Editorial

Though there is nothing seriously wrong with our carnival no one surely would claim it as one of the world's, or even just Europe's, great carnivals.

In our main centres - Valletta in Malta and Victoria in Gozo - it has long become a spectacle, ranging from plain indifferent to very good, put on by a relatively small group of people or associations, mainly amateurs but with a good sprinkling of professionals, to be looked at by large crowds that are interested but basically passive. Indeed, were it not for the tourist trade it is doubtful whether carnival would have survived even in its present form.

Carnival in the past was far more interesting and entertaining than it is today. People, especially the young, used to look forward to it with great excitement.

But times have changed, even for carnival, as new forms of public entertainment have taken root. Today, carnival is thus often criticised with no longer being the great folk festival it was once, when for a few days daily life turned topsy-turvy, the barriers of social classes were breached and fooling around became for a few days a way of life.

Only a couple of villages and small towns refuse to accept the hegemony of the main centres and try, year in year out, to recapture the spontaneity typical of the Maltese carnival before 1940.

Some of the protagonists of the Valletta carnival have long realised this and have looked for ways to help retransform it from mere spectacle to truly communal fun and games.

One or two, including at least one member of the official Carnival Commission, have now come up with the idea of putting back into our carnival a characteristic abolished by law nearly 70 years ago.

They wish to see political satire reallowed as a theme for its floats, knowing it would certainly kindle a keener interest in, and a much more active reaction from, the crowds watching the carnival défilés.

The suggestion is a tempting one. Many of our politicians think too highly of themselves and too many political manoeuvers produce indignation or stunned disbelief in our people who would be grateful to take the mickey out of their elected overlords and their political opponents.

Politically satirical floats have not been unknown in our time. There have been a few occasions when the Labour Party, for instance, has pilloried its Nationalist opponents in carnival-style marches, though not in carnival time.

In a democracy this practice should not be regarded as objectionable. After all our media are constantly throwing eggs in the faces of our politicians, so in theory there is nothing wrong in allowing people to do so in a relatively good-humoured way. The fact that both the main parties have clearly shown they are not keen to allow this practice will for some be an added reason for doing so.

On the other hand, many of us feel that the politicians and their deeds and misdeeds are too much with us. Should we also allow them, however reluctant they may sound, to invade the last bastion against the national obsession with politics, especially when the rivalry between the two main parties has now reached such acrimonious levels? The answer must be clear to many.