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Il-politika tal-friża

Aħna li ngħixu il-bogħod minn xtut gżiritna inbagħtu l-iktar mill-bard u kesħa li taffliġġi l-ambjenti illi naħdmu fihom tmenin fil-mija tas-sena. Filgħodu naraw it-tbassir tat-temp b’għajnejna jaqgħu l-ewwel fuq it-termometru u imbagħad inqabblu malajr malajr mat-temp f’Malta. Dalgħodu per eżempju jien u nsuq minn fost l-għelieqi fit-tramuntana tal-belt ta’ Lussemburgu tajt daqqa t’għajn lejn x’immarka t-termometru ‘abbord il-vettura’… tlett gradi ċentigradi (bis-sinjal ipetpet jiġifieri possibli li ssib silġ fuq it-triq u suq bi prudenza). Il-kesħa u l-friża … ma nħobbuhomx.

U dan l-aħħar id-diskors politiku reġa’ waqa’ bl-ikreħ fuq l-iffriżar. Xejn ma nħobbuh l-iffriżar f’pajjiżna. Tiftakru lil Sant hekk kif ġie elett fil-gvern x’għamel? Iffriżajna t-talba ta’ sħubija fl-Unjoni Ewropea. Tfajniha fil-kexxun maċ-ċanga u mal-pork tistenna li tiġi xi ruħ tajba u tħollha (kif ġara ftit wara – ukoll grazzi għal Mintoff, ma setax jonqos). Imbagħad ġew Eddie u Guido u x-ċuċ hu il-majkrowejv.

Imma illum il-friża hija l-iktar waħda tal-biża. Qed jitkellmu u jixlu u allegatament jillibellaw lil xulxin kawża tal-misħuta iffriżar tal-paga minima. Din tal-iffriżar tal-pagi kwistjoni kurrenti ħafna. Ara biss x’ippropona fil-baġit tiegħu il-gvern ta’ Hollande. Il-ħaddiema tal-gvern Franċiż se jkollhom il-pagi tagħom iffriżati – ma jistgħux jieħdu iktar żiediet. Minn x’imkien kellhom jibdew jissikkaw iċ-ċinturin. Kellhom xorti il-ħaddiema tal-gvern għax oħrajn bħal dawk ta’ Arcelor-Mittal fil-Lorena ġirien tagħna sejrin saħansitra jitilfu xogħlhom meta tagħlaq waħda mill-aħħar fabbriki siderurġici f’żona li żmien ieħor kienet il-pulmun ekonomiku tal-Ewropa.

Imma konna qed ngħidu. Il-paga minima. Mela qed jgħidu li Muscat qal li se jiffriża l-paga minima (u ejja ninsew il-living wage) għax qal (u dan qalu) li ma hux se jżidha. Sewwa. Imma imbagħad kif spjega sew mingħalija Spiteri – kemm ilha teżisti il-paga minima l-ebda gvern ma żiedha u dan qed ngħidu mill-1974. Sewwa ukoll. Jiġifieri biex niftehemu jekk iffriżar ifisser li ma żżidx il-paga minima oltre il-COLA (Cost of living adjustment – li ġeneralment jittraduċi f’pakket sigaretti) allura kemm in-Nazzjonalisti u kif ukoll il-Laburisti ilhom li tefgħu il-paga minima fil-friża u insewha hemm għal 38 sena. X’bard.

Iżda anki jekk nieqfu hawn u naħsbu ftit fuq verament x’inhu jingħad mill-partiti nindunaw li l-friża hija ukoll tal-ideat. Għax tal-Lejber sabu x-xoqqa f’moxxtha u erħilhom jgħajjru l-PN giddebin għax Muscat ma hu se jiffriża xejn. Tal-PN għadni ma fhimtx eżattament x’jaħsbu għax jew se titkaża bl-iffriżar u allura inti se tieħu azzjoni differenti i.e. mhux tiffriżaha imma żżidha jew tagħlaq ħalqek għax inutli tgħajjar lil ħaddieħor li jagħmel eżattament li qed tagħmel int. Tal-alternattiva kienu ċari … bl-alternattiva fil-gvern togħla il-paga minima. Imma l-AD fil-gvern? Il-votant ilu li tefa’ dik l-idea fil-friża.

Il-PLPN moħħom biex jiġġieldu u jillibellaw dwar dak li mhux se jagħmlu. Sadattant il-valuri u pjanijiet ċari dwar dak li forsi se jagħmlu jekk jiġu eletti għadna ma rajna xejn minnhom. Billboards kemm trid imma fi żmien ta’ baġits awsteri fi Spanja, fl-Italja u anki fl-Ingilterra, il-partiti tagħna moħħhom biex jittrasportaw id-diskussjoni fuq l-eventwalitajiet ineżistenti.

Fi kliem ieħor ħafna paroli fl-arja, ħafna xinxilli, mass meetings, kungressi u x-naf jien… u l-ideat, pjanijiet konkreti u rieda ta’ tmexxija għaqlija ilhom li intefgħu fil-friża.

F’dan il-pajjiż ma nsolvux problemi… nindukrawhom.

Talk is cheap

The reports from Malta are beginning to make the island sound like Italy in the famous “anni di piombo” – only that stabbing, and not shooting, seems to be the preferred form of violence in 1/3 of the cases reported in the last three days. Sadly all the victims were of the gentler sex and ,coming as the they did after Josie Muscat’s unfortunate choice of words, the crimes have somehow been linked to some twisted train of thought that might exist in the mind of the aggressors. It goes something like “Hey, that nutcase Josie said that most times when a husband beats his wife this boils down to having been provoked. So let me get out my special Laguiole knife and find ma biatch and stab her to kingdom come”.

Tenuous? Very much if you ask me. I’m thinking that it does not really take a very wrong idea being expressed publicly for it to trigger off this kind of crime. In most cases these are crimes of passion – and the kind of passion we are talking about is far far beyond the realm of “first transport of sudden passion inspired by Josie Muscat’s non sequitur of a statement”. Besides, what about the Moroccan lady also found “in a pool of blood” but about whose death there is no suspicion of foul play? Respect for the deceased prevents me from passing observations that would be more appropriate in the case of Frankie Boyle but surely the asses out there braying about Josie’s Provocatory Inspiration should know better?

Then there’s the political side. This morning’s standard read through my FB wall led me to the tiny post by Labour’s president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi. This other course colleague of mine (a vintage year that class of ’99) posted:

“Three grave crimes in three days – three women victims – action is required! Do you remember “at home and at work without fear?””

The last reference is to an old PN electoral slogan. Stefan probably does not see the irony that the “fear” in question at the time managed to hit home to many people because it was the kind of fear instilled by the Mintoffian regime. Like it or not the culture of not being safe at work or at home (and I would add “at school”) was very much the result of thuggery and violence that was rampant in the late seventies and early eighties. So yes, Stefan, I do remember the slogan and it’s rather funny that you’re asking us to remember it seeing how your movement is so adamant about how useless these Mintoffian flashbacks are.

As for the link between the three crimes and some implied inactivity by government this is even more tenuous than the Josie Muscat link I mentioned earlier. It is stomach churning material how members of both parties find it so easy to throw illogical leaps and links at what they must assume is a very gullible electorate fully believing that anything goes. A Moroccan woman died in a fall – the cause of death is still uncertain – at home, a former policeman shot his wife and an MMDNA nurse was stabbed in Qormi – and whose fault is it according to Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi? Why obviously it’s the fault of the party that once had “at home and at work without fear” as its slogan.

To be fair to Stefan it’s not just him playing this game. PR man Varist has already regaled us with a couple of insinuations too while a couple of sanctimonious bloggers are “guilty” of playing both the “blame Josie” and “blame Gonzi” game.

It’s going to get hotter as the election date gets closer. Hold on tight and try very hard not to be provoked.

The Stereotypical Joke

A homosexual, a woman, a Gozitan, a farmer, a patient, a hunter, a student and an election candidate walked into a room. Is it the start of the latest viral joke? No, it’s just work as usual at Labour’s Congress about the future that unites us. Progressive Labour seems to be fuelled by cliches and stereotypes to no end. This Congress that regurgitates tautological guidelines by the dozen is proving to be a huge confirmation of this facet of Joseph Muscat’s “politics”.

The art lies in the conversion of “bandwagon” politics into a demonstration of apparent democracy. Always intent on seeming to be the man whose heart beats at a popular rate, Joseph’s style is dramatically simple and as accommodating as possible. How else could you describe the evolution of a political position that can be summed up as simply as “you tell me what you want and I promise to consider it”? (Non c’è problema… tu mi dici quello che devo fare e io lo faccio).

Here’s Anthony David Gatt (One News Journalist) expressing his pride (on facebook) about the goings on at the Congress:

Cyrus Engerer gabni fiha… Persuna gay u Musulmana flimkien jitkellmu dwar l asperazzjonijiet taghhom fuq l istess sufan. Nassigurakom…ma saritx bi hsieb jew biex nezageraw. Minna nfiha din hi r realta ta dak li qed jirnexxielu johloq l PL din l gimgha. Spazju shih ghal kullhadd ghal skambju serju u li jghodd.

What better than a ONE News reporter to gauge the feeling and feedback that exists within the walls of Labour’s tent gatherings? In Labour’s weird way of thinking, the gatherings are not made up of individuals, of persons, but of labels. You are “a gay”, “a muslim” – a token representative of the latest minority that is going to be fed the spiel of how Labour “cares” about them because it is a progressive movement.  Gatt’s sentence is very telling because he assures us “it is not done with forethought or to exaggerate” but this is the REALITY that Labour managed to CREATE this week – a gay person and a muslim speaking together on a sofa discussing their aspirations.

I’ve spoken about my misgivings regarding the modus operandi of this Congress in a previous post (The Wrong shade of Green) and this stressing of stereotypes only goes to reinforce my suspicion that this is one hell of a Potyemkin Village that the Labour planners have got going. We’ve all seen how much the PLPN are capable of using the “dialogue with the people” spin to their advantage. Remember the “tinda tad-Djalogu” of Fenech Adami fame? That was around the same time as Eddie Fiducja.

Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with putting out feelers and listening to what people have to say and what they wish. All the good will in the world though requires more than a bit of mascara marketing and a splash of token stereotypes (from all walks of life as perceived by the seriously obsessed with pigeonholing labourites). Joseph Muscat’s party remains non-committal on most issues and is now hiding behind the tautological guidelines that are neither here nor there.

Meanwhile we are still denied concrete positions on anything factual – just hedging and camera posing. Ramona Depares expressed what is flawed with this reasoning very clearly in one of her blog posts (PL stating the obvious) while MaltaToday’s Wednesday editorial (Manifestly asburd) hit the nail on the head when it came to pointing out why Labour’s foot shuffling about producing a proper manifesto is completely non-sensical.

The charade and parade of the various “sectors of society” goes on. The Congress of Stereotypes tends to look more and more like a series of meetings scheduled by Professor Xavier. And Labour insists on deliberately missing the point – so long as the sofa is there and the “gay and muslim” can chat openly about aspirations then surely  a future that unites us lies ahead.

I’d hate to look into a crystal ball right now.

 

P.S. Have you taken a peek at www.josephmuscat.com yet? Much has been made of the “not so cool” photos decorating the banner on the site but how many people have noticed that if you zoom out on the front page (“CTRL & -” on chrome) you get to see many more faces… and hidden away you will also see the sweet token lady with the hijab. Labour eh… couldn’t miss out on any stereotype…

 

The wrong shade of green

I must admit to being surprised. My duties elsewhere keep preventing me from blogging with a more teutonic regularity but I still take a peek at what is being said ‘ere and there just to keep abreast of the latest developments. Seems like a November election can all but be ruled out as in the latest development in the amateur chess game between the PN strategists and the Honourable Blogger from Ghaxaq there seems to have been a tiny impasse reached. Franco has (finally) sussed out that the PN strategy involved pushing him to the brink of voting down the government and has retaliated with the usual aplomb:

“Gonzi, dik ix-xi haga se naghmilha meta rrid u meta jidhirli jien! Grow up!”

There you go. Grow up Gonz. Meanwhile Varist, Leo and the merry band of Joseph’s movement creators have taken a break from blaming everything on GoNZiPN because they are very into the latest discovery that is “The Congress”. It deserves a capital C because it is apparently a revolutionary idea for the Labour party – the first of its kind. Basically what is happening is that the Labour posse uproots itself and goes to the “specialists” in every field and asks them what they think about a particular topic. Now I’m not sure whether it is apocryphal or whether it is a fact but it seems that the modus operandi involves a general show of hands indicating the IRL (in real life) equivalent of a contemporaneous multitude of LIKES for a particular idea.

Such ideas as pass muster during these very public plebiscites are then incorporated into a set of GUIDELINES that will be presumably taken into consideration when the Labour party finally decides that the time is ripe to actually lead people and come up with a real plan. In the meantime this marketing gag has us all in awe at Joseph’s unlimited capacity to come up with obvious tautologies on a regular basis – healthcare to centre around patients, business not to be obstructed, Gozo needs work etc etc. We’d seen it all before, only now there is the confirmation among folk who “understand” the subject. Can you imagine asking a taxpayer what he thinks we should do with taxes?

Great marketing move by Labour though. This way we get to forget that we STILL have no concrete plan beyond the usual medley of buzzwords. We forget that Karmenu Vella and Assistant Aaron Farrugia have still not produced the goods and in case we were wondering here is Leo spelling out the main reason why we should not expect a manifesto any time soon (on Facebook – where else?):

Meta ser nkunu nafu x’fih il-manifest elettorali tal-PL?
Twegiba f’waqtha ta’ Joseph Muscat illum. Fil-MALTA TODAY.
“Ahna ser naghmlu preciz kif ghamel Gonzi fl-ahhar elezzjoni generali. Nippublikawh BISS wara li tkun thabbret id-data u rrankat il-kampanja nnifisha….”
Din il-gimgha nhejju ir-Road Map u l-Linji Gwida ghall gejjieni

So there you go. Screw  you voter. If  Gonzi is bad enough not to give you his plan before an election is called then we will do the same. You’re screwed anyway because it’s not like you’re spoilt for choice. Meanwhile we get this Congress – a cross between Potemkin Villages and the People’s Jamahiriya of Libya Collectives. People being conned into thinking they count because they are giving “linji gwida” to a party that is mostly prone to never taking positions. I wonder whether there will be Linji Gwida about gay marriage or immigrant policy? Which public show of hands will count?

That was my surprise incidentally. That no one hooked on to the uncanny similarity between Joseph’s congress meetings and the concept of collectives, committees and conferences that underpinned that load of trash that was Muammar Gaddafi’s Green Book. Then again… Karmenu Vella MIGHT have been working on something all these months after all….

“The democratic system is a cohesive structure whose foundation stones are firmly laid one above the other, the Basic People’s Conferences, the People’s Conferences, and the People’s Committees, which finally come together when the General People’s Conference convenes. There is absolutely no conception of democratic society other than this.” – The Green Book (Muammar Gaddafi)

The Green Book announces to the
people the happy discovery of the way
to direct democracy, in a practical
form. Since no two intelligent people
can dispute the fact that direct demo-
cracy is the ideal -- but its method has
been impossible to apply -- and since
this Third Universal Theory provides
us with a realistic experiment in direct
democracy, the problem of democracy
in the world is finally solved. All that
the masses need do now is to struggle
to put an end to all forms of dictatorial
rule in the world today, to all forms of

                  [28]

what is falsely called democracy --
from parliaments to the sect, the tribe,
the class and to the one-party, the
two-party and the multi-party sys-
tems.
  Democracy has but one method and
one theory. The disparity and dissimi-
larity of the systems claiming to be
democratic is evidence that they are
not democratic in fact. The people's
authority has only one face and it can
be realised only by one method, name-
ly, popular congresses and people's
committees. No democracy without
popular congresses and committees
everywhere.

 

Din l-art ħelwa

Donnhom jagħmluha bi ħsieb. Tasal elezzjoni u jzeffnu  l-art fin-nofs. Tkun se toqrob elezzjoni u min forsi ikun xi ftit marid b’dik il-fissazzjoni dwar valuri, ideat u politika ta’ prinċipji isib ruħu imdawwar bi kronaka kriminali, psewdo-kriminali u allegazzjonijiet ta’ attivitajiet korrotti. Ħa ngħiduha kif inhi – il-politika imkien ma hi abjad fuq iswed. Ma tantx ser issib okkazzjonijiet fejn għażla bejn sew politiki/ideat differenti ssir b’diskussjoni denja ta’ fakulta tal-filosofija.

Bosta drabi f’pajjiżna innutajt illi l-qafas pre-elettorali għandu ħabta jiġi iddominat minn xi kwistjoni li tinvolvi bejgħ jew xiri ta’ artijiet. Niftakar żmien ilu (m’inix żert kienx id-96 jew id-98) lil Fenech Adami iħambaq għal ħin twil waqt mass meeting ġo Triq Psaila. Kien dwar xi kuntratt li mar żmerċ. Xi Charles Mangion jekk minix sejjer żball (imma jaf li iva sejjer zball). Li naf li moħħi kien jintefa wara ftit. Din it-taħlita ta’ psewdo-investigazzjoni u allegazzjoni pubblika kienet ittellifli kull sens ta’ interess. Filli kont nissaħħar wara dak li instema bħala proġett mibni fuq sisien ta’ xogħol, ġustizzja, liberta, solidarjeta, u sussidjarjeta… imbagħad filli qed jitkellmu dwar kuntratti, korruzzjoni, fottimenti, klikek li jagħmlu flus, art li mhux tagħhom eċċ. (titwiba) eċċ.

Għal bidu ma stajtx nifhem xi bżonn kien hemm li jingħataw tant importanza lil dawn l-affarijiet. Iva mela le, investigahom, u hekk, imma mhux madonna taħlili siegħa diskors fuq kuntratti u ftit (ftit wisq) fuq il-ħsieb tiegħek għall-ġejjieni u fuq liema prinċipji se jsawru l-pjan prattiku tal-gvern futur. Imbagħad kelli nidra. Għax bejn Sant u d-diskors kontinwu dwar barunijiet (li kienu ukoll imprendituri, spekulaturi fl-art) u bejn kuntratti li minn sena għal oħra kienu ikunu qishom il-pern li fuqhom tinbena politika ta kritika kelli nidra li f’din l-art ħelwa, l-art kollox.

Hemm għalfejn immorru l-bogħod? Tinsewx li l-elezzjoni tal-2008 (l-aħħar waħda biex niftehemu) intrebħet u intilfet fuq biċċa art il-Mistra. Pullicino Orlando u d-dmugħ falz tiegħu ssussidjat mill-klikka tal-ispin nazzjonalista kellu sehem importantissimu fir-riżultat finali. Daqstant ieħor kellu sehem it-timing hażin ta’ Alfred Sant li forsi ma għarafx iġestixxi sewwa l-mument li jikxef l-għawar fuq l-aħħar kuntratt mbażwar li kien ser iniġġeż lil din l-art ħelwa. Jekk hux art kbira li se tinbiegħ lil intraprenditur jew xi abbuż mill-kriterji tal-ippjanar (ah xi kriterji) tagħna bħal Manwel Arriva Delia li jiftaħlek offiċċju fir-raħal imma għadu biss bil-permess li jbiegħ il-ħaxix (ifhem).

Iddur fejn iddur tispiċċ titkellem fuq art. Mhux ta’ b’xejn li waħda mill-ikoni tal-politika Maltija inbniet wara Perit. Fejn issib biċċa business fl-art kull ma trid tagħmel hu li tfittex ftit. Hemm issib il-ħaxi. Jekk mhux verita għallinqas hija sewwa magħrufa (fis-sens ta’ “mhux kullħadd jaf, mhux ovvja”). Għax hekk għallmuna naħsbu. Issa ħarġu waħda ġdida. Perfetta. Għall warm up għall elezzjoni li jmiss għandna l-kuntratt bejn it-Tfal tal-Perit u ċ-Ċaqnu. Bellezza.  Tal-alternattiva ilhom imsieken jaqbżu għal din l-art ħelwa u isejħu għal politika miftuħa, nadifa u trasparenti fil-qasam tal-art. Anki f’dan il-każ indunaw illi dal-kuntratt jinten miż-żewġ naħat. Kif jista ma jintinx… għandu storja li tinbet fl-aħħar xhur tal-politika soċjalista u tkompli tul il-perijodu ta’ gvernijiet nazzjonalisti.

Din l-art ħelwa. Stennew botta u kontro botta dwar il-kuntratt, il-ħaxi, il-fottimenti, in-nuqqasijiet li bihom qed indardruha. Fuq kollox stennew li kull naħa toħroġ ta’ kavalliera protettriċi ta’ dan il-wirt tagħna u tas-suppost prinċipji li inħaddnu biex nindukrawha. Stennew storbju, stennew frakass u allegazzjonijiet. Stennew, bħal ma kien qal Rupert, l-għaġeb bħal ma sar fil-każ tal-bajd tal-fkieren. Imbagħad tgħaddi l-elezzjoni u kollox qisu ma hu xejn. il-bajd jintesew u l-ħaxxejja jibqgħu jaħxu – huma min huma.  L-art fejn tal-Barrani tinbena plottijiet u jgaqwdu minnha ulied Mintoff u ulied Fenech Adami. Mhux it-tfal ta’ … uliedhom – fis-sens ta’ ulied Mose… dawk li ħaddnu l-istess modus operandi tul iż-żmien. Li waqt li jkantaw dwar din l-art ħelwa u kemm jgħożżuha ma refgħux id biex iħarsuha minn kull deni.

Id-dehen lil min jaħkimha? Forsi ilu li għadda ż-żmien meta jmissna indunajna li l-ħakkiema kollha ta’ l-istess pezza.

Il-Ħadd it-tajjeb.

 

Wikileaks à-la-carte

The Maltese blogging scene is nowadays taken for granted as a major participant in the field of information processing. The Blogosfera is as varied as ever, covering a panoply of interests with the occasional blog or two getting its moment of limelight within a particular sphere. markbiwwa.com recently let out a rant about the dos and donts of blogging (and what’s wrong with the word “blogosphere”). It’s been some time now that conceited bloggers like myself (wankellectuals) have been a proverbial pain in the arse for mainstream media pointing out flaws, errors and journalistic faux pas.

Melahart was at it this week commenting on the selective editing that seems to be the trend in some papers (Media manipulation…) while Rich Muscat Azzopardi also had a good point to make about the Times’ trend to becoming a click-hunting site above all (Rightly So). I’ve got some bad news for Rich. His autopsy on local journalism comes a little too late.. J’accuse had proclaimed it dead a while back after a particularly jarring episode of Bondiplus regarding Plategate.

The role of blogs and bloggers in filling the vacuum of investigative journalism is what triggered off this post in actual fact. Given how most media establishments in the country are agenda-driven or just downright lazy, the levels of investigative journalism have fallen to an all time low. Blogs and bloggers (not Times trolls mind you) might just be in the right place to fill the gap.

Take the Running Commentary. Back after the traditional end of summer pause, Daphne has set her sights on a deal between Polidano and Mintoff’s offspring. In her first post on the subject Daphne called for a Public Inquiry. The facts mentioned in the posts relating to the issue are just that: facts. They are publicly available to anyone wishing to discover them – in the archives of MEPA to begin with.

Now I do not believe that Daphne spent her little sabbatical recovering from the trauma of Mintoff’s passing away looking through random archive of the MEPA records. What probably happened is that somebody (a mole, a snitch, a leaker,… whatever) passed on this information to Daphne with the intention of getting as much public coverage for this bit of news. Used to be such news would go to a media outlet but then again… given the subject matter what better place to go to than Malta’s blog with most hits?

Am I saying it is wrong? Not at all. Expect more of this phenomenon as things get to a head. A while back we had also featured a Polidano related post on J’accuse. In March we were writing “Polidano Can, if he thinks he can” pointing out the rough manners in which Polidano literally bulldozers over our planning laws. In that case too I had received a pointer as to some illicit night time action in which Polidano was engaging in some property close to Zmerc in Balzan – what prompted me to give particular attention to the matter.

The network of blogs – with different affiliations, orientations or independent minded persons – that has developed over time might end up with Malta having its very own unofficial network of Wikileaks. What worries me is that each blogger will have a sieve of their own with regard to what information can or cannot be published. Expect blogs associated to the mainstream parties to be very selective as to when to make a noise about information in their possession. Expect others to proceed cautiously as they are drawn closer and closer to the limelight of lawsuits, libel proceedings and other “democratic” mechanisms of silencing the truth.

Expect, in other words, the development of a network of Wikileaks à-la-carte. Probably not the best of worlds but already going a long way into filling the gap left by a media system that is either dead or in a long coma. Or in the case of the Times… busy chasing the cheap click.