The pretence of having admirable beliefs

There is an uncanny resemblance between Labour MP Marlene Farrugia and her former husband. 

Years back, I remember receiving a particular phone call from Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando (then a PN backbencher). It was 7.30am, on a Sunday. 

It was the time when complainers still had the gall to phone me on a Sunday morning.  I had queried his environmental concerns over a proposed Ninu Zammit 'landfill' next to the Neolithic temples at Mnajdra. 

Yes, this was under a Nationalist administration, lest one think that in the former 25 years, the Nationalists were tree huggers who did not, in fact, derive pleasure from denigrating our heritage.

I was not for a landfill at Mnajdra, but I had interpreted Pullicino Orlando's opposition as simply being fuelled by his growing dissent within the party.

Later, he would also campaign against Caqnu's cement factory in Siggiewi and gain recognition for his crusader role by the Green NGOs, also scoring an award as 'green warrior of the year'.

But as is true with most other MPs, there was another side to Jeffrey. 

Nothing at all sinister... yet, it would eventually put him in direct conflict with the Green lobby.  

As a successful dentist, he had wisely invested his money in land and property and his plans to develop and sell a site at Mistra Bay led to the Pullicino Orlando we know - from the conscientious Green PN MP to the developer, and finally, to the maverick (angry, yet very effective) campaigner.

Marlene Farrugia is, of course, not unlike her former spouse. Like him, she has crossed the political divide, and ironically she has done this at more or less the same time Jeffrey did. Marlene, one will remember, was first a Labourite, then a Nationalist and is now back to being a Labourite. Like Jeffrey, she also dabbled in land and property... a national pastime, if you ask me.

She is respected and sought after by her constituents, not because of her ideological standing, but more importantly because of her excellent rapport with her voters.

She now sits in the Labour backbenches and is bound to be frustrated... she clearly has abundant energy but not much to do in the party. 

But apart from being a dentist herself, she is also a successful property developer. 

And her Friday missal in parliament against the Mistra development comes at a time when it seems okay to criticise, irrespective of whether one has the 'genuine' credentials to express one's opinion on the subject.

She has always been a controversial figure.

When the divorce issue was being discussed, she of all people stood up to criticise it.

More recently, she personally defended Norman Vella, the immigration officer-cum-'TV presenter'-cum-'PN potential MEP candidate' and cum-'make yourself puke while listening to the guy' expert.

Her complaints are of course being interpreted (at least by me), rightly or wrongly, as a result of her partner (Godfrey Farrugia) being selected as Health Minister instead of herself.

It is great for us in the press to have sound bites from parliamentarians who embarrass their own parties and governments, but that does not change the fact that Marlene Farrugia is visibly uncomfortable in her own party... or if not uncomfortable, dying to be the Labour Party's answer to Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.

Which takes me, of course, to the latest political pronouncements, which reconfirm my conviction that people listen to politicians but do not really believe them.

In Friday's general council meeting, PN secretary general Chris Said bemoaned the citizenship programme - so far, so good - and then of course lost me when he started talking about the 'political' integrity of the Nationalist Party.

He even reminisced over Malta's contribution to Libya's freedom, just as 22 people were massacred in Tripoli and another 180 wounded.

Politicians sometimes sound like a surreal scene: Pol Pot lecturing to Amnesty International about human rights abuses.

Comparisons are odious, but yes, I refuse to be lectured about how this country should be run by people who made a mess of things and got castigated for it. 

And yet again, on the citizenship issue I have not heard Chris Said talking about awarding citizenship to individuals who deserve it and who aren't flush with money.

However, the PN has misread the situation in this case. Whether we agree or disagree, the PL is more open to business and more interested in the fast-track, and this reality is what concerns many in the business community. And the PL knows that at the very end of the day, it is affluence that will convince people to support them.

It is very much like that individual who (bafflingly) complained that the citizenship programme would shock our rock-solid financial services... as if the financial services were the Mecca of the Maria Gorettis and Mother Theresas of this world. I could say the same about the gaming industry in Malta. 

Why does the foreign gaming industry in Malta raise our moral standing?

Give me one 'moral' argument to justify that raking in money from dumb people who gamble and throw away their money is "good"!

(I wonder if Bishop Scicluna will send us a tweet on this one.)

No, there is no moral justification for the gaming industry, but it rakes in millions in direct taxes and spills over into other segments, and that what matters in business.  Because anyone who argues that making money is about good or bad should come to terms with the fact that there is nothing moral about making money.

Someone really needs to remind the public that the thousands of companies registered in Malta come here, not because they like our sun or sea, or because the MFSA have sexy receptionists in the lobby (not the case) or are in love with our roads and concrete jungle. They do it for one simple reason: a benevolent tax rate that is different to most EU countries and that serves them well for tax evasion. Full stop.

The reason that the biggest billing company in the world is registered in Malta and serves the massive online porn industry did not lead to any moral statements at any political meeting.

On the citizenship debacle, the PN has been quick to jump on the bandwagon of general resentment towards the scheme. When it comes to jumping on the bandwagon, politicians are always first and fast.

They of course do not have the same considerations when it comes to hunting, even though the majority is against it. Because in the case of hunting, the PN remains wary of the hunter's vote. 

Opposing hunting is a noble gesture which falls within the domain of what is called 'altruism'.

Which is why I ask myself what would have happened if in March, the Nationalists had been elected to government. There is little doubt in my mind that today, we would be debating the citizenship scheme anyway. It was, after all, being discussed between Henley and the government before March...

Just picture this.

Tonio Fenech would have been eloquently defending the citizenship scheme, Lawrence Zammit at Malta Enterprise would be offering sound bites for the press on the added value to this scheme, Mario de Marco would be talking about the long term value added and The Times would be sucking up to the citizenship programme and its government as it was doing in the first two weeks of this debate. Chris Said as Justice minister would be ensuring everyone of the rigidity of the due diligence that would screen the selection of candidates for citizenship.

PBS, under Natalino Fenech, would be blowing the bugle, Lou Bondi would have multiple programmes projecting this scheme as the next best thing to listening to his rock selection, and of course Norman Vella would make us feel sick all week long with his partial commentaries about citizenship. Reno Bugeja would still be putting forward pertinent questions on the scheme in his programme Dissett and of course, avoid getting flak from Frank Psaila on his blog.

Clearly, I would have written against the scheme. But wonder of wonders, the Labour Opposition would have valiantly bludgeoned the scheme, accusing the government of selling Malta's soul.

David Casa would be praising Malta's initiative in the European Parliament (when not partying). And I could foresee Marlene Farrugia speaking in favour of the citizenship scheme.

Allow me to meekly suggest that the word hypocrisy - meaning the pretence of having admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings - is erased once and for all from our vocabulary and memory and deleted from the English language.