While urging the public to comply with health directives, Prime Minister Robert Abela and members of his cabinet have been conspicuous by their failure to wear masks during some of their public interactions.
Stating that “the legal notice is clear” in a recent press address, Abela said (while not wearing a mask) that “although there are no penalties imposed on people who don’t wear masks, the fact that the Superintendent of Public Health has issued a directive means we should comply”.
Compliance should extend to MPs too: Ian Castaldi Paris, who has replaced Chris Cardona in parliament, was photographed just yesterday maskless at the counting hall as everyone about him did their duty. He made amends later.
As the country starts loosening its coronavirus restrictions, political figures are being closely scrutinised over their choice to wear or not to wear a mask. People are taking to social media to call out the seemingly mixed messages about the value of face coverings as barriers from infection.
At the beginning of the outbreak, governments in Europe were lukewarm on the subject of masks for the general public. Yet as people start returning to work, despite the lack of a vaccine, masks are being encouraged as a critical means of containing the virus. Along with hand-washing and social distancing, masks are now being promoted as a core response to the pandemic.
At a time in Maltese political history when public images have been micromanaged, for the better part of a decade, the decision to wear or forgo a mask in public conveys a message from the upper echelons of political leadership. A leader committed to promoting public health may be more likely to wear the protective gear, while politicians who are more interested in a dangerously rapid return to “normalisation” may not.
Whatever a leader’s motivation, their choices set an example that many people will follow, as politicians throughout Europe shift their message to reflect the global consensus that has emerged on the effectiveness of masks.
Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic is not the only ill that ails the international community. Many countries are experiencing the outbreak alongside a global populist movement, which has brought a new generation of political ‘hard men’, and their supporters, into power.
Sadly, it seems that masks have become a rallying cry and point of contention within this populist movement, and its central image of the strong male leader.
Where does this reluctance come from, when consistently modelling safe behaviour is so clearly essential? Recent research from US-based professors of sociology and organisational psychology, Berdahl and Glick, suggest one critical reason. Masks, and the appearance of playing it safe, are a clear contradiction of the need to constantly appear strong and in control. Rather than a humanising reminder of politicians’ place alongside the people, and a powerful act of social care, protective masks are being twisted into the threat of emasculation.
The refusal to wear a mask, ostentatiously reflected by world leaders like Donald Trump, undermines the impact of a united global message of well-being. And it is increasingly clear that containing the virus will be impossible without sustained multilateral support.
Leaders who are more concerned with preserving their macho image in public may be endangering health by disregarding the advice of experts and charging forward with a sense of normalcy that is still unwarranted considering the current reality.
On the other hand, those who follow medical advice and wear masks send a clear and visible sign that, during the challenging times ahead of us, public health must come first.