On my friend's blog (markanthonysammut.blogspot.com) about the Franco Debono saga, I commented that the way that the PN was reacting reminded me of Roberto Saviano's notorious Macchina del Fango.
The Macchina del fango kills any message against a particular group not by proposing a counter argument but by completely destroying the messenger. And the messenger is destroyed not only on a professional level, but more importantly on a personal level and on their loved ones as well. By doing so anything said by that person is dismissed as being irrelevant and the product of an unsound/immoral/corrupt mind. An added advantage of this strategy is that it gives a warning to anyone who is thinking about defying that particular group that the same fate awaits him.
There is no doubt that the PN's macchina del fango is actively at work here. A person once touted by his own party as one of its brightest rising stars is now openly being asked to seek psychiatric help. They argue that him showing his form 2 report card shows that he is not mentally fit. And while I must admit that I found that behaviour rather odd, we seem to forget that the PN constantly reminded us that its former leader 'gie l-ewwel fil-matrikola'.
More importantly in this whole saga is the fact that no one from the PN side has said that Franco Debono was wrong in the issues he put forward. Indeed, he has over this legislature been proven right over and over again He was right about the right of a lawyer during police interrogation. He was right about the whole public transport reform mess. He was right about the sorry state of affairs of our national broadcasting services. He was right about the need to split the justice and home affairs ministry.
More importantly however, is the fact that Franco Debono is right about the fact that Lawrence Gonzi has lost the ability to govern our country in these particularly testing times. Gonzi's own admission (after being rebuked by the EU) that harsh economic times are becoming upon us is a clear admission that his administration has failed in keeping us out of economic troubles.
So I invite you all to look beyond the mud being thrown by the PN macchina del fango and focus on the real issues at hand. You will find a governing party which really has lost the plot.
We both know that in a Party there's a hierarchy, and you can't just decide that because you believe that your proposals are the right ones, you should blackmail the Party Leader that either he does what you want or you'll topple the Government. You contribute, you put forward your proposals, but there's a rank and hierarchy as to who is to take the final decision. If the Prime Minister is to be threatened to implement the proposals of every single individual, no structure would exist any more. Because after all, what an individual proposes may not be the right decision, all things considered. And the individual must accept that. If not, I quote what Lino Spiteri said last Saturday: "Jiena il-kwistjoni ta' x'għandu jagħmel MP hija ċara għalija. Il-Membru Parlamentari jitla' mhux fuq is-saħħa tiegħu nnifsu, jitla' fuq it-ticket tal-Partit. Min ma jaqbilx mal-Gvern, għandu jirriżenja." ("The issue of what an MP should do is clear to me. The MP is elected on the Party's ticket. Who doesn't agree with the Government, should resign himself.")
ReplyDeleteI believe there are issues for which an MP should really not accept the Government's decisions. But whether Justice and Home Affairs are under the same Minister, and whether that Minister is the guy who had the best marks in Form 2, are not issues for which one should bring the Government down. Even though Franco declared that for him these issues are more important than the economy. And even AD, the green party, agree with me on this.
The issue I wanted to hTighlight was not whether the government should fall or about party loyalty. Those are all valid points, but what I'm talking about is the way that such criticism is brought forward. Everyone has the right to question and criticise Franco Debono's actions. However, having the Christian Democratic party (I should underline Christian) led by a prime minister who promised a new way of doing politics, questioning Franco Debono's mental health instead of his arguments, is in my opinion a bit rich.
ReplyDeleteWhy should anyone question and criticise Franco Debono's actions? He displayed his school results to emphasise his stance that "he always took his work seriously since he was at school". It was PBS that featured that clip in a way that ridiculed Franco all around the island. And it's so funny to see how many people like both of you got sucked into this lying mechanism by PBS!!
ReplyDeleteTo tell you the truth I haven't watched the PBS clip yet. I knew about this Form 2 report back in December, when he showed it to the Executive to prove he's good enough to be Leader. I was astounded when it was mentioned in the Times, I never believed he'd also go show it to the press. And from another blog I read he had even showed it to EFA earlier on, but I can't verify this.
ReplyDeleteFor me, no, these are not the actions of a fully functioning mind, and I don't regret saying it. Even if I risk being labelled as a mercenary and cheap-shot.
As for EFA's "l-ewwel fil-matrikola", you have to check the context as to when it was said. Saying something like that in a light television interview is one thing, saying it to prove your point is another. I never recall EFA using it to justify his political actions.
If you ask me, I deem Franco's actions as highly doubtful and I stand by 2 reasonings which are 1) his hunger for a higher position and 2) someone within the party must have done something very wrong to him. I reckon it's a bit of both.
ReplyDeleteWhatever the above, Franco Debono's issues put forward during the last months (PBS, Arriva, Party financing, etc..) are ALL very valid and it is definitely the PM's fault that he failed to act on the mentioned. We all know, labour and PN, that the TVM is shamefully biased and when considering that ALL people in Malta pay for this station, it is in my opinion an outrage to have such a disgustful station. Other issues put forward by Dr. Debono are just as valid
I agree with Mark, that any party has its hierarchy and in this hierarchy responsibilities are different for different members. Dr. Debono must put forward his valid points but not overreact like he is doing now and Dr. Gonzi must listen and act on injustice and other inefficiencies to which the maltese pay money for. It is clear, in my opinion, that noone fulfilled his obligations here. And as 'with great power comes great responsibility' I'll balance the 'scale of guilt' in Dr. Gonzi's favour.
I definitely don't agree with you Mark when you stand by your 'not the actions of a fully functioning mind' statements. It is a habit I definitely would like not to see again in maltese politics (which is very cocmmon unfortunately) where we tend to destroy the person rather than his argument. This is something to deplore in my opinion. We are again living times of hatred, extremely advocated by Daphne, to whom I am absolutely in awe to how much following she gets. She never gives interesting arguments but she's always attacking personally. If you ask me again, when a person attacks personally it shows me that he (or she in this case) has run out of steam
Clearly this is a case of an immature democracy, where each party member has to 'blindly' follow their leader ever if it means going into the abyss. Mark Anthony I give you a piece of sound advice: you're an intelligent person, don't let people rob your mind for their own petty agenda.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Franco's methods of convincing people are not the best I've seen (showing your Form 2 school results is the equivalent of saying 'look how good I am, haha') the fact that he had the nerve to stand up and point out the serious shortcomings within the Gonzi Administration, deserves the respect of anyone who has his heart within the Nationalist Party.
It is a bitter pill that the party has to swallow in order to heal itself and get back on track. Too many mistakes have been committed by too many people within the party during these last 5 years of Nationalist administration and as revealed by WikiLeaks the Prime Minister himself said that he has "a limited talent pool from which to choose from". Debono only highlighted the problems that arose by utilizing this 'limited talent pool' in the first place.
Very nice words about hierarchy and respect for the party, bla bla bla. I wish to know where were these values when the Nationalist Party blatantly took advantage of Mintoff's insurgence against the Sant's government. We all remember Joe Saliba saying we toppled the government in 22 months, Pierre Portelli holding Mintoff's microphone during a press confernece and Eddie Fenech Adami giving Mintoff part of his allotted speach time in Parliament.
ReplyDeleteIt's so nice and admirable advocate these higher principles now !!
What hierarchy anyway? Within the Nationalist Party it's the policy of "hokkli darhi u jin inhoklok tieghek".
ReplyDeleteEveryone remember's EFA's high achiever skills when on the eve of the election he accused Sant of blocking EFA's son from entering University when in fact it was not true. After the election he 'apologized'.
No Nationalist ever pointed that out even though it was a very loathsome thing for EFA to do.
I ask, are these the paladins of democracy?