Hello, Goodbye

Bye bye Arab Spring, Gaddafi, Ben Ali, Mubarak, Kim Jong-il, Osama Bin Laden,Amy Winehouse, Václav Havel, Steve Jobs, Fukushima, Christopher Hitchens, Sabrina Agius, Marco Simoncelli, divorce debate, royal wedding, Norway massacre, Mogadishu bombing, UNESCO & Palastine, Arriva, honoraria, par idejn sodi, Franco Debono, JPO, Joseph Muscat, Lawrence Gonzi, Austin Gatt, vote of confidence, censorship, Berlusconi, euro debt crisis, City Gate, Sargas, dogs & cats, għaqal, Barcelona & Messi, Blur, Pulp, Beach Boys

Hello local council elections, general elections, Arriva, honoraria, par idejn sodi, Franco Debono, JPO, Joseph Muscat, Lawrence Gonzi, Austin Gatt, vote of confidence, censorship, Berlusconi, euro debt crisis, City Gate, Sargas, dogs & cats, għaqal, Barcelona & Messi, Blur, Pulp, Beach Boys

Durban blues!

Although the Climate Change summit in Durban was a big step forward in terms of recognising the responsibility of all countries, big and small, rich and poor, developing and developed, the agreement reached is a failure.

The 1997 Kyoto protocol never worked because the George W Bush administration never ratified the protocol and other countries followed suit. Bush argued that any such agreement should not only oblige developed countries to cut down on emissions but developing countries should also respect the same obligations. However Bush also argued that the Kyoto agreement would be too costly and called it a ‘straight-jacket’.

The Bush administration  also questioned the validity of the science behind global warming, and claimed that millions of jobs will be lost if the US ratifies the agreement. This act of cowardice and bizarre skepticism on global warming, backed by the oil and energy industry, meant that the Kyoto protocol never took off.

The Durban Platform may be rich in intentions but vague and lame in offering solutions. There is no urgency and resolve from politicians who remain hostage of the big industries. Yet in the next few decades, climate change coupled with the food, energy and water emergencies will dominate the world and something will need to be done, if not by politicians, by the masses.

Help! (II)

The Masterplan

During this most recent pre-electoral campaign run-up Joseph Muscat and his sycophants have reiterated their willingness to divulge their masterplan to salvage the country when the time is right ie on the eve of the forthcoming general election. Recently Muscat and numerous PL exponents have also echoed the archetypical Maltese zero-sum mantra, the Opposition’s role is not to govern and help the party in power govern but its role is to act as a watch dog of some kind.  However they also remind us that their mission is to serve the people!

Serve the people my ass! Starting with the opposition’s role, if they really would like to serve the people then they should share and exchange ideas with Government in Parliament if they believe that they have some kind of solution to any of the people’s woes and tribulations. If the PL is in possession of a formula which can instantly lower water and electricity tariffs, ease the burden and improve our quality of life then it should tell us what the plan is and make sure that Government implements it as soon as possible. If the opposition keeps its cards to itself it only means one of two things. It either has no plans at all or they do actually have  brilliant plans, do not give a hoot about improving our quality of life and will only use these plans to its advantage i.e. gain power.

Cigarettes and Alcohol

The Times of Malta reports that ‘A Sudanese man who lives in Sliema has been jailed for three-and-a-half years and fined €2,000 after he pleaded guilty to being in possession of 5.06 grammes of cannabis in Paceville last August.’

Sentences dished out by our courts cannot be more ridiculous. A foreigner found in the possesion of 5 grams of cannabis gets a 42 month jail sentence. A Maltese Chief Justice found guilty of bribery, revealing state secrets and trading in influence gets 33 months. Great! Whilst our ‘responsible’ kids and adults have free access to caffeine, nicotine, ethanol and an endless list of legal drugs, our honourable police corps and judiciary are hell bent on throwing illegal drug users in jail. The solution might appear to be too simple but I really believe that drug use can only be controlled through the legalisation of all drugs.  Yet for a number of ‘mysterious’ reasons such a public debate is light years away, here and abroad.

Where Did It All Go Wrong

The Emperor has lost his omnipotence and invincibility. Berlusconi must be wondering where did it all go wrong. A few months ago he must have felt untouchable as scandal after scandal his position and popularity got stronger and stronger. Immunity was guaranteed.  Now he is stranded, he is all but finished. What the ‘communist’ judiciary, the disjointed opposition, the ‘communist’ press and underage prostitutes could not do in 17 years has been done in a few months by the markets, the European Central Bank and the IMF (and his own incapability to govern). Who said they are heartless and evil?

What will happen of Italy? It will take a long time to recover from the economic mess they are in. It will take even longer to recover from the ‘democratic’ mess Berlusconi has left behind.  His departure will disorientate the wide political spectrum and create a vacuum in the centre-right alignment and heighten the expectations for the centre-left parties. However resignation and departure are two entirely different things and for now he has only completed one of the two.

On Intentions and Contradictions

After following last week’s parliamentary vote on Austin Gatt, and the subsequent drama, I have been wondering and asking myself what the heck triggered Franco Debono to create such a stir. Was it for Glory? Vendetta? Love of democracy? Words and actions should be in harmony with our thoughts and giving Debono the benefit of the doubt, we can attempt to read into his deeds and words. Debono’s contradicting statements and weird behaviour give us a few hazy indications.

Debono insists on claiming that his abstention on the PL’s motion calling for Gatt’s resignation was primarily motivated by malcontent and disgruntlement amongst the public. Debono would like us to believe that his actions and words in Parliament only reflect the public mood. So what will he do about sensitive issues such as migration where the public mood might be slightly xenophobe and/or racist? Is the general mood always right? Does the individual MP make a difference between one standpoint and another, however popular it is?

Debono is right in claiming that a vast section of the population is unhappy with the public transport reform and this does not surprise me at all. Change and reform is always hard to sell in Malta. We love the status quo as much as we love our familja and fireworks. The simple fact of changing the route numbers was enough to cause havoc and confusion. Government MP’s stated that the reform was too ambitious. Maybe. Probably. However this only goes on to show the short-sightedness and blind-folded haste of Gatt, his henchmen and Transport Malta. The intentions behind the Arriva reform are absolutely right. The system needed a complete overhaul.  The vehicles, the drivers, the routes, the hubs, the frequency had to change if we ever want to have a real change in public transport. Going back to pre-Arriva arrangements and methods is absolutely wrong as it will never get private cars off the roads and it will never improve the quality of air and our quality of life.

Debono’s action may reflect the general feeling of society, however there is more, much more to it. I have a hunch that he is cocky and narcissist by nature and his short experience in Parliament has turned him into an angry man fuelled by deep rooted rancour and acrimony. This is the result of his first-hand experience of Maltese politics, which is shallow and comatose. Debono’s anger must have exploded when he finally realised that democracy is on life-support. Instead of accepting the state of affairs like the other 68 MP’s, Debono stamped his feet. For this Gonzi and his apparatus punished him. This only helped in multiplying Debono’s thirst for revenge and in the process clouded his thoughts and lost his logic and cool. I reiterate that if Debono really believed that Gatt was not shouldering any responsibility for the ‘failed’ transport reform than he should have voted against Gatt. By abstaining Debono took the easy way out, did not shoulder any responsibility himself and leaves us with no other option but to suspect that he is saying the right thing but doing the wrong thing and all for the wrong reason.  If Debono wants to be on the right side of history he should have brought to the lime-light an endless list of mistakes, corruption and breach of ethics committed by this regime since his first day in Parliament.

Something which has gone mostly unnoticed is Debono’s claim that Gonzi has turned this into a collective responsibility issue (thus calling for Tuesday’s vote of confidence in Government), which Debono equated to a school ground bullying affair. Yet Debono nauseatingly repeated that it was his idea to hold a vote of confidence in Government (to prove his loyalty). So did Debono wish to be bullied? Was it a provocation? I believe it’s just a case of incoherence. Not too different from the kind of incoherence and disjointedness displayed by Gonzi, Muscat and the rest of the class.

Friday’s vote of confidence in Gatt and Tuesday’s vote of confidence in Gonzi’s Government will only prolong Gonzi’s agony. Gonzi is a lame duck and these two motions in Parliament will only strengthen this perception. Gonzi is a lame duck waiting to be replaced by another lame duck. The PN’s internal squabbles will prevent Gonzi from Governing the country. Blame should fall squarely on Gonzi’s shoulders as he is too weak and lacks assertiveness and ruthlessness shown by his predecessor.  Yet he is not the only culprit. Debono, Pullicino Orlando and to a certain extant Mugliett are as guilty as Gonzi is. Their vanity, egocentrism and shallowness is only matched by Gonzi’s indisiciveness as far as ‘stability’ is concerned. The damage done will necessarily dent the PN’s chances of re-election, however it does put into serious jeopardy the rebel’s political future. Debono’s antics will not improve the transport reform. It will only slow down Gonzi and his ministers who might be more cautious and wary in their approach to their responsibilities to appease the rebels. Debono’s antics have damaged his chances of re-election more than it has improved the PN’s chances of re-election (if that was his intention), which remain unchanged.  Probably his antics have also left the PL’s chances of winning the next elections unchanged.

Muscat and his magical mystery tour will spin and weave these events. ‘Weakness’,’ instability’ and ‘crisis’ will inundate the airwaves ad nauseam. Yet Muscat’s fake concern and evident opportunism will neither improve the public transport reform nor our fate. We are destined to have a government with no ideas, no real good intentions and no destination in mind, irrelevant whether it’s led by Gonzi or Muscat. A Prime Minister will lose his job this week, however it will be the one sitting in Rome and not in Valletta.

Snippets of mediocrity (II)

On Abstaining

If Franco Debono is truly convinced that Austin Gatt is an embarrassment to the PN, government and the country and should be held accountable for the awkward public transport reform, then he should simply vote against the Minister.  By abstaining on the Oppositions motion of no confidence he would strengthen the notion that he is just an attention seeker.  If Debono insists on abstaining then he is nothing but a politician who seeks the lime-light just for the sake of protagonism and vanity. Apparently Debono has not changed his stance following Gatt’s admission of fault.  If Debono abstains, Gatt will be saved by the Speaker’s casting vote and nothing much will change vis a vis the public transport reform.  It would only strengthen Debono’s reputation as a vane renegade and slightly weaken Gatt’s ego. If fellow PN back-benchers JPO and Jesmond Mugliett abstain or vote against the Minister, Debono would have to share the lime-light with 2 other rebel colleagues.  And Gatt would resign.  A vote of no confidence in Gatt does not equate to a vote of no confidence in Government, therefore any rebel MP will not bring down government and will avoid becoming a traitor. However it would be a further sign of growing cracks within the party’s ranks and provide more fodder to the opposition’s electoral war machine.

On Planting

Yesterday’s edition of Bondi+ saw the journalist/guitarist/entrepreneur/blogger/philanthropist trying to ridicule the PL leader for not being present for the whole length of the programme. The implied assertion here was that Muscat chickened out. However Muscat was present and ‘bravely’ answered all questions Bondi threw at him. On his part Muscat strenuously attempted to ridicule Bondi for calling a hate-monger from the magistrate’s toilet, for declaring his obvious voting intentions and for stating he might yet be convinced to switch allegiance. Quite entertaining. However whilst Bondi tried to shift the blame on Labour for committing the same error (leaking confidential information), Muscat kept the focus on how the information was stolen and played the fear card, reminding everyone that we could be the next victims. The one true eye-opener of this sorry saga is that Muscat is an unpleasant replica of GonziPN.  Whilst GonziPN subtly places its acolytes at the helm of the most vital organs of the fourth estate (look at PBS, The Times, The Independent, the Broadcasting Authority etc) as if it is the most natural thing to do, Muscat is exposed as an amateur of the game. Since day one, Muscat’s aim was to replace the hegemonic bloc built by the PN over a very long time with a PL tainted bloc, and he expects to do this overnight. That is simply stupid and impossible to achieve. He believes that whatever the PN can do, he can do just as well. Muscat is just a naive, foolish and impulsive opportunist.  He might be playing the game. He might show his true colours once he is sitting on the throne. If that is the case, he might be in for a big surprise, uunpleasant for him and terrible for the rest of us….because nothing will change.

The Arab Spring

The so called Arab Spring is far from over. The latest developments in the region will undoubtedly be overshadowed by Gheddefi’s death in Libya however the imminent elections in Tunisia and power struggle in Algeria may give us a better picture of what the future holds for the Mediterranean region and beyond.

The popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria are genuine and authentic. The people could take it no longer. Similar sentiments and motivations are fuelling the protest movements in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the US. Elements of the anger and exasperation which drove Ben Ali, Mubarak and Gheddefi out of power can also be found in the recent riots in London, Rome and Athens.

Signs coming out of Tunisia and especially Egypt are not very encouraging.  It may sound like a conspiracy theory but I truly believe that America and some of its allies will not let go of this very important region. The area is rich in oil and gas and pivotal in maintaining the western hegemony. The leaders’ names will change but most regimes will stay in place. The West will never allow the region economic independence and political freedom. The US and its allies only stopped dealing with and supporting the dictators when the uprisings had gone too far. Western backed dictators blocked democratic, social and economic development at the expense of their own people. The true winners are the Western countries who control the resources and impose their political ‘stability’ while the dictators and their cronies get richer and richer. After witnessing the downfall of their puppet dictators the West will turn to new faces. They will never give up the hegemony they have been constructing for decades.

However the popular uprisings are not completely futile and useless. Toppling the regions dictators was inconceivable up to a few months ago. The US and its allies could never see this coming. The West was shocked and unprepared. Therefore what seemed completely impossible became possible. Although the US and its allies did jump on the bandwagon and where involved in the toppling of the dictators, especially in Libya, it also means that the people in revolt forced the Western hand. There is no solution written on the wall. Yet if the people in the West organise themselves in a similar fashion to their Arab and Middle Eastern sisters and brothers, the rules of democracy can be rewritten and together with the rest of the world have a real go at making the world a better place.

Wanted Dead or Dead

Gheddefi is dead. With his death many have been possibly spared some uncomfortable revelations. Its still unclear whether he was killed in battle or executed a la Mussolini. Most Libyans wanted him dead for obvious reasons. Mostly revenge. Others wanted him dead for other reasons.

I am certain had Gheddefi been put to trial he would have disclosed many unwelcome truths in his inimitable mad-dog loose cannon style. Obama, Bush, Berlusconi, Blair, Sarkozy (and their administrations), some Libyan defectors and even some elements within the PL, PN and the Maltese business community let out a  huge sigh of relief on hearing of his death!

Who the Hack is read?

Yahoo…the little country is in election mode!  After the coach and wanker drama we now have a hacking scandal.  Joseph Muscat accuses the Nationalist Party (not Government, but hey what’s the difference?) of hacking his correspondence via email with Sabrina Agius, a Catholic Church Radio and Newspaper journalist.  Nathaniel Attard, head of news of the  Nationalist Party’s media house denies any wrong doing, claims that the correspondence was obtained legally and goes on to publish 14 pages of private conversation between the Labour Party leader and a Church journalist.  Consequently and rather predictably the journalist is sacked by the Church according to MaltaToday and Agius herself or suspended if you prefer the version of facts published by The Times.

I have a few questions:  Attard claims that the email correspondence was obtained legally therefore there should not be any problem in explaining how the said correspondence ended up on Attard’s desk in the PN HQ.  Silence and secrecy only adds fuel to the suspicions that it was not obtained legally.  Was it the Church? Was it MITA? Was it somebody else?  The correspondence reveals the close and friendly relationship between the PL leader and a journalist working for an independent agency, albeit being owned by the local Catholic diocese.  If this is deemed unethical and shady then I am sure that the same can be said about the majority of editors and journalists at PBS, The Times, The Independent and most other ‘independent’ news portals, radio and TV stations, all of which are a result of the grand pluralism fabricated by the PN. Not to mention the ethical jornalism produced by the party owned media outlets.  Keeping in mind other recent and not so recent allagations of tapping and hacking by Alfred Sant, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Evarist Bartolo further questions about the Security Service arise. What is its role?  Who regulates the SS?  Who leads the SS? To whom is the SS accountable (institutionally)? Should such secrecy be accepted and embraced by democracy? Have we ever been consulted about confering such power to the SS? Have we ever been consulted and given a right to decide how the SS should operate and who is to lead and run it?

Unfortunately the 99% is unaware of its own existance.

Fucking Atheist!

So What?

It is now a well known fact that Lou Bondi is an atheist. So what? I hear you say. Indeed as a fellow atheist I cannot see the news value there however I am deeply annoyed and disturbed by the subsequent reaction from the Labour Party media which does smell of intolerance and prejudice. If the PL believes that Alfred Sant was wrongly chastised by the PN and its serfs in the press for being atheist then they should know better than name and shame Bondi as an atheist.  Bondi expected the rest of the world to come to his rescue, not for being an atheist but for being who he is and for the Labour Party not being what it should be.

Pep Azzopardi

I must admit that yesterday’s edition of Incontri on ONE TV was highly entertaining. However it was entertaining for all the wrong reasons. Vulgar, loud, odious and base. Inevitably one of the main points of contention was the role Joe Azzopardi played in coaching Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando before his memorable cameo as a journalist during one of Alfred Sant’s televised press conferences on state TV, just before the 2008 general election.  Azzopardi does this on a regular basis, so much so that Azzopardi coached me and other Green Party candidates and officails on various occassions. He did this against no payment and I must also admit that his input was very valuable and very much appreciated. Azzopardi has every right to do so as much as he has a right to be biased. The PL is fighting a lost cause against Azzopardi and Where’s Everybody.  They are attacking him for the wrong reasons.  In fact they have got the target wrong too and this might spectaculary back-fire big time. I’ll delve into this and the state of journalism in Malta in the coming days.

Wanker?

Is Austin Gatt a wanker? I do not believe so. He is a gutsy politician and a bit of a renegade. He has taken up challanges that most politicians would have cowardly refused to face and has enjoyed relative sucsess. However he is rude, arrogant and suffers from the mysterious bout of superiority and vanity which many prominant Nationalist politicians, activists and spin doctors seem to suffer from.  In a twisted way he has again shown a rare sense of courage in re-introducing pre-reform bus routes. I believe he gave himself no other choice in doing so because of the bad desicions taken in the last few months. Normally, some kind of responsability is shouldered by Ministers and their henchmen after such fiascos. However Malta is anything but normal.

The Maltese epiphany

The promised earthquake felt more like a tremor. Saturday’s result shook the foundations of our society, yet Angelik and Joseph Muscat had very little to do with it. The Maltese electorate has shot down the pessimism and the cynicism which almost made me boycott the referendum. However, the Yes vote is not the end, nor for the divorce issue and neither for the struggle to transform Malta into a socially liberal democracy.

The divorce issue is not over. Both political parties have stated that all MP’s will be granted a free vote when Parliament will discuss and vote divorce legislation. Potentially this could result in Parliament voting against divorce, however I believe that MP’s on both sides of the house are wiser than that and will respect the popular vote. The electorate has spoken clearly and the ball is in our MP’s court now. They will either do the right thing and respect the people’s will or else face the indignation of the electorate, not only of those who voted Yes but also of the large segment who voted No or chose not to vote at all.

The referendum result rivals the 1987 election and 2003 EU referendum results in terms of significance. It has paved the way to reform the country thoroughly, however it will be hard to match the expectations, as proved by what happened after the 1987 and 2003 results. Divorce is the tip of the iceberg. It’s a significant victory, however Divorce is just the most tangible and reachable of targets. It will not be as easy to mobilise people and catch the electorates’ imagination about other issues which frankly are more important than divorce. The war is far from over, the battles over the electoral system reform, party funding, separation of state and church, political and social reform, broadcasting reform and rapprochement between the political class and citizens amongst others, have yet to commence.

What effect will this result have on PNPL, AD, the church and the country? Well its still early days and it all depends on the motivations, ambitions and boldness of the involved actors. The biggest loser is the church which has dug its own grave and its utter arrogance and stupidity has produced a diaspora. We are the winners. The referendum campaign has given us some hope that it is possible to discuss and debate politics without politicians. It has shown us that the PNPL/church stranglehold on our lives can be loosened. It has shown us that there is life beyond zero-sum politics and each and every one of us can participate and become a protagonist. Not for notoriety but for democracy.