The Grinch who stole Christmas is a classic children’s Christmas story penned by Dr Seuss. It recalls the story of an eccentric character named Grinch who disliked both the people of Whoville and their ardour for Christmas. With the help of his lapdog Max, he concocts a devilish plan to ruin their Christmas by stealing all their presents and decorations while they are asleep.

Has Joseph Muscat become our Grinch who, with his fellow lapdog Owen and co., is going to steal our coming Christmas?

Christmas is the time of the year in which we embrace the joy of giving and wishing others well. It is a time to be merry. It is a time where we put aside our differences and come together as one.

Sadly, this has been lost. Many are not in any mood to celebrate Christmas this year. Alas, we have to celebrate this coming Christmas with a dejected spirit and as a deeply divided nation.

Although this is not the first time we stand divided, never before in our democratic journey has a prime minister and his government been overshadowed by well-premeditated political mafia that assassinates its own citizens.

Never before have the State structures been accused of colluding with the underworld. Never has our nation been considered a ‘mafia state’!

How can we celebrate Christmas in serenity when people are infuriated by the shocking revelations of the systematic sleaze and corruption encompassing the brutal assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and also by the rebuff of Muscat to relinquish his post as Prime Minister, notwithstanding a pressing call for him to step down?

How can we put a merry face on when we are being faced with a Prime Minister allegedly obstructing the course of justice?

How can we celebrate Christmas living in a mafia-like state?

How can we freely celebrate Christmas when the right to protest and voice our concerns is being considered an act of national betrayal or an act of provocation?

Many, even within the Labour ranks, are gobsmacked by Muscat playing Nero, touring the country playing his harp while Malta is burning at his feet. On the other hand, honest Labour supporters are sternly bewildered, hurt and feeling gravely betrayed by the very man whom they trusted so faithfully and looked upon with such awe and admiration.

We the people of Malta are far bigger and stronger than Joseph the Grinch!

Truly, we are now living in desperate times.

But beyond the festive interlude, Muscat and co. are not only stealing the Christmas spirit but have stolen Labour’s political soul. The current Labour Party line-up is anything but Labour!

Indeed, the party ceased representing its core values.

With his ‘pro-business’ mantra, Muscat transformed Labour into a neo-liberal capitalist party. In so doing, the party has been hijacked by those who seek their self-advancement and make hay while the sun shines.

The excessive commercialisation and the rape of our environment are tangible proof of Labour’s betrayal.

As much as Muscat was an asset to the party, he is now a liability. He is a ‘politically dead’ man walking. What a pity that his legacy will not be remembered for the good initiatives/changes he introduced, which I have no qualms to admit. Sadly, his legacy is tainted and the way he and his government are going about it reconfirms that Labour has an uneasy relationship with democracy.

During the 1980s, the Labour Party silenced its critics through physical intimidation and repression and now the same tactics are being used in a more sophisticated and subtle manner.

Is this the case of a leopard that is unable to change its spots?

But Muscat is not only stealing Christmas and Labour’s ’soul’ but also the ‘soul’ of our nation.

By promoting and enabling a culture of impunity, cronyism, systematic sleaze and bad governance, we are now living in a state where everything goes and is justified as long as one has money and power.

‘U ejja, come on’ mentality!

A nation which has striven for many years to promote solid principles, core values and a good reputation has now lost its moral and ethical fibre.

Our reputation has become a joke. Only the blinkered will not acknowledge this.

However, just as much as the people of Whoville stood up to the Grinch and made him realise that they cherished their values and themselves more than their presents/decorations, so we too will stand up and be counted.

It is encouraging to witness an active and assertive civil society taking a prominent lead.

It is good to recall what the President emphasised during his Republic Day message, that “the Republic of Malta is far bigger than the gang of people who brought shame on our country”.

Yes, Mr President, you are perfectly right. We, the people of Malta, are far bigger and stronger than Joseph the Grinch.

Albert Buttigieg is mayor of St Julian’s.