If ever there was need to prove that Malta is fatally flawed, the way the regime went about commemorating the 50th anniversary of Malta as a republic offered proof in abundance.
The regime (I cannot call it otherwise) again turned what was supposed to be a national celebration into an orgy of partisanship.
All that was missing was to play again the “Run, rabbit, run” from 1981.
The only Nationalist mentioned and honoured was one who is dead – Karl Gouder.
Otherwise all we kept getting told about was how Parliament almost in its totality (minus a rump of six) voted in favour of a new constitution that replaced the Queen in London with a Maltese president.
No mention was made of the many episodes of terror that led up to the final vote – the cars belonging to Opposition MPs parked in central Valletta that were torched.
Nor of the incessant propaganda that aimed to isolate George Borg Olivier and his brothers from the rest of the PN group and portray those who held out as has-beens.
The Nationalist Party should have protested with the Broadcasting Authority at the blatant lack of balance exemplified in the trio of well-known Labour sympathisers chosen to debate on TVM once the army parade was over and the dignatories were trooping up to their chairs in the Great Hall.
In true Labour fashion the three kept interrupting each other and we were almost going to miss the beginning of the President’s speech.
The President too made the customary nod to Daphne Caruana Galizia but then made the usual boast how we have kept the economy growing that we hear day in and day out from TVM.
Among those awarded as role models there was TVM’s Reno Bugeja.
On the other hand the President did not seem to find the time to mention those who can’t keep up with the rising prices except for mentioning the young people who are finding it difficult to buy their first house.
Nor did she find time to share or at least discuss the complaints that many have about creeping abuses in high and low places, about delays in court, unresponsive police, rampant development, etc.
Those whose intake of news is not limited to what TVM chooses to give us know that there are other issues that are worrying the Maltese.
The Villa Rosa controversial application mirrors the DB one and highlights the way the government seems to give in without reserve to developers.
-The shameless disregard of procedures has been highlighted once again in the Auditor General’s annual compendium of faults.
Concurrently, other reports speak of promotions given to those who do not merit them, just because they are in the golden circle.
The ‘new’ national airline has been reported to be losing money as Air Malta used to do – expected too since it’s the same people leading it now that used to manage the old one.
Republic Day, in other words, was an orgy of Labour propaganda straight from the 1970s. Reminding us of what we passed through and threatening to bring those days back. Making the shaking off of the English Queen a more decisive step than it actually was.
I think I know the reason for this bump in partisan nostalgia that sounds so alien to what we are experiencing today – the Robert Abela group at the top realised that the rhetoric had to be turned up more than a notch or two for the people to wake up and take notice. Otherwise most would simply go on with their alienated lives and the momentum would be lost. And if that happened it would have moved towards an electoral defeat for Labour.
And people would wake up and notice. I am thankful to opinion writer Michael Falzon on Maltatoday for pointing out an article the previous Sunday by Ian Baldacchino, a medical doctor, on the Sunday Times who pointed out at a whole series of government offices in the medical field who have to work in totally substandard offices and yet can’t do anything to improve things. Nearby, St Luke’s Hospital stands empty, filled with pigeons and vermin. How could they stand working under such conditions? Among those mentioned: Karen Grech Hospital, Mount Carmel Hospital and the offices of the top ranks of the Medical Authority.
We also remember that the Paola Hub, once touted as a sort of mini-hospital for the area surrounding Paola is still unopened after it ran into all sorts of hiccups and bad workmanship.
This reminds us of the Msida school which was recently opened costing far more and opened much later than planned.
One other reason why people seemed so immune to government propaganda that the regime needed to pump up the propaganda was the amount of so many scandals uncovered on a daily basis.
It won’t work. Before the day was over Republic Day was forgotten but the scandals continued marching on.
Correction
The gremlins got into the transmission last week. Contrary to what appeared, I wrote that many times ex-ministers who later became presidents functioned better as ministers than as presidents.
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