Gonzi fir-rokna

Lawrence Gonzi qiegħed fir-rokna. Ilu jilgħab logħba perikoluża. Imma issa qiegħed joqrob lejn l-aħħar.

It-tmexxija tiegħu tal-Partit Nazzjonalista u tal-Gvern imxiet mill-ħażin għall-agħar.

L-ewwel linja ta’ difiża tiegħu kienet li m’hux hu kien responsabbli. Imma t-team li wiret. Għalhekk RCC u Joe Saliba ħarġu bil-brand ta’ gonzipn.

Gonzipn fissret il-konvinzjoni ta’ Gonzi u dawk ta’ madwaru (RCC, Joe Saliba u Austin Gatt) li l-Grupp Parlamentari u l-Kabinett ma jiswew għalxejn. Hu kollox. Qabel l-elezzjoni fil-fatt lil Molly Bordonaro Ambaxxatriċi tal-Istati Uniti qalila li ma kellux minfejn jagħżel Kabinett sura. Għalhekk wara l-elezzjoni lil uħud infurmhom b’SMS li s-servizzi tagħhom ma kellux aktar ħtieġa tagħhom.

Dak li qed jiġri llum fil-Parlament hu l-konsegwenza ta’ dak li Gonzi u Saliba ħawlu snin ilu. Fil-fatt li tiżra’ taħsad.

Fil-Parlament smajna lil diversi jkunu kritiċi ta’ dak li kien qed jagħmel kif ukoll ta’ dak li ma kienx qed jagħmel il-Gvern: gonzipn. U ġaladarba l-istrateġisti għoġobhom jidentifikaw il-Gvern ma persuna waħda (l-brand Gonzi) jridu joqgħodu għall-konsegwenzi : li l-istess persuna terfa’ r-responsabbilta ta’ kull ma ġara.

Ma hemm xejn ħażin li diversi membri parlamentari ħasssew il-ħtieġa li jitkellmu fil-pubbliku dwar dak li kien miexi ħażin. Dan hu rifless ta’ l-integrita’ tagħhom li quddiem triq li qed twassal għal diżastru u kollass komplet tal-PN huma għażlu t-triq tal-irġulija. Bil-bibien magħluqin setgħu faċilment imxew mal-kurrent. Bi grupp parlamentari li jippreferixxi l-inċens, bi tmexxija li tippreferi lil min jilgħaq hu pożittiv li diversi fetħu ħalqhom u qalu lil Gonzi u lir-reqdin ta’ madwaru li dak li qalu ma kienx jikkorrispondi ma dak li għamlu.

Gonzi ipprova jixtri lill-kritiċi. Ħoloq u ħatar numru ta’ Assistenti Parlamentari. Kariga immudellata fuq il-Parliamentary Private Secretary fil-House of Commons bid-differenza li fil-House of Commons hu unur li tinħatar. F’Malta titħallas biex forsi tinxtara u tagħlaq ħalqek.

Il-kritiċi parlamentari nazzjonalisti ta’ Gonzi għamlu żball wieħed. Ma kkordinawx il-ħidma bejniethom. Li għamlu hekk kienu jkunu effettivament qed iwaqqfu kurrent b’mod formali u kienu jġibu lil Gonzi f’postu żmien twil ilu.  Kienu jġibuh għarkuptejh u possibilment kienu jiffrankaw lill-pajjiż numru ta’ deċiżjonijiet żbaljati.

Iktar ma jgħaddi żmien imma Gonzi qed jitfixkel f’saqajh. Flok ma joqgħod attent għal dak li jagħmel (hu u ta’ madwaru) qiegħed ta’ kuljum iwassal messaġġ li l-arroganza hi element essenzjali tal-għodda ta’ tmexxija li hu għażel.

Mhux l-ewwel wieħed mill-mexxejja politiċi ta’ dan il-pajjiż li sab ruħu f’din il-posizzjoni. Hu dak li tagħmel meta tkun fir-rokna.

5th October – Students’ Day

Today may not mean much to some of the readers.

To others it means a lot. In particular it is Student’s Day.

Student’s Day commemorates the day when the students stood up in protest in 1977. I was there.  A second year student in the then Faculty of Engineering and Architecture

It was 1977 when Medical Students had their lecturers locked out as a result of the trade dispute between MAM, the medical doctors’ union,  and Government.  With their lecturers locked out students could not attend lectures.

Chained to the railing at Auberge de Castille, the students carried placards stating “I want to study in Malta”.

Early in the afternoon of the 5th October the Students’ Council Annual General Meeting at University suspended its session and those present proceeded to Valletta in full support of the Medical Students. Almost immediately a substantial number of police from their Floriana HQ caught up with us students and chased us all the way from Valletta to University. Some were manhandled and beaten.

It was the beginning of a very long and sad story, a very difficult time for tertiary education.

The Labour Government led by Dom Mintoff commenced substantial changes to the tertiary educational setup. Labour devised a “one size fits all” student worker scheme based on government’s requirements in state hospitals. Six months study were to be followed by six months work with some holidays and examinations sandwiched in between.

The work experience, if properly planned was beneficial. But unfortunately it was not as students ended up as part of the ordinary workforce with insufficient time to dedicate to their studies. Various submisions were made to government to change the system, but Labour would not listen.

The university student population at that time was around 400. A substantial contrast to the current 10,000+ population.

It was Labour’s darkest hour in tertiary education.

originally published in di-ve.com on 5 October 2012