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MaltaToday 15 June 2022 MIDWEEK

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9 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 JUNE 2022 called out by Graffitti the last general election in which it actually lost 8,000 votes from 2017. Labour is increasingly finding it difficult to defend its 'laissez fair' attitude on land use with any strong conviction. Its fall-back position is to recycle old PN mantras on the need to strike an elusive balance between the environment and development Labour lacks the conviction to defend a development model for which nobody has actually voted for, and about which it seems in- creasingly embarrassed by those calling it out for appeasing the greed of the few. One possible fall-back for La- bour is that of taking a leaf from past PN administrations by pro- jecting itself as a party which strikes the balance between cowboy developers and 'extrem- ist' activists. Energy minister Miriam Dalli did so at the State of the Nation conference, during which she brushed aside criticism by Graf- fitti's Andre Callus by warning him that "extremism gets you nowhere." Yet this is a hard sell in an al- ready unbalanced situation, long skewed against the environment and communities, and where calls for balance in the past have translated into minor adjust- ments to the 'business as usual' approach. The other fall-back is giving critics the silent treatment, all in the hope that people slowly adjust to a new normal, as crit- ics become exhausted and op- position simply fades away. But this clearly does not work with a determined group of people like Graffitti. Graffitti is persistent and strategic in choice of battles. This leaves activists exhausted but their militancy keeps giving results While some of the changes in the past years like the increase of building heights now look ir- reversible, Graffitti's persistence on issues like the petrol station policy, the proposed Marsaskala marina and now Comino, have pushed government to listen to popular demands. Increasingly the government seems intent on testing the wa- ters, measuring the scale of pub- lic opposition in reaction to out- rageous proposals or practices before announcing the retreat, depicting it as a sign that it is a government that listens to the people. But this only happens where opposition is relentless and its actions 'extreme'. This is leav- ing civil society exhausted, con- stantly occupied in fighting bat- tles on different fronts ranging from crowd-funding planning appeals to direct actions. But the ever-growing list of successful campaigns has em- boldened Graffitti, which is constantly refreshed by new re- cruits attracted by its exciting, progressive and winning brand. As things stand, no movement or NGO apart from Graffitti are able to mobilise around 50 peo- ple to take direct action like the one undertaken last Saturday. Graffitti is not allied to any major political party. Neither is it interested in becoming one. And its activists are not easy targets What is sure is that Labour is not keen on direct confrontation with Graffitti especially when local communities support its campaigns. Thanks to the consistent track record of its activists who op- posed unsustainable proposals under both PN and PL-led ad- ministrations, the organisation is immune to criticism of being motivated by enmity towards Labour. This makes it impos- sible for Labour's media to de- monise Graffitti activists in the same way it does with groups like Repubblika. But this has not made Graffitti any less vocal in its criticism of Labour on matters which impact on people directly. And by re- sisting the temptation to trans- form itself into a political party in its own right, Graffitti is not perceived as a threat to deep- ly-rooted political allegiances within local communities. In short, people can associate with Graffitti on particular is- sues, without reneging on their political beliefs. While this ap- proach is successful, the country also needs a crop of principled pragmatists who can bring about change from within the institu- tions. For long-term change de- pends on offering an alternative path to prosperity and modern- isation, which does not come at the cost of the commons. But that also depends on hav- ing principled people with strong convictions in positions of power.

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