl-aħħar mill-aħħar iżommlu l-passaport malti imnaqqax fil-vini u fl-arterji.

Il-logħob tal-pajjiżi ż-żgħar waslu ġewwa d-dukat. Jgħidulhom logħob, isejħulna żgħar… kemm ma jafux jaħasra.

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