Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1197486
13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JANUARY 2020 LOOKING FORWARD 20 20 11. US election In November, the US will elect a new president. The outcome will impact the world economy, especially if incumbent Donald Trump wins and pursues a disruptive international agenda. Who will win the election is hard to predict at this stage, especially since the Democratic Party's field of potential candidates is still wide open. Maltese descendent Pete Buttigieg, a Democratic candidate, will capture imagination domestically. 12. Pay transparency The government has pledged to tackle the gender pay gap by implementing a policy of pay transparency. Incoming Equality Minister Edward Zammit Lewis placed this on his agenda when appointed minister last summer but whether he will deliver on the proposal this year remains questionable. Employers are opposed to the principle but the matter is also on the agenda of the incoming European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen. 13. Tokyo Olympics The premier world sporting event, the summer Olympics and paralympics, will be held in the Japanese capital. The events kick off on 24 July and end on 9 August. Malta will have its own small contingent at the games and with no Olympic medal to its name yet, it is unlikely Tokyo will bring about a change in fortunes. Claire Bonello LET'S start off by admitting that "the Republic" didn't just fall apart this last year. It's been an inevitable downward rush as nearly everybody took leave of their senses and started acting irrationally. I say "nearly" everybody because there were those who kept on pointing out that this crazy "economy-on-steroids Mega Malta" was an unsustainable, ineq- uitable bullshit story which should have set alarm bells ringing. These people were ignored and ridiculed as boring sticks-in- the mud standing in the way of progress. What brought about this crash is the irra- tionality which possessed so many sectors. In the first place, it is irrational to have this all-out adulation for one person and give him unfettered powers. This is a reci- pe for disaster and it holds true for all poli- ticians of whatever stripe. Endowing a pol- itician with God-like stature is inherently dangerous as it inevitably brings about the bypassing of all regulatory checks and balances. Fandom belongs to the realm of Jurgen Klopp, Daniel Craig and Cristiano Ronaldo admirers and stops there – it should not extend to our rulers. And I say this because this sycophantic adoration of ministers continues unabated, with people tripping over themselves to post arse-lick- ing congratulations for every non-event posted by ministers. With this silly level of adulation, how are we going to keep these ministers in check? They'll simply rely on their 'prosit minist- ru' party to justify their obscene decisions. So that's one thing we should put a stop to - stop salivating over ministers and start scrutinising them properly. Another thing that we should do to "fix the Republic' is to stop imagining that tinkering with the Constitution - or even its wholesale reform - can be some kind of silver bullet to end the lack of enforce- ment and culture of impunity. It won't. We have laws and rules in place - they are adequate if not perfect. Unfortunately they are mostly disregarded by people in power and decision-makers with no spine and no balls - soulless jellyfish who cause immeasurable distress and injustice to everyday citizens through their inaction and cowardice. A law rendering them per- sonally liable for their decisions would be a good way to shake things up. In the meantime, we have to continue shouting the words which the Italian Coast Guard Gregorio de Falco told Captain Francesco Schettino as the latter crashed and sunk the cruise liner under his com- mand: 'Vadi a bordo, cazzo!' (Go back on board, d***head). We should demand that our politicians assume their responsibili- ties and steer the ship of state safely to port, instead of preening around snapping selfies. Claire Bonello is a lawyer and environ- mental campaigner live. This is not about false narratives. How do we imagine our "na- tional" community outside the logic of individual or spe- cific group interests? The ac- cusation of "false nostalgia" is a way of forcing us to accept a republic that is being shaped for us by a select few, despite our objections, against our will. It is based on the narra- tive that this is the price we have to pay to have jobs and live decent lives. To interpret our predicament as the result of a national community get- ting the kind of government it votes for, and deserves is to try to sell another false narrative. O n e way forward, I suppose, is for common people who have the common good at heart to reclaim and reconstruct the Republic. It will take more than a redefinition of the role of the prime minister, or the creation of yet another au- thority to do so. We need to define, or redefine our com- munity. So the National Cul- tural Policy launched in 2010 is another good place to start. We need to redefine the cul- ture of community that will shape the kind of nation we want. Prof. Adrian Grima is a writer and associate pro- fessor in the Department of Maltese, University of Malta