Between The Godfather and Cape Fear

Ergajna bl-istess kantaliena. Here we go again. Nothing ever changes round here. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose . For all our talk of think-tanks and political academies, the underlying dynamic running through Maltese politics hasn't budged an inch since 1987.

Every few years, as yet another appointment with the ballot box approaches, a powerful and well-oiled machine is set in motion and we get to watch an adaptation of the same old film, that unmistakable local collage resembling something of a cross between The Godfather and a reel of Stalinist propaganda with its horrific black-and-white clips of unspeakable crimes and bulk buying whose central characters are called Mintoff, Karmenu and Lorry Sant. In parallel, another film production studio is busy re-inventing certain key protagonists of that by-gone era by casting them in a modern, even futuristic, new role in a movie called Metamorphosis (or The Shadow Cabinet).

The film festival creates an optical illusion that things are actually happening, that they are moving forward, progressing if you will, that there is life and vitality to be found in the interplay between these two diametrically opposed versions of reality. So although a sizable chunk of the younger audience has simply switched off completely, retreating into its protected personal niche (and the occasional sarcastic comment on facebook), thousands of others still find the spectacle captivating enough to take it seriously.

A few others attempt to design a path away from the two cinema screens and the non-choice they are faced with. The problem is, of course, that our generation has largely disengaged from politics. We have allowed other people to establish the rules of the game, to feed us their version of reality and to construct a world made in their image.

Individuals in my generation are living lives beyond their parents' wildest dreams but it seems to me that we haven't brought about anything politically innovative, choosing to retire instead into a life of personal hobbies, comforts and preoccupations.

In all this, the established 1960s Maltese politician stands victorious and triumphant like Robert De Niro's legendary character in Cape Fear. In the name of party unity, leaders whose political ideas have been soundly  defeated stay on well past their sell-by date. And we are now experiencing a veritable re-writing of political history as dormant politicians are resurrected phoenix-like to deliver rousing speeches at party conferences. Politicians really do manage to outlast us and out-philosophize us in this country.

If nothing else (and in this day and age of rainbow politics you really do have to wonder), the political parties remain fine examples of the beneficial effects of community spirit, imbuing their members with a formidable sense of Three Musketeers camaraderie while guaranteeing them mutual protection from those annoying factors called common decency, political responsibility and the truth. It's no wonder that this country has not managed to obtain any sincere form of closure over the past 25 years.

Malta doesn't need a change of government or a new Prime Minister.

What it does need - desperately - is a change in dynamic. The balance of power needs to be shaken drastically. Even one hundredth of the determination and resolve shown by our Egyptian and Tunisian contemporaries would be enough to get this country out of its political stagnation. But perhaps we're a bit too bourgeois, a bit too 'middle class' to even attempt that small leap of faith.