If you follow the media, my dear, you know that by the time you read this column, the novel coronavirus pandemic that has gripped the world would have been totally eradicated because Prime Minister Robert Abela has gone on TV and muscled it out with the force of his star power.
If you permit me some gallows humour, last week’s marathon press conference left me desperately needing a ventilator, not only because it was the longest manifesto for a general election, but because of his sheer brazenness that left us all gasping for air.
Like all populist leaders, Abela has justified his recklessness in dealing with this pandemic by repeatedly saying that he is “following the science”.
Why are some measures being lifted during one of the worst spikes? Is he listening to the science? Why is he relaxing the measures during the worst crisis at Mater Dei in the past 10 days? Is he listening to the science? Why did he keep referring to the Minister of Health and the Superintendent of Public Health as ‘Chris’ and ‘Charmaine’? No, prime minister, you are not ‘following the science’ because by stripping them of their official roles, you are also divesting them of their authority and appropriating it for yourself.
By claiming scientific backing to his irrational actions in the face of cold, hard facts, Abela is politicising scientific advice in order to deliver short-term political advantage. This is the warning given last week by Brian Cox, the acclaimed physicist and Royal Society professor for public engagement with science, to Boris Johnson. Cox went on to say that “the big existential questions we face as a society require in a democracy, voters, the public, to understand what science is and what uncertainty is, because we don’t know everything.”
This is totally lost on Abela who went on TV precisely to state “Le science, c’est moi!”. The public has to have confidence in scientific advice to accept big challenges facing society. It is certainly not built on the self-important posturing of an immature politician, no matter how many times he says ‘suċċess’.
Why haven’t doctors been consulted on the transition measures announced last week? Is that following science, prime minister? How can the minister of health and the superintendent of public health announce with a straight face that outpatient appointments will be resumed at Mater Dei during the worst crisis since the beginning of the pandemic with multiple wards shut down and close to 300 health workers in quarantine?
Good leaders know that one fights the spread of the virus first, then the spread of the economic recession second
We are used to politicians playing fast and loose with science for political and economic gains. But this is when it becomes worrying: when people of science play politics. Granted, Chris Fearne is also a politician. But Gauci has a choice. Why is she allowing her credibilty to be undermined by politicians?
This pandemic has had its fair share of conspiracy theories. But it’s no conspiracy theory to surmise that the messaging started getting garbled when a certain Joseph Muscat was wheeled out as the prime government adviser to the ‘post- COVID-19 economy’. Did Muscat base his advice on herd immunity? We all know that life is expendable in our country when it becomes an obstacle in achieving political aims.
There is one telltale sign that Abela is parrotting whatever Muscat fed him, sorry, advised him. We have now sat through a fair number of conferences by Abela more than we can throw a shoe at. One thing is certain, though. Abela is no wit. So the soundbite that the wave is just a thing found in the sea is pure Muscatian snark.
The pandemic is showing that populism does not contribute at all to an improvement in the situation, but quite the opposite.
The attempts to take political advantage of a national and global emergency is a mark of weak leadership. Good leaders know that one fights the spread of the virus first, then the spread of the economic recession second.
The country cannot have a strong economy built on a sick workforce. Only coordinated measures will be able to refloat the situation in the long term.
One important takeway from the conflicting messages from last week’s press conference is that the relaxation of these measures does not mean that the pandemic is over. Hardly. It means that if you catch the virus by having your hair and nails done and then after pop over to your favourite hangout, there is a bed for you in the ITU. And, oh, a funeral Mass if things really go south.