Novelist Immanuel Mifsud says Istrina ‘carnival’ demeans President

Award-winning Maltese author and intellectual Immanuel Mifsud has harshly criticised the climax of this week's L-Istrina as a “carnivalesque” display that demeaned President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

“While I understand that the President likes to be close to the people and allows the people to approach her, she is ultimately the President of the Republic and not Mary from next door,” Mifsud wrote in his online blog. “That completely amateurish programme rid her of all her elegance, which is a shame as it will serve as great fodder for people who often criticise the President for her wardrobe.”

Mifsud – who won this year’s national book prize for his novel ‘Jutta Heim’ - is the latest critic of the annual show. MediaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan had earlier described it as “nothing more than a travesty”, while blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia wrote that it is “crass boastfulness and showing off taken from the personal to the national level”.

Over €4 million was collected in this year’s annual Istrina charity telethon, and pandemonium erupted on stage as the record figure was announced at the end of the show. The President’s husband Edgar Preca tarted jumping, a band started playing a jovial tune, and balloons were thrown into the air. The President herself was soon swamped on stage by people hugging her and jumping up and down in a celebratory fashion that Mifsud compared to footballers celebrating a cup victory. 

“The last time I saw a similar scene was at the Ta’ Qali stadium and at the Rahal Gdid village square,” Mifsud wrote, referring to Hibernians FC’s league victory last season.

Afterwards, one of the presenters handed the mike over to Edgar Preca to dedicate a song to his wife, at which point the First Gentleman tried his hands at a lewd joke.

“I should have dedicated ‘All Night Long’ to her last year [instead of ‘Not Tonight Josephine’] as she kept me awake all night long that day,” he said, before dedicating ‘You’re The Most Beautiful Girl in the World’ to the President.

Mifsud hit out at PBS for its “amateurishness”, arguing that state broadcasters in “normal countries” are examples of excellence.

“The Arts Council recently organised a seminar about excellence in the arts. The carnival I saw at the end of Istrina didn’t only embarrass me, but convince me that we urgently and immediately need to get rid of tackiness on our state broadcaster.”