Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/679878
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 MAY 2016 15 opposite. "It sounds like a contradiction, but it isn't really. Like I said ear- lier, people do not necessarily base their voting intentions on scandals like the Panama papers. And they tend to base their allegiance on the charisma of the party leader, rather than on the party itself, or anything it represents. Another consideration to bear in mind is that, each year, there are between 4 and 5,000 first- time voters. That makes a big dif- ference. Let's say that, in five years, it amounts to 16 or 17,000 new vot- ers. Those are 16,000 votes you can't simply rely on any more. You can't say that, because their parents tra- ditionally vote for one party or the other, so will they. These new voters are a Pandora's Box…" At this point, a contradiction seems to appear. If new voters, year in, year out, no longer feel bound by the ancestral ties of their parents' al- legiance… shouldn't there be a cor- responding reduction in partisan pique over time? Shouldn't partisan tribalism find itself on the wane? It seems, however, that the opposite is happening. The party-political tempo is constantly on the rise, and is arguably at its most tense today since the 1980s… "To begin with, I can't speak on behalf of Malta's youth, because it is hardly a homogenous sector. You will find youths who are more partisan than either Joseph Muscat or Simon Busuttil. But in general, there has been a change in attitude towards politics. The 'partisan trib- alism' you mention, for instance. How real is it? Personally, I think that much of it is a construct of the political media. "There was a time when it was rampant… when you wouldn't sit next to someone on a bus because he or she was Labour/National- ist, for example. But that sort of concrete, tangible tribalism hardly exists anymore. People have to a large degree seen through the illu- sion: they can tell that, if you ignore the rhetoric and look only at where the parties stand on issues – social policy, the elderly, persons with dis- ability, etc – there is not much to distinguish between them. This is why the party-owned media are try- ing so hard to keep the 'us and them' perception alive. At the moment it's the Nationalists who most need to create this perception… it's always the opposition party that stands to gain more from partisan tribalism. Are people buying it, though? I have my doubts." Coming back to his earlier point about younger voters, Azzopardi suggests that this all-important segment seems to subscribe more to Muscat's Labour model than to its PN counterpart. "I can't say this with any certainty, but the impres- sion I get is that younger voters are still more attracted to the perceived 'crispness' and 'freshness' of the La- bour Party's image. Somehow, in spite of everything, that image is still there…" Azzopardi therefore expects that Muscat's tried-and-tested cam- paigning skills will once again be enough to seem him through in 2018… provided, of course, nothing 'extraordinary' happens (again). "I think Joseph Muscat will rein- vent himself by the next election. He will repackage the Labour prod- uct, and people will buy into it once more…" But what does this tell us about the state of politics in Malta? If Azzo- pardi's predictions are correct, the underlying message is slightly dis- concerting. It means that elections are decided by nothing more than exterior packaging… the glitz and glamour of a slick campaign, with little thought to actual issues of gov- ernance and administration. "Let me put it to you this way: there are statistics to indicate that politics – not just in Malta – is los- ing its credibility. If you look at Eurobarometer polls, the signs are clear. Among younger respondents in particular, it is clear that politics is becoming a joke. Politicians have be- come the jesters of our society – the entertainers, objects of fun and ridi- cule. You want to have a laugh? Just talk about the Panama Papers. Or watch Marlene Farrugia's speech in parliament, then make a spoof about it on the Internet. Politics has be- come one big carnival. And I'm not surprised, because when you look at people's concerns in the real world… none of them is reflected in the po- litical discourse of the moment. The interests of the parties have over- taken the issues that people actually care about. How can they take poli- tics seriously, when politics has lost sight of its main objective…?" He pauses. "You know what I'd do to address this issue? I'd introduce compulsory 'sensitivity training' to anyone entering politics, so that they might understand the responsibility they are going in for. This is not a game. There are people whose liveli- hoods depend on the decisions and actions of politicians. People trying to put their parents into a home, or who are waiting for a planning per- mit to fix a window… small things, Interview University lecturer and broadcaster ANDREW AZZOPARDI argues that our fascination with politics is in part a media construct, to which younger generations no longer subscribe circus