The news about Alfred Sant having to undergo an unexpected major surgical intervention came like a bolt from the blue. No one had ever even imagined such a possibility, and for a few days it seemed as if the Maltese political landscape had irretrievably changed, suddenly this winter. The news coming from his medical team is however very reassuring and it does seem that he will be able to take back the reins of the MLP by the third week of January. In political terms, the shake-up has been apparently quite minimal and the PM should have no qualms if he were to call a late winter election.
Yet, there are a lot of undercurrents in the water passing under the bridge and many valid observations that could be drawn from what happened in the few uncertain days that followed the official news of Alfred Sant’s problems.
The reaction of the MLP was so to speak, quite unorthodox. The party tried to blur any information about Dr. Sant’s problem and the terse so-called medical bulletins that were being issued told more by what was not being said than by what they said. Being told that the leader is stable, that he is now walking and taking liquid food while keeping the precise nature of his ailment under wraps is tantamount to treating mature human beings like little tots.
This was not what one expects in a democracy where information about the health of political leaders is always available to the general public, not to satisfy sheer curiosity – morbid or otherwise – but because in a democracy the public has a right to know on the condition of its political leaders, whether it is the President of the great USA or the Maltese Prime Minister or President or even a member of some royal family. This is not the USSR in the days when the ailing Andropov was supposed to be at the helm of the country, when he obviously wasn’t. It is not even Cuba where the attempt to cover up the present state of Fidel Castro’s health had to be abandoned because he took so long out of public view.
The not so reliable rumour-machine works overtime in such circumstances and a clean breast of it would have been much better for all. As it happened, it was only one newspaper that had the courage to go against the grain and spill the beans giving the facts that most of us actually already knew. There is no doubt that Dr. Sant has a right for privacy in these difficult moments but there is no doubt either that Dr. Sant is a public figure and the electorate has every right to know the state of the health of the man who could well be Malta’s Prime Minister within a few weeks.
Now that the worst seems to be over, I feel more at liberty to speak openly. Surely whether a man who is presenting himself as the main contender for the post of Prime Minister (besides the incumbent) is fit, health-wise, to take the job should never be withheld from the public domain. In this the MLP has let down the people of Malta badly.
Perhaps the powers that be at the top echelons of the MLP wanted to quash at all costs all talk of the possibility of its having to choose a new leader a few weeks before the election. But this internal party matter should never have been given priority over the people’s right for information.
The Nationalist Party also had to pass through a test. That it did so successfully without any imprudence and hypocrisy is to its credit. I honestly cannot understand how the news of Alfred Sant’s health problem could have ‘left the PN in disarray and disarmed’ as was claimed in this newspaper last Sunday. Surely the PN’s electoral arsenal does not depend on just mocking Alfred Sant. If this were so, then the PN is in disarray and disarmed whatever the state of Alfred Sant’s physical fitness.
It is true that there were some PN supporters, whose faith in the party’s potential success in the next election hinges on the people’s lack of faith in Alfred Sant, and who started having visions of the election being won by the MLP under a new leader. But I am sure that these voices were never given a thought at the PN headquarters.
Contrary to what such PN supporters feel, I do not think that the PN should win the next election by default. Lawrence Gonzi should fight the election on his record and this should be enough. His success in leading Malta to an economic high with the highest ever number of people employed and the highest amount of foreign investment speaks for itself. The PN should realise that this should be highlighted more than Alfred Sant’s consistent lack of a coherent historical vision on Malta’s future ever since he became MLP leader.
Moreover, a cursory comparison between the present Cabinet with the composition of the first Fenech Adami Cabinet in May 1987 will lead one to conclude that talk of an ‘old and tired’ administration is ridiculous. In fact, most of the blunders made by this administration seem to be more the result of lack of experience than the result of decisions taken by some bumbling old men!
Suddenly this winter, something happened to stop the political parties in their tracks. After a sigh of relief, they can now move forward again and the Maltese electorate is the wiser for it.