Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/977918
maltatoday SUNDAY 6 MAY 2018 24 Opinion On unity, take Muscat with a pinch of salt Can we have another ten like Nas please? D espite two successive landslide victories at the polls, a siege mentality has set in within the Labour Party. Labour, its leadership, media and as a result its supporters, feel constantly under threat and react aggressively, to whoever dares to criticise them. Labour is often in the press for the wrong reasons – grave allegations of corruption and wrongdoing have been doing the rounds for more than three years now. This situation has led to a siege mentality within the party and amongst many of its supporters. Rather than doing the obvious – ousting those who have been tarnishing Labour's and Malta's reputation – the Prime Minister defends them at all cost. Muscat is the undisputed leader of the Labour Party. Numerically, at least, he wields enough power to oust the usual suspects who time and again have come under fire for wrong doing, and corruption allegations. But he refuses to do so, preferring instead to defend them, and to do so he uses his media to lash out at those who uncover corruption, and his critics. Why the Prime Minister refuses to do what he should have done ages ago – fire Konrad Mizzi – is anybody's guess although rumours that if he does, he'll go down too have now persistently been doing the rounds. The Labour Party media downplays the allegations, stating that 'no proof of financial wrong doing, and corruption exists'. The fact that two off shore companies were set up in Panama, and emails sent by Brian Tonna of Nexia BT, identifying 17 Black as the target client to the Panama companies, have now surfaced through the International Consortium of Journalists, are good enough reasons why the Prime Minister should fire Mizzi and Keith Schembri. At the very least, their office prevents them – especially in the case of Mizzi – from holding these offshore accounts. But the Prime Minister and his media would have none of that. The 'there-is-no-proof' and the 'I-don't-care-as-long-as-the- economy-is-doing-well' mantra is what the Labour Party media feeds to its avid followers, which they get to repeat at the workplace, and on social media. But it is Labour's siege mentality which is the most outstanding. They act as if the slightest of criticism will be their party's downfall, and the return of the Nationalist Party to power. Perhaps the fact that Labour spent more than two decades in the political wilderness, contributes to the current siege mentality within the party. They hold on to power too dearly, scared that they can lose it anytime soon. There is no other way how to explain the ridiculous, at times downright inflammatory, criticism I received, on social media and through private messages following a political exchange I had on TVM's Xarabank a fortnight ago. Not only was the crowd, at the Xarabank studios overtly hostile – but Labour's 'secret' facebook groups were awash with hate comments, and threats in my regard. If you are reading this article now, scroll down to the comments section and you'll see for yourself. The message is loud and clear, 'Shut up, cheese off – your party lost two successive general elections and that alone is a good enough reason not to criticise the Labour government'. Scary, but that's the mindset. Rather than being open to criticism, and purging Labour of its rotten elements – which its current strong numerical position enables it to do, Labour goes into defence mode and attacks scathingly the slightest criticism which comes its way. It is this mindset which rendered the 'Malta Taghna Lkoll' 2013 election battle cry a joke. For if you're Nationalist, active within the Opposition party – or within civil society for that matter – and you dare criticise government's wrongdoing then you're targeted, attacked verbally, discriminated against at the work place and threatened. This is a worrying situation for whilst Malta has always been politically polarised, what we are witnessing today is unprecedented. Which is why when the Prime Minister talks of unity, he should be taken with a pinch salt for through his actions he is sowing further division. Frank Psaila is a lawyer and anchors Iswed fuq l-Abjad I n the United States, there is such a thing called an 'intervention'. It's a socially- interesting concept where a troubled individual is invited to a place to find his close family and friends waiting. Each person then explains why they think that this individual is on the wrong track. The reasons for an intervention vary and there's no strict criteria. It can be because of excessive drinking, gambling or drugs but not only these. During this 'intervention' one is made aware, in raw terms that there is a problem and the troubled individual needs to face it. It's done in a loving and compassionate way, but with a touch of assertiveness where it is explained that the passive acceptance of the status-quo is not on, and that something must change. It also highlights an important element of the human being; that incremental downward spiral often goes unnoticed by the individual himself while external people can see it clearly. This is especially true if the external pair of eyes is not a day-to-day presence on the individual because often the incremental downward trend is amplified. I think that the visit by Nuseir Hussein, the 25-year-old Israeli- Palestinian known as Nas, and the person behind the viral videos on Facebook 'Nas Daily' is a sort of an intervention on our country. Here is someone who, in many ways, is completely external. And politely, and in a compassionate way, he told us we need an 'intervention' as a country. He told us that we have a beautiful island, an amazing history and that we're a humble and kind people. But we were also told, in no uncertain terms, that we're polarised. 'You put politics before humanity', Nas said. And it's true. A 25-year-old vlogger, whose only crime was to do catchy videos on the internet about how beautiful our country is, was told all kinds of things including a wrong accusation that he was paid by the Government to do some sort of feel-good stunt. At one point he was even told he had no idea what he was getting into. We're talking about a Harvard graduate who was born in one of the most politically tense parts of the world. And he was told he was 'naive'. The way he handled the whole thing, replying to relatively ugly comments with kindness as well as in an articulate way and with rational thought, was a refreshing way of dealing with the nasty part of the internet. In general, when you see the way young people tackle difficult subjects, not just this issue in Malta but even take on injustices such as the #MeToo movement, with assertiveness but rational ways, it really is a fresh page in our evolution as people. As a society, the Maltese have become too polarised; politics has become too toxic and everything that is done in this country has to be tied to some sort of malevolent political aim. We're better than this. I'm not saying that we should all sing kumbaya and have no political differences. Political differences and differing views on how this country can move forward improve our democracy and our country, however we do not have to pollute everything with partisan politics. We need less polarisation and toxification and more common ground. Let's battle it out in Parliament, let's not agree on a thousand things and let's have a million different viewpoints. But let's also agree that we live in a great country with great traditions and we should appreciate more the imperfect but beautiful society we have. And this country was not built by one party or by any one politician. Ultimately it was built by the hard work of our people. We have to take responsibility for our communities, both the good and the bad. Where we fall short, we must work together to be better. Without insults and without superfluous them-and-us mentalities. Did it really take someone from outside to make us look in the mirror to realise this? Evarist Bartolo is minister for education and employment Evarist Bartolo Frank Psaila As a society, the Maltese have become too polarised, politics has become too toxic and everything that is done in this country has to be tied to some sort of malevolent political aim