Populiżmu

Il-moda fid-diskussjoni politika fl-Ewropa hi li t-taħdit idur dwar il-populiżmu. Jissemmew x’inhu jiġri fl-Ungerija u l-pajjiżi l-oħra fil-grupp imsejjaħ tal-Visegrad; l-elezzjoni presidenzjali stramba li tinsab għaddejja fl-Awstrija; il-progress elettorali ta’ partit bħall-Front Nazzjonali fi Franza; u s-suċċess li kiseb Donald Trump sa issa fil-kampanja presidenzjali Amerikana.

Il-populisti qed jiġu preżentati bħala theddida kbira għad-demokrazija pluralistika, kif b’ċertu mod huma. Jibnu wisq fuq ir-rabja tan-nies, joffru wisq soluzzjonijiet li huma sempliċi żżejjed.

Imma qed jirkbu fuq kriżijiet li l-partiti “tradizzjonali” ħallew jinfirxu u jikbru. Dawn baqgħu ma tawx tweġiba xierqa għall-problemi li qed jifnu lin-nies. Tajjeb jew ħażin, il-populisti qed jitkellmu dwar dawn il-problemi u bil-mod tagħhom jagħtu tweġiba.

Anki meta ma jemmnux li t-tweġibiet tal-populisti huma vijabbli, il-votanti tal-anqas qed jagħtuhom il-krettu talli qed jiffaċċjaw magħhom il-problemi li jkidduhom.

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Ġranet mitlufa

Dan ix-xahar ta’ Mejju fil-Belġju reġa’ fakkarni fil-ġranet “mitlufa”: fl-aħħar ġimagħtejn il-ħaddiema u l-impjegati hemmhekk gawdew minn tliet ġranet ta’ btajjel li f’Malta ma neħduhomx: Lapsi, il-Pentekoste u l-Ewwel ta’ Mejju. L-ewwel tnejn huma festi reliġjużi; peress li l-Ewwel ta’ Mejju dis-sena ġie l-Ħadd, il-Ġimgħa ta’ wara kienet jum ta’ btala fil-Belġju.

Ħafna mill-kontroversji f’Malta dwar it-tneħħija ta’ dawn il-btajjel illum intesew. Meta l-gvern Laburista tas-snin sebgħin żied il-jiem ta’ btala obbligatorji għall-ħaddiema imma naqqas jiem ta’ btala reliġjużi f’nofs tas-sena, inqalgħu l-irwiefen kollha. L-Oppożizzjoni Nazzjonalista wiegħdet li terġa’ ddaħħalhom, u magħhom il-prattika li għal kull festa mitlufa għax taħbat il-Ħadd jew is-Sibt, tagħti ġurnata btala ekstra.

Wara l-1987, hekk kien sar. Imma terġa’ snin wara, l-istess gvern Nazzjonalista reġa’ bdielu u rrevoka kollox, f’isem l-istess raġuni li kien semma l-gvern Laburista — il-produttività.

Kienet ħaġa stramba ssib li l-prattika antika tagħna dwar festi għadha ħajja u qawwija fil-Belġju.

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Soċjetà ċivili

Jidher li ħafna nies għandhom idea żbaljata ta’ x’inhi u fiex tikkonsisti s-soċjetà ċivili.

Donnhom iqisuha bħala xibka ta’ nies li jingħaqdu, daqqa hemm daqqa hawn, miġbura madwar xi kawża partikolari, u li jistgħu jimmobilizzaw dejjem aktar malajr illum bl-użu tal-midja soċjali.

Mentri fil-biċċa l-kbira, is-soċjetà ċivili tikkonsisti mill-membri ta’ għaqdiet u istituzzjonijiet li jinsabu organizzati — mingħajr ma jgawdu minn poter statali — madwar xi attività kontinwa, u dan fil-ħarsien tal-interessi ekonomiċi, soċjali u kulturali tal-individwi membri tagħhom.

Meta jimmobilizzaw ruħhom, jagħmlu dan għax ikunu qamu ċirkostanzi li jħossuhom bħala theddida, reali jew potenzjali, għall-operat u l-eżistenza tagħhom.

English Version – Populism

The fashion in political discourse in Europe currently is to focus on populism. The topics that recur are: events in Hungary and in the so-called Visegrad group; the strange presidential election now taking place in Austria; the electoral progress of parties like the National Front in France; and Donald Trump’s success as of now, in the US presidential campaign.

Populists are being projected as a huge threat to pluralistic democracy, as indeed they are in a certain way. They draw too much on people’s anger, offer too many over-simplistic solutions.

But they ride on crises which the “traditional” parties have allowed to spread and deepen. They have failed to respond adequately to problems that are really bothering many people. Rightly or wrongly, populists address these problems and seek to respond to them in their own manner.

Even when voters do not believe that populist solutions are viable, they still give populists credit for having joined them to face up to the difficulties they are encountering.

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Lost days

This month of May in Belgium I was reminded of the “lost” days: these past two weeks workers and employees there benefitted from three holidays that are not observed in Malta: the Ascension, Pentecost and the First of May. The first two are religious holidays; as the First of May this year came on a Sunday, the Friday that immediately followed was a holiday in Belgium.

Many of the controversies that erupted in Malta when such holidays were removed are today forgotten. When the Labour government of the seventies increased the number of obligatory holidays for workpeople, it also reduced the number of religious holdays observed in mid-week. Hell broke loose. The then Nationalist Opposition promised to restore the “lost” holidays, along with a practice by which when a holiday happens on a Saturday or Sunday, an extra workday is allowed off.

Post 1987, that is what it did. But some years later the same government changed its mind and retracted the measures, basically on the same grounds as those proclaimed by the Labour administration: to improve productivity.

It was strange to discover that our discarded policies regarding public holidays are still alive and well in Belgium.

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Civil society

Many people have the wrong idea as to what constitutes civil society and what it consists of.

They seem to consider it as a network of people who get together and assemble sometimes here, sometimes there, around some particular slogan. They can also in this view, nowadays mobilise more swiftly via social media.

However, to a large extent, civil society consists of members of organizations and institutions which, while not benefitting from state power, concentrate on an ongoing activity, in order to safeguard the economic, social and cultural interests of their individual members.

When and as they mobilise, they do it to confront circumstances that they consider to be a real or potential threat to their operations and existence.