I am a Maltese proud of my country

It is regrettable but true. Immigration brings out the worst in the Labour Party and its leader. Give him a chance to talk about immigration and he promptly drops his “moderate” and “progressive” mask to reveal his true colours. Last Sunday, Joseph Muscat was at it again. He hit out at the government for not being “firm” on immigration when compared to Italy that refused to take in 171 asylum seekers saved by Malta on the high seas. He said Italy safeguarded its interests and Malta should do so too.

Any reasonable person reading this report would logically draw only one conclusion, namely that Malta should have done like Italy and ignored the distress call of 171 persons.

But if we did that, 171 people would have lost their lives because their boat was going down. It is as stark as that.

Contrary to Dr Muscat, I see it differently.

I am proud that my country saved 171 persons from sure death and I consider the rescue mission carried out by the Maltese maritime squadron to be truly heroic. The fact that we are made to carry a burden by hosting the people we save does not mean we should, even fleetingly, consider letting them down. Let alone letting them drown.

I would like to believe Dr Muscat did not make this statement because he does not care about 171 lives. I prefer to believe he made this statement because he thinks it goes down well with the electorate. After all, it is not the first time he made populist statements.

Whatever the case, the fact remains his declaration was wrong and irresponsible. And there are many reasons why he should have avoided this inane gaffe. Here are some of them.

First of all, because he spoke too soon. Even as the PL proclaimed the government’s immigration policy had failed, news was coming out of Luxembourg, where EU ministers were meeting, that about half of the EU countries would help out by taking asylum seekers from Malta. Now if this news is confirmed it would mark an unprecedented step in Malta’s difficult quest for concrete solidarity and a significant feather in the government’s cap. Malta has long been stating the only real help for its limited capacity was for other EU countries to share asylum seekers by accepting to relocate some of them.

The Commission’s announcement that Malta’s pilot project on relocation would be extended would do just that. And if half of the EU countries had to participate in it, it would go a long way in addressing our concerns.

Dr Muscat is turning out to be prone to making ill-timed statements.

Second, because these kind of statements burn our bridges with countries, such as Italy, that are important partners for us.

The fact that one Italian minister, Roberto Maroni, shoots from the hip (in much the same style as Dr Muscat himself) does not mean we should turn our backs on our long-standing friendship with Italy. More so given that this friendship has been disproportionately beneficial in our favour.

Thirdly, because these kind of antics do not get you anywhere with the EU. And coming from a person who spent four years as a member of the European Parliament, they show an astounding lack of understanding of how the EU works. Stamping your feet and rubbishing the EU when you are part of it does not win you any friends. It just isolates you.

Proof of the pudding: whereas the Maltese minister walked away from Luxembourg with a handsome commitment of solidarity from about half the ministers around the table, the far-right Italian minister, walked out in a huff even before the meeting was over, empty-handed and isolated.

Again, this is not the first time Dr Muscat took this obtuse approach towards the EU, even after his late conversion to Europeanism. In 2009, he famously told us we should veto all EU decisions until they solved our problems with immigration.

Fourthly, because these statements are demagogic, that is, they appeal to people’s emotions and prejudices in a way that is manipulative and dangerous. Faced with a wave of people fleeing for their lives from war-torn Libya, the least a socialist leader could do is to show empathy and solidarity with the asylum seekers. Instead, we have him fanning the flames of prejudice by suggesting Italy was right in refusing them.

There are no two ways about it. Dr Muscat’s statement last Sunday was scandalous and it was more akin to a far-right populist leader than to a leader of a mainstream socialist party. In a normal democracy he would be expected to resign. He is unlikely to do that.

But, as a minimum, his words should be put under scrutiny because they do not come from your average Joe Citizen but from the Leader of the Opposition who aspires to be our Prime Minister in just two years.

Well, these stunts do not give me the impression he is particularly fit for the job.

www.simonbusuttil.eu

Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.