Saturday, 23rd May 2009
The lighter side of politics
In my opinion, politics, although being a very serious business, should also be taken with a pinch of salt.
The past
Humour has been very much in evidence in Maltese politics, perhaps even more in the past. Satirical newspapers were popular such as the famous Dr. Xecchec in the Twenties and Thirties. Carnival floats satirized Maltese politics and politicians.
Political cartoons were of a very high quality. Not so long ago, there were individuals who contested General Elections and whose light-hearted antics brought laughter and comic relief to so many through the medium of politics.
Candidates
Those of us who are actively involved in politics know that humour is never absent from the political scene. Watch the TV clip of a political leader walking through the streets of a town or village. Notice the party candidates and activists walking behind him, each trying to make sure that the cameras capture their image immediately behind that of the leader.
Then, of course, there is the way candidates promote themselves. If election time is approaching, they are infinitely interested in listening even to the most banal trivialities from potential voters. They will praise you to the skies, smile continuously and make you feel so important, so appreciated. It's all so artificial, so utterly ridiculous, so theatrical!
Double-faces
The joke about the person who goes to work with a pro-Government newspaper, depending on which political party is in power, is really no joke at all but a reality for a good number of people. I also know several persons who will praise the Labour Party if they are speaking to a known Labourite and the Nationalist Party if they are speaking to a known Nationalist. I know persons who are members of both the main political parties in Malta. It's both ridiculous and pathetic. Opportunism run stark mad, the ridiculing of politics.
The news
I always make it a point never to waste time watching the news on TV. The national channel is hopelessly biased towards the Government side while the news of the party channels is simply a farce. Although I am a convinced Labourite, I still believe that the party political stations should be abolished. What I find utterly ridiculous is the fact that so many people state that they watch as much of the news as possible on the national channel and both political- party channels on TV, incredible!
Mass meetings
Do several people attend Mass meetings because they are interested in what the speakers will be saying? Far from it! A good number attend because it's a social occasion where they can let off steam. They can shout, sing, clap, jump up and down, dance, drink, etc. Several even leave as soon as the music is over and just as the speeches start. If you ask them next morning what the Leader said, they will look blankly at you and ask you to read the newspaper because they don't know!
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Comments
Pressing the wrong button at the wrong time?
The most embarrassing situation for Gonzi was when he pressed the wrong button on the ATM Machine on the Change to Euro Night.
Simon and Casa followed with 12 and 1 gaffes respectively in 12 months.
Skont iz-zokk il fergha.
I just cannot believe this fairy-land type of debate, which is utterly superficial.
Nobody, and I mean nobody is taking of true freedom to the people. See http://jahtruth.net/democra.htm for another meaning of democrasy!
Another thought. What about the pillar of democracy- the courts of justice? Are they functioning well or not? Most people think not, although they cannot fully understand.
Here goes my contribution: Is the courts about the will of the people or of the political parties? So far it is the political-scenario that always has won so far. In medieval Britian, under the Carta Magna, they had true freedom in that a 12 man jury would determine whether the case is an abuse of power by the authorities or not. This grand jury, actually had the power to abolish bad laws!
Free juries = true people power. Why this power has been lost to us, is a mystery, but the current political system doesnt deliver, for within the EU & Malta.
In times of old a Mass meeting was one of the few mediums for a political party to propagate its message which explains the people’s attentiveness to follow each word uttered by the then colourful orators. Just listening to the old timers provided entertainment. Life is different now and access to knowledge and information is easy and can only get better. Does this mean that Mass Meetings are now worthless? Far from it.
We are Latin, demonstrative, very organic and romantic and rubbing our shoulders with people within our camp gives the fodder to satisfy the extraverts’ need and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Having said that I still believe that the mounting of our mass meetings need some updating. The accent needs to be on a celebration of a political belief with more entertainment and less talk. The PL’s May Day Rally proves my point.
You forgot to mention ‘Run rabbit run’ by Eileen Montesin . The PN,in the 80’s, mounted a mass meeting every week-end and they never failed to protest on the way ‘Dardir Malta’(Sic) was being managed by Pellegrini-why are you saying that it was prohibited to protest? As to being beaten up if you read the In-Taghna,if that were true, you weren’t as badly hit as all the people who read, The Struggle,Il Helsien,it Torca and other left leaning material as they were all condemned to eternal punishment in hell by you know who. Skont iz-zokk il fergha?
I am much younger than you but I still remember the National News at the beginning 0f the 80s refraining from mentioning the then Leader of Opposition Dr. Eddie Fenech Adami's name.
Nowadays the PL could protest for having biased news. Under the Socialists in the 80s, it was prohibited to protest on TV programmes, apart from the Bongu Malta Socjalista on the National TV, being beaten up if are reading the IN- Taghna and other endless undemocratic events that I personally faced under the Maltese Socialists.
I don't like like biased news, but as the maltese say, BIEX TISKONGRA TRID TKUN PUR.