Last Sunday’s interview with Alfred Sant made interesting reading. No doubt, Sant is an intellectual heavyweight and his opinions matter and influence many people.
Yet, it is a pity that a person of his calibre, despite the hindsight of years at the highest levels in the political arena, evades the truth.
Historical facts may be commented on but they cannot be denied. And the major, stark fact staring us in the face is the unbelievable extent of corruption that has gutted our institutions to the abysmal level they are now. And the existing political ruling class has a grave responsibility in this.
Yet, unbelievably, he tries to downplay the current situation saying it was always like this. He brushes off the presence of corruption because he tells us that it has always existed and there is nothing new about collusion between business, politics and vested interests.
For those of us who were not born yesterday, there is a difference of scale in the level of corruption. In his reference to the police, one can argue that the manner they were corrupted by Dom Mintoff was beyond disgraceful. Anyone who lived through that terrible and violent chapter of Maltese history will remember that the police force was used as an instrument of political coercion.
The late police commissioner Effie Bencini, in his book Nothing but the Truth, revealed the shocking manner in which the police force was prostituted. And that was during the first term of Mintoff. Matters climaxed with violence that almost led to open civil strife leading to the scandalous frame-up of Pietru Pawl Busuttil in the case of the Gudja killing of Raymond Caruana.
The current crop of Labour politicians have let us down badly- Klaus Vella Bardon
Are we going to place that level of political corruption with the manner in which subsequent Nationalist governments ran the police force? One expects such blind views from an uneducated party hack but not from an Alfred Sant.
What about the unbelievable current breakdown of law enforcement and planning in the construction industry? The Nationalists failed us badly. The case of the extension of the ODZ and the hideous high-rise building in front of the Addolorata cemetery are a case in point. However, is this comparable with the large scale, uncontrollable and relentless destruction of our habitat that is going on in every corner of our islands?
At least, he concedes that we need accountability, responsibility and transparency. Again, no credit whatsoever is given to the media. If it were not for our courageous, dogged and persistent investigative journalists, all the rot and the network of evil would have been hidden from the public. Despite its human limitations, the media deserve our support, encouragement and praise.
Also, his passionate belief in change and his repeated jibes against religion and tradition is more the fruit of prejudice than serious analysis. More than structural change, we need integrity and a clear idea what constitutes the common good. One concedes that even his party has given its contribution but at the unacceptable price of destroying the environment, the reliability of institutions and by rendering people more dependent on the government of the day.
Structures do not change people. It is people who change structures. And if most people are only concerned about their narrow self-interest, which politicians, who are unscrupulous, are only too ready to pander to, there is no hope of positive change. Change for change’s sake will get us nowhere. On the contrary, we can see where it got us and at every level.
In this interview, Sant had an opportunity to show us that age and objective maturity go together. Sadly, he used his intellectual prowess to deflect serious questions and deny and belittle the grave mismanagement and corruption of the current Labour administration.
At the end of the day, people do not vote for elites, powerful lobbies or business tycoons. People vote for politicians and the buck stays firmly in their tray.
The current crop of Labour politicians have let us down badly despite having so much in their favour. Hopefully, history will not judge them with evasiveness.
Klaus Vella Bardon, opinionist.