I can only go by second-hand reports (because the programme is not yet online), but apparently Xarabank plummeted to new lows on Friday night. What I have gathered is that it was the usual slanging, shouting match multiplied by 1000. Those who could bear to sit through it were either diehards rooting for one side or the other, or those with a stomach for this kind of thing who actually enjoy the modern-day equivalent of Romans baying for blood at the Coliseum  Judging from what most people were saying, the Average Joe switched channels in disgust.

The Labour party made the gross mistake of sending Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando as one of its representatives. Talk about déjà vu;  this was the “Let’s send Franco to Xarabank” charade revisited. What on earth were they thinking? Didn’t they learn from their lesson last time?

Here was Muscat barely scrapping through the Mallia debacle by finally doing the right thing and sacking the Home Affairs Minister, and rather than getting back on solid footing by carefully choosing who should speak on the party’s behalf, he sends JPO. This man has so much baggage he could open his own airport.  Apart from that he is clearly a loose cannon and not the ideal person to send if one wants to patch up one’s tattered image.  You send someone calm and composed who communicates well not someone who is guaranteed to flip when his buttons are pushed.

That is, unless (as some are suggesting) the choice was deliberate in order to derail the discussion and instead of it being about the Mallia forced resignation, the subject would predictably shift to JPO’s explosive relationship with his former party.  But if that was the real reason, it makes the entire thing even worse. Most level-headed people (you know, the ones who think for themselves) are extremely tired of these political games.

It was appalling that reports such as the Kamara inquiry were being buried by the previous administration, but it is also appalling that it was only resurrected and published NOW at the  opportune moment in order to deflect attention from the Mallia incident and score political mileage against the other side.  What kind of governance is this?  Is there any party capable of being upfront and honest with those who entrusted them with their vote or are we doomed to stagger from one conniving, manipulative administration to another with a rotation every five years according to “whose turn it is?”

At this point, I don’t blame people one bit for their refusal to vote and for their utter contempt of all politicians, because that is precisely what the two main parties have brought us to.  I feel sorry for those politicians who are truly there to be of service to their country, because in this scenario they are being lumped in one basket with those who are there purely to have their ego stroked.

We can accept that there are certain behind-the-scenes manoeuvres in politics and yes,  of course, this happens everywhere so I’m not saying that Malta is unique. But when the intrigue, the subterfuge and the intricate chess moves take centre stage, rather than the more crucial job of actually running the country, that is when people’s patience snaps.   Muscat, his cabinet and all his backbenchers really need to understand that the turning point of the last election was that people had had enough and no longer felt obligated to continue voting for the same old party just because they had always done so. The thing is, once you have made such a massive leap, the second time is not so difficult and it becomes easier to do it again.  It’s almost like when people stick to the same old job for years and years even though they are not appreciated, simply because it is comfortable and they are afraid of leaving what is ‘safe”. However, once they do make a change, they realise how liberating it is (and how easily they can move on to something new yet again.)

What is patently obvious is that voters are no longer going to  tolerate having their intelligence repeatedly insulted by politicians who, rather than doing what should be done because it is the correct thing to do, feel they can simply ride out the public’s disapproving mood because “people forget”.  What many are describing as the unravelling of the PL is due to the wrong people being placed in crucial posts.  It is due to Muscat seemingly having lost his previous knack of understanding that perception is everything, and the current perception of the Labour administration is that it has taken too many downright wrong decisions with the assumption that it won’t be criticised. A nine-seat majority does not give you carte blanche to do whatever you like.

But it is also a case of us as citizens being more demanding and less complacent about completely unacceptable behaviour.  I think what has changed is that the voice of public opinion has never been so strong and influential as it is today and we are not going to let it get to the point where things are so bad that they will be impossible to set right until it is time to vote again.

The electorate, presented with two sides who are caught up in an endless, mind-numbing vicious circle of “You-did-worse-no-what-you-did-was-worse”  is (yet again) quickly coming to the conclusion that there does not seem to be much to distinguish the PN from the PL.   That Xarabank programme crystallised the status quo more than ever with AD trying to get a word in edgewise but being drowned out by loud barking. There is no one who can genuinely claim the moral high ground, no matter what the spin doctors desperately try to sell us. And that is not a loss for one party or the other, but it is a loss for us as a nation which is badly in need of good leaders, with Ministers and others in top positions who behave ethically, correctly and responsibly without having to be told.

It needs men who are capable of saying, “yes mea culpa, I was wrong, I apologize, I will resign.”  And then shut up.