Politics and summer don’t mix

It’s hot, half days have started, school’s out for summer, the beach beckons, boat parties are all the rage and the World Cup is on. In this scenario, no wonder it is so difficult for people to get worked up about anything political.

And, in this scenario, no wonder that the Nationalist party is finding itself in a quandary about how to drum up support.  I see halfhearted attempts at fundraising for the party, with almost timid requests to send an SMS costing 6.99 Euros, but the lack of real interest is palpable.

There are BBQs and a ‘ravjulata’ and even a summer bonnet competition; all very well-meaning, but a far cry from the kind of slick powerhouse which the PN used to be.  It could not be more obvious that the big spenders who used to back the PN have deserted the party, which now that it is no longer in power, has absolutely no clout left.  The latest news of how much is owed to ARMS for water & electricity was probably the final straw.

Many of its supporters have well and truly switched off and gone for a swim.

Of course, there have been past summers when the political tension did not ease up with stories coming at us from every which way, making the life of a columnist so much easier. This year, however, I’ve noticed that the atmosphere is more relaxed than usual, and even when there is a story which seems to have grabbed the public’s attention it wilts and withers away as quickly as those colourful flowers on our roundabouts in the summer heat.

I put all this down to various factors.

First, people were already well and truly fed up with the constant campaigning over the last few years, and this year, with the MEP elections it was not so much political fatigue as a general plea to “please somebody make them all shut up and leave us alone.”   

Second, the MEP elections themselves, rather than registering a protest against a Labour government which seemed to have already gotten too big for its boots, simply reinforced the hefty swing towards Labour. I think the PN is still reeling from the implications of what this means, while everyone else has just shrugged with resignation, muttered “mhemmx x’taghmel” (not much you can do) and got on with their lives.  

Third, and the most crucial element is that, despite years of scaremongering from the PN that Malta under a Labour government will be a living hell, with thugs running amok, burning down party clubs and beating people up for no reason - none of this happened.

I remember after the election result was known I was speaking to a friend who lives abroad who asked me whether there were people rioting in the streets. I thought he was joking but realized that he was asking in all seriousness because that is what the Nationalist spin had repeatedly predicted.  But you see, that is the problem when you cry wolf once too many times.

Once people realized that the mantra of “back to the 80s” was just a handy catchphrase which was not based on reality, whatever credibility the PN had left was wiped out.  The era of political violence was a black period in this country’s history, and only the sick in the head would want it to re-occur just to score some political point (“You see? We were right!”). 

In any case, what happened 30 years ago is too long of a time span to keep banging on about in order to scare people into voting for you; a political party should be asking for our votes on the basis of what they can offer, not out of fear of what “might” happen. As it turned out, people took a chance on Labour and as the months unfolded and they looked around they have not noticed that anything has changed so dramatically. 

It’s like someone predicting an atomic explosion, only for you to peep out cautiously and find it was only a firecracker.

This is not to say that the Labour government is doing everything right - far from it. In fact (and in what can only be termed as bitter irony) when it comes to the construction industry and its cosiness with development moguls, Labour seems to have out-PNed the PN. The White Rocks development which is promising luxury apartments on an island already bursting at the seams with luxury apartments, is a case in point.

And even as voters demand that Labour should “do better” if only to make a pretence of fulfilling their electoral promise to be different from the other lot, the anger and fury over jobs for the boys has also dissipated, either because of the heat or because people have simply given up. And as some will inevitably argue, didn’t PN sympathizers reign supreme while the PN reign lasted?  Red or blue, with us or against us, pick a side, any side and you will then be treated with favour by the ruling “King” accordingly, sharing in the spoils of this everlasting tribal war.

That is the way it has always been and always will be…how often have I heard that phrase?

Then there are those who choose not to be defined by these two colours, who will probably never, ever be in anyone’s favour and will wander for eternity in that no man’s land of those who are shunned by both. And while they may never share in the spoils, at least they have the satisfaction of knowing that their existence or peace of mind does not depend on kissing up to whoever happens to be in power. It may sound like small consolation, but it’s actually quite a liberating kind of freedom.  

Now, if you will excuse me, the beach is calling.