This, it seems, is the flavour of the forthcoming election campaign insofar as the Nationalist Party is concerned: character assassination, personal invective, snide remarks, threats, insults and outright intimidation.
To be fair, the PN’s recent full body immersion into the cesspit of personal abuse is not exactly a new political strategy for Malta. And is it not an exclusively Nationalist domain, either. But you have to wade fairly deeply into Maltese political history to remember a time when the level of political debate was quite as putrescent as it is today.
Examples are many, and the list is steadily growing. Parliamentary secretary Tony Abela recently asked Labour journalist Charlon Gouder (who ironically was a guest at a PN political activity) whether he would leave the country if Labour lost the next election. It was a crude and uncouth remark, and Gonzi lost no time in publicly distancing himself from his unsophisticated parliamentary secretary’s appalling manners. But was Tony Abela ever made to apologise for the insult? Was he in any way censured by the party? Or does the Prime Minister think a simple Pontius Pilate-style hand washing would clear him of the deed?
More recently, the PN media machine took Alfred Sant to task for opting not to kiss the crucifix when taking an oath in court. It was another underhand attack on the Labour leader’s widely known secular leanings: not even particularly original, as Sant’s preference for non-religious expressions of allegiance had already been questioned and criticised on more than one occasion before.
And again: Gonzi publicly acknowledged that the strategy was unfair. But was the editor of In-Nazzjon, or the news manager of Radio 101, given any kind of warning not to repeat this kind of tactic in future? Evidently not.
On Sunday it fell to Investments Minister Austin Gatt to launch the most scathing attack yet on the Opposition leader: insinuating, among other things, that Alfred Sant has a serious problem with either alcohol, drugs or both.
Gatt’s reference to “Altered Statesmen” – a Discovery Channel documentary series about intoxicated politicians – makes this interpretation all but inescapable. And yet, Gatt must surely realise the weighty implications of such a campaign tactic. For if the “drugs” allegation is true, then Alfred Sant ought to be investigated by the police for substance abuse... just as any other citizen would no doubt be investigated in his place. If, on the other hand, the drugs reference was merely a fabrication – a “joke”, to counterbalance Sant’s own embarrassing attempt at humour on September 21 – then the implications for Investments Minister could be very serious indeed. In fact, the matter is now the subject of court proceedings for criminal libel.
But what is fast emerging in all this is a visible pattern of behaviour, whereby the Prime Minister simply makes a show of distancing himself from the offensive comment, without taking any action against the offender. This is clearly not enough.
Perhaps the greatest irony in all this is that the metamorphosis of the Nationalist Party into such an intolerant, mudslinging institution has taken place under the premiership of Lawrence Gonzi: a man almost universally hailed as impeccably polite.
But Dr Gonzi cannot retain this reputation for politeness without taking serious steps to halt this wholesale decsent into the gutter. The first step would to insist on an immediate, public apology from Austin Gatt. While he is at it, he might also consider weeding out the many embarrassments to his party – people like Tony Abela, who cannot be trusted to open his mouth without shocking his audience with his rudeness – and replace them with decent, respectable candidates from among the PN backbenchers.
Fortunately for the PN, there are still a few to choose from: Siggiewi mayor Robert Musumeci, for instance, publicly decried his party’s mudslinging tactics at last Sunday’s council. His was a courageous speech, but it was sadly clear from its reaction that the audience preferred muck and filth to ordinary human decency.
Such is the sorry state of Maltese politics today, and the Prime Minister must assume his responsibility for his party’s decline in standards. Surely, we deserve better than this sordid state of affairs.