Ma jistax jibqa’ aktar dubju li l-kwistjoni tal-Brexit issa tinsab maqbuda f’xifer mill-aktar perikoluż. Min-naħa tagħhom, l-Ewropej twaħħlu mal-pożizzjoni li mhuma lesti jibdlu xejn minn dak li ġie miftiehem mal-gvern ta’ May. Matul il-ġimgħat, xi tentazzjonijiet li qamu mill-Ġermanja, l-Polonja, l-Irlanda u forsi l-Isvezja u r-republika Ċeka biex ikunu aktar “flessibbli”, malajr ġew fgati.
Min-naħa tal-gvern ta’ Johnson, il-pożizzjoni diplomatika qed tiġi ssettjata f’disinn “kamikaze” li bilfors iwassal għall-ħruġ tar-Renju Unit mill-Unjoni Ewropea bla ftehim; jew jekk dan jitwaqqaf minn forzi politiċi interni Brittaniċi, għal kaos istituzzjonali.
Anki jekk b’xi soluzzjoni mirakoluża iż-żewġ naħat jirnexxilhom joħorġu mill-impass bi qbil, se tibqa’ tagħbija tqila ta’ qrusa bejniethom, u fl-intern tar-Renju Unit bejn il-Brittaniċi nfushom. F’sekli oħra, kriżi bħal din kienet twassal għal atti ta’ gwerra. Illum talanqas, theddida bħal din mhijiex plawsibbli, sakemm qed nitkellmu dwar gwerra fiżika bejn armati. Mhux l-istess madankollu jista’ jintqal dwar gwerra kummerċjali u/jew finanzjarja.
HELENA
Kienet aħbar tajba ħafna li Helena Dalli ġiet nominata mill-gvern bħala l-membru Malti fil-Kummissjoni Ewropea għall-mandat li jiftaħ f’Novembru li ġej. Kemm ili nara mill-qrib kif Helena tiżvolġi l-ħidma politika tagħha, bqajt impressjonat bl-intelliġenza u r-rieda li turi ħalli taffaċċja sitwazzjoni diffikultuża u timbotta għal soluzzjonijiet xierqa.
Isimha ġie assoċjat l-aktar ma’ riformi fl-oqsma tal-ugwaljanza soċjali imma matul is-snin kienet influwenti bil-pariri u l-aġir tagħha f’direzzjonijiet oħra wkoll. Bħal fir-relazzjonijiet trejdunjinistiċi, fil-politika Mediterranea u f’oqsma ta’ politika Ewropea. Sadattant, wieħed jammira l-mod kif saħħet b’suċċess il-kompetenzi akkademiċi tagħha – turija tas-serjetà li biha qieset il-politika waqt li dejjem baqgħet leali lejn il-valuri tas-soċjaliżmu demokratiku.
Nawgurawlha t-tkomplija ta’ ħidma mill-aqwa fi ħdan il-Kummissjoni Ewropea l-ġdida.
BILINGWIŻMU
Drajna nqisu lil pajjiżna bħala wieħed fejn isaltan il-bilingwiżmu: imma kemm hi minnha dil-ħaġa?
Fil-Belġju fejn jintqal li hemm sitwazzjoni simili (anzi fin-nofs jidħlu żewġ lingwaġġi oħra, imma nibqgħu fuq it-tnejn ewlenin), il-bilingwiżmu jinqala’ għax hemm żewġ “tribujiet” fl-istess pajjiż, bl-ilsien “matern” tagħhom differenti.
Fil-każ tagħna, bħala popolazzjoni primarjament ta’ oriġini Maltija, l-Ingliż hu ilsien addottat minn barra, li veru, għal ħafna uħud, iservi bħala ilsien ewlieni, anke uniku, ta’ kumnikazzjoni soċjali. Il-kompetizzjoni lingwistika fil-pajjiż mhijiex politika, bħal fil-Belġju, imma kulturali, ekonomika u soċjali. Dan ifisser li meta jiġu biex jittieħdu deċiżjonijiet fejn il-fattur lingwa hu importanti ħafna – bħal fis-settur edukattiv – irridu noqogħdu b’seba għajnejn li ma naddottawx mingħajr sens kritiku mudelli Ewropej ibbażati fuq realtajiet ta’ bilingwiżmu differenti minn tagħna.
English Version – What Brexit?
There can no longer be any doubt that the Brexit issue has now reached a very dangerous cliff edge. On their part, the “Europeans” are tied to the position that they will not change anything in what was agreed with the May administration. Over the weeks, any temptation to consider adopting a greater “flexibility” that could have arisen in Germany, Poland, Ireland and maybe Sweden and the Czech republic soon got swept away.
From the perspective of the Johnson government, the diplomatic response has been set to a “kamikaze” mode that will inevitably push the UK towards a no-deal outcome with the EU; alternatively leading – if no-deal is blocked by internal British political forces – to institutional chaos.
Even if some miraculous solution is found by which the two sides can exit from the impasse by agreement, a deep sense of bitterness will remain between them, as well as inside the UK, across the British people. In past centuries such a crisis could have triggered acts of war. At least today, such an outcome is not plausible, at least by way of armed warfare. The same though hardly applies to the prospects of a commercial and/or financial war.
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Helena
That the government has nominated Helena Dalli as the Maltese member of the European Commission for the new mandate that starts this November, was very good news indeed. For as long as I have been following closely the way by which Helena has structured her political activity, I have been impressed by the intelligence and straightforwardness she deploys to counter problematic situations and to push for appropriate responses.
Her name has mostly been associated with reforms in the field of social equality but over the years, with her advice and initiatives, she was influential in other directions as well. Like in relations with trade unions, Mediterranean policies, and different sectors of the European domain. Meanwhile, one could only admire how she successfully reinforced her academic competences – which in my view demonstrated the seriousness of her commitment to political affairs while always remaining loyal to the values of democratic socialism.
Here’s wishing her all the best so she can continue with her good work now from within the new European Commission.
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Bilingualism
We have become accustomed to the idea that in our country, bilingualism prevails; but how true is this?
In Belgium, where it is said, a similar situation can be found (even if actually two more modes of speech exist, but let’s focus on the two major ones), bilingualism occurs because the territory holds two “tribes” with their own different maternal language.
In our case, given a population that is primarily of Maltese origin, English is a language that has been adopted from the outside, true, but which for many serves as the main or even only language of social expression. Linguistic competition in this country is not political, as in Belgium, but cultural, economic and social. This implies that when decisions are being taken where the factor of language becomes very important … as in education… we have to watch out not to adopt uncritically European models of bilingualism based on realities that are unlike ours.
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