Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1520629
GUYS, look: I know there's an election coming up in a few weeks' time (even if, in light of recent events, it has become something of a side-show, real- ly); and I also know that 'Maltese elections' are generally regarded as a good excuse to simply 'part company with all sense of logic and proportion, for anywhere up to eight or nine weeks'. But still. There's a limit to how far you can take leave of your sens- es, before - how can I put this nice- ly? – it starts to show that you're actually cracking up, FOR REAL! Take, for instance, all the words that have been been so carelessly bandied about, since the conclu- sion of Magistrate Gabrielle Vel- la's magisterial inquiry last week. Prime Minister Robert Abela went as far as to describe the timing – if not the actual inquiry itself – as an act of 'political terrorism', no less! Looking back, this seemed to have fired the starting pistol for a whole barrage of equally absurd exaggerations (often as not, from people who should equally 'know better', all things considered.) First off the mark was Opposition lead- er Bernard Grech: who started out by (justifiably) criticising Abela for using the 'T-word'… only to immediately use the exact same phrase himself, to describe the Prime Minister's own faux-pas. Erm… I could almost stop there, couldn't I? Sorry, but if it's so ut- terly 'condemnable' for the Prime Minister to accuse the judiciary of 'political terrorism'… then why is the same expression suddenly 'ac- ceptable', when used against the Prime Minister, by his political adversaries? (At the risk of com- ing across as somewhat naïve: it almost makes you think there are 'different rules for different par- ties', doesn't it now? Hmm…) But that was just the start. Ber- nard Grech seems to have also set the template for how the rest of the entire country would likewise respond. At the time of writing, I have literally lost count of all the unions, confederations, associ- ations, NGOs and civil society groups – from the Chamber of Advocates to the Ghaqda Studen- ti Tal-Ligi, and beyond! – which have come crawling out of the woodwork, to express their own 'shock and horror' at Abela's (ad- mittedly awful) choice of words. And somewhat bizarrely: they all seem to be quoting from the exact same handbook, too. Just look at some of the week's headlines, and see for yourselves: 'Financial Services' bodies slam attack on judiciary…' 'More than 200 academics con- demn attacks on judiciary' 'Robert Abela must publicly apologise for attack on judiciary' 'University student organisa- tions unequivocally condemn at- tack on judiciary' See what I mean? It's almost like the chorus of bird-song that greets my ears at around 6 o' clock each morning (only a lot less pleasant to wake up to, naturally). It starts with one solitary sparrow, tweet- ing feebly in the distance; and next thing you know, you can't even hear yourself think, above an au- ditory onslaught of pure, unadul- terated TWITTERY…. But like I said at the very be- ginning: seriously, guys. It's all starting to sound a little hysteri- cal, now. Especially when you al- so consider that: well, this is not exactly the first time that Robert Abela has chosen a hopelessly unsuitable word, to describe what turned out to be… well, some- thing else entirely. That goes for his other 'sound- bite-of-choice' in this campaign: 'The Establishment'. Sure, the word may have its own specific dictionary definition, and its own connotations within a specif- ic context, and all that… but we all know perfectly well (because Abela told us so himself) that he was actually referring to the 'same establishment that conspired to bring down Adrian Delia as PN leader, in 2022'. In other words: the so-called 'Blue Heroes'… whose only claim to being 'establishment', is that 'they may-or-may-not have once been able to pull a few strings, here and there, within the pow- er-structures of the PN'. There: not the same thing at all, is it now? And viewed from that angle: can anyone even deny that this magisterial inquiry was indeed the fruit of the efforts of those people: when some of them (the members of Repubblika, to be precise) were the ones who actual- ly kick-started the whole shebang, in the first place? But oh well. That, as we all know, is that Robert Abela meant to say… but what he uttered in- stead was: 'The Establishment'. And before you know it, the entire country is locked in an endless, pointless debate, about the precise dictionary-definition of that sin- gle, solitary, misplaced word… … instead of what we should re- ally be discussing right now: i.e., the contents, and implications, of the magisterial inquiry itself. Which naturally brings us right back to the whole 'political ter- rorism' business. Once again, it is painstakingly clear what Abela re- ally had in mind, when using that particular expression…. and as far as I can see, it should also be pretty damn clear exactly WHY he delib- erately chose the most inflamma- tory invective he could possibly muster, too. (I mean, look at this way. If you were Prime Minister: wouldn't you much prefer the people to be talking about your own 'poor grasp of diction'… rath- er than a magisterial inquiry that has already claimed one of your most senior Cabinet Ministers; and which also has the poten- tial to bring your entire govern- ment down? Bit of a no-brainer, wouldn't you say?) But back to what he was actually talking about: which even emerg- es from one of the news reports I quoted above: "[when asked to clarify his comments] Abela re- minded that a few months ago, he had warned against a 'particular investigation' being used to dis- rupt next June's elections. "Abela further stated that if it is true that the inquiring magistrate concluded her inquiry into the hospitals concession on the day that candidates could declare their interest to contest next June's elections, then he was 'obliged' to speak in the manner that he did." Simply put, then: what Abela described as 'political terrorism' turns out, on closer scrutiny, to be nothing more than 'doubts about whether the magistrate in ques- tion may-or-may-not have been a teeny bit overzealous, in con- cluding her report on precisely the same morning that the June 8 election campaign began, in ear- nest.' Now: for what it's worth – and because it would cowardly of me not to add this, having come so far - my own take on the timing is… somewhat different from Abela's, as it happens. Personally, I find it highly unlike- ly that – with so much pressure already on her shoulders – Mag- istrate Vella would have been un- maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 MAY 2024 10 OPINION 'Political terrorism'? 'War on the judiciary?' Get a grip, people… Raphael Vassallo