If you had to take prime minister Robert Abela’s word for it, you would think the Labour Party is made up of our very best and brightest.
After his government legitimised the massive racket of exploited foreign workers in the country, Abela told us that from now on, we will only accept workers who are ‘necessary‘ for our economy. No word on how we will resolve the gaps which foreign workers are filling in on the cheap, meaning that those workers will remain ‘necessary’ for a very long time.
After his government normalised a culture of impunity which peaked with the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Abela told employers that ‘everyone must understand that they have to work within the confines of the law.’ We’ve seen so much corruption over the past eleven years that we are no longer able to distinguish where the confines of the law even are.
After his government relentlessly bludgeoned every single critic with propaganda about the so-called economic miracle the Labour Party claims to be responsible for, Abela told us that society should not be built on the pursuit of money. It is like hearing a bank robber saying that money isn’t everything. Easy for you to say from aboard your untraceable yacht, prime minister. Not so easy for everyone else who is sweltering beneath the scorching sun with no reprieve.
I could list dozens of other similar platitudes. I imagine that the prime minister’s communications team must be busiest whenever Abela’s trust rating takes a dip. Here he is again telling his supporters the Labour Party ‘must renew and reform’ itself after getting trashed in this year’s elections. Here he is waxing lyrical about abortion and euthanasia after said trashing, taking a leaf out of his disgraced predecessor’s playbook by using human rights like carrots on sticks.
He was so desperate after this year’s election that the very next day, he promised major policy decisions which “will be guided solely by the truth, without compromise.” Not even a baptism in a sacred river can make a man’s heart sing so purely.
Of course, the uncritical reporting devoid of any context does not help. Not bothering to contextualise the claims of a known liar – and Abela isn’t even good at it – is lazy, irresponsible journalism, and practically every single mainstream outlet in the country is guilty of this. I know for a fact that there are decent journalists who bother to write up context that is later slimmed down by editors who couldn’t care less about depth and nuance and are only interested in speed and sensationalism. I know because I experienced this myself.
I can practically already hear the annoying response to this assertion. ‘Our duty is to report what was said and then let people make up their own minds.’ This is an abdication of duty, plain and simple. There is no one who is better placed than a journalist when it comes to making an informed judgement about an individual, especially if it’s a politician whose conduct and decision-making is automatically of public interest.
If journalists fail to make judgements about wild, misleading, and often downright deceitful statements made by someone like our prime minister, then the electorate is at the mercy of an individual who is abusing every avenue at his disposal to manipulate public perception. Effectively, a lack of judgement from the journalist who is asking the questions and writing up the report equates to allowing those statements to go unchallenged. Soppy editorials published the following morning just don’t cut it.
Most of all, failing to challenge those statements means that you are allowing a fundamentally flawed individual to preach the exact opposite of the truth we are duty-bound to protect. It is the truth which must inform voters who will choose the next government in less than three years, not propaganda this is bought and paid for by the highest bidder.
Reporting those statements uncritically is giving a corrupt prime minister heading a corrupt government a window to convince the public that the Labour Party is, in fact, made up of the best and brightest our country has to offer, that it is a party that is synonymous with prosperity, peace, the usher of a wondrous socialist utopia where everyone is happy, and that the great leader loves us all. This kind of coverage helps the Labour Party paper over the glaring cracks in its foundation, even though it is so fractured that it can’t even keep its own MEPs behind the party line.
In truth, the general public is scarcely aware of the notion that good people do not need to tell you that they are good because this is apparent from their reputation, their actions, and their demeanour. On the contrary, our culture is fond of salespersons, of individuals who will shove their merchandise right in your face. Our popular pearls of wisdom reflect this historical attitude (l-għajta nofs il-bejgħ, anyone?) and our most revered leaders were always the ones who were most capable of manipulating public sentiment to their advantage.
Think about the people who you love and perhaps even admire most in your life. Chances are that nobody really needed to tell you just how great they are when you first met them. You saw it as quickly as you would spot a diamond in the mud, and acted accordingly. In the same exact way, you don’t need me to tell you that your instinct is correct whenever you recoil in disgust at callous, shallow statements such as the ones I quoted above.
One of Abela’s favourite virtue signalling terms is the word ‘courage’, usually used in a phrase like ‘we had the courage to implement bold reforms.’ The gaping chasm between what Abela wishes to project and who he actually is can be seen very clearly here.
While Abela claimed several times that his government won’t be afraid of making big, bold decisions, the fact is that he hasn’t made a single one to date.
If you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen, prime minister.
