Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1509248
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 OCTOBER 2023 COMMENT The Skinny Malta, shrunk down EDITORIAL Voters are getting turned off by politics PAGE 2 JOSANNE CASSAR Oh, so you punched someone? It's ok, everyone makes mistakes… PAGE 6 Being told you are fired is a shock that no amount of sugar coating can soften MARK CMILLERI GAMBIN | PAGE 12 What are we skinning? Prime Minister Robert Abe- la's reaction to the leaked WhatsApp chats between the driving licences regulator and then-transport minister Ian Borg, which strongly hint that certain individuals were given backhanded help to gain driving licences. Why are we skinning it? Mainly because the PM, when asked to comment on what he thought of the mat- ter, doubled-down on stating that Borg did nothing wrong on principle as long as the cases involved no outward breach of the law, and that such interactions are merely part and parcel of how our "political system" works. So, he acknowledged that said system is inherently broken and vowed to take the necessary steps re- quired to fix it, right? Quite the opposite: he described such a system in egalitari- an terms, and gods forbid it should ever change. I'm sorry... what? He did say that any outward illegalities and irregularities should be penalised accordingly by the authorities. But other than that, reaching out to public officials via WhatsApp for favours is entirely kosher, it seems. But how can this be framed as a positive? Abela claims that this is how our political status quo operates, and how it should continue to oper- ate. That politicians should make themselves available to the people, and field such requests accordingly. Let's all polish up our begging bowls and come a-knocking to our repre- sentatives, then. It's the po- litical system, stupid. Where does that leave those of us who actually want to believe in the rule of law and well-oiled institutions that function with correct checks and balances? You should probably give vent to such fantasies by revisiting that particular genre of liter- ature and entertainment. You're right. There's still a few of those Tolkien tomes I haven't gone through yet. Hey, unlike the many driv- ers of questionable ability whose licences were issued in record time, The Silmaril- lion isn't going anywhere. Meanwhile, our fellow citi- zens will continue to plunder the country for all it's worth. This is one of those 'silent majority' things, right? Correct. Abela's team prob- ably made a calculation and doubled down. Yep. Ian Borg clearly played the popularity contest to a T, leaving Abela with no choice but to defend him lest he face an insur- rection by all those who've played the game of clien- telism and won, time and time again. So much for the moral high ground. The double- speak takes care of that too, though: here, clientelism is framed as "helping people", so there's a primitive sense of "morality" to it. Ah, to be primitive forever. Clearly, the option is availa- ble for you should you wish to embrace it. Do say: "Abela's irresponsi- ble statement should be the prelude to massive political upheaval. It's a bare-faced validation of corrupt practic- es that should be verboten in an allegedly modern EU de- mocracy." Don't say: "Okay, fine. Abela basically wants us to go back to a medieval feudal system where we're all just petition- ing our lords and barons for basics. But if that's the way we're going, could we also get rid of influencers, over- priced international coffee chains, and morning traffic?" No. 212 - It's the Political System, Stupid RAPHAEL VASSALLO Brincat's opinions might be a load of BS… but so was the ensuing 'outrage' PAGES 10 - 11 MICHAEL FALZON The Air Malta tragedy PAGE 7