Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1489031
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 DECEMBER 2022 NEWS Christmas Specials • Environment GRAFFITTI'S militancy and grassroots activism has pushed the Labour government to re- treat on major projects like a proposed yacht marina in Mar- saskala and the building of a campus at Żonqor. Robert Abela himself ac- knowledged the power of non-partisan activism by announcing the two major U-turns during the electoral campaign in a bid to arrest the haemmorage of Labour voters intent on not voting. And this winning streak fur- ther emboldened the group to stand up and fight back, even during Labour's post-electoral honeymoon when most of the population was switched off politics. The direct action, which saw activists remove deckchairs from the Blue Lagoon, was so effective in capturing the public imagination that even Labour exponents like MP Rosianne Cutajar and Jason Micallef en- dorsed the protest on the social media. But Graffitti's action was not just a publicity stunt. The ac- tivists pressed on with their follow ups, testing the gov- ernment's attempts to brush off the issue by making empty commitments. Faced by the group's militan- cy, the official fallback position is increasingly characterised by embarrassment and silence, sometimes followed by major positive U-turns. In this case, tourism minister Clayton Bartolo immediately announced that sunbeds will no longer be allowed on the sandy beach, claiming the pro- test took place on the same day Malta Tourism Authority offi- cials were meant to inspect the site. These declarations were test- ed by an even larger direct ac- tion in August which exposed the government's failure to take substantive action. The action also put the spot- light on the political and busi- ness connections of the sunbed operators: two of the three concessions are held by Dan- iel Refalo, a business partner of Gozitan construction mag- nate Joseph Portelli, and Mark Cutajar, the brother of Labour MEP Josiane Cutajar. But Graffitti not only ques- tioned the government's failure to clamp down on sunbed op- erators, but has also called for limits on the number of tour- ist arrivals on pleasure boats, as recommended by the man- agement plan for the Comino Natura 2000 site. No wonder Captain Morgan owner Mi- chael Zammit Tabona reacted by expressing his umbrage at "idiots" who want to turn "this island in to a semi-communist state." Exposing Labour's contradic- tions So why is the same Labour, which is so good in deflecting criticism from other quarters, so unsure of itself when faced by Graffitti's militancy? One main reason for this is that on the environment La- bour's populism is contradicto- ry, faced by the conflicting aspi- rations of different segments of its own electorate. The power- ful "Malta Tagħna Ikoll' mantra keeps returning to haunt La- bour, exposing a contradiction between the conflicting aspira- tions of those who understood this as a promise to safeguard public spaces from the fat cats, and those who understood this as a promise to widen the circle of beneficiaries beyond the re- stricted circle which benefited under the PN. In short, while some expected Labour to prioritise commu- nities over the profits of the few, others expected Labour to accommodate the interests of even more people. It is this ambivalence which enables Graffitti to use a discourse with From Marsaskala to Comino: deciphering Graffitti's winning streak One of the most powerful and enduring images of 2022 was that of Graffitti activists removing sunbeds and reclaiming Comino for the public on two separate occasions during the summer lull. What lies behind Graffitti's winning streak? JAMES DEBONO The main reason why Graffitti is considered trustworthy even by a large segment of Labour voters, is it political independence.. its principled stance in favour of choice in abortion alienates potential support from conservatives, and makes it impossible to pigeonhole the group as some anti-Labour outfit