Joseph Muscat: PN Has Shrunk From A Church Into A Chapel
Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the PN has symbolically shrunk “from a church into a chapel” over the past decade, claiming its rhetoric now sounds more like that of an NGO than a political party.
“The difference between a political party and an NGO is that the former must come up with a wide government programme while the latter appeals to a particular sector or focuses on a particular field,” Muscat told It-Torċa.
He said that when local and foreign NGOs and pressure groups morphed into mainstream political parties, they ended up losing their appeal.
“The reality of a party that appeals to the many is that it leads to conflict with the single interests of the few,” he said.
“In Malta, the greatest success was undoubtedly Alternattiva from the late 1980s. However, even it evaporated as soon it started getting involved in broader politics.”
“More recent attempts show that despite all the noise they make in media which is detached from reality, similar movements are destined for the same fate.”
He argued that the PN has moved in the other direction – a political party whose rhetoric more resembles that of a single-interest NGO.
“It doesn’t mean that the topics they focused on, mainly good governance also the environment to an extent, weren’t important but that they kept on playing the same tune,” he said.
“Not even the best pianist, playing on the best piano, will appeal to people if they keep on playing the same song.”
“It’s not enough to change the piano or the pianist; the necessary change is more fundamental than that.”
Muscat drew a symbolic comparison between chapels and churches.
“In a chapel, you probably know the people sitting next to you and you probably also know the priest and like his sermons,” he said.
“You go there because the priest doesn’t take too long or because he takes his time. No one will complain about what happens inside a chapel, but it will forever remain a chapel.”
“Churches are larger, sometimes full up and sometimes less so. You don’t know who you will end up seated next to.”
“Sometimes you would be seated next to a sweaty man or someone constantly on their phone. Sometimes there will be noisy children in front of you. And yet you shake each other’s hands in peace, even if you don’t agree with them.”
“The priest isn’t always the same person, and when their sermons drag on, many people start glancing at their watches while others start grumbling.”
“Some people choose that church because it is nearby, others because the Mass timing fits their schedule, and others for parking reasons. But at the end of the day, everyone walks into the same church.”
“A political party must be a church, and unlike NGOs, it doesn’t have the comfort of being a chapel.”
“Over the past 10 years, the PN changed four pianists but continued playing the same tune, although to be fair, some people might not even have been allowed to play anymore.”
“So from a church it became a chapel, and that’s how it will remain unless it’s willing to listen, speak, or at the very least, reach out to people – even those it disagrees with.”
READ NEXT: Construction Minister Visits Building Collapse Site And Vows Action
