Snippets of mediocrity

 

Berlusconi is at it again! The former cruise-liner chanteur has single-handedly transformed Italy into a ridiculous and absurd state. His commercial and political inaptness and inadmissibility are only surpassed by the opposition parties’ indecisiveness and inertness. I am not surprised that the rouge media mogul turned politician enjoys the backing of the majority of Italians. Firstly this is a direct result of the seemingly eternal hegemony he has built. Secondly this is also a clear signal to the opposition parties that they are not a stable, feasible and credible force to be reckoned with. Veltroni’s attempt to create a bi-polar political system has badly backfired and now both the Democratic Party and the governing part(y)ies have realised that they cannot run the country without forming alliances with minor parties e.g. Lega Nord, Italia dei Valori, Christian-Democrats and Communists. Berlusconi will never stand down and neither will the law courts strip him naked. The only way to get rid of this shameless and vulgar emperor is by convincing people that there is a better alternative. Italians must be persuaded to have a good look at themselves and separate the reality shown on their TV screens from the one they can see, hear, smell and feel in their households, schools, factories, offices, streets, bars, piazzas and stadiums.

 

Tonio Fenech and Lawrence Gonzi are at it again. Without digging deep into the Arsenal-gate, it is quite clear that Gonzi and his henchmen do not give a hoot about democracy. If you thought Italy was in a bad state, we are right up there (or down there) with them. Gonzi and Berlusconi believe that once they have been voted into power on Election Day, they have a carte blanche and can do whatever they like for a whole term. Democracy has been diluted into a one-day exercise every five or so years. Democracy does not happen every five years. Democracy should be lived everyday. We should breathe democracy everyday, everywhere at all times and in all circumstances. People should not be governed by political lords. Politicians are supposed to be the people’s employees and not their rulers. Thus the result of one election on one particular day should not define the present and the future of a whole town, city, region, country or continent. The politicians put into power by the people are accountable to their electorate not only every five years but every single day. Furthermore journalists and the press should be accountable to the people and not to their commercial and political masters. Their job is to inform the people and not aide and protect the lords who have taken democracy to be some kind of oligarchy.

 

Alternattiva Demokratika is at it again. They do badly in the European elections and they go into hiding and disappear for months on end. They do not inform the public of what is going on within the party, what plans they have for the future and what their intentions are. I wonder how a party with very little visibility can ever contemplate to go into a hiding for such a long time. Whatever the party’s’ intentions are it cannot just disappear. The only way AD can ever beat this crumbling edifice is by being present in people’s lives. AD has to be present on ground level. AD has to be seen, heard and felt in households, village squares, town halls, bars and clubs, factories, offices, markets, schools and university. Anywhere humans are, AD has to be present. Unfortunately the more I look at AD from the outside, the more of a closed shop it becomes.

What summer lull?

The self-proclaimed King of Pop is dead but life goes on. Gonzi never stops surprising me. The timing of the MEPA reform is quite strange…why bang in the middle of summer? Is Gonzi trying to calm the waters in Pieta? Why does he want to up the political momentum at this time of the year when usually politics takes a back seat?

On the Green front things have gone slightly silent. In the last weeks we got to know that the Greens badly need money and resources. AD also issued a couple of PR’s but there is yet no sign of the party opening up its doors to civil society and the general public. I believe that the Greens are discussing the future internally but I reiterate that one of the main problems with AD is the fact that it is a closed shop. AD has to open up its doors and resuscitate the democratic spirit which characterised and separated the party from other structures in the country. AD has to once again become a workshop of ideas and honestly I cannot see this happen if AD does not change. Firstly I believe that  some of the persons who ran the show in the last years lack political nous, charisma and courage. Secondly, the party can only revive itself if new blood runs through its veins. The party not only needs to freshen up its ideas and its vision but I believe the party also needs to freshen up its image.

In order to attract new blood the party has to publicly demonstrate its willingness to be open and its readiness to change. The party cannot just sit and wait for people, ideas and resources to fall in its lap, as it has done in the past. The party has to get out of its cocoon and seek people, ideas and recourses itself. This should not only happen in election time but it should happen all year round.

Obviously the party needs to decide what road it’s going to take first. It is vitally important that the party takes an imminent but sound decision about its political direction. However any other party can have the best policies, the better ideas and the greatest recourses. To make sure that it is successful with its long term strategy AD must strengthen its foundations. The party has to ensure that its internal structures are solid and that the people steering the project have the right attitude, discipline, determination, stamina, strength, political nous and charisma. Only then can the green dream become a dream.

Long Live the (Playboy) Emperor!

Berlusconi will wriggle his way out of the latest sex-scandal just as he has done in several situations before, such as his obscure connections with organised crime, conflict of interest, atrocious attacks on parliament, the judiciary and democracy itself, several Ad Personam laws such as granting himself immunity, owning and controlling the majority of TV stations and printed media, creating a party (and maybe a country) in his own image, and endless charges of corruption

In a country where cheating and illegality is glorified, Berlusconi has built an empire which stretches from the commercial and financial world to the political world. He has managed to fill the vacuum left by Mani Pulite and destroyed the opposition. In last year’s elections not only did Berlusconi defeat and demolish the main stream opposition parties but with a little help from Walter Veltroni the radical left was completely obliterated. Nowadays the biggest threat to Berlusconi’s hegemony seems to come from his allies, primarily the racist and macho Lega Nord. Thus, the shrewd Berlusconi is leaning closer to the Lega Nord. This should keep the northern thugs quiet whilst Fini’s AN (which has now integrated into the PDL) seem too weak to pose any serious internal opposition. Moreover, nobody from Berlusconi’s party would dare stand up to him as they all owe their living to the Emperor. The catholic church has distanced itself a little from its biggest political ally but nonetheless I cannot envisage a total collapse in their strange and prickly alliance. In fact I wouldn’t exclude the possibility of a re-marriage with the Christian Democrat UDC.

Is Berlusconi invincible? Well like all self-proclaimed emperors his downfall will be of his own doing…or maybe he will die on the throne, smoking a cigar!

Quo Vadis AD?

 

In the aftermath of the quasi-irrelevant EP Elections, Gonzi is facing a mini-crisis at his Party HQ in Pieta and you could almost picture Muscat peeping out of his office window with a silly smirk plastered all over his face. Alongside Gonzi, the biggest victims of these elections are the Greens. AD needs to embark on a thorough soul-searching exercise and James Debono could not have put it better when he says “it seems that the debate on its future can be its very salvation.” Since its inception, AD heavily relies on intellectual and vibrant internal debate and this might have been lacking in recent years. The debate on its own future should start at Executive Committee level but I believe that the debate should also involve the general public. AD should expand the debate online and a series of public meetings should be held before October’s General Meeting.

If the Greens are to go on with their crusade and let down a few editors and opinionists, some difficult decisions must be taken. Finally, decisions such as who should be the new party leader, what political direction should be taken and what kind of party it should be will be taken by the members of the party during the General Meeting. Only then can the party attract new activists and new leaders as at the moment nobody knows in which direction the party is heading.

AD cannot perpetually rely on winning over pale-blue voters, disgruntled Nationalist voters and protest voters. This group of voters is heterogeneous and is bound to change according to who is in Government and its track record. This target group as a whole is wobbly. AD needs a strong base; it needs to strengthen itself at grassroots levels. The natural AD core is or at least should be essentially progressive, liberal, tertiary educated, young and middle class. AD’s core vote seems to hover between 2000-6000 votes as illustrated by electoral results over the past 17 years. The party should build on this core and strengthen its stronghold on certain issues and themes. AD needs to strike the right balance between the electorate’s needs, aspirations and concerns and green/left politics. 

A refounded Green Party has to open up its doors and become a workshop of ideas and build its platform upon issues such as civil and social rights for all especially voiceless minorities, progressive taxation, improving the educational system, creation of green jobs, higher minimum wages, exploitation of workers (including migrants), better working conditions particularly regarding part-time and precarious jobs, research, development and innovation, housing, public transport, reforming MEPA, energy and environmental responsability.

AD’s biggest enemy has always been invisibility. AD needs to make itself present not only on the net, TV, radio and the printed media but in people’s everyday life. The party needs to realise that it has to be close to the people. The party has to be close to the people and civil society not only in formulating policy but it has to be present on ground level by taking active roles in local and community level issues. AD has to become a reality politically and culturally. It just needs to be present. This will consequently also help the party find suitable and quality candidates for most LC elections. The electorate votes for people they know, people they know about, people they trust and people with a track record.

AD should establish local networks by utilising existing resources such as party members and activists and establishing new ones. The party should embark on a 10/15 year plan. Firstly, AD should build a strong basis on a local level by having a strong presence at community and Local Council levels. Subsequently, the party can push up its aims and goals another notch. Nonetheless, during this time AD should be unwavering in its attempts to change the electoral, party funding and broadcasting laws and regulations. Only then can AD break the deadlock.

This country desperately needs change and the change will not come around by simply alternating power between the two big parties. It will neither happen just by electing a third party in parliament, but it will help. AD can be the catalyst for change which will one day come along. All parties will be useful once they realise that they do not rule the country but they are the people’s employees and their only loyalty lies with the people and their job description is that of making this country and this world a better place. In the meantime the struggle goes on…

Dissent

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke. Ironically, he spoke to the world from the university campus which witnessed acts of violence and where the alleged murder of students by the regime’s militia took place. He asserted his moral and religious authority and assured his people that no wrong-doing took place during last weeks election. Thus in one breath he endorsed and legitimised Ahmadinejad’s election and sent out a strong warning to opponents, dissenters and protesters.  

Khamenei’s position is quite fragile. If the allegations of vote-rigging hold any water than it either means that the Ayatollah has lost control and no longer enjoys supreme authority within the regime or else he was aware of any wrong doing and thus a partner in crime with Ahmadinejad.

Why is the regime so scared? As long as the protests are peaceful and non violent it should give its blessing to the protests and exhibit the Republic’s democratic credentials.

Closing down local newspapers, barring foreign reporters from covering these historic events and blocking internet and telecommunication channels is a sign of fear. Fear of transparency and freedom of expression and information. Only a defensive regime in siege mentality mode comes up with such drastic measures.

Ahmadinejad might have vast support amongst the poorer rural conservatives but that support can only be lost if he cannot manage the economy and the country well. Furthermore if Ahmadinejad and the regime continue repressing woman, political opponents and use violence and bullying tactics to curb civil and social rights than it will backfire big time in the next few years. With over half the Iranian population under the age of 30 and an ever growing student population, the regime will face greater opposition.

Ahmadinejad’s opponents do not want to dismantle the Islamic Revolution. All they want to do is reform the country within the structures of the Islamic Revolution.  There are drastic differences between the reformist and conservative camps. The reformists argue in favour of woman’s rights, never denied the holocaust, harshly criticise the regimes failure in managing the economy (in recent years the Iranian central bank had four different governors) and the regimes rudderless foreign policy which has only created enemies, old and new, and humiliated the Iranian population. These differences do not necessarily mean that if the Reformists, under the guidance of Mousavi or Rasfajani, are in power they would radically change Iran’s foreign policy. All parties in Iran agree with the nuclear programme. Yet with the reformists in power it is much easier to envisage radical changes in national affairs and maybe even in the Islamic Revolution’s structure. Also, the rest of the world will feel much more at ease in dealing with Mousavi rather than with a bully.

Pictures of Persia

The images coming from Tehran are indeed worrying but at the same time heart-warming. Reported deaths of students and protesters, the imprisonment of political activists, the censorship of local media, restriction of movement of foreign reporters, telecommunication blackouts and Basij militiamen terrorizing demonstrators are clear signs that the Iranian establishment is rejecting democracy.

Yet pictures of young, old, rich, poor, students, merchants and people from all walks of life defying terror and uniting in a call for transparency, justice and liberty are heart-warming.  Ahmadinejad might be the rightful winner of the electoral exercise but it does not mean that his administration is politically legitimate. Ahmadinajed’s inability to govern the country rightfully and lawfully will prove to be his downfall. At least, his demise will be legitimate.

All my solidarity goes to those who are defying fear and terror.   

 

 

 

 

 

A flag and an anthem!

Yesterday Binyamin Netanyahu delivered what was described as a key policy speech. In an attempt to appease the new US administration, the Israeli PM said that he will accept the formation of a Palestinian State, but only on his own conditions i.e. the recognition of Israel as a sovereign state by the Palestinians, the demilitarisation of Palestinians, refugees will have no right to return to their home-land, Jerusalem must remain under Israeli control and Palestinians cannot form an army or control their own airspace or sign military agreements with other states.

Yet he magnanimously conceded the Palestinians the right to have a flag and an anthem. Wow!! He also defended Jewish settlements and in an attempt to amuse the listening world by stating that the Israeli withdrawals from land had not brought peace.

Netanyahu’s pathetic attempt to please Washington just confirms the arrogance and deceitfulness of Isreali politicians who have consistently been an obstacle and not a catalyst in the eternal peace talks (and simultaneous acts of war) between these two beleaguered nations.

Both nations should agree to universal demilitarisation, reciprocal recognition of each others right to exist, granting the right to all refugees to return to their home-land and most importantly peaceful coexistence and shared responsibilities in one state.

Racism is murder!

Suleiman Ismail Abubaker was murdered in Paceville. His death comes right after an electoral campaign which inflamed xenophobe and racist sentiments. Is it a coincidence? Maybe, but the behaviour of police protected part time bouncers and xenophobe and racist discourse stirring up an already worrying climate should not be taken lightly.

This Saturday, Moviment Graffitti is organising a walk against racism and violence in Paceville @ 7:30PM.

Ricominciamo (II)

 

Statistically, the PN is the biggest loser in these elections, yet I would say that the biggest loser is the PM who up to a year ago transfigured himself into the party. Gonzi and PN became GonziPN. It was a gamble which paid off and in hindsight I believe the close election result was no fluke but it was a very coldly calculated risk orchestrated by Joe Saliba.   

The current PN administration is a far cry from the Saliba led party which epitomised slickness, efficiency, professionalism, single-mindedness and political acumen. Their campaign was confused, incoherent, unfocused and for once the Pl managed to out-smart the PN. The new PN administration demonstrated that they are no match to the previous administration and this time around GonziPN lost the killer instinct. However the General Elections are a distant reality and Gonzi has ample time to readdress the party’s shortcomings, shore up his government and take full advantage of the privileges the party in power enjoys.

Alternattiva Demokratika’s result is very disappointing. It not only highlights the country’s political and cultural reality but it also demonstrates AD’s diminishing appeal. Arnold Cassola did the right thing and stated that he will stand down as party leader when his term comes to an end in October. Cassola has been an outstanding figure, and not only within the Green Party. He has served his country like very few have ever done. He played a fundamental role during Malta’s EU accession negotiations and he was on the brink of breaking the political duo-poly in 2004. In the last few months he has led AD with a remarkable dose of honesty, integrity and modesty. He was, is and will remain an inspiration not only for Greens and ecologists but for all politicians in Malta and abroad.

Some are maliciously asking whether it is time for the green party to hang up its gloves and walk out of the political arena. If AD is to bow out of the scene, it would be of great disrespect to the small but significant portion of our population that has consistently voted Green over the past 20 years. AD owes it to these few thousands who are still unrepresented.

There are many reasons why AD faired so badly (compared to 2004). This time around the party was sidelined by both big parties (unlike 2004), had little presence on TV, had limited resources (as always) and led a low-key campaign. AD did well in the 2004 round because it was still riding the referendum wave, people had a greater amount of respect and most importantly AD managed to sell a dream. People were convinced that AD can break the mould and make it to the EP. People shared AD’s dream and this time around this was certainly lacking. The only innovative thing was having a female candidate contesting alongside Cassola but this was not enough to freshen things up. The youngest party of the three (AD,PN,PL) is looking weary and is being bullied off its block by the pseudo-progressive PL.

AD was always different and more attractive than other parties (especially to the young generations) because it always welcomed newcomers and their ideas. AD is no longer the workshop of ideas it once was. AD needs to reorganise its structures in order to be able to grow and attract new blood. AD also needs to realise that without radical reforms in our electoral system, broadcasting system and party funding law, it will always be near to impossible to make a breakthrough. The party needs to put these battles at the very top of its priorities.  AD needs to recreate the buzz which attracts new persons, new ideas, hope and optimism. AD has the potential to bind a bright future and be the catalyst for innovative political and cultural change. AD can become the political force which is useful, essential and courageous enough to take the lead in sensitive, uncomfortable issues which will eventfully lead the country into a new era.

Easier said then done I hear you say but with an innate ‘optimism of the will and pessimism of the intellect’; I believe that ‘yes we can’.

Ricominciamo…

The EP election result is out and the parties on the losing end are about to embark on a soul-searching mission whilst the Labour Party is busy congratulating itself for out-smarting the usually slick and ultra-professional PN electoral machine. The PN machine led for the first time by PBO, who compared to his predecessor is a featherweight politician and strategist, led such a disappointingly ordinary campaign that you are almost led to believe that the PN engineered the defeat itself. Nevertheless as past elections have demonstrated this loss could prove to be a blessing in disguise for Gonzi.

The PL won big time and yet I suspect that Muscat’s victory is based on a temporary and short-term strategy. His talk of a new coalition is all bull. Muscat did not create any coalition and will not create one. All he did is convince PL die-hards, disgruntled PL supporters and pale-blue voters to back him and vote PL. This is no coalition. It’s a party doing it’s best to broaden its voter base. Above all, whatever it is, it surely is not progressive and leftist. Muscat has transformed the PL into an opportunistic and xenophobe party by moving to the centre on social issues and trying to be everything for everyone and astonishingly sounding like a far-right party on the migration issue. Labour’s victory is not surprising at all, bearing in mind that on Saturday, Europe shifted towards the right, with far right parties making significant inroads.

Admittedly, Muscat is far more attractive to anyone who has never voted PL or anyone who had strong doubts about voting PL. Compared to his predecessor he is far more charismatic, calculating and seems to have a better strategic mind. He might be the right ‘mexxej’ to finally lead the PL to the promised land, but this victory is only a small step towards that goal. For any left-leaning progressive it was disappointing to hear Muscat’s rants on the water and electricity bills, free health care, lower taxes and his perplexing xenophobe discourse coupled with astounding silence on issues such as equal pay for equal work, higher minimum wages, exploitation of workers (including migrants), better working conditions (including part-time jobs), strengthening Euro-Mediterranean relations, the integration of migrants, the development of a common European energy policy, improved investment in research, development and innovation etc which were all part of the PES platform.

When Muscat gloats about his winning coalition in reality he is not talking about building a progressive, leftist, liberal and democratic hegemonic block. All he wants to do is replace Gonzi at the helm of the existing hegemonic block created by the PN over the last 25 years. Muscat dreams of replacing a soulless and rudderless PN government with an equally soulless and rudderless PL government. The two headed monster is growing larger since Muscat and Gonzi took over the leadership of their respective parties. The only difference between the two parties in 4 years time will be the track-record. One party will have proved itself to be incapable of leading the country and the other will prove itself equally incapable.