Continues from yesterday’s article on ‘Malta’s Joan of Arc’
Cracks are appearing in the Labour monolith. Friction is developing between the party faithful and those opportunists who converted to the Labour creed, so much so that the son of Malta’s ex-president pleaded to the party leadership in a shameful speech to take better care of their grassroots supporters. As if their patronage was not enough.
There is also increasing friction between Labour’s new middle class and the increasingly poor segment of the population. If it were not for the fact that EU’s eyes are focused on us, by now Labour’s violence would have already broken out, Daphne Caruana Galizia’s memorial serving as the flashpoint.
There is anger within the Labour grassroots supporters that Labour is not being heavy-handed enough in the suppression of the protesters even though the OPM is inciting their online supporters. There is animosity within the party against one or two misbehaving ministers.
Also, a potentially acrimonious leadership race is looming.
Dom Mintoff had avoided a destabilising succession by appointing his own successor. Meanwhile, the cost of living continues to rise, wages remain low and the quality of life of the ordinary man-in-the-street continues to deteriorate. As Mintoff’s economy was driven by cheap labour and low-quality jobs, Muscat’s economy is underpinned by imported slave labour. Labour corruption and discrimination become more rampant. These elements are the oxygen of the party without which it would not survive.
In Joan of Arc’s case, she was rehabilitated by an independent enquiry organised by the Vatican: the independent law tribunal at the time. A subsequent retrial absolved her and the outcome of the horrors she had to undergo in her last days shocked and galvanised the apathetic populace in a groundswell of full-blooded support for the self-determination of France.
Likewise, it is obvious that Daphne will get no justice from Malta. That is one reason the Nationalist representation in the EU is so important: they have the wherewithal to override the local government in some matters such as an EU organised independent inquiry into the role of the government in preventing Daphne’s murder.
Also, the Nationalist EU representatives were instrumental in affording Daphne’s Russian ‘voice’ EU protection from the government’s clutches.
The new leader of the opposition desperately needs a new ideal or icon as his rallying point. Labour are terrified of Daphne’s legacy. The reaction of Labour to the ransacking and assaulting of Eddie Fenech Adami’s family in their home under the eyes of the Police was one of celebration and righteous self- justification. ‘Ħaqqu. Ġabha b’idejh għax kien ixewwex lin-nies’ is what Mintoff exclaimed. A response, not dissimilar to the Labour party’s response to Daphne’s murder.
Posthumously, Daphne is as powerful as in life. Labour was dwarfed by her courage, self- sacrifice, intelligence, perseverance, fortitude and above all, her incorruptibility- the antithesis of all that Labour is about. Labour knows the weakness of human nature. People can either be bribed to ensure their acquiescence or, if bribery doesn’t work, one can resort to any means to break a dissenting will.
When a force is unconquerable to Labour, be it Eddie Fenech Adami’s centrist party, the EU representation, not to mention the Russian whistleblower (who escaped their attempts at incarceration), it goes berserk in its futile attempts to suppress the disagreeable message that threatens its permanence.
Like Eddie Fenech Adami, the new leader, whose integrity must be above reproach, will have the means to inspire a centrist catch-all party that can pose a formidable challenge to Labour’s corrupt soul. Their embracement of Daphne’s ideals will be the guarantee that the party’s intentions are genuine, in contradistinction to Muscat’s deceitful emulation of Fenech Adami ‘s effort with this ‘Tagħna ilkoll’ movement.
Make no mistake, the Nationalist Party will forever be an unelectable minority but an influential, principled, enthusiastic minority. For Malta’s is a vulture culture indifferent to the common good. The lyrics of Alan Parsons project go:
Vulture culture, use it or you lose it
Vulture culture, choose it or refuse it
Such a vulture culture never lends the loser a hand
Just a vulture culture living off the fat of the land.
Labour exploit this vulture culture to cement their power. The Nationalists aim for the common good, thereby pleasing no one. In their attempt to be fair with all factions, they strive to achieve a balance or compromise: between the environmentalists and the construction lobby, infuriating both factions who insist on an all-or-nothing take; or between the hunters and the nature lovers.