Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/852418
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 JULY 2017 15 Interview A contrived sense of false optimism, coupled with the total collapse of all forces opposing the current political/social/economic establishment, have caused author IMMANUEL MIFSUD to 'give up hope' ing problems than anything else – in fact, it has become a bit of a trope in its own right. But how true is that from Mifsud's expe- rience as a lecturer? Does he en- counter similar concerns among his students, for instance? "My impression is that those who are interested are few and far be- tween. University – as in, the full student body that makes it up – is also in its comfort zone: and has been for some time now. It is com- fortable. And when you're com- fortable, it creates an environment where you don't feel the need to be critical. This worries me. When you see that, at University – and now, this has spread to all other post-secondary institutions as well – student politics only ever takes place between Pulse and SDM... and we all know who those two are... it starts from there, really. "Already, we have this idea that 'politics' means that I am on one side; I meet with you from the other side; we debate... and most likely, our debate will also be very petty. How do we not have a third or fourth political force present, even at this level? In this respect, I think we have actually regressed. The presence of political parties in post-secondary education institu- tions is now overwhelming. I was at University this week, and there was a meeting for new students starting next October. I was... how can I put it? Shocked? Stunned? Scandalised? I don't know. But already, the two sets of political activists – remember, that these students haven't even started their course yet: some of them came with their parents, because they didn't even know where Univer- sity was. They're young – but al- ready, they're split into political activist groups, trying to snap up as many students as they can. This is not how politics is done. Or at least, it's not my idea of politics. Just look how powerful the two parties have become: ironically, they are even stronger than they were before." This raises an additional future concern. It seems that, inevitably, public debate tends to be polar- ised between the same two oppos- ing political camps. But while the two parties argue over everything, they do not necessarily represent substantially different ways of do- ing politics. They have converged on all but the most peripheral of issues. Can a country really ad- vance at all, when the only avail- able choice is between two largely identical mindsets? "On a political level: no, I don't think it can. Because a priori, what we are saying is that politics can only take place between two op- posing forces. In this day and age, you will find people who rebel against their parents, or their fam- ily traditions... but what do they do? They vote for the other side. It doesn't occur to them to take any action outside the sphere of party politics: to oppose from the outside. There is this accepted political sphere, and we all have to work within it. So whether you rebel against the political beliefs of your parents or grandparents, or whether you don't – you still re- main trapped in the same circuit." In that scenario, he goes on, the only important thing becomes one side winning, and the other los- ing. This culture of 'winning' at all costs is taking a heavy toll on the parties' credibility. "I'm not a Nationalist insider – I have no idea what goes on in the corridors of that party. But I was struck by those candidates who, because they were not elected, went into a sulk and disappeared altogether. These were promi- nent people in the PN campaign before and during the election. They expected to get elected... they didn't... and that was it. It's so childish: 'if I don't win, I'll no longer play'. Then you hear a lot of talk – this is why I no longer be- lieve most of what I hear – about entering politics 'to serve'; 'for the good of the country', and so on. It's not true at all. If these people really entered politics 'to serve', their principal aim would not be the egoistical aim of getting into parliament. But the way candi- dates go about campaigning... giv- ing out hampers, etc... suggests that their sole aim is that THEY get into parliament. Nothing else matters." That seems to be true also for the issues we discuss. Before the election, for instance, the coun- try was engrossed by allegations of corruption, money laundering tax evasion, etc. Yet no sooner did the labour Party win the election, than... "It's all dead. And there are two other things to add to that; the people who pushed those alle- gations the most have also gone quiet..." Because they lost? "Precisely. But apart from that, I think the PN is in such a seri- ous situation... I don't know what polls they were looking at, but they gave their own supporters a sense of optimism before the election. We all remember Simon Busut- til saying how he had managed to narrow the gap in three years, let alone how much he would manage in the last few months. "And then, all of a sudden, there's a defeat: and not just any defeat, but one that was worse than in the previous election. I think, at this moment, the PN doesn't have the strength to carry on pursuing these scandals, or suspicions of scandals. And that is where the entire country suffers: because if our idea of 'opposition' is restricted only to the party in opposition... well, at the moment there isn't any opposition at all. Until a few weeks ago, there were serious suspicions about certain individuals. But because the op- position party has grown tired, or because it is now more concerned with what it's going to do about its own situation... there is nothing and no one to continue keeping the government on its toes. Those problems are still there, and need to be addressed. We can't just say 'everything's finished', as if noth- ing happened... just because one side won, and the other lost." the worst of times' PHOTOGRAPHY BYJAMES BIANCHI