Last summer, I would not be writing this piece. Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando was directly under fire on the Mistra saga. It was a messy affair. But a year and some 10 months later, there are many angles to the story that will not be taken up by any of the friendly media, namely PBS, The Times and The Independent. As expected, the editorials attempted to lump all the blame on Labour. But let us take a very careful look at the chemistry of politics. In politics, leaks never emerge or originate from the enemies but from the friends – or those we imagine to be friends. When JPO had his permit processed, the leakages on his permit were outed by people who were very close to the Nationalist party, and who would have benefitted if JPO went down under.
As the young Winston Churchill also realised, it was not the members of parliament in the opposition benches that he had to worry about – but colleagues seated right next to him. And the same applies today to politicians the world over.
But even more interesting is the fact that JPO – apart from being shafted by his colleagues – was also used by Gonzi et al (namely, the Cardinal, Joe Saliba and Edgar Galea Curmi) to confront Alfred Sant. He was taken to the front line, donning a Semtex belt complete with detonator, to sacrifice himself for the greater cause by setting up his defence against Sant’s grand attack.
That, I am afraid, was the noble plan to elect Lawrence Gonzi, who is, to many, portrayed as the Maria Goretti of this decade. And JPO did just that.
In my opinion, it was a mess. But JPO ended up doing such a good job of protesting his innocence that he was elected from two districts with startling results! So in many people’s minds (not everybody’s) he ended up saving the PN from losing to Sant, by standing up to Sant. Hardly had a day passed from the 8 March election, that Gonzi did what he does best: forgetting and regurgitating JPO. The same applied to all the entourage that had joined in the chorus against JPO, notably Joe Saliba, who surely has plenty to answer for, according to friends close to JPO.
But it did not stop there. Because in the months that followed, countless attempts were made to break JPO’s resolve.
Now, JPO is one of a kind. I have no idea what it is, but we breathed the same air in Attard as kids and shared the same secondary school. He happens to be as resilient as an olive tree in the unkind Maltese summer.
He returned to haunt Gonzi with his crusade against the proposed extension at St John, the introduction of the electricity and water tariffs, and more significantly with the way the party was being run. Sooner rather than later, the PM and leader of the Nationalist party managed to get his math right, and, upon realising that he only had a one-seat majority, he started to show some more respect to JPO. And respect for JPO intensified when the list of disgruntled members in Gonzi’s parliamentary group started to increase.
There are at least nine very angry members in the group and Gonzi knows that he has a major problem on his hands. He is not just a bad administrator, but one who’s in a very weak position.
And he continues to commit major mistakes, such as the decision to continue with higher water and electricity tariffs. It is unbelievable that he continues to be stubborn in the face of such economic hardship in the business and commodity sector.
In the meantime, JPO has decided to specialise in the art of not mincing his words – incredibly refreshing for any journalist. He is after all an articulate man who managed the Mistra saga in a remarkably silly way for his position, considering the timing of the MEPA application with the March 2008 election.
But nothing will change the fact that he was used and dumped by Joe Saliba, the man who surely knows very well the way permits are issued at MEPA. Let’s be very clear (and I say this with the utmost responsibility): Joe Saliba, like others in the structures of the Nationalist party, are fully aware of the nature of lobbying with MEPA. Need I say more?
Now, after the acquittal of the two DCC members involved in the decision process, the so-called friendly media are attempting to put all the blame on Labour. Many, including Joe (who now calls himself Peppi) have forgotten how Lou Bondì lambasted JPO. Many tend to ignore the uncanny telepathic connection between Bondì and Gonzi’s right-hand man Edgar Galea Curmi (who apart from the telepathic powers he employs, also plays classical guitar and is still disliked by the Cabinet).
Had JPO not been a good dentist with a private practice, it was probable that he would have been destroyed by the masonic network of social grapevines that determines who is a friend or enemy of the state.
Other disgruntled MPs (such as businessman Robert Arrigo) would have been decimated by these networks. But thankfully for Arrigo, he has enough financial clout to blow a raspberry at the whole Gonzi clan and laugh it off.
But people like Jesmond Mugliett are not so lucky. Since they left their ministerial post (more to the point, they were informed by Gonzi by SMS that they would not be reappointed) they have suffered in their profession thanks to the social cancer of their ostracisation. Politics is a cruel world, and it is made infinitely more horrible when the people who operate, mastermind and machinate within it don’t turn out to be real gentlemen. They smile, they shake hands, they laugh and then they wait until you bend over backwards.
Raise taxes and costs I’m sorry – I’ve no satirical telephone conversations this week. There is nothing funny about the decision to announce that tariffs will be raised once again. In a country where you cannot speed over 60km an hour on a bypass but can race down the village square like a madman; and where prices are higher than ever before, the news that we will pay more for our electricity and water is confirmation that this government needs to be ousted.
I don’t care who runs the country anymore. Surely my mother could do a better job. She has the perfect disposition for it: she makes decisions, knows the nature of profit and loss, she’s hyperactive, knows what she wants, dislikes waste, has no respect for nepotism, respects meritocracy and has a kind heart for the needy.
Not only has this country lost its leadership – it has lost its mind. I wonder whether the unions, the Chamber and FOI and the GRTU have realised it is no longer a question of writing lengthy press releases. What we need is a Danton and a Robespierre; we need to take the Bastille and reinstate a new order.
And if anyone is thinking I’m suggesting Joseph Muscat as PM, they better read what I have been saying for the last years. We need a real clean-up across the board, but first we need to find the courage to send these incompetent administrators away from the centre of power. RCC back to Mdina converting houses, Gonzi back to Mizzi Organisation playing poola, Edgar Galea Curmi back to prayer groups, Tonio Fenech back to PricewaterhouseCoopers, and George Pullicino to Sicily, where he spends more time than ever.
This country needs capable people, with vision and determination. Any candidates?
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As expected, the editorials attempted to lump all the blame on Labour. But let us take a very careful look at the chemistry of politics. In politics, leaks never emerge or originate from the enemies but from the friends – or those we imagine to be friends. When JPO had his permit processed, the leakages on his permit were outed by people who were very close to the Nationalist party, and who would have benefitted if JPO went down under.
