My six-pence advice to Alex Borg: don’t let Roberta Metsola brainwash you, as you now risk losing everything.

Intrepidus

Alex Borg is the new face of the PN. He is being seen as fresh air not only in Gozo but also for the whole party. However, he has to learn to tread carefully. His popularity is already eclipsing, and he is now risking not repeating the same success in the next election. His endorsement of gay pride in Gozo did not do him any good. However, this happens to politicians seeking to endorse Roberta Metsola’s message. The fact that Alex Borg took part in the Europarade that cost the taxpayer over three million euros is not a good sign. Even worse, Borg used a solemn and patronising tone, wishing in his Facebook viewers love, acceptance, support, and assistance as if he were reading from one of the many panegyrics straight from the lofty churches that dot his island.

Whatever Borg’s inclinations, these must be kept to himself. If he wants a political future, he should not participate in or support activities organized by this government that are intended to cover up corruption. It was a big surprise seeing this new star of the opposition party nailing his flag to the mast of one of the most corrupt governments in Maltese history. He shows he has no political acumen and lives in an echo chamber tighter than Michelle Muscat’s diving suit. Unfortunately, he is failing to see the truth. He should learn and stop behaving like some icon of high fashion. The majority of the Maltese are fed up with the Labour government that supports the EuroPride. They are not against gays and lesbians, but as rightly said by Edwin Vassallo, they are against the widespread corruption that Malta has experienced in recent times. Therefore, his message on Facebook and participation in the Europride parade in Gozo are destined to backfire on him and his party.

Juvenal, in one of his satirical poems, coined the phrase panem et circenses, bread and circuses, in a complaint that the people of Rome had set aside all thoughts of their civic responsibility to indulge in all the sweetmeats that their corrupt politicians and emperors distracted them with. It does not require a particularly penetrating intelligence to work out that this is the strategy that this government, totally bankrupt of its social democrat roots, has adopted.

Even Mark Camilleri, the left-wing atheist who was the President of the Book Council, understood this. He is a fervent atheist, a vulgar hater of religion and Church, and whose position on the political spectrum is the extreme left. He is in favour of abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage, and all other positions that are typical of his political fellow travellers. Nontheless, Mark has a conscience, and he acts on it. Read what he said about the EuroPride organized in Malta that he called nothing less than a Pink Washing exercise by criminal government to convince the International community that Malta is a terrestrial paradise. In another post, he wrote that the MGRM has become an ally of a criminal government out of “petty opportunistic reasons”.

Another writer, this time profound and intellectual, is Edward Caruana Galizia, who published an excellent column in the Times of Malta on the eve of the EuroPride celebrations, arguing that while once upon a time, Pride was needed and was important, it was now complicating matters because of the controversies it is creating and sustaining. Edward wrote that the original purpose of Pride was to celebrate gay love and its public acceptance but that its original goals were now being compromised due to the radicalization of the LGBT movement.

What Edward said in a nutshell is this. Many, most people, in fact, are ready to accept gay marriage and other rights, but the movement now seems to have veered towards extremist ends. In this, he echoes his thoughts in other pieces in which he emphasizes the importance of moderation and avoiding adopting extreme goals lest the tables turn and a backlash is triggered against the gay community. He is probably correct as, for the first time, surveys in the US have shown that support for the gay movement has fallen among both Republican and Democrat respondents. A particularly shocking revelation of these surveys is the largest drop in support was registered in the category of young voters perhaps what Edward forecast is starting to happen.

Back to Alex Borg. I believe he is deluded if he thinks his public support for EuroPride will translate into greater political support for him and the PN. Yet it appears that the PN will never learn. All they need to do is look across the channel towards Italy, where Giorgia Meloni went from 1% support to 26% in less than a decade on the strength of her slogan “Dio, Patria e Famiglia”. Here in Malta, the PN’s strategy against Labour led to just one thing – absenteeism – much to the delight of Labour. 

This is irrespective of whether you believe in Meloni’s slogan or not or whether you support the LGBTQ+ ideology. How is it possible that Alex Borg is so lacking in political acumen? How can he not realize that Mark Camilleri’s accusations are spot-on and Caruana Galizia’s insights are excellent? Alex Borg’s kind of public support coming at this moment of the LGBTQ+’s radicalization and its privileged position as one of this government’s most favoured causes will ensure that the PN as an opposition party will be further discredited as a potential alternative and will ensure that Labour remains in power for another 30 years. The situation is indeed desperate.

Thus, my six-pence advice to Alex Borg is the following: don’t let Roberta Metsola brainwash you, as you now risk losing everything.