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They cannot kill us all

 

Eleonora has had to be particularly patient with me in the past two days. It must not be easy having a brooding, melancholic zombie walking around the house. I still find myself unable to string coherent words together about what has just happened. Unable on a personal plane, unable on a political plane. Until this period of shock and grief is over I am thankful to have someone like Eleonora beside me. Someone who understands and clearly expresses what we are going through. We, as in her newly adopted second home that is fast turning from a fairy tale paradise into a pirate island of darkness and misery. Here is Eleonora’s post on facebook today.

I would like this opportunity to thank all my colleagues at work from all nations who have sent me private messages of solidarity. I wish to be able to convey this kind of understanding to many of my fellow citizens – the same citizens in whom I had lost faith already a few months ago and who I will hopefully strive to win over to the new battle for change starting from the coming days. 

 

This week I’ve received A LOT of messages of friends expressing their sorrow and shock for what has happened to Mrs Caruana Galizia last Monday.

As an Italian citizen whose partner is a Maltese citizen (sorry, Gozitan), obviously I felt the emotional blow that followed the announcement of her tragic murder. On the one hand, being Italian my mind immediately recalled the death machine that took the life of Judge Giovanni Falcone in Capaci back in 1992. A car exploding, a major quantity of explosive probably detonated by someone/something operating a remote control, a road that will be left for long with a crater and a country mourning one of its most important and controversial public figures. We Italians have unfortunately developed a special awareness when it comes to this kind of events. On the other hand, I am also getting acquainted with “my country-in-law” and therefore I knew who Daphne was, what her work consisted of and how it was perceived among the Maltese population.

But it struck me when I realized that I wasn’t the only non-Maltese-citizen genuinely feeling for the “desperate situation” in which Malta finds itself right now. Colleagues and friends, they all sent a text over the past days to express their sorrow for what happened to Daphne. Why is that?

At first I considered it very strange, because usually everybody tends to undermine the role played by the smallest EU country or its potential. People actually make fun of the fact that such a small country manages to sit at a table together with Frau Merkel and Mr Juncker. Then I thought that perhaps all this empathy was due to the fact that the brutal way in which the murder has been carried out had caught the attention of the usual crime-news-audience.

But I was mistaken.

Friends who are writing me simply need to share their emotions, to express their shock, and want me to convey their sympathy to my partner. I realized that they are doing this because they too have been affected by this tremendous assassination. Because I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
We, people living in the long-awaited Area of Freedom, Security and Justice simply cannot conceive that an investigative journalist is murdered, let alone in this brutal manner, because of her ideas. Also our rights as human beings, our fundamental freedoms have been violated by this savage act. Because we’re no longer Maltese citizens, Italian citizens, German citizens. We’re Europeans, we’re citizens of this world, and we all feel for each other, especially when these events occur.

Now it’s the time to ask ourselves: what of this stream of emotions? Will we just burst out our sorrow, feel for the family of Mrs Caruana Galizia and watch from far what will be done to bring to justice those who are responsible for this?

I think that it’s important that Maltese citizens feel that we all will not immediately forget what’s happened and, in a broader perspective, what’s happening in and to this country. It may sound too obvious, but keeping in the public eye the events that will follow what happened to Daphne will allow all those who are now protesting in the streets and calling for a more democratic society to feel that they are not alone, that they still have our support and that they are claiming something that we all deem essential. A Maltese citizent told me today that you can assess what’s the status of the rule of law in Malta by seeing what will be the follow up of this tragic murder. Let’s make sure we all follow closely what will happen now.

Because as Judge Rocco Chinnici (also murdered by a car bomb parked in front of his domicile) said when he first envisaged the establishment of the antimafia pool, “they can kill one, two of us, but they cannot kill us all”.

Blood on their hands

 

On any other day this facebook post would have been taken up and pasted onto the Running Commentary. The blog is no more but the spirit not only lives on but will grow. I am reproducing this post here with the kind permission of its author Justin Borg Barthet. 

We don’t know who ordered the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Perhaps we never will.

But there’s blood on your hands, Prime Minister. You systematically destroyed the institutions which would have protected journalists from the violence of those who feared the truth. You emasculated a police force, and you reprogrammed the constitutional order to eliminate the rule of law. There’s blood on your hands, Prime Minister.

There’s blood on your hands too, Leader of the Opposition. Your political career is built on the dehumanisation of a journalist, on the weakening of the truths for which she stood, on the removal of the support of people who stood between her and yesterday’s events. There’s blood on your hands, Leader of the Opposition.

There’s blood on your hands, Attorney General. I have never addressed your omissions before for fear that my voice would be amplified undeservedly. Not now. I don’t know if it is cowardice, promise of preferment, or plain lucre which has made you remiss in your constitutional duties. But chances are, had you done your job properly, a journalist, a mother, a wife, a sister, would still be with us. Her murderers would be in prison. There’s blood on your hands, Attorney General.

There’s blood on your hands too Police Commissioner. But about you, least said soonest mended.

Leader of the Opposition

Adrian Delia is frantically fighting a race against time. It has become increasingly evident that his gamble for leadership of the nationalist party did not include the foresight or plan that would account for the fact that he needs to find a way to get into parliament. This lack of foresight does not bode well for the nationalist party – that it is lead by someone unable to make the most simple of calculations is not exactly a bright light for the future. If my sources are right, plan B for Delia and his entourage seems to be the harassing of a number of MPs that are judged as most likely to want (or to be forced) to give up their seat and make way for the half-heartedly anointed one. It is a clumsy and roundabout way of doing things that jars conspicuously with the declared marketing of TeamDelia of wanting to unite the party behind Adrian as quickly as possible.

Unwitting supporters have even been asked to turn their guns onto the PD as though the damned coalition meant that the Democratic Party owed the Nationalist Party anything other than collaboration in parliament against the forces of corruption. Kudos to Marlene Farrugia who has strongly retorted that she will not be turned in this respect and that the PD will jump at any chance to take the place of any MP who chooses to call it quits and force a by-election. Of course Delia and his team will choose to take this opportunity to ride roughshod over the concept of coalition and collaboration – hatred of anything the coalition was about is after all one of the hallmarks of Delia’s New Way. So much for a deeper understanding of the changes that are necessary in the way politics is made.

But what about the Holy Grail position of the Leader of the Opposition? Well, constitutionally we are in a bit of a conundrum. First of all, none of the conditions that create a vacancy of the position of Leader of Opposition (Article 90(3) of the Constitution) has been fulfilled so technically since Simon Busuttil is still a member of the House of Representatives and consequently has not vacated the position. Let us assume that by informing the President of his intention to no longer lead the nationalist party, Simon Busuttil has de facto given up his place as Leader of the Opposition that he occupied under the terms of 90(2)(a) of the Constitution. In that case, until Delia manages to find a way into Parliament we can try to see who can legitimately fill that constitutional role come the 1st of October. Whichever scenario you take, whether it is under article 90(2)(a) (the MP who leads the opposition party with the largest number of members) or under article 90(4) (If, in the judgment of the President, a member of the House of Representatives other than the Leader of the Opposition, has become the Leader in the House of the opposition party having the greatest numerical strength in the House) – in both cases the Leader of the Opposition is (a) a member of the house and (b) commands/leads the largest number of opposition members. In the absence of the party leader (Adrian Delia) the obvious constitutional choice until the dilemma is solved is to nominate the Deputy Leader for Parliamentary matters (Mario DeMarco) as the Leader of the Opposition.

Sure, it can be a strange situation where the Leader of the Party is not the same person as the Leader of the Opposition but this does not mean that it cannot and will not work. As I said, Delia should have foreseen this situation before he decided to throw in his name as a leadership candidate. It’s not like he was not asked the question as from the start of his campaign. Even a minimum of constitutional knowledge would have told him that no MP on any side of the house owes any party anything. The seats are not theirs to give – they have been elected by their constituents and owe them the duty of representation. Giving up that seat for a man who only three months ago was unwilling to represent any part of the nation would be a betrayal of their constituents of the highest order.

I am quite sure that in the end one MP will be found who will give in to the heavy handed tactics of TeamDelia. It does not bode well at all though. It is one thing to elbow your way into the leadership of a party, it is another altogether to bulldoze your way into a constitutional position without the least bit of deference to the constitutional principles that underlie a constitutional democracy.

 

 

Ittra miftuħa lil tesserat tal-partit nazzjonalista li se jivvota għada

 

Għażiż tesserat,

Wisq probabbli ma nafekx u jekk nafek m’aħniex ħbieb minn ta’ ġewwa (kif jgħidu… ma nieklux kirxa flimkien). Xorta nixtieqek tippermettili ngħidlek kelma … tismagħni… kif sar wisq moda li ngħidu f’dawn iż-żmienijiet. Għandi xi ngħidlek u nixtieq ngħidulek għax il-vot tiegħek għada jikkonċernani ukoll – din id-darba iktar minn qatt qabel.

Forsi smajt bijja, forsi le. Blogger ukoll jien. Wieħed minn ta’ l-ewwel kieku – bdejt nibbloggja fl-10 ta’ Marzu 2005 u kont minn ta’ l-ewwel li għaraft l-utilita’ ta’ dan il-mezz tax-xandir f’Malta. Jafuni bħala l-akkuża għax biex għażilt isem is-sit tiegħi tnebbaħt minn kittieb u attivist franċiż ta’ żewġ sekli ilu li ma kienx jaf jżomm sieket quddiem inġustizzji. Emile Zola kien kiteb ittra miftuħa – magħrufa bħala J’accuse – fejn kien akkuża lill-istabbiliment u gvern tan-nuqqasijiet tagħħom u kixef il-ksur tal-liġi minn naħa tagħhom speċjalment fejn naqsu milli jirrispettaw id-dinjita’ tal-bniedem. Jien minix bi ħsiebni nakkuża lil ħadd illum. Kemm ngħidlek pero li kemm ilni nibbloggja ilni inwissi li s-sistema tal-partiti li għandna illum (sistema li saħansitra ġiet ikkonsolidata fil-kostituzzjoni u l-ogħla liġijiet ta’ pajjiżna) se twassal għal tiġrija lejn il-qiegħ.

Is-Sewwa

Iva. Sa mill-bidu (u anki qabel ma kont nikteb fi blog) kont għaraft li l-partiti ta’ pajjiżna ma huma xejn ħlief magni meħjuma u mibnijin biex isarrfu l-aspirazzjonijiet ta’ l-ambizzjużi fil-kilba tagħhom għall-poter. Kont għaraft li bilmod il-mod kienu ħallew warajhom il-prinċipji jew valuri li suppost kienu iħaddnu u minflok saru parti minn xibka dejjem titwessa ta’ interessi pekunjarji. Pajjiżna ma kienx baqagħlu min imexxih għaliex ma kienx għad baqa’ ideat imsejsa fuq valuri u proġetti għal futur aħjar għas-soċjeta. Minflok, kull ma jmur, rajna jiżviluppaw ġenerazzjoni ta’ politiċi li jgħixu biss għal din il-magna: biex jisquha u biex jieklu minnha.

Għal ħafna żmien kont (u sa ċertu punt għadni) nemmen li l-uniku ħaġa li twassal għal bidla ta vera fil-pajjiż kienet tkun il-mewt tal-partiti l-kbar. Minkejja li kien kważi impossibbli, għal ħafna żmien kont nemmen li jekk tielet u raba partit jirnexxilhom jiżżerżqu bejn iż-żewġ partiti l-kbar forsi kien jitkisser iċ-ċirku vizzjuż. Iż-żmien għadda u ċ-ċirkostanzi inbidlu. Fl-aħħar elezzjoni, konxju tal-qiegħda imwiergħa tal-pajjiż f’dak li għandu x’jaqsam mal-breakdown istituzzjonali u l-firxa ta’ korruzzjoni, għażilt li nitfa’ il-ftit piż tiegħi wara l-koalizzjoni li kienet qed twiegħed bidla. Konvint li ħafna ma fehmux li l-koalizzjoni ma kenitx is-soluzzjoni imma kienet l-uniku għażla li kien għad baqa’ f’tentattiv iddisprat li jirbaħ is-sewwa fuq il-korruzzjoni, fuq it-tmermir istituzzjonali. Il-koalizzjoni tal-Forza Nazzjonali kienet il-bogħod milli tkun perfetta u bagħtiet ħafna minħabba l-indifferenza ta’ bosta lejn l-idea li wieħed imur oltre l-idea ta’ partit wieħed, klassiku.

Nafu kif spiċċat dik l-istorja. Niżbaljaw pero’ jekk naħsbu li l-ħsieb wara l-koalizzjoni, l-ħsieb wara l-għaqda kontra l-korruzzjoni kien wieħed ħażin sempliċement għax ma rebaħx elezzjoni. Is-sewwa mhux dejjem jirbaħ. Għallinqas mhux mill-ewwel u speċjalment meta isib kontrih il-magni tal-korruzzjoni, tal-klijenteliżmu u taċ-ċejċa. Iktar u iktar mhux se jirbaħ meta kull ma jmur qed naraw li l-elettorat (jew il-biċċa tiegħu li tgħodd numerikament biex jifforma gvern) jippreferi fuq kollox il-filosofija ta’ l-aqwa li jiena sew. Anki meta iffaċċjat bl-iktar każijiet ovvji ta’ korruzzjoni. Anki meta t-tmermir sistemiku tal-pajjiż li se jħallu lil uliedhom qiegħed f’wiċċhom.

Ftit paċenzja oħra u ismagħni, tesserat. Il-partit tiegħek qiegħed fejn qiegħed illum għax għażel li ma jilgħabx il-logħba faċli u populista. Taħt Simon Busuttil għażel li jkun fuq quddiem bl-għajta kontra l-korruzzjoni. Din mhix sempliċement kwistjoni ta’ fejn sejrin il-flus. Din kwistjoni ta’ fejn sejjer il-pajjiż.. fejn jagħżel li se jkun ħames u għaxar snin oħra. Busuttil kien il-mexxej fis-siegħa tal-bżonn tal-partit… bid-difetti tiegħu ukoll, b’dik l-oratorija daqxejn irritanti, dik l-arja ta’ abbatin naqra iktar irritanti IMMA Busuttil għamel bħal ma għamel ħafna drabi il-partit nazzjonalista fil-passat. Għażel triq tas-sewwa. It-triq bla kompromessi. Issa kullħadd għaddej ġmielu jirrepeti il-mantra laburista – li kien wisq negattiv. Ma nistax nimmaġina pero x’ippretendew li jagħmel jekk mhux li jaġixxi kif għandha tagħmel oppożizzjoni vera li tkun għassa tal-prinċipji bażiċi ta’ rappreżentanza u demokrazija.

M’inix nazzjonalist

M’inix nazzjonalist u wisq inqas ma jien tesserat. Personalment ma nemminx f’tesseri ta’ sħubija f’partiti politiċi, speċjalment taħt is-sistema Maltija. Meta niġi biex nivvota nara x’qed jgħidu u joffru l-kandidati u nagħżel dak il-ħin. M’għandi l’ebda lealta’ għamja. Fl-1991 pero bdejt fil-politika fil-partit nazzjonalista. Proprjament konna grupp ta’ xi 30 żgħażugħ u żgħażugħa li ifformajna l-MZPN Għawdex. Konna attivi fil-laqgħat ta’ djalogu fi żmien it-tkattir u twessiegħ ta’ prinċipji veri. Tiftakarhom forsi : Solidarjeta’… dejjem… kullimkien. Sussidjarjeta’. Kien żmien li Malta mingħalina bdejna nedukaw rwieħna dwar it-tħaddim ta’ soċjeta miftuħa u demokratika. Ta’ sbatax il sena tkellimt f’laqgħa ta djalogu f’Marsalforn u niftakar li Eddie kien ikkongratulani (żgur bħal ma kien jinkoraġġixxi lil kullħadd) dwar id-diskors tiegħi dwar kif l-għaqdiet għawdxin għandhom jiġbdu ħabel wieħed.

Dak iż-żmien imexxi grupp ta’ żgħażagħ ħabrieka kellna lil Chris Said. Ilħaqt imbagħad tbiegħdt mill-partit għax ħassejt dik il-mewġa ġejja bilmod. Dik l-istess mewġa li issa tissemma għax iddejjaq lil ħafna. L-arroganza, in-nuqqas ta’ smiegħ, is-suspett li hemm klikkek kontra klikkek u kullħadd jiġbed għal djul għajnu. Dejjaqni ħafna ukoll għax kont bdejt nara partit li waqaf ikun mexxej fl-ideat. Minflok, waqt li kien jinħeba wara ħafna paroli ta’ smiegħ u valuri kien minflok spiċċa ukoll ikun populista Kont tinduna mill-kandidati li jintagħżlu mhux għax tajbin jew għax għandhom kwalitajiet u ispirazzjonijiet politiċi tajbin imma għax iġibu xi vot jew tnejn. Imbagħad tara fazzjonijiet jiffurmaw biex t-tali jilħaq ministru, t-tali għandu n-nies “tiegħu” u kull ma jmur tinduna li l-politika ftit li xejn tissarraf f’ideat oltre l-ħsieb ta’ lukru.

Imbagħad kien hemm il-mument fejn il-PN nixef għal kollox mill-ideat. Kien il-mument wara li Malta ssieħbet fl-Ewropa. Ma kien baqa l-ebda utopia għall-futur li tipprovdi l-metru tal-ħidma politika. Kaxkarna ftit ieħor taħt il-gwida għaqlija ta’ Lawrence Gonzi pero il-partit kien ilu li spiċċa minn ġewwa. Il-kollass kien se jasal minn mument għall-ieħor. U wasal meta sab il-mostru tal-klijenteliżmu quddiemu. Il-fenomenu Muscat kollha nafuh. M’huwiex fenomenu interessanti għal min jemmen fid-demokrazija u fil-valuri tal-liġi tad-dritt. Huwa fenomenu inkredibbli minħabba s-suċċess li kellu darbtejn fuq partit li kien ilu li għaddielu l-expiry date.

Futur fis-Sewwa

Daqt nispiċċa tibżax. Għada int mistieden tagħżel il-“kap” tal-partit. L-għażla issa bejn tnejn. Hemm Adrian Delia illi jidher li qed jikseb popolarita’ b’rata mgħaġġla. Miss qalb ħafna minnkom, forsi anki lilek, speċjalment meta flok spjega fil-konkret kif se jbiddel il-partit intefa jlissen kliem l-innu psewdo-faxxista tal-partit. Għad hawn ħafna li mhux qed jifhmu d-dieqa li jħossu u li jaħsbu li l-malinkonija tagħħom – “l-uġiegħ” kif iħobbu jgħidu – huwa frott tat-“telf” li ġarrbu dan l-aħħar. Li mhumiex jindunaw hu li dak li jonqoshom m’huwiex partit li jirbaħ imma partit li jaġħżel is-sewwa bħal ma kien fil-passat. Għadhom irrabjati għaliex ma “rebħux” l-aħħar elezzjoni u jemmnu li allura din tal-korruzzjoni bilfors kienet gidba – xi spin qarrieqi u li għalhekk issa huma itturufnati fil-wied tad-dmugħ. Kliem Delia sabiħ f’dan id-dawl għax iwiegħed rebħ u tiġdid u li ma jibqax ikun partit (fi kliemu) “negattiv”. Attent pero tesserat. Anki meta tqis il-partit qabel il-pajjiż nistiednek tqis sew.

Il-partit nazzjonalista (u kull partit ieħor) m’huwiex l-innu, m’huwiex il-carcade, m’huwiex il-pick and mix ta’ valuri konservattivi biex kumbinazzjoni jintogħġob  mas-saff tal-elettorat li huwa maggoranza fost it-tesserati (over 60s), m’huwiex bandiera jew simboli. Tista’ iddum issabbat fuq sidrek u tgħajjat b’rabja qisek Mikiel Falzon isejjaħ l-iljuni. Il-partit veru hu dak li jagħraf jinseġ storja ta’ valuri li tkompli tibni fuq kisbiet passati. Li tiċċita x-xogħol, ġustizzja u liberta, is-solidarjeta, u d-djalogu ma hux kliem fierah imma il-bidu ta’ riforma ġdida li xogħla għandha tkun li ttejjeb id-determinazzjoni ta’ saff importanti tal-poplu li għal darba oħra ikun it-tarka ta’ dak li hemm bżonn għall-futur ta’ nazzjon.

Biex temmen f’dan kollu trid tkun tħaddan il-politika umana bħala punt ta’ tluq u tħaddan ukoll ir-rieda li fi spirtu demokristjan aġġornat għaż-żminijiet tal-llum tkun ippreprat titqabad għal dak li temmen fih. Fuq kollox trid tkun temmen li qabel ma tivvota biex tibni partit rebbieħ, tivvota biex tibni partit ġust li jemmen fil-ġustizzja. Trid temmen verament li jitkompla x-xogħol siewi ta’ dawn l-aħħar tletin sena u tasal biex tagħżel dak li l-iktar jiggaranixxi t-taqbida fit-triq għas-sewwa.

Is-sewwa jirbaħ żgur.

 

 

No Way to the New Way

Adrian Delia’s adopted slogan for his leadership bid is “Mod Ġdid” (New Way). In his latest outing before the press the candidate for leadership now claims to be persecuted by the PN establishment. It is clear now that his intention is to drive a wedge between himself, his support (supposedly the most of anti-establishment of anti-establishment) and the rest of the party with all its mechanisms, institutions and “baggage”. From last night the 4-way race has become, to some extent a battle between Delia and the rest – the PN in the public eye is reaching its turning point and it is one that has written “do or die” all over.

There is an irony though in the way this whole business has unfolded. A party that was beaten down to a pulp – shocked by the last election results – was being asked for the second time in five years to regroup, reform and react. The system in Malta requires “a leader” – the leader – around which to rebuild. It is as though a leader is required before anything can properly function in our political parties. It could be that we are driven by biblical inspiration and that a party’s chosen are helpless without a guiding light to follow – a messiah even. The many corollaries of this thinking include the blind faith, the unquestioning loyalty, the imagery of the flock and the sacrifices and hurts that are part and parcel of every devotee on whichever side of the great divide.

There begins the irony. Many have been hoping for a New Way for a very long time. Many, including myself, had hoped that the supposed rage that had been built against the inexcusable degradation of the rule of law in the last years would transform itself into sufficient inspiration to bring about the much desired change. Many saw this opportunity to begin such a change when the coalition against corruption took shape. Many believed. This would be a new way of politics – transparency, representation, meritocracy and the rule of law brought back to their rightful places in a republic that deserves much much more than the direction it has taken in the last few years. Many, including myself, were prepared to set aside their profound distrust of the old parties and to engage in the hope of kicking off this change – and we joined the coalition and its aim to rid Malta of corruption. Turiamoci il naso e votiamo la coalizione… in the hope of better things to come.

What we had not reckoned with was the New Way. It’s not really that New: it has been with us for a while in the guise of what this website called Inħobbkom Joseph in his first few years of office. Remember? The day Joseph Muscat was elected leader of the Labour Party (then still MLP) his first word to the Labour delegates was “Inħobbkom” (I love you). The New Way had begun. Love was in the air and the promise of change began with promises of listening to the hurts, of sweeping away the old and bringing in the new. We can see where this brought us. Fast forward to 2017 and looking back we know for a fact that Muscat’s New Way was simply the opportunity for a group within a party to make use of the social and political mechanisms until it reaches its aim of installing itself at the helm of the country. In true Tommasi di Lampedusa style – everything changed but everything remained the same. Circles within circles, friends within friends and the real change disappeared as quickly as a plot of virgin land in an ODZ.

The ugly part of the New Way is that it is difficult to reckon with. It has no scruples, no vision other than Mammon and the abuse of the faults and glitches of a constitutional system that cries for a proper reform. It is tough to reckon with a faceless, valueless body politic and even harder to break it down when the institutional guarantees are all undermined gradually. The New Way works best because it makes use of the partisan party systems that have been fine tuned as ladders to power without much thinking about their original reason for existence. The PN and PL stopped being thinking parties in a political sense decades ago. The PN’s last clear political position was EU entry. The PL’s was probably opposition to the EU – anything since is just a result of pragmatic opportunism and populism on the labour side and the PN flailing about helplessly with a multiple personality disorder.

Without a set of basic values there is no litmus test. There is no independent testing ground, no grundnorm against which to gauge new entries. Add onto this the fact that the last two elections that brought Labour to power and kept it there were also the period of the rise of social media and public scrutiny and reaction. Facebook’s rapid expansion into the political domain has meant that the 2008 election was the last election where information and its manipulation was in the hand of a closed elite. Already in that year the alarm bells began ringing in party HQs when websites such as this one showed the potential of online presence and discourse. In 2013 and 2017 the social media ruled supreme – and it was not only about propaganda. The combination of decades of partisan grooming, faulty party structuring and social media exposure brought us a new majority that crossed party lines. The faithful, the acolytes would process information in a mind-boggling way – and the smarter of the party machineries would make great political mileage out of this.

There is no logic in the New Way. There is no rule of law either. The New Way depends on courts of the general public – a general public that is poisoned with egolitics or the one measure with which everybody seems capable of seeing everything: their egoistic self. The New Way feeds on ignorance, misinformation and the materialistic yearning for more for oneself. The New Way is here and now and Delia and his supporters know that the New Way does not fight its battles institutionally. An admonition and invitation to stand aside by an ethics committee will count for nought in Delia’s mind. Already the spin is out – it’s the establishment fabricating evidence against me.

Such sweet sweet words to Joseph Muscat’s ears. In his own words it is like watching a film of something that he has lived through. Yes, Muscat, the real pioneer of the New Way used his power of incumbency to strike another blow in the face of the advocates for real change. He has already survived the public courts and public judgement by sowing doubt in the right place and by persevering in a propaganda campaign of deceit. He still has a personal secretary and Minister in his cabinet who should be anywhere but in politics. His New Way keeps them there smiling and speaking of love and positive vibes while the sheep and faithful bleat happily ignoring the long-term consequences of this folly.

The New Way is a strong and formidable adversary. Its bed was prepared long ago and it is the result of the race to the bottom begun almost two decades ago. The PN’s tesserati and delegates have a formidable choice before them. It is made even more daunting because they carry the psychological scars of the last electoral campaign where the New Way delivered that sound beating against all logical odds. It might be tough for them to believe that reneging the New Way is a good idea what with all the promises of short term gain that the New Way gives and given the precedent of the formidable prophet of the New Way in government.

There is no time to waste though. At this moment in time rejecting the New Way and opting for the real movement of change is not only a precondition to victory (on a party level) but the last hope that the reform this republic needs begins in earnest. In many ways the voters for this leadership race have one more chance to prove that the New Way has not won. It’s time to finish what had already been started.

It’s simple. Say no way to the new way.