Tag: democracy

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Campaign 2013 Politics

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.

 

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Politics Rubriques

I.M. Jack – Monday’s Highlights

Factitious parties and reconstruction

The nationalist party has as yet not imploded but we still hear of calls for its reconstruction. Back in May 2008 we were penning a little post about the Labour party and the dangers of Clique & Factions and we are today still witnessing the problems that our parties face when factions within them (even one-man-factions) decide to stir the proverbial faeces. Democratically speaking we are now witnessing the obvious corollary of all that J’accuse was warning about last election.

Voting for our political parties in this day and age involves making specific choices about the persons you are voting into parliament. When the political parties, operating under the blessing of an electoral system doctored in favour of the Diceyan bipartite mantra, fail to put into place the necessary safeguards to ensure that all candidates are party kosher (because they prefer votes to value) then it is only a matter of time before the merde hits the ventilateur.

We spoke of this in Wasted a bit more than a year ago. Then it was the manner that party representatives purported to represent the great unwashed in the divorce affair that jarred. Nowadays we have the Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando witch hunt. We can never tire of pointing out how right this blog was in 2008 to emphasise the blatant anomaly in the PN manner of doing politics. Backing anyone and anything to the hilt simply because it helps bring votes in the massive showdown of GonziPN vs Sant only gets you into government. Once you are in government you will have to face the consequences of getting “anyone” elected on your side.

We were told at the time that we were irresponsible idiots who never grew up and who were setting ourselves up as objects of hate simply because we advocated a position that people  vote for quality and content and not simply on the lines of party backing and pretty faces (though some would beg to differ on the latter count).

Great brains like Richard Cachia Caruana were busy transforming Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando into a vote grabbing machine – converting the unpalatable cosmetic dentist into a sugar-free sweetener who had become a “victim” of “nasty Alfred Sant”. The gullible ones swallowed it all – hook, line and sinker – and rushed to the ballot box to vote JPO #1 – thus shafting this unpleasant, inconsistent and hopelessly garishly naive politician upon us. Us of the wasted votes. We who had screamed and shouted irresponsibly for the PN to get its act together and to build a foundation of candidates centred around the basic values that had got it through a decade of reform.

Well. You reap what you sow I guess and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has been one hell of a harvest for the PN to handle. (picture: J’accuse Personality of the Year Award as depicted by Bertu in Bertoons). The reconstruction must perforce start from the realisation that some very very wrong choices were made.

sevenorlandos

 

Tennis worth watching

Watching Andy Murray collapse into tears after being defied at the last hurdle at SW19 by the greatest player tennis has seen must have been the most moving moment this weekend. Second best at Wimbledon earns you £560 k not to mention the added branding income that Murray will see flowing his way given his immediate boost in the “world recognition” stakes. Tennis stars earn more money off the pitch once they become a recognisable icon and yesterday’s match meant just that for the Scot from Dunblane. Roger Federer’s net worth, to give an alien example, is around $200 million but we are talking here about a man who has broken all sorts of records in the gentlemen’s sport.

Back to Murray – all this talk about money meant nothing to him yesterday afternoon. His name was not being engraved in the Olympus of Wimbledon greats and he has still not won a grand slam. Sure, he will not be having any cash flow problems for a while but that is beside the point. His is a battle to achieve, one that is ultimately not measured in pounds, shillings and pence but in victories and performance. Values that are fast being lost in today’s world – and not necessarily the sporting one.

Democracy’s value added

Libya has gone off and done the democratic thing – electing its own government and leaders. This may not be the time for the Western world to shout success: the real proof of a democracy lies not in the electing but in the democratic governance. Saturday night saw fireworks in the Libyan sky as the end of voting was celebrated. A 60% turnout seems to be the agreed figure and a liberal alliance is expected to trump the Islamist party this time round. Government will in all probability be by coalition given that over 100 parties were formed to contest these first open elections. Democracy battles to outwit any possibility of civil unrest that would favour the more unstable sides of society. Meanwhile Assad is holding on to power in Syria – claiming that he has the backing of the people.

Seems like yesterday when a bespectacled Colonel speaking to the BBC  yelled “The people… they love me all“.

 That uncanny conviction that ego-maniacs seem to have that everybody loves them. It seems to be so bloody contagious.

 

Categories
Politics

Austerity : the vote killer

Given the choice between the opinion of resident Times economist Daniel Finkelstein and that of Cyrus Engerer on the current “wave of change” hitting Europe and the wider world I should be forgiven for opting for the former. It is an undeniable fact that popular sentiment lies closer to Cyrus Engerer’s way of thinking – that there is a social-democrat/socialist/progressive wave of change that is rejecting austerity and that has some plan to rebuild Europe through jobs and competitiveness. Or something like that.

I chose Cyrus simply as an example. His sentiments echo clearly those of many other “anti-austerity” hopefuls – and not just in Malta. Here is Cyrus posting on facebook commemorating Europe Day (my translation):

This year Europe Day has a more important meaning where we are watching Europe that has for a bit over ten years been practically run by conservative parties. Last year Denmark chose the Social-Democrat party, France did the same last Sunday and it seems that Social-Democrat parties have begun to win local and regional elections in many countries (Germany, Malta, United Kingdom). The call for the leftist parties is one of hope, progress and growth thanks to investment in youth, education and work instead of austerity. What do you think?

Well I think that Cyrus is confused about the real drive behind the votes. His activism within Malta’s Labour party, a party that is eager to jump onto what seems to be a progressive bandwagon might have much to do with this and he cannot be blamed for this bit of predictable rhetoric. On the other hand the current political situation merits a deeper analysis than the simple explanation of a pendulum switch from conservative to socialist (&c.).

I believe that this is not really a positive vote in favour of some progressive (or socialist or social democrat) pan-European movement but a negative vote against austerity. Cyrus omits to mention, for example, the administrative elections in Italy which were not exactly a success for the Partito Democratico – the largest leftist movement in Italy. Instead, the administrative elections produced a surprise result with the popularity of the Grillini (Movimento Cinque Stelle) best described as the anti-establishment party. Beppe Grillo – the movement’s founder described the success of his Movimento in this manner:

Qui siamo veramente a un cambiamento epocale di pensiero della politica. I cittadini votano se stessi. Stiamo avendo successo. Questo è solo l’inizio. Dalla rigenerazione di cui parlava il nostro presidente della Repubblica, siamo passati alla liquefazione. La destra, il Pdl, il centro: non c’è più nulla. Si stanno liquefacendo in questa diarrea politica. Finalmente i cittadini si riappropriano delle istituzioni perché sono le istituzioni.

Grillo’s analysis centres on the rejection of the current political establishment – the liquidation of the standard political system. Though not far from the truth, Grillo’s reading of the signs is also “egoistic” in political party terms. We could acknowledge “positive” voting for the grillini but then again the message of “ousting” the political establishment is much stronger and larger than the Grillo reality. For that we have just to look at the Le Pen vote in France. Once the first round of presidential elections was over and the options were red or blue we did not really witness the landslide rejection of Sarkozy and the tsunami of progressive votes that many had predicted. Hollande and his progressive growth promises just about scraped through.

Yes, socialist and labourite parties across Europe would love to believe in a wave of positive choices in favour of a program built on investment and spending to encourage growth. That would be the program that ultimately delivers the death sentence  to the Merkozy inspired austerity measures. But do they really have something going? Or is this the child spitting out the medicine and going for the sugared placebo? Even before we start hedging our bets on whether the placebo of “growth” and “the new Marshall plan” will work we should be asking what these programs really mean.

Back to Finkelstein – whom I will quote in order not to bastardise by summarising:

Here’s what I think happened in Greece, and in France, and in the local elections in Italy a few days ago. Voters went to the polls to see if they agreed that two plus two equals four and decided that they did not. Simple arithmetic ran for office, and lost.

Now what exactly does Finkelstein mean by “simple arithmetic”? Thankfully Finkelstein explains what this actually translates to in democratic terms:

The financial crisis saw governments step in to take over debts that had been incurred by private citizens. They could do this because their power to tax their citizens assured lenders that they were good for the money. But two things have happened since 2008. The first is that the size of the debt grew so large in some countries that even its power to tax wouldn’t raise enough money. The second, which was dramatically underlined by the election results at the weekend, is that the power to tax proved to be theoretical. Democratic governments can’t tax (or reduce spending) if voters won’t let them.

The clash between financial reality and democratic response is as big a political crisis as most of us have ever seen. All over Europe, voters are in revolt against paying the bills they and their fellow countrymen have incurred. And not just in Europe. A recent visit to Japan found a country flitting from one prime minister to the next and still, after many years of struggle, no closer to determining how — or even whether — to deal with its economic problems.

On Europe Day, we would do well to look more closely at this kind of message. The rhetoric of “growth” is all well and good. So is it facile to condemn “democracy controlled by markets”. The importance of responsible governance can never be sufficiently underlined. When I look at the recent outings by Joseph Muscat what with all the karma that “Taghlim. Tahrig. &c” I can only see a pandering to the huge chunk of voters who will act as most voters would: voting for the option that promises less tax and more spending.

Malta does not even have a movement such as the Movimento Cinque Stelle – and what with Alternattiva seeming to be lured by the progressive promises of a “growth driven” plan of recovery (an inevitable step given AD’s heart lies strongly with the working left) there seem to be less options for delivering the message of no confidence to the entire political class. Meanwhile in parliament today Tonio Fenech summarised what this year’s budget means to the population:

“(…) increasing pensions, the tax reductions for SMEs and for parents whose children are in private schools, the incentives for the property sector and the investment we’re carrying out in the economy,”

The brunt of his attack on Joseph Muscat was based on the notion that this government has actually increased spending notwithstanding the 40 million euro budget cuts. Interestingly Fenech’s damning accusation for Muscat was that “A Labour government will be an austerity government… “. This leaves us with much food for thought regarding both political parties. Is Gonzi’s PN eager to shed any links it has with “austerity” plans and if so does that mean that both our main political parties are jumping on the “growth” bandwagon because that is where the votes evidently lie?

Earlier Fenech had sung his praises for Francois Hollande’s policies regarding the stability pact stating that:

the Maltese government has “consistently emphasised that growth and stability go hand in hand and should not be divorced,” adding that the pact needs to be balanced between growth and stability because “there is no growth without stability.”

President Barroso of the European Commission has given a lukewarm reception to the Hollande ideas (see this article on the WSJ) so where does this put the PN government policy wise? Will it be backing Hollande to the hilt in this new battle of “austerity vs growth”?

Given that elections are still round the corner, and once the focus shifts away from Franco Debono’s timetable for parliament, it will be interesting to see how the “growth vs austerity” battle will translate in Malta. Better still, it will definitely be another sad day for the anti-establishment voters who would have hoped for an option that recaptures the power that has long been lost to the institutionally cocooned  behemoths that we have long labelled as “PLPN”.

 

* Note: The Times (UK) article links might not be immediately available to non-subscribers.

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Rubriques

I.M. Jack – The March Hare contd.

2. The Law is an Ass

Or is it? One effect of the multiplication of immediately available information has been the massive impact that this has had on the interaction between the demos and the institutional framework that represents them. By this I mean that what is commonly referred to as “the people” tends to give more and more input on the processes that exist in a democratic environment. I would hazard to state that for a very long time one major imperfection of democracy functioned to its advantage and longevity. This imperfection was the practical impossibility of involving everyone and everything in every single decision that needed to be taken within the framework of separation of powers.

A new advert by the Guardian called “Three Little Pigs” (see below) turns out to be a perfect illustration of what I mean here. The majority of information reaching us comes from the traditional media (or in some cases citizen journalists) and then these “facts” that have been reported are given the demo-treatment. Reactions – indignation, satisfaction, summary judgements etc – might even influence the follow-up to a news item. All the while the usual machinery of the state might be interacting with a particular news item : a crime? a sporting achievement? a public blunder by a public person? an injustice to a citizen?

Where does this take us? I believe that the current shift is crucial to the redefinition of a major democratic paradigm. It’s as if you could check in on your accountant/lawyer’s/doctor’s work on a daily basis and you suddenly tried to influence how he or she goes about the job. The rules and structures behind democratic processes are what binds us all and keeps us a step away from chaos. If, for example, we suddenly all had a say about how a day in the court should run we would steamroll over procedures that have been developed to guarantee and safeguard a multiplicity of rights. The same goes with reporting in newspapers, decisions on governance and governability and more. The danger is further confounded when public judgements are made on the basis of political expediency or allegiance. Reason and social mores are put aside so long as we can shoot from the hip about the “inadequacy of legislation” – forgetting that there is a process behind the formation of such legislation that guarantees stability.

3. Owen Bonnici and Students’ House

This bit of news in the Times got my blog fingers itching and is a perfect example of the cavalier attitude that the modern band of politicians have towards the guarantees of the law and more.

Labour MP Owen Bonnici has asked for an investigation by the Public Accounts Committee or the Auditor-General into whether government rules were broken when parts of Students’ House at the University were handed to the University Students’ Council, which then rented them out for commercial purposes.

Now I admit that having been KSU President I might have a considerable advantage over Owen in this one but the story jars on many a point. Let’s begin with the basic. The most basic. KSU is an autonomous organisation – one of the oldest in Malta having been founded back in 1901. The good operation of the Students’ Council requires that it operates free from outside pressure and that includes the administrative organs of the University of Malta, not to mention the government. I hate to go down this line because it plays into the retro-fetish of nationalist enthusiasts but one of the greatest coups to safaguard KSU’s (at the time SRC’s) autonomy occurred in the 70’s under – you guessed it – Mr Mintoff.

At the time SRC ran the house now known as the NSTS Building in Saint Paul’s and Mintoff wanted to get his hands on this prize property at a time when most Uni assets were up for grabs. What happened next was that a foundation was created (the NSTF) with the SRC as one of its members. Technically speaking NSTF is still a branch of KSU with KSU still participating actively in the management of the foundation. The foundation kept the property an arms breath away from the meddling government at the time. Why do I mention all this? It is important to understand the issue of autonomy of the student body and that Dar l-Istudent on Campus is for all intents and purposes a KSU managed property (I hesitate to say owned).

Which brings me to Owen and his “reporting”. What public accounts? What auditor-general? Would Owen be so kind as to ask the same gentlemen to initiate an investigation on the Labour and Nationalist parties in order to examine whether their management of financial affairs is tip-top? Why doesn’t he? Owen’s insistence is a bit like inviting Alexander Ball over to Malta to protect us from the evil French. We all know what happened for the next 264 years.

So there are suspicions about the current committee’s handling of tenders? Deal with it in the appropriate forum. Sure the latest generation of party lackeys on both sides of the spectrum will make a meal out of it as they have tended to do since the PLPN colleges   planted more and more idiots from their school of bipartisan thought. What needs to be done in this case is to gather a movement of students who will vote the suspect batch out of the representative organ and then presumably replace them with persons who can properly manage students’ house. If the students do not turn out to vote in that manner then there is nobody else to blame.

Bonnici’s act simply threatens the very autonomy of the student council and its rights of administration and management that were acquired over a long time after a series of tough battles by the predecessors of the current executive. It’s a wrong move that can only benefit Bonnici’s exposure but one that the students will ultimately end up regretting: if the PAC or Auditor-General follow through on the absurd request that is.