Taking us for fools

The past few days have succeeded in destroying what little faith we may still have had in the Maltese political system.  The nation was treated to the revolting spectacle of the PN leader blatantly attempting to gaslight the electorate, brazenly attempting to pass off a cynical perversion of the electoral system as “self-sacrifice”, even heroism.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that the two main parties came up with their self-serving, cynical “positive discrimination” plan to give themselves extra seats in parliament to ‘their’ women, while denying them to third parties and independents, the PN has now unashamedly proven that the whole exercise was nothing but a sham.

Anyone who truly believes there should be more women in parliament would be bending over backwards to ensure any woman who gets the opportunity to win a seat should take that opportunity, not applaud her handing it over to a man instead. And they should certainly not be praising this action when the result is that she snatches the chance away from another woman as a result. This would be distasteful at any time, but it’s even more so after an election that saw just four women elected straight off.

The sly manipulation demonstrated by the PN Leader who presided over the most cataclysmic defeat ever in the history of the Nationalist Party, as he attempted to dupe the public that Janice Chetcuti was acting out of honour in her decision not to contest the casual election that could have seen her elected to parliament on her own steam, was a Rubicon moment for the shattered party.

In making that decision, to exploit an already compromised ‘gender corrective mechanism’ purportedly aimed at increasing female participation in parliament in order to boost the number of male representatives – in the meantime actually decreasing the number of women there would otherwise be in parliament – the PN has shown that it is untrustworthy, self-serving and devious.

Of course, it’s not surprising that a party led by a man who deliberately and knowingly failed to pay his taxes for almost the whole of his working life would sink to these sordid tricks to try and keep the wreckage afloat for a little while longer, but the collusion of Chetcuti is beyond the pale.

As she very well knows, by “sacrificing” her right to be elected through the casual election process, she makes room for a man to win that seat. By deciding instead to enter parliament via the “positive discrimination” route, she is actually blocking another woman from taking up that seat.

That a female politician would agree to help keep another woman out of parliament, a parliament already desperately short of female representation, is unbelievable.

A screenshot is being used because the post has since been removed

Grech and Chetcuti are treating the electorate as fools – concurrently revealing an almost mind-boggling degree of arrogance, especially after the PN’s disastrous election result. Democracy means accepting the people’s choice, not ignoring, manipulating and twisting it simply to keep the PN wreckage afloat for just a little while longer.

Janice Chetcuti herself seems to have a perverted definition of what it means to be elected by the people to represent them in parliament.  She may want to consider signing up for a crash course immediately if she truly wants to serve the nation as an MP. Her loyalty, first and foremost, should be to the nation, and not to her party.

This idea that party allegiance ‘naturally’ trumps anything and everything is the root of much of the endemic rot in Maltese politics. A political party is only as good as the people running it at any given moment in time. Nobody “owes” allegiance to a party that would not only pervert parliamentary processes for their own gain but would also stand up and attempt to deceive the nation into thinking there was something heroic about it.

Up to a few years ago, the idea of not voting in the general elections seemed scandalously remiss. Sure, some people used withdrawal as a form of protest, but somehow it came across as a pointless, toothless gesture. The ‘baddies’ would still win. No change ever came about via inaction, after all.

But now, finally, it becomes clear why some people choose not to vote. Why on earth should they bother, when the political parties have absolutely no qualms about then ignoring their votes, exploiting and manipulating every loophole and every mechanism, to get the result they wanted, regardless of what the electorate has very clearly told them?

This decision by the PN shows it up to be dishonest and manipulative. That the electorate, in its vast majority, already believed the PN is no longer trustworthy was made clear by the election results. That it would openly and arrogantly confirm that fact barely two weeks later simply proves the electorate was right in its assessment.

There’s going to be one woman less than there might have been in parliament thanks to Bernard Grech. Shame on him.

                           

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14 Comments
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viv
viv
2 years ago

It’s wrong and indicative of deeply harboured hypocrisies – women being pushed aside in politics and occupying the front line in journalism. Literally.
I sense only cowardice coming from many prominent ‘politicians’.

A. Micallef
A. Micallef
2 years ago
Reply to  viv

If women, who make up more than 50% of the voters database, voted for women then they wouldn’t be pushed aside in politics. How about you Viv, did you give your 1st vote to a female or a male?

Last edited 2 years ago by A. Micallef
Joseph
Joseph
2 years ago

“The nation was treated to the revolting spectacle of the PN leader blatantly attempting to gaslight the electorate” Blanche, your criticism is really harsh towards Dott.Bernard Grech and you definitely made a mountain out of a molehill with the arguments you put forward in this article.

Last edited 2 years ago by Joseph
Emanuel (Noel) Ciantar
Emanuel (Noel) Ciantar
2 years ago

60K of the electorate showed ‘the system’ that they will not be taken for fools. The time will come when the real fools will be exposed for what they are.

Meanwhile, if the PN really believes that they can move forward with the same leader and strategists who made them loose 12K votes since the last election, and loose with a bigger majority than in the last two elections, then they can’t blame us if we believe that they are the fools.

Carmel Callus
Carmel Callus
2 years ago

Blanche, the problem lies with female voters who in their great majority don’t vote for female candidates.

D. Borg
D. Borg
2 years ago
Reply to  Carmel Callus

we ought to be voting for brains, hearts, and souls (for those who believe), rather than genitalia!
albeit most seem still hell bent to vote for their pockets…

Marco
Marco
2 years ago

Perfect observation. PN are in complete disarray.

Carmelo Borg
2 years ago

Meta nigu ghal fatti dejjem nghid BIRDS OF THE SAME FEATHER

Simon Oosterman
Simon Oosterman
2 years ago

If all those people who did not vote had given at least their first votes to ADPD, we would be in a better place today. No change comes about by inaction. The only justification for abstaining is if one does not care, not just being unhappy.

Steve
Steve
2 years ago

Spot on… an arrangement to help re elect a dinosaur like carm mifsud bonnici, instead of a new person with fresh ideas.

Joseph
Joseph
2 years ago
Reply to  Steve

Better a dinosaur with brain and integrity than a young person who is inexperienced and brainless. Why do people of a certain age are destined by someone like you to go into retirement?

Gordon
Gordon
2 years ago

I fully agree that this is a blatant disrespect to the electorate but mainly to females in general. Not only has a female MP seat been lost to male, there could have been another equally or more able female added to the gender quota. All due respect to Carm Mifsud Bonnici, he needs to step aside as not even his family legacy has helped him be elected and, it is clear that any new person – especially a female – can bring in more enthusiasm and fresh ideas to the table. If the PN is to move forward it needs to not only lead the way in these aspects, but show that it is leading the way.

If you have lost an election in the way PN lost it, with people like CMB, then it is clear that keeping him on will lead to the same results down the road. PN cannot continue to be shackled by the likes of CMB. Better to lose an election with fighters and new people with ideas and energy than to lose the way PN did, with the people it carried along due to a legacy they had within the party.

M.Galea
M.Galea
2 years ago

Dan iehor rubbish. D dahka ta brikkun telqitlu mat telfa! Ried ikun fil gvern ghal Malta, iva mela! L kaccaturi sejhilhom l hbieb ta l ambjent, l kaccatur nistmah izjed mil l ghasfur qalilna, kostruzzjoni nibqghu nibnu, etc etc….manifest imqanzah biex jurina kemm ihobb l ambjent…u hallina! Xejn ta bidla! Get lost!

Janet Wojtkow
Janet Wojtkow
2 years ago

I think the vast majority of voting age people in Malta are fools so why shouldn’t the two parties take them for such? Maltese politicians seem to have no moral compass whatsoever and are only in politics to serve themselves. I haven’t seen a single politician ever resign on a matter of principle or due to a conflict with their personal values based on their duty to represent the people who voted for them. Meanwhile a Government mired in sleaze and corruption is voted in again with an even bigger majority. Who’s the fool? Only in Malta!

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