The itch in my democracy

I have this feeling, at least from what I observed this past week, that the leader of the opposition really believes that we are facing an irreversible and downward democratic spiral. That is, that the country has entered a dark and sinister episode that can only be erased by a change in government.  

I certainly cannot describe the situation as pleasant. But for heaven’s sake, we do not have thugs roaming the streets, police dragging people from their bed or banks being nationalised.  We have a situation that in a normal democracy would lead to political suspensions and resignations. 

Only a few months back, when Malta got its worst shock through the biggest bribery scandal, supported by facts, which was masterminded by George Farrugia, a donor to the Nationalist party and former Minister Austin Gatt’s campaign, we did not see any resignations.  

So let us put things into perspective.

This is a litmus test for Muscat and one that continues to erode his moral standing, but Malta is not Medellin or Tripoli.

Busuttil is clearly on a mission, and his message is very simple.  Change can only come about if he (Simon Busuttil) walks up the stairs at Castille and literally banishes Joseph Muscat and replaces him as Prime Minister.

As I write, I am sure that most of the readers are also asking if Konrad Mizzi is going to resign. And I am sure there are very few people in this country who think he should stay. The leader of the opposition is probably the only person in Malta who is praying for him to stay on. Because of course the longer Mizzi stays, the better for the PN.

But as we all know, or have deciphered, the decision by Joseph Muscat has already been taken. And if I know the man correctly, he will announce his decision when the audit into the Panama affair is completed.  

Now Simon Busuttil is crying wolf, and he would be a big simpleton if he did not.  But he has raised the tempo to a new and higher level.  

There are certain traits in his campaign strategy on this matter which have the odour of Louis Galea, the man who should be remembered not as a mentor and friend of Simon Busuttil, neither as the strategist of the PN before 1987, nor as an auditor in the European Court of Auditors, but rather as the part-time farmer and the man behind the Auxiliary Workers’ Scheme scandal.

Busuttil is convinced that everything that happens is the direct result of Castille pulling strings. But the truth is that as was the case in last Wednesday’s drama in front of the law courts, the criminal defamation case by Peter Paul Zammit was not initiated by Castille – the simple truth is that Jason Azzopardi, who is being sued, should not have attempted to repeat a lie and shoot the messenger.

If anything the court case was catalysed by the attempt to shoot the messenger, that is, the person, purported to be Peter Paul Zammit, leaking confidential documents about Sergeant, later Inspector, Elton Taliana to MaltaToday.

Now back to Busuttil. I did say that the tempo was being raised. Today’s front page story shows the extent of how high the ante is being raised.

It reports the story that Busuttil could have been considering the idea of a general strike.  

And I still have to be convinced that someone like Louis Galea would approve such an approach.

Muscat’s problems are our problems, true, but does that mean that we should paralyse the country? Apart from the fact that if there were to be such a politically motivated strike, it would slice the country in two halves, and the consequences would be disproportionate.

In the early eighties, when Simon Busuttil was just 13, the Nationalist party in opposition called for a general strike, which came to be known as the Imnajra strike.

I was just 19 and had voted for the first time and like so many others felt that the 1981 election result was unjust and that the PN had been cheated from governing. I was then working at St Luke’s hospital, and in our department of nearly 50 people, only one person opted to strike.

After that day, the workplace became a place of divisiveness and tension. But we felt it was justified because it had to do with the basic tenet of democracy: representation.

Today, the situation may be contentious but the issue is not about representation, for Muscat still has a majority. And a substantial one it is. The next test will be the next national election, when people will be asked to choose their next government.

Busuttil has been given a head start without even trying. But the voters will need more than auto-goals to cross the border and embrace him. The recent past is still starkly fresh in people’s minds. And Busuttil had a senior role in that recent past.

Which brings me back to last Wednesday.

Last Wednesday as I entered court, to testify in the criminal defamation case against Jason Azzopardi, I witnessed a posse of people at the entrance of the law courts.  

In former times we would have described them as hamalli Laburisti, but in fact they were quite the opposite – they were hamalli Nazzjonalisti this time. There were of course a few who were not, and I am sure he will not mind me mentioning him: I am referring to Richard Muscat, the man who will be best remembered for his stint as ambassador to Ireland, his captaincy of the Voice of the Mediterranean radio, his daredevil defiance as radio operator cum manager of Studiomaster and a cabinet minister in the Fenech Adami years. He was to Fenech Adami what a soccer reserve player is to a third division soccer team that is about to be relegated.

When two journalists from One TV attempted to ask Busuttil a question, they were literally accosted by the crowd, the toughies mostly made up of those typical angry Valletta elderly men whom I clearly remember from the Austin Gatt days.

In court, apart from Elton Taliana, flanked by his good friend Inspector Sandro Camilleri of the Police officers union, there were all the heavyweights. And in court all the younger lawyers grouped together. It was like a group photo of all the politically appointed persons on government boards before March 2013. 

And in court, apart from the 'Austin Gatt' body language of lawyer Joe Zammit Maempel, the tension was electoral, not electrifying. As I waited my turn to give evidence, I took mental note of all the people who greeted Elton Taliana.  

After I testified, I gave an impromptu press conference and I said that when it came to the Panama papers, no one wasted time hunting down the messenger or the hacker. The story was the story, not the source or the origin. So why weren’t we talking, for example, of why Sergeant Elton Taliana, then a security detail with Tonio Borg, was promoted to Inspector, when there were serious concerns about him.

Later I noted that when Jason Azzopardi left the courts; he was accompanied by his wife. You could have mistaken Azzopardi for Dreyfuss. The truth is that Azzopardi should really go to the drama school and offer his services as a tutor for high drama.  

A simple clarification from himself, that he had not intended to repeat the mistake published in The Times, would have made the accuser Zammit a very happy man.  

If Azzopardi had opted for this, Richard Muscat would not have honoured us with his presence in this very, very grave hour, where democracy was at the stake and our rights as citizens of this Republic are being simply eroded and seriously compromised.