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Dr Harry Vassallo makes a clear case for not appointing Prime Minister Dr Eddie Fenech Adami president It is all happening so fast. It is all so predictable. The Leader of the PN resigns opening the polls for his successor. The date of his resignation as Prime Minister is delayed until after the results.
Once the preferred successor is in place the date of resignation as Prime Minister is announced by remarkable coincidence cheek to cheek with President de Marco’s term in office.
The fly in the ointment has been the persistent rumour that Prof de Marco will be contesting the European Parliament elections. His speech at the dinner given in his honour by the Prime Minister made it quite clear: he has no time for nostalgia and is always looking forward to fresh fields and pastures new. Bully for him.
Pity about the Presidency. As it is it will take more than wizardry to transmogrify Dr Fenech Adami into a national figure capable of flying above party politics. With his predecessor returning to the hustings, his every attempt will be undermined before it is made.
It was hard enough for Prof de Marco. Greens did their best with the ex-PN warlord. He made a huge effort and we were the only non-PN political party to play ball. The MLP were correct on official occasions but eluded Prof de Marco’s grasp at any other time. The thaw never really started.
It will be arctic conditions for Dr Fenech Adami if he retires to the throne. Not even the Greens will be prepared to do anything beyond the absolutely necessary. It is without question that Dr Fenech Adami has played a major role in the country’s recent history.
He will be the PN’s hero forevermore. He has the years of endurance to claim to his credit and five electoral victories. He cannot also be a hero for the vanquished. There is no way on earth that he can be anything other than the PN’s President.
Although it has happened in other countries that ex-presidents return to active politics, it is unheard of in Malta. Once we swallow the political fiction of an ex-politician going above partisan politics we cannot be asked to regurgitate without suffering considerable discomfort. It would be an unpleasant first for us all.
It would also be a first if a Prime Minister becomes President. In a country where there is considerable difficulty in distinguishing between the party in government, the government and the state because all become possessed by a single entity. The extension of the party and the executive into the presidency is exactly the opposite of what we require.
All the rhetoric about consultation with civil society evaporated immediately after the EU referendum and the last elections were won. It was a slap in the face for civil society organisations which they have not yet forgotten.
The performance of the PN with other players has similarly undermined all the talk about a new political era. Beyond the talk it has still been all out war and no quarter granted. It is the only politics known yet.
The umpteenth victory of the Fenech Adami faction within the PN augurs more of the same: sweet talk and business as usual. His elevation to the Presidency would undermine the new Prime Minister’s conciliatory rhetoric as much as his predecessor’s return to battle would do to him.
In this limbo infested with rumours, Lawrence Gonzi has promised the country a significant cabinet reshuffle. We will believe it when we see it. Right now there is the scepticism fed by the probability of a cosy round of musical chairs at the very top. It is a game restricted to the dizzy heights of the PN pantheon from which the rest of the country feels utterly excluded.
Anti-climax after anti-climax have taken their toll. Walking into a blistering summer of nothingness after being told that EU accession would take us to the land of milk and honey, was bad enough.
Remember the “Read my lips, no new taxes” gaffe from George Bush Snr? It was nothing compared to the “Finanzi fis sod,” billboard by the PN. It was not a hypocritical change of course it was complete reversal of the depiction of the country’s economy. It was the truth at last and it was a stunning shock.
In the immediate aftermath we had the revelations that the health system is unsustainable and that the urgency to address the future of the pension system is at the alarm level. The PN seemed to have shed all disguises and in right wing mode, was seizing the chance to roll welfare all the way back home.
The budget did not help. The scary stuff was real after all. The government was mugging pensioners in old people’s homes to scrape the last million lira off the bottom off the barrel. At Christmas all government offices were told not to celebrate because the country could not afford it. The PN turned on its core and reversed its policy on inheritance tax.
Then we had the job losses. The government’s slick answers did not work any more. The drydocks reform shifted hundreds from underemployment to government underemployment and wiped out Lm300 million of the government’s credit. In recent days we were told of the debacle at Air Malta. The situation was grim for years but nobody did much about it because the election was coming up. More millions up in smoke.
Who gives a damn who the next president will be? It is shocking that the people at the top are so detached from reality that they do not notice that we are watching their silly games. Do they really believe that the country will be fooled by a weeklong carnival to celebrate EU accession? This was supposed to be a new spring. There is nothing new about it.
Dr Vassallo is Chairperson of Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party www.alternattiva.org.mt
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