Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1432934
ROBERTA Metsola's successful bid to be the EPP's (European Peoples' Party) candidate in the contest for the election of the President of the European Par- liament has evoked contrasting reactions. Personally, I feel that she is to be congratulated, not just because she is Maltese, but also because this signifies the high regard that Roberta enjoys among MEPs in the EPP group. When Labour Party MEP Alex Agius Saliba said that he will back Roberta Metsola in her bid to become Malta's first ever Eu- ropean Parliament President – promising her his cooperation rather than interference for her candidacy – he was greeted by a barrage of criticism from La- bour supporters. Prime Minister Robert Abela tried to bridge the unbridgea- ble chasm between decency and the lack of decency among La- bour supporters, by giving her his support while explaining: "If I did not support her nomi- nation, I would be doing exact- ly what she did to our country. Therefore, the answer is obvi- ous: yes, I support her." What exactly, did Metsola "do to our country"? For those of my age, a Labour government accusing the PN of attempting to damage Malta at international fora or in the for- eign press is old hat. That is a legacy from the Mintoffian era and of our colonial past. Britain used the maxim 'divide and rule' to its utmost possibili- ty for their benefit when dealing with its colonies. Presenting a united stand in the face of our colonial masters made sense. Today, 57 years after Malta at- tained independence, having made the impressive leap from a colony to a fully-fledged EU member state, the 'holy' stance of adopting a united front when dealing with 'the foreigner' is ludicrous. Many people in Malta felt that under the Muscat admin- istration, Malta faced rule of law issues. Those taking up this position and fighting to address the situation were not being ca- pricious, because this issue was there, and is still here – albeit to a lesser extent. Malta was not the only EU country facing such issues, albeit the details are not necessarily the same. Resorting to legal public demonstrations and to the EU because of these issues is the obvious way how to solve these issues in a peaceful way, more so since 'rule of law' is a basic tenet of the European Union. Describing such actions as 'an- ti-Malta' activities pushed the issue of rule of law into even more stormy water. This is what many Labour supporters can- not understand. For them the old colonial attitude of 'us ver- sus the foreigner' still holds and is still sacrosanct! This is utter nonsense. There are other EU countries where this is also happening, no- tably Poland and Hungary. How- ever, the Polish and Hungarian governments never accused the dissenters in their coun- tries as pushing anti-Polish or anti-Hungarian stances. These countries know first-hand what the term 'nazi' implies. How some in Malta accused their compatriots pushing for the rule of law in Malta, nota- bly Roberta Metsola, as part of a 'mafia' or as followers of some nazi doctrine is beyond repre- hensible. Nobody is perfect or always correct, of course. People have a right to agree or disagree. But political stances are to be dis- cussed and contested in a civil way, not by dishing out irre- sponsible terms that are tanta- mount to hate. Those who are leading the Labour pack should know this. Unfortunately, many keep on egging – directly or indirectly – their followers to look at politi- cal adversaries with hatred. Hatred is the most understood and easily adopted human trait that exists. Because hatred is an emotional stance and not a log- ical one. And it is easier to hate your enemies than to love them! So this is where we have end- ed. Social media, such as Face- book, has exacerbated stances mirroring hatred and abhor- rence where none is justified. This is not just a local phenom- enon – one can sense it all over the free world. Labour has recently adopted a new catchphrase: the country we want to leave to our children. Nice one – but completely emp- ty if Labour does not rein in its supporters teaching them that hate has no place in Maltese so- ciety and disagreement on po- litical issues is a welcome phe- nomenon in a democratic world. To switch this disagreement into hatred, on the grounds that those who accuse the ad- ministration of wrongdoing in international fora are traitors, is the worst legacy that Labour is fomenting. Instead of leaving a country proud of its notable achieve- ments despite its small size and the many difficulties it had to face, is Labour going to be- queath our children a legacy of hate that will take decades to be overcome? A country where hating one's adversaries is en- couraged? A country where it is 'normal' for people egging someone considering suicide to do it? A country where selfish- ness is supreme and the com- mon good is irrelevant? Will Roberta Metsola's success in European politics be the spark that starts the road to politicians ditching fanaticism and hate and replacing them with respect for one's political adversaries? Alas, I doubt it. Crossing the sea Attempts to reach Britain by boat have increased since the authorities have cracked down on the smuggling of mi- grants inside trucks crossing the Channel Tunnel. Many migrants perceive Britain as an ideal destination because Eng- lish is spoken, they may know people there, and the job mar- ket is more loosely regulated for undocumented workers. At least 27 people drowned off the coast of France while two people were rescued and hos- pitalised this week after an in- flatable boat carrying migrants trying to reach Britain capsized in the English Channel. Ac- cording to Gerald Darmanin, France's interior minister, the dead included five women and a girl. Darmanin was reported as saying that "France won't let the Channel become a graveyard". The British PM, Boris John- son, said that he was "shocked and appalled and deeply sad- dened" by the drownings that happened a few days after the French and British authorities had agreed to do more to stem the number of people crossing the English Channel illegally. There is hardly any compar- ison between the crossings of a few migrants in the English Channel with the much larg- er number of crossings in the Mediterranean. Yet the UK and France never bothered to take seriously what is happening in the Mediterra- nean and now it is crossings in the English Channel that are making the news! 7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 NOVEMBER 2021 OPINION A legacy of hate Michael Falzon micfal45@gmail.com Roberta Metsola