The victor and the vanquished

Democratic elections, like cup finals, crown the victors not the vanquished.

At this very time last year, in the last week of December, Anglu Farrugia - now Speaker of the House - had already tendered his resignation as deputy leader of the Labour party.  There was a sigh of relief on the fourth floor of the Mile End HQ. In record time they were negotiating with Louis Grech to step into Farrugia's shoes. It was the coup to get rid of 'liability Farrugia'.

I recall watching Farrugia fumble, trip himself and mumble on Xarabank with Simon Busuttil, the newly elected deputy leader of the PN. The image-sensitive New Labour had been trying hard not to push Farrugia as a front-liner, but they knew he had no real appeal and more importantly, he could not handle a debate.

Busuttil was being actively promoted by PBS at the time, and of course the PN. He was seen as a moderate, not excessively charismatic yet still miles ahead of Anglu. Any encounter with Farrugia was expected to propel Busuttil forward.

Anglu's demise was obviously picked upon by the bile brigade, headed by the 'Queen' herself, adored by a small segment of self-righteous, gossiping, spiteful and fickle hardcore PN voters. Of course, Lou Bondì was then still a Nationalist boot-licker and nobody would have imagined to see him on Muscat's side four months later.  Farrugia's forced resignation was perhaps the best way to describe Joseph Muscat's Blairite political make-up.

Farrugia's sparring with Busuttil was like some Don Quixote, both in manner and style, and it sealed his political future. To believe that he made a fool of himself would be a very kind way of putting it. The bad vibes from the Xarabank debate were so intense that Muscat was forced to take a decision. Muscat is no Robespierre but his advisors are.
Farrugia was then seen as a liability, a man who served to generate negative hormonal activity amongst a discerning part of the electorate. So he was decapitated.

Nonetheless, all of a sudden Farrugia became a victim rather than a villain to the bile brigade, but no matter how hard they tried to portray Muscat as a mindless autocrat and Farrugia as a victim of the executioner, Muscat's standing in the polls rose rather than plummeted.  He appeared strong, determined and more importantly willing to replace mediocrity with the snazzy-looking Louis Grech, a sort of darling for a particular, middle-aged English-speaking female audience.

As Muscat considered Farrugia's future there appeared to be a concerted effort from the spin machine to turn the Dalligate affair into a morality booster for Gonzi. Rizzo planned to perp-walk Dalli in to the courts just around this time in Christmas.  And believe me, they would have insisted on incarceration. It would have succeeded had it not been for Dalli's absence from the islands and a sudden illness. And I dare say for our singular and incisive reporting on this case, which I assure everyone came without any gratitude from Dalli himself.

When the electoral campaign kick-started at midnight in January, the difference between the two parties was striking if not startling.  Labour had risen like a phoenix from the ashes, with a sexy look and a youthful demeanour. The PN appeared tired and uncharacteristically slow. It also had an obsession with being negative. To make matters worse, they opted for the longest campaign ever.  It read like a textbook electoral suicide note.

The PN lamented they had no campaign money, because they had been busy running the country - a lame excuse which did not hold any ground - instead accusing Labour of being supported by land speculators and construction. Which, given the twist in fortunes, made everyone think, why is everyone sponsoring the PL and not the PN?

Simon Busuttil still repeats this excuse and argues that Labour had more money than the PN. But there was never any sympathy for the fact that the PN was unprepared for the election or cash-poor. In 25 years, a regiment of political activists in the PN made a feast by capitalising on political patronage and using their influence to improve their personal wealth. Meritocracy was ignored and yet criticism of the 'political apartheid' did not strike a chord with the public when the PN was in power.

Muscat changed all that with his popular battlecry, albeit now sounding like a hypocritical campaign slogan that will promise to haunt him and his party.

Under the PN, hundreds received handsome wages that were far higher than those who enrolled in jobs after a careful selection based on aptitude, qualifications, competence or experience. Political patronage defies all that.

And that same tradition is continuing today, under Labour with the appointment of political lackeys and activists.

Under the PN, party faithful were cared for at the expense of the taxpayer as the party coffers were allowed to tumble into great debt, now estimated to run into millions.

Come, January 2013 and the whole debate was dominated by the oil scandal, but not really reported at PBS by the way, no matter what the former political appointees who ran the station say or have to say. There was no serious debate on the subject on TVAM, run by Pierre Portelli and Joe Mifsud, no debate on Lou Bondì's one sided programme and of course no debate on Joe Azzopardi's Xarabank. The sceptics of course blamed MaltaToday for sealing the fate of the election with the oil scandal.

It was perhaps the first time that hard evidence surfaced and got reported in years and it was an event that every journalist would die to report in his lifetime.

It was a time which brought incredible stress and strain on the media organisation here in San Gwann and the newsroom at the time.

Yes, the impact on the final electoral result was truly determined by this story.  It showed to what extent the rot had propagated.

I recall staring at the documents in awe before I realised that this time round I had irrefutable evidence of corruption, and corruption that would rock the political system. I knew I would be hated by some and loved by others. But I was not alien to the feeling of being despised, so I could live with that kind of pressure.

2013 waved goodbye to the PN but it ushered in a new government which is definitely fresher, more dynamic but nonetheless not shockingly different enough. The PN and Simon Busuttil argue: "It is not the PL who won but the PN who lost." Really someone should remind the PN leader that democratic elections, like cup finals, crown the victors not the vanquished.

And in football whether one wins by penalties, auto-goals or a smashing Rooney free-kick, the most important story to recount is about the winner never the loser. The winner takes all.

Muscat of course came under fire for his handling of meritocracy, or to put it more succinctly, the mishandling of meritocracy. It also attracted more attention because it had been his battle cry throughout the long campaign.

Meritocracy may not be the most important thing to many people. But it is up to the media, which always attempt to be slightly less fickle than the electorate, to be interested in their small patch.

It was an exciting year for the media, but one that left us rather muted and tired-looking.  Perhaps all our adrenaline was taken up in the election campaign, but that hormonal rush will surely return in 2014.

As MaltaToday enters its 15th year, we are sure not to let our readers down with our new projects. 

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Quite frankly Saviour, I feel you now need to stop looking at the past and start analyzing in more depth the present and what you think the future holds for this country. What`s past is past and PN has been punished for its mistakes....now what
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Quite frankly Saviour, I feel you now need to stop looking at the past and start analyzing in more depth the present and what you think the future holds for this country. What`s past is past and PN has been punished for its mistakes....now what
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Salv, allow me this opportunity to wish you, all at MT and all your families (all those present and all those that have sought better ground) all the very best for 2014 and beyond. If MT was not around, it would have to be created. Ad Multos Annos!
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Come on Salv, enter the political arena and stand for the European MPs elections. You have 5 votes from my family!!
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Proset Saviour! Your article is a Fernet Branca- a digestivo- not not simply for the food we gulped at Christmas, but even more important, for the indigestion of scandals, tenders and 'consultancies' that we had to endure under GonziSimonPN's mal administration ! Malta Today has always been consistent, and has always published the truth, unlike other 'quality' newspapers who were-and still are- simply gatekeepers for SimonPN! Happy New Year to your staff and all Malta Today readers: both PN and PL!
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As I have quite often repeated here, MALTA TODAY is the best English language newspaper in Malta. Forget the newsprint enterprises that want you to pay to read gutter journalism and opinions of paid assassins or the regurgitated bile of supposedly independent media that is nothing but prostituted political interference. On the factual reporting and comments made during 2013, you deserve the National Order of Merit. But one must presume that more than one cares to mention you have ruffled the feathers of the old establishment who are still determined to keep the Maltese mentality shackled in the past. While political change has come to Malta and credit must be acknowledged towards the PL leadership of Joseph Muscat. His administration of fresh faces and other not so fresh calamities from decades ago who still expect their entitlements for their loyalty and support are beginning to show cracks in their chosen fields of bureaucracy. As the saying goes, “To the victor go the spoils” this Muscat administration has found itself overwhelmed to fulfill the promises of political rewards they promised during the election campaign in exchange of electorate loyalty. It is far too early to predict the outcome from all the political appointments rendered, however the haste in foreign affairs and international ambitions has already caused a bad reflection of Malta’s political will and sincerity. If the domestic outbursts towards the mismanaged introduction through parliament in regard the citizens’ scheme is any indication and the government trying to patch the errors of his way by appeasing the oligarchs rather than the conscience Maltese citizens then this administration is moving towards the edge of that slippery slope of malfeasance during the next four years. To this end MALTA TODAY must remain loyal to its readers and devoted to printing everything that the Maltese people have the right to know.
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Well done Saviour. An excellent article which pinpoints the ongoing and recent past structural weakness of the PN strategy and policy. Hypocrisy and negativism are two major ingredients of this ruinous political posturing and stance. Carry on threshing in opposition Simon and Co. for you have a lot to learn about real politics before you can become a match to JM's innate political acumen.
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Prosit and continue with your story telling and in keeping up your reputation - that of being the biggest hypocrite in Malta and Gozo.
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prosit! keep up the good reporting and wish you and all the staff at MT the very best for 2014. Looking forward to your new projects! What about a daily newspaper??? that would be great off the shelves :)