There is something…visceral…that is missing in our protests that makes them feel dead. Something that you can’t quite think of, but its absence is noticeable enough that something feels off.

Protests are meant to be a political demonstration. And because the policy-shifting power behind demonstrations stems from the energy of the people that construe them, it feels as if we are witnessing an erosion of ‘protests’ as they degrade deeper and deeper into simple literature nights where a select group of speakers get to recite their most recent written rant.

Our protests are dead because there is no anger. Our protests are dead because there is no rage.

All that is ever heard nowadays is boring lectures evoking ersatz anger and a complacent sense of defeat – as if we have already lost, as if we have no hope of change.

Where is The Fury? 

Where is the anger? Where is the rage of the nation, whose money has been stolen and leeched off of? 

Where is the vitriol of the nation whose country’s reputation has been dragged into the mud for all to spectate and laugh at? 

Where is the fury of those who have been baited into believing this country will become a shining beacon of liberty and prosperity through the dozens of plans this government promised would make this country the gem of the Mediterranean? 

How, and why, have we as a nation let these acts go on? How are these people still in power? Why does everyone shrug and sigh while saying “M’hemmx x’taghmel” with an exasperated tone? Why has the nation resigned its hopes to remove these criminals from office, or even afford them the dignity of resigning from their positions?

The Sheer Amount of Scandals

It feels like every week a new scandal is exposed, every month another corrupt politician is outed, and every year another chat leaked that reveals the latest political corruption scandal. 

It is easier to hide behind a dozen atrocities than a single incident. The absurd number of kickbacks, favours and scandals being brought to light by journalists every week makes it hard to keep track of them all. With every scandal revealed, with every corrupt politician’s actions exposed, with every kickback plan that is unearthed, the public’s attention is ripped from last week’s scandal. 

And yet the nation’s anger is as scattered and unfocused as these corrupt plans that have thrived under the dwindling conditions of our democracy for a decade. The people behind these schemes are as irresponsible of their power as the PM is, who has done absolutely nothing to them but give them a light tap on the wrist and set them free. The people behind these schemes wield power in a reckless way, letting loose any air of caution to give favours to their buddies and families.

A Poor Excuse for Opposition

It is a widely known fact that the current opposition parties do not draw nearly enough votes to pose a threat to the PL. Most of the new parties are too small or new to have formed an identity that most Maltese can understand, let alone vote for. 

The only party that could potentially remove the Labour Party from government in the near future is the PN.  However, they have been battling problem after problem since 2013. PN do not draw the numbers they used to pre-2013. 

While the PL ruled and ruined the country and its reputation on an international scale, the PN has done nothing but panic after losing election after election, with leaders being replaced like day-old pastizzi after each humiliating loss. To have a chance of being elected, they must find a leader who will rally the fragmented troops under one single cause: to usurp the current government. 

The Ideal Leader/Opposition

This ideal leader might not give the best of speeches, nor might they be the best leader for the country – but they would have the burning ache to remove those in power, an ache that will force them to do anything within their power to remove and replace the current government. While this leader will most likely be cast aside for one who would be a better fit to lead the country, it is a necessary sacrifice to get back the reins from this corrupt government. 

Who would be willing to make such a sacrifice, probably being humiliated by those that blindly (and not-so-blindly) support the current authority, I do not know. But I do know that change must eventually occur, and risks must eventually be taken – someone must step up to lead, knowing full well that their fate is not to lead the country, but only to channel the people’s anger and use it to force the Labour’s corrupt posse out of government. 

Egos must be suppressed – with the hope that they would resign from their post, once being voted into power, to make way for someone more adequate and less angry to lead our country.

The opposition must be willing to raze and rebuild the structures that have been built on a foundation of corruption, and subsequently let that corruption fester. They must set priorities straight and act upon them, instead of making big speeches and never enforcing them. An iron will is imperative to carve out the rotting structures that have festered under our noses for a decade, their gut-wrenching rot being dragged from the shadowy depths and into the light for all to see, and must be eventually burnt and killed off. The opposition must be willing to stick their hands in the mud and try to build something better out of it, at the cost of being called dirty.

Hope for the Future Lies Within Us

There are times when the little hope there seems to be for the future of this country dies.

There are times when the will to keep believing in a cause, for a better future, dwindles and corrodes. 

There are times when our respect for the authorities who should be harbingers of justice has disintegrated. 

Uncertain and dwarfed by the sheer scale of corruption that has corroded our country’s reputation, the corruption that has fractured our anger at the corrupt into a million shards that inflict only a minute amount of pain on the authorities.

Remember this – it was the voice of the people that forced the PM’s hand to open a public inquiry into Jean-Paul Sofia’s untimely death. It was the unadulterated voice of reason that cried out with anger for justice that made the PM revoke the decision to not open a public inquiry, forcing his hand to go against a majority vote taken in parliament just a few days prior. The PM had to admit defeat and backtracked on parliament’s vote in order to keep the peace and to prevent further angering of the people. He was afraid of the nation’s anger – an anger that was powerful enough to thwart a parliamentary decision.

This was the last protest during which the rage towards our government’s contempt, its lack of care and responsibility towards the nation’s people was felt so viscerally. The sea of protestors was seething with a visceral fury, one that was brought about by a justified and unified cause. 

The anger within us can be channelled and used to overpower our complacency and spark the flame of necessary change that will burn out the corrupt and cauterise the wounds that they have inflicted during their reign. 

I have glimpsed this channelled anger only twice: during the protests that called for Joseph Muscat’s resignation, and during the vigil in honour of Jean-Paul Sofia and all those who had lost their lives at construction sites. 

It was this unbridled fury that brought Muscat down from his throne, the power of which he abused. 

It was this seething rage that forced Abela’s hand to open a public inquiry – an act that reversed the parliament’s majority vote.

Do Not Give Up The Hope, Do Not Forget The Anger

The hope to change this country for the better has not died. The hope to demand justice has not died. The hope to ostracise all the corrupt politicians who undermine our democracy has not died – unless we allow it to. 

All it needs is the anger that comes with the absolute need to see that those who have abused power face justice.

It is only if anger is channelled properly under one cause that will we be able to see the necessary changes occur. It will be a painful and arduous process, much like it has in the past by our ancestors in their fight for freedom, but this is the price that we must be willing to pay.  

We owe it to our ancestors who have spilt their blood for this country’s independence. 

We owe it to our children to fight against this country’s corruption. 

We owe it to ourselves to save this country from the plight of greedy politicians who used and abused Malta for their benefit.