The race for the White House must be the most watched and exciting current TV ‘series’. The whole world is watching and giving their views on who should be the next president of the US of A.
Our local politicians could pick up a few pointers on how to reach out to the people by listening to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the Democrat front-runners.
However, they would also need to build up the kind of successful track record the two have achieved in the Senate and elsewhere.
Undoubtedly, the Democrats are the ones with the most charisma and Obama is so good. In a speech last Wednesday he repeated the message that brought him fame. The one that embraced all Americans, cutting across race, class, status and political divisions, uniting everyone to give real meaning to “the United States of America”.
Unity is what we also should be striving for in our very tiny island. It is not so uncanny that in our miniscule pond we have the same divisive political atmosphere.
Only our colours are reversed. “The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States… We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America,” Obama’s theme of a non partisan government does not only apply to the US, but everywhere where political divisions are used to ensure power stays with a small group of people, be they red or blue.
Although mesmerised by US politics, I am also keeping an eye on the local scene. There is, however, one big difference in the excitement stakes here. There are quite a few actually, but perhaps the most obvious is that we already know who the party contenders are. So there is no thrill of seeing new faces leading the parties and keen anticipation of a new dynamic.
Both Laurence Gonzi and Alfred Sant lack zing. Although the PM has delivered on quite a few fronts and has been upbeat on many occasions, he has also failed on others and even if he might be recognising some of those failings now, it is a little late.
He should have matched his optimism with more direct leadership qualities in dealing with his Cabinet and corruption issues, and he has realised he should have done much more on MEPA.
“Personally, I feel that we did not strike a balance between protecting the environment and development. We could have done better. Another area where I think we could have done better is cutting down on red tape,” he said at the press conference announcing the start of the election campaign. He also admitted that mistakes were made and “perhaps we did not reach everyone,” He told reporters.
The Nationalist Party has had a couple of well publicised defections, one of a relative unknown, Jo Said, who in an affidavit, said that Nationalist MP David Agius admitted that “corruption runs deep in the Nationalist Party and the government,” and a party veteran Carmel Cacopardo who was involved in a bitter row connected to his investigative work with MEPA’s auditor and was sacked from the job, leaving the overloaded auditor without an assistant.
The PM defended the attacks on his collusion in corruption allegations by saying “his government had passed on every allegation of corruption within the administration to those that mattered, the Police Commissioner and the Anti Corruption Commission.”
In the opposing camp, Dr Sant is strong on fighting corruption. “Labour stands by what it promises and implements it, strengthened by our leader, who is promising zero tolerance to malpractices and corruption, and who is inviting everyone to join us – everyone is welcome to work with us,” said MLP’s secretary general, Jason Micallef, at the MLP’s first mass rally at the National Labour Centre on Tuesday.
The MLP is all embracing again.
Micallef, a fairly new face in our Democrat Party establishment equivalent, only manages to confuse people rather than encourage support. According to Maltastar.com, this is what he told supporters at the rally: “All Malta will be celebrating victory with Labour”, come the spring. Yet in the same breath, he appealed to everyone “not to take Labour’s electoral win for granted”. Make your mind up Jason. You should not be confusing your own side let alone the rest of the voting public.
Unfortunately, Dr Sant’s recent health problems have not helped him, and he has to rely on people with even less punch.
He is, however, strong on promises. Countering Blueskies, a new Labour government will be giving parents a refund for VAT paid on educational products such as uniforms and books, and will exempt families from paying VAT on computers and related products.
It will also introduce incentives to promote energy efficiency, exploit Malta’s natural resources and take up oil exploration, Dr Sant told supporters in Senglea.
And not to be outdone by the PM’s latest tax bonanza, the MLP is also promising tax cuts, this on top of halving the fuel surcharge.
Maybe to counteract Dr Sant’s current vulnerability, Dr Gonzi is also aiming to win us over with a show of humility and humanity “to err is human and we have made mistakes”. He asked for forgiveness for his government not always delivering and not doing better, but he also asked for recognition for the “good things we achieved, the positives.”
People do not expect perfection, and I am drawn back and will close with another strong Obama quote, which is just as relevant here: “No, people don’t expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a change in priorities, we can make sure that every child (in America) has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. They know we can do better. And they want that choice.”

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