Earlier today I had a meeting in Qormi afterwhich I decided to stop by a random hanut tat-te for a good old Maltese ftira and a glass of coffee (yes glass, I’m proud of my Maltese heritage so when I’m in a kazin I’ll take my coffee in a glass). I sat in a corner and enjoyed my coffee while listening over to a group of elderly men discussing about the current political situation in Malta.
One of them was saying that he’s ever so proud that his beloved leader won the vote of no confidence and he was saying that he was always a labourite because Labour was always the worker’s party. The other replied that although he always voted Labour he felt that this Labour party wasn’t a socialist party anymore; in fact he was sure that this party was the total opposite to what his beloved Mintoff always preached about.
Another guy said that he doesn’t care what they were saying, he was happy that his Juventus are doing well and couldn’t care less about the situation in Malta as long as his Labour were in power, while the last one said that he used to be a canvasser for Louis Galea in the past however he quit the scene ages ago yet he is a proud Nationalist and according to him PN are right in the way they’re handling this scandal.
So here we are, a group of friends, 4 different characters, 4 different values and line of thoughts. I said to myself that this will be an interesting conversation so I stayed there for a good 30 minutes, listening and sipping my coffee while every now and again having a quick swipe at my facebook.
I was mostly interested in hearing what the one that is proud of Muscat got to say. In fact at one point the dissatisfied labourite asked him how he can be proud of Joseph Muscat when it’s clear that the current labour group are not taking care of the workers, they are not working towards improving social rights, they are not distributing the country’s wealth among the people and it seems that they are making each other richer and richer by the second. The other replied that it’s true, but as long as his party was in government he will be happy, as he will hate it to see PN in government once again. I smiled and said to myself; Tribal fascination!
After a while the politician in me forced me to join in the conversation, how can I resist such an opportunity to talk to a stranger!? First I offered these four gentleman another coffee to which they happily accepted and then I pulled a chair closer to them. I introduced myself and asked the staunch labourite a question. Why do you support labour? His answer was quick; because I was raised that way and because it’s the party of the workers. A typical answer that we’ve been hearing since the days of Manuel Dimech.
Then I asked him, if that’s the case, how come are you supporting Labour today when PN are closer to your believes? To this he told me that he would never support PN as it’s the party of the rich. Then I went on a steep curve of political rationalism that can be understood by everyone. I went into sheer detail about the true values that us Maltese hold dear to.
Today both party’s agree that health should be free for everyone, more so to that, PN believes that the government should ensure that it has enough hospital space to ensure that health is given free to everyone, to the rich or the poor, to the labourites or to the nationalists. Hence why PN was opposing the selling of Government hospitals to the private. PN are strong advocates that education should be free for everyone. Anyone, no matter who your father is, can become a Lawer, a doctor, an architect or an engineer.
The PN believed so much in this principle that the first thing that Dr. Giorgio Borg Olivier did when Malta gained its Independence was that he commissioned the development of the The University of Malta in Msida. PN believed so much in the individual independence that they continued building school after school, with a school being built every year. Re-opened MCASt, enlarged secondary schools and refurbished primary schools across the island. This was all for free as our kids would be able to utilize them for many years to come.
After explaining all this in great detailed I asked them all a simple question. How is this not a visionary party with a pulse on the social aspect of our society? How is PN’s line of thought not slightly on the socialist spectrum whilst always leaving space for development through its core values? Isn’t this not the way forward to create jobs? Isn’t education the best tool to earn you more money?
Isn’t this not the best way one can ensure that your children has a better future then the one we’re living? Is this not the People’s Party? After all, who are the people? Aren’t the people the workers too? In that case, what truly makes a party the worker’s party? Your logo/branding or your proven history?
After that I didn’t expect an answer from them, in fact the Nationalist one just smiled to himself and changed the conversation over to football at which point the Juventus fan happily joined in the conversation. I sipped my remaining coffee that by now was stone cold and wished these gentlemen a good day and went off to continue my day. Too bad that none of them where from my district as I think I would have won a vote there!
