Rankatura

Ninsabu fil-waqt ta’ proċess elettorali fejn il-kampanji rispettivi jkunu laħqu r-rankatura massima tagħhom. Diffiċli jsaħħuha issa b’mod spettakolari – dejjem jekk ma jidħolx xi element moħbi li fl-aħħar ġranet jibdel bil-kbir il-fehmiet taċ-ċittadini.
Jekk niftakar tajjeb, l-aħħar darba li dil-ħaġa ġrat kien fi Spanja, fl-aħħar elezzjoni li Aznar kien mexxa għall-Popolari: ħareġ iwaħħal fis-separatisti Baski għal attentat imdemmi, u rriżulta li l-Baski ma kellhom x’jaqsmu xejn.
Niddubita kemm illum, in-nies tara wisq differenzi bejn il-proposti dwar il-politika tal-futur li qed jippreżentaw iż-żewġ partiti. Imma jafu sew xinhuma ż-żewġ temi skjerati: it-tmexxija ekonomika u soċjali ta’ suċċess li mexxa l-gvern Laburista kontra l-akkużi ta’ governanza li qajmet l-Oppożizzjoni.
Jien u nikteb hawn, m’inix nara li hemm wisq ċans fiż-żmien li baqa’ biex ir-rankatura fuq wieħed jew l-ieħor minn dawn iż-żewġ suġġetti titqawwa. Forsi għandi żball.
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VERDETT
Il-Bank Ċentrali Ewropew fisser il-fehma li matul is-sena 2016, il-ħidma għal għaqda akbar fit-tmexxija u fl-istituzzjonijiet taż-żona tal-ewro staġnat. Dan minkejja li d-diversi pajjiżi membri resqu eqreb tar-regoli ssettjati għall-ekonomiji u l-finanzi tagħhom.
Il-verdett tal-Bank hu korrett.
Il-front li fuqu kienet qed taħdem iż-żona tal-ewro biex issaħħaħ l-istrutturi tagħha hu dak tal-għaqda bankarja. Daħlu sew il-miżuri ta’ sorvelja ma’ għadd kbir ta’ banek Ewropej biex jiġi żgurat li qed isegwu ċerti regoli ta’ sigurtà finanzjarja fl-operat tagħhom. Għad hemm dgħufijiet kbar madankollu fil-ħarsien ta’ banek kbar li jistgħu jikkrollaw. Banek Taljani jinsabu fuq quddiem nett f’dil-kwistjoni.
Fuq kollox, għadu ma sar prattikament xejn fuq dak li jissejjaħ it-tielet pilastru tar-riforma bankarja Ewropea: it-tnedija ta’ skema Ewropea għall-garanzija tad-depożiti li jitpoġġew fil-banek.
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BEJN TRUMP U NIXON
Għadu kmieni wisq biex wieħed iqabbel dak li jinsab għaddej f’Washington, ma’ x’ġara fi żmien il-President Nixon b’Watergate. Il-kriżi ta’ Nixon kienet bla preċedent u qawwija fil-mod kif spiċċat theżżeż mill-għeruq l-istituzzjonijiet demokratiċi tal-Amerika.
B’kuntrast, għalkemm serji, l-allegazzjonijiet li qed isiru dwar Trump, uħud minnhom xprunati mill-messaġġi elettroniċi li hu stess joqgħod jittwitja, ta’ spiss ixaqilbu lejn il-buffunati.
M’hemmx paragun bejn Trump u Nixon. Tal-aħħar kien politikant ta’ kalibru kbir li ħalla s-sens ta’ inferjorità u insigurtà f’ħajtu u b’ħajtu jegħlbuh għal kollox, minkejja li rnexxielu jwettaq rebħiet politiċi kbar. Trump hu xowman li rnexxa fil-biżness u mingħalih li l-istess metodi li uża sa issa, japplikaw ukoll għall-politika.
Nixon ikkraxxja. Kmieni wisq biex tgħid li Trump se jmissu jew jistħoqqlu l-istess destin.

English Version – Momentum

We are at the point in the election process when the respective campaigns have reached their maximum cruising velocity. It is difficult to accelerate to a spectacularly higher speed – always unless some hidden factor intrudes in the final days to radically alter voters’ perspectives.

If my memory serves me well, the last time this happened was in Spain, during the final campaign that Aznar ran for the People’s Party there. He came out blaming Basque separatists for a bloody terrorist attack that had been carried out, when it soon emerged that the Basques had nothing to do with it.

I doubt whether today, people in Malta are seeing so many disparities between what the two parties are proposing regarding future policies. But they have grasped quite well what the two contrasting themes that are being laid out stand for: the successful economic and social policies which the Labour government has followed, against the claims about governance raised by the Opposition.

As I write this, I see little scope in the remaining days for a greater momentum on one or other of these two thrusts. I might be wrong.

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Verdict

A view expressed by the European Central Bank is that during the year 2016, efforts to promote a closer union in the management and institutional strengthening of the euro zone have stalled. This happened even though a number of euro countries came closer to the rules set by the euro zone to define their economic and financial operations.

The Bank has reached a correct verdict.

The front which the euro zone had been pushing latterly to strengthen its operating structures was that of a banking union. True, surveillance measures were introduced over a large spread of European banks, to ensure that they follow certain rules which underpin financial security over their outturn. However, significant weaknesses still endure in the coverage of big banks which could be subject to the risk of collapse. Italian banks are head of the list on this issue.

Most importantly, practically nothing has been done on the project which was highlighted as the third pillar of European banking reforms: the launching of a European scheme to guarantee all deposits placed with banks.

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Trump & Nixon

It would be premature to compare what is now happening in Washington with what took place when Richard Nixon was President and Watergate was in full blast. The crisis Nixon faced was unprecedented and terribly dangerous in the way by which it subverted the deep institutional roots of democracy in the US.

By contrast, the allegations that Trump is facing, though serious – with some of them triggered by his own electronic tweets – frequently verge on the farcical.

There can be no comparison between Trump and Nixon. The latter was a high calibre politician, who let his sense of inferiority and insecurity in and with his life, totally overcome him. Yet, he had achieved huge political victories. On the other hand, Trump is a showman who was successful in business and concluded that the same methods he used over the years, would serve him well in politics.

Nixon crashed. It is still too early to predict whether Trump will meet, or will deserve to meet, with the same fate.