Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/281887
Michael Falzon Opinion 23 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 MARCH 2014 T he decision taken by the PN Parliamentary group to support the nomination of Marie Louise Coleiro Preca as Malta's next President is a welcome departure from the style of politics that has been practised by the Opposition ever since the change of government one year ago. One understands that the PN Parliamentary group started off its term in the Opposition benches in a shell-shocked situation and that, moreover, things take some time to adjust until the new political reality is accepted. But the way they were going about it on so many issues verged on the hysterical and gave the wrong message. The loss of an election sparks off a process not dissimilar to the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Enough time has passed for the PN to welcome acceptance with open arms. Their decision to support Coleiro Preca's candidature is definitely a positive sign and a more realistic way of doing things. Embarking on another useless battlefront, this time against the President of the Republic, would have been a non-starter: a repeat of the short-sighted mistake that Labour under KMB did when Censu Tabone was nominated for President. Thankfully, the country has been saved the useless bickering and ridiculous arguments that would have done more harm to the Opposition than to the President. Last Tuesday's debate in Parliament about the new gas power station, complete with an old f loating LNG tanker serving as a gas storage depot, ended up in a bout of high-pitched interruptions from the Opposition side. No doubt these interruptions pale into insignificance when compared with the interruptions in the House of Representatives at the end of the debate about the original Delimara power station some 25 years ago. On that particular occasion, the Labour Opposition members had brought with them bells, 'ċuqlajti' and other noise making contraptions that they used to drown the final speeches from the Government side: a ruse that made Guido de Marco and myself – who had to move the adjournment motion – going hoarse in our attempt to speak at a level that could be heard above the infernal din in the House. Luckily the Speaker – who then was Jimmy Farrugia – did not fall for the trick of suspending the sitting, which was what the Labour minority wanted. Very childish of them, one might say. Being in the Opposition is a very frustrating business. Acting in a hysterical way and opposing all that the government of the day dishes out, however, devalues one's credentials. Unfortunately, the attitude of the current Opposition in the last twelve months was leading to this situation far too often. Asking for someone's resignation, for example, should never be an everyday occurrence. That sort of indignation should be reserved for the very serious cases. I am not saying that every time the Opposition asked for someone's resignation, it was on the wrong side of the argument; only that invoking that retribution too often dilutes the value and seriousness of the demand. If the Police Commissioner had to resign every time the Opposition asked for his resignation, the government would have properly run out of suitable candidates to fill the post. Eventually, the net result of this strategy could be a possible contradictory situation: if one fine day the Police Commissioner actually does something seriously wrong that would warrant the extreme condemnation, a call for his resignation will not be given the serious consideration that it would merit! Crying wolf too often is self-defeating. There is no doubt that in its first year, the Muscat administration has had more than its fair share of stupid mistakes and short- sighted abuses that deserve to be criticised. My point is that the Opposition should be careful how to react; going all out in the very serious cases rather than all the time with every wrong step taken by the administration or by its cronies. The optimum course for the opposition would be to criticise most mistakes in the normal way of doing politics and reserve its harsh reaction and attacks for the really serious cases. It should be a bit patient. All governments make mistakes and appearing so over-eager to expose them, irrespective of their gravity and seriousness, is not helping the PN to regain the respect of the electorate – that respect that it sorely needs to diminish the gap in the popularity stakes where, according to the latest polls, Muscat is still very much in the lead. It should reserve its big guns and pounce on government with gusto only when the big mistakes are made – as they surely will – rather than adopting this approach indiscriminately on every silly little issue. Keen supporters of the PN, obviously, like this indiscriminate approach, but just playing their favourite tune is tantamount to preaching to the converted and will not help the Opposition in any way. The PN has a mountain to climb and the sooner it realistically comprehends the severity of the uphill struggle ahead of it, the better. Another problem bedevilling the Opposition seems to be that it has not realised that Muscat's tactics and way of doing things is very different from those of Dom Mintoff of over 40 years ago. By implying that the abuse of power going on today is simply the same type and to the same extent of the abuse prevalent in the 16 years of the Mintoff/KMB regime, the Opposition is making a mistake. On one hand, it is diminishing the extraordinary and valiant efforts made by the PN Opposition between 1971 and 1987 to safeguard Maltese democracy (or what was left of it) and, on the other hand, it is sending the message that the problems in the country then were simply the problems that we have today. Both conclusions do not do justice with the PN itself and Malta's political history. Muscat is not Mintoff and he will never be. Simon Busuttil is not Eddie Fenech Adami and he will never be. This is a whole new ball game. The sooner the PN realises this basic fact and reduces its level of hysteria to saner levels, the better the chances for the recovery it sorely needs. Michael Falzon is a former Nationalist infrastructure minister (micfal@maltanet.net) The politics of hysteria The country has been saved the useless bickering and ridiculous arguments that would have done more harm to the Opposition than to the President Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change wishes to inform the public that with eect from Monday 24 March 2014, the Oces of the Permanent Secretariat of the same Ministry together with the respective directorates will be relocating from the Millennia Building in Marsa to the MSDEC Oces, Qormi Road, St Venera SVR 1031 (in a block that used to be part of the ex-Umberto Colosso School). The telephone number will remain the same - 22926200.