Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1021976
25 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 SEPTEMBER 2018 OPINION hundreds of lives, and cause untold damage to the environ- ment, just to score a cheap political point.) Under those circumstances, it would be perfectly logical to demand that 'heads roll': even going all way up to the very top (depending on the serious- ness of the long- and short- term consequences, which is another thing we don't know yet). Events such as these can and sometimes do bring down entire governments, you know. There is yet that possibility in this case. (By 'yet', in this context, I mean that: no one has died... yet. We don't know of any major health risks... yet. The damage has not been quantified... yet. Yet all this may yet change. Do you 'yet' my meaning now?) So: to fast-forward directly to the part where we have answers to all of the above, and they amount to unequivocal government culpability – in other words, where roughly half of you stand right now – well, what then, exactly? I won't bother trying to accurately predict the im- mediate outcome of such a hypothetical scenario – there are simply too many variables in the equation – but certainly one distinct possible outcome would be an early election. This would, of course, give the people who started this whole debate the opportunity to vote out the incompetent, irresponsible government in question... which, at the end of the day, seems to be the only purpose of their general online existence. But then again: what guar- antee do they have that they will succeed, anyway? Hate to sound pessimistic, but if that eventuality does materialise tomorrow... and it may, yet... how many 'PNs' will actually contest that election? There are at least two factions that we can all see with our own eyes; and their mutual incom- patibility is such that I doubt they can even contest on the same political platform. So even if Labour is eviscerated by the Maghtab fire disaster – heck, even if it receives a direct hit by a nuclear warhead – it still has more than a fighting chance of being re-elected, against an Opposition in such a shambles. And besides: even in the un- likely event that the PN under Adrian Delia – or, who knows? By then, anyone else – does re- place the present administra- tion... what grounds are there to believe that the incoming administration will be any less 'incompetent' or 'irresponsible' than this one? What is there in the Opposition party's track record – on health and safety, in the environment, etc. – to suggest that it might do things better; or even, for that matter, any differently? This, ultimately, is the real tragedy of it all (apart from the fire itself, of course... which raged while we pointlessly argued over politics). Malta's current political situation does not offer any real alternatives: not within the political system itself, nor even with regard to improving national infrastruc- ture when it comes precisely to this sort of thing. Let's face it: nobody is discussing the is- sues at the sizzling core of this blaze. We're not talking about alternative waste management strategies, or contemplating national plans for possible fu- ture mass emergencies. We're not even talking about basic health and safety mechanisms. We're just pointing fingers at each other, and scarcely even disguising our enthusiasm at another disaster to blame on someone else. It is as though our entire entanglement with the political process never got past the phase of questioning 'who' runs the show... and, therefore, never got round to questioning 'how' the show is actually run. The only possible outcome is that the same show will continue to be run exactly as is today, regardless of who's re- sponsible for the running of it. But still: to close this cheerful article on the customary note of false optimism – you know: 'seeking a silver lining', and all that crap – the Maghtab fire does at least light up the absurdity of this situation for all to see. Something tells me, however, by the time we all finally come round to seeing it, there will be precious little left of this coun- try to see it in. By then, we'd all have been burnt to a crisp, in mid-sentence, centuries ago... politics...'