Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1466806
OPINION 12 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 MAY 2022 The Dalek invasion of Pietà… IT might be just an impression of mine – I was, after all, brought up watching 'Doc- tor Who' (Tom Baker era) in the 1970s and 1980s – but doesn't anyone else see a certain resemblance between Jason Azzo- pardi, and… um… a Dalek? Not just physically, mind you. (Note: on that score, he looks much more like the original 'Cybermen' from the 1960s. Se- riously, though: Google them, and tell me if what you see isn't just 'Jason Azzopardi wearing headphones'…) But when it comes to Daleks, the resem- blance is much more 'behavioural'. And even if you've never watched a single ep- isode in your entire life… you would still surely recognize the basic behaviour pat- tern of this most iconic (and clunkiest) of Doctor Who super-villains. And if Daleks are famous for doing one thing, in particular: it's running around in circles, and endlessly shrieking 'EXTER- MINATE!', 'EXTERMINATE!', at the top of their grating, metallic voices… Well, there you have it: an entirely ac- curate description of Jason Azzopardi's entire political career, for around the last seven years at least… Nor does it even stop there: even though, from now on, you may have to be some- thing of a 'Classic Whovian' (like myself) to keep up with the analogy. So, for the benefit those who are still hopelessly lost: I recommend you watch a six-part 1977 series called 'Genesis of the Daleks' (if you're lucky, it will still be avail- able on Dailymotion). As for the rest: I'm afraid you'll just have to make do with the following, VERY abridged synopsis. Right: how did the Daleks originate, an- yway? The short answer is that they were the brainchild of a typically 'mad' and 'evil' scientist named Davros: who predicted that his own race – the humanoid Kaleds (geddit?) – would eventually degener- ate into some kind of squishy, gelatinous 'goo', with absolutely zero chances of fu- ture survival. Rather than trying to 'halt' or 'reverse' this process, however… Davros chooses to 'accelerate' it instead: while simultaneous- ly designing a mobile, armoured exoskel- eton (out of a bunch of old beer-cans, it seems; and everything he could find under the kitchen sink) for the resulting defence- less life-forms to eventually inhabit. Thus was created the first Dalek: but – as in every self-respecting 'Frankenstein' rip- off – there was a teenie-weenie little snag. Predictably, Davros also made the mis- take of programming his creations to… you guessed it… 'EXTERMINATE!' pret- ty much everything in sight. (To be more specific: every single other life-form, in the entire Universe, that 'wasn't a Dalek'…) Oops! I guess Davros never actually read 'Frankenstein', did he? But anyway: no prizes for guessing what's coming next. No sooner does he press the switch that animates his lethal creations… than the Daleks take one look at their creator; con- clude (quite correctly) that he is 'not a Dalek'; and, therefore… … well, in the end Davros is not only 'killed by his own creation'; but 'at his own explicit command', too! (Even though the character proved so popular, that he was resuscitated for multiple future episodes. And who knows? The same might happen to Jason Azzopardi, too…). Speaking of whom: I imagine you're probably seeing at least part of the Dal- ek-Jason connection, by now. It would, of course, be unfair to say that the Nationalist Party (or, even less, Bernard Grech) 'creat- ed' Jason Azzopardi… or even that he was 'programmed' to become the extermina- tion-machine he so clearly is today. But still: Jason Azzopardi was undenia- bly a product, as it were, of the same PN he is now trying so very hard to 'extermi- nate'. And besides: this isn't even the first time he has (in pure Dalek-fashion) spun his head round 180 degrees, and 'opened fire' onto his own party like that. Indeed – and the irony here puts even Davros' fate to shame – it is precisely BE- CAUSE Jason Azzopardi (and the rest of the Blue Heroes, remember?) had so suc- cessfully 'exterminated' the PN's previous leader… that Bernard Grech himself even occupies that position today! So, to be fair: there is a stronger case to be made that it was actually Jason Azzo- pardi himself who 'created' Bernard Grech – or was instrumental in his creation, any- way – than the other way round… But still: that doesn't make his own be- haviour any less Dalek-like, does it? Es- pecially, when it comes to the motives behind this latest 'extermination' attempt of his.,. Come to think of it: why IS Jason Azzo- pardi suddenly so keen on destroying the PN, anyway? Is it because – as he himself suggests, in his resignation letter – the PN had 'compromised with mafiosi', by ac- cepting (or 'wanting to accept': this part's a little unclear, to be honest) a donation from Yorgen Fenech's relatives, in ex- change for a future Presidential pardon? Or is it because – as, funnily enough, Ja- son Azzopardi also suggests, in the same post – Bernard Grech had 'sold him out' to the same 'mafiosi': by promising them, during a 'secret dinner', that he [Jason] would 'no longer be a Nationalist MP after the next election'? Hmm. Already, you can see that it's slightly less clear-cut than simply: 'Are they other Daleks, or not?' For starters, the former option seems rather improba- ble, at best: given that – if Azzopardi's al- legations are true, anyway – he must have known about this 'dinner with mafiosi' since December 2021, at the earliest; yet it was only after the second option became a reality – and Jason Azzopardi was indeed 'no longer a Nationalist MP' – that he ac- tually saw fit to make it public.,, One can only wonder, then, whether Ja- son Azzopardi would have ever revealed this 'dirty secret' of his at all… had he ac- tually won his seat at the last election; and was still a (suitably 'loyal') Nationalist Par- ty MP, down to this very day… I guess that leaves us with 'Option B', doesn't it? I.e., that Jason Azzopardi is feeling 'bitter' and 'resentful' towards the Nationalist Party (and Bernard Grech, in particular)… over what actually turns out to be quite a few, entirely 'personal' griev- ances against both. Apart from Bernard Grech's perceived betrayal, these also include: a) because the Nationalist Party had somehow con- spired to 'sabotage' his political career… by, among other things, 'sidelining' him during the campaign; and, b) simply be- cause of Bernard Grech's (somewhat un- necessary, to be honest) provocative barb, to the effect that Jason Azzopardi himself was 'past his political expiry date'. At which point, we may even have a ten- tative title for our new Doctor Who epi- sode: 'Revenge of One Seriously Pissed- Off Dalek!' (subtitled: 'Hell Hath No Fury, Like A Blue Hero Scorned…') Al the same, however: no matter how personal, petty, and - let's be brutally honest - hypocritical Jason Azzopardi's motives appear to be, from that perspec- tive… there is no denying that (once again, in true Dalek-fashion) his extermination methods are pretty darn 'lethal', when it comes down to it. For even if he is no longer a Nationalist MP: Jason Azzopardi is still the legal rep- resentative of the Caruana Galizia family; and as such, he is still – at the time of writ- ing, anyway – very-much a front-running exponent, of the entire 'Justice for Daph- ne' cause. Now: having said this, it remains very far from clear where both the Caruana Galizia family itself, and all the civil society groups that champion the same cause, actually stand in this matter themselves. (Though we have been given a few hints, here and there, to the effect that Jason Azzopardi is most likely NOT speaking on those peo- ple's behalf, no...) Either way, however: the allegations themselves remain, not just 'highly, high- ly serious', by any standard; but also, of direct relevance to the outcome of the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder trial it- self (and everything it has since come to represent). Besides: if true – important caveat, that! - Jason's claims would also constitute a truly COLOSSAL betrayal of the entire 'Justice for Daphne' cause: by both the Na- tionalist Party as a whole; and by Bernard Grech in person. Nor does it help much, that the latter was even foolish enough, on a couple of past occasions, to lend some credence to those allegations himself (it was, after all, Bernard Grech who once – twice, actually – publicly contemplated a possible 'Presi- dential pardon for Yorgen Fenech'. Now: where could he possibly have got THAT idea from, huh…?) And all this, of course, just a few days before the Nationalist Party's Executive Council convenes to reappoint Bernard Grech as leader, too! (I mean: talk about a typical 'cliff-hanger' Doctor Who ending, will you?) Unfortunately for my own running anal- ogy, however: here is more or less where the Dalek connection also comes to an abrupt end. Not just because Jason Azz- opardi's actions betray an entirely human 'emotive' response (of the sort that would be totally alien to a Dalek's algorithmic mind)… but also because… What the heck? Real Daleks didn't exact- ly go about exterminating their victims', just by blasting them with 'unsubstanti- ated allegations', did they? No, indeed! (They also threatened them with kitch- en-sink plungers: before vaporising them with 'ray-guns' that looked suspiciously like parts of your mum's Kenwood mixer. You know: stuff like that…) Now: I can perfectly understand that Ja- son Azzopardi might not have access to such advanced, sci-fi weaponry - but… I mean, come on! 'Unsubstantiated allega- tions'? After everything this country has been through, these past seven years? Was that really the best he could do…? But, oh well: at least, Jason Azzopardi has set things up rather nicely, for yet an- other 'cliff-hanger' final confrontation: in which either the Nationalist Party, or his own credibility, will surely emerge 'exter- minated', once and for all… And oh look: we're right back in 'Doctor Who' territory again, aren't we? Raphael Vassallo