We Are Family, bishops of Malta

In a statement yesterday, the representatives of the Church in Malta, Pawlu Cremona and Mario Grech said voters should choose candidates who supported families based on marriage between men and women.



Read my lips Mr and Mr Bishop - We Are Family too.

I, in turn, encourage you to choose candidates who support a clear separation of church and state.

Who'll get the pink vote?

The British government acknowledges my same sex relationship. My Civil Partnership certificate is worth nowt in Malta.

In view of the MEP elections, will someone enlighten me as to who in Malta is promising the best legal recognition of my relationship? It all seems much of a muchness to me. The only difference I have noticed so far is that, in contrast with the rest, the Nationalist MEPs seem to be more reticent and have taken a longer time to sign ILGA-Europe's pledge. The same MEPs were also clearer in stating they were against same sex marriage and child adoptions by same-sex couples.

This does not mean the others get off scot free. Correct me if I am wrong but the other MEP/MEP hopefuls never said they were in favour of same sex marriage and child adoptions by same sex couples. All they promise is to put us all in one multi-purpose basket along with all flat-sharing mates. I find that insulting. I have promised to love, respect and have amazing sex (OK, the last is just wishful thinking) with my partner, taking in the responsibilities that come with such a commitment and I get to be lumped with people who's only thing in common is their address.

Here we are thanking them profusely for the privilege of having met us just prior to asking us for our vote. They'll have to do better than that.

The way I see it is they all feel they're being charitable, whilst retaining at the same time that a love between a man and a woman is way superior. You know what? You NEED my vote and although I'm not a one issue voter (I have already voiced my concern at why each MEP has placed the immigration issue before that of the economy), I might just this one time make sure you never get close to that gravy train.

I don't expect anything better from a closet case who can't resist a boogie amongst bare chested same-sex loving hunks and his "won't dare criticise the Pope" mate, but my respect for those who claim to be liberal is fast disappearing.

Although this is one truly emotional piece on my part, I do hope you will send in your comments about this issue. In principle, I am against throwing away my vote, but I simply don't have the foggiest who's for real in this game.

Parallel worlds

The UK is in the midst of a credit crunch - the real crisis. The British press, the government, the opposition and a good part of the population decide the real National issue is the expenses scandal that has hit the major political parties.

The island of Malta faces the same global crunch. All (yes, all) aspiring MEPs, encouraged by an increasingly xenophobic and paranoid population, decide the major issue facing Malta is irregular immigration.

Airy Fairies

Chiara and entourage.

The Guardian today reported that, on the day that Eurovision was held, Moscow riot police violently broke up a peaceful gay pride rally, drawing attention to Russian authorities' appalling record on gay rights. The worst part of watching this year's Eurovision is that no artist has spoken out against this (apart from the Netherlands' representative who did not make it to the finals). I am sorely disappointed in the absence of any public show of solidarity towards Russian gays from Chiara and her Maltese entourage, a good number of who are otherwise openly gay. More hurtful is outspoken UK gay BBC presenter Graham Norton's cluelessness as reported by the Guardian.

Yesterday Norton professed ignorance about the tough line taken by the Moscow authorities against the gay rally. "I feel really bad, but I don't know very much about this," he said.

Disillusioned

Politics is just show business for ugly people.
Jay Leno.

With the EU elections on our doorstep and the considerable number of MP hopefuls attempting to get our attention and essentially our vote, figuring out who represents what we belief in is not a simple issue any more. Where once Left and Right were distinct ideologies, politics is suddenly a much more complex tool.

The fascinating thing about blogs is that we get to follow other people's journeys and thought processes. Andrew Sciberras, a 21 year old law student yesterday threw away the membership card of the party that he had until then believed in. Here he attempts to make sense of what the main political parties represent.

There are several ways or ideologies on which politicians may base their choices. Let me mention two. The cosmopolitan, generally speaking, strives for international solidarity and cooperation. He does not build walls, rather he tends to bring them down. He holds a broad view of globalisation which is not merely limited to the greedy sprawl of corporations and exploitation of workers, but includes international solidarity with peoples all over the world. The nationalist, on the other hand favours insularity and is most eager to erect walls. For the nationalist it is a sin that other nations or international organisations meddle in internal affairs. Anything beyond the border is the enemy. A chief example of nationalism is Berlusconi's statement that his government "won't do like the left governments and become a multi-ethnic Italy."

In Malta cosmopolitanism, which on political lines I identify with the left, does not exist. Many times, the Labour Party turns out to be far more nationalist than the Nationalist party itself. It was doing so in the immigration situation until the Nationalist Party, which was pursuing diplomacy, started to kiss Maroni's un-diplomatic ass and regard him as a hero. For suspending international obligations (many of which incorporate human rights) and threatening to destabilize European progress of all forms with the use of the veto is nothing but ultra-nationalism. The closest thing to cosmopolitanism that I have seen was cross-border trade union solidarity in the dockyard issue, solidarity with anti-hunting organisations in Malta and Europe, and a recent international solidarity of NGO's on migration. Now, Labour is dangerously silent or in secretive agreement with the forced repatriation of migrants which falls foul of the basic human rights etched in the Universal Declaration.

AD may be more cautious in approach, and has indeed criticised Maroni in the recent past, but I was not so happy with Cassola's statement the other day (in a GWU-Youths seminar on 'What's Left?') who claimed that the situation is what it is...we must not discard the people's sentiment on the issue. I'm sorry to say but the people's sentiment is disgusting and becoming worryingly more so. The people's sentiment is very important yes but leaders are also there to lead. It is dangerous to think that the people's sentiment holds stronger weight than the basic rules of law.

For that is what is happening. Basic and fundamental norms which play a central role in any democracy are being discarded for political ends, namely to gain votes. This has always been the practise of the far right. Mainstream leftist parties must not be an accomplice to this. Labour and AD need to pull off the tape and speak up NOW.