Crisis? What crisis?

The Gonzi administration seems to have made its own a phrase attributed to Jim Callaghan in 1979. In the midst of a recession that was battering the UK at the time, Mr Callaghan was asked how he was coping in that economic crisis. He replied: Crisis? What crisis?

A few weeks ago we had Finance Minister Tonio Fenech solemnly declaring that he was not expecting any downsizing by STMicroelectronics. A few days later he had to admit that, in fact, not all was well with the flagship of Maltese manufacturing and that jobs will eventually be lost in this important company.

The water and electricity rates saga is fast turning into a soap opera. The minister who controls Enemalta first reassures everyone that, thanks to his benevolence, water and electricity bills are still much lower then they would have been had he not guided our energy supplier through the current economic turmoil, and now he seems to be moving closer to revising the rates.

No doubt, the pressure from 11 trade unions is beginning to have a political effect on the administration, which seems to be managing the country by trial and error.

The energy regulator, who apparently is not regulated by anyone, was less than convincing when asked to scrutinise the basis on which the energy rates were computed.

He opted to verify the mathematical accuracy of the monopolistic supplier's computations rather than challenge the assumptions on which these computations are based.

And the Maltese consumer and taxpayer is, in the meantime, paying the highest rates for energy consumption ever charged in Malta despite massive drops in oil prices in recent months.

But the bungling does not stop there. Even on a matter on which nationwide consensus could easily have been achieved, the present administration has done its best to turn it into a major controversy.

I am, of course, referring to the two major capital projects launched by the government recently: the building of an underground extension to St John's Co-Cathedral and the rebuilding of the old opera house where a new Parliament will be sited.

Despite loud voices of dissent from most civic organisations, the Gonzi administration has decided to soldier on. Not even internal dissent expressed by Nationalist members of Parliament is making much difference to the stubborn and mulish approach being adopted by the government on these projects.

This administration is now working in panic mode, denying that the country is facing major setbacks in tourism, industry and even the day-to-day management of public affairs.

Anyone who dares express concern is labelled as Dr Doom and vilified publicly. We keep nourishing a sweet but false illusion that we are somewhat special and we have done things so well in the past that we do not need to worry about an economic slowdown.

The Bank of Valletta has issued a thinly-veiled profit warning about the first four months of its operations in this financial year. Credit demand, it tells us, is "slightly subdued". This is happening after years of recording double-digit growth in lending.

Various manufacturing companies are discharging workers or working on shorter weeks while others, like STMicroelectronics, are still working out the details of an inevitable downsizing exercise. The operators in the tourism industry are openly expressing concern about the prospects for the coming season. And yet, little seems to be done to cushion this effect.

The reality is that this administration burned all its gunpowder last year to lure votes at election time. It has let public finance slip out of control and it has little firing power left.

Rather than announce concrete plans on how it plans to cushion the inevitable effects on our economy of a global recession, it keeps muddling through the public life of this country.

While denying that we are facing a crisis, the administration adopts crisis management practices to deal both with simple tasks, like maintaining our crumbling road network, and major tasks, like building a coherent plan to address the economic slowdown, which is already evident for those who want to see.

Maybe the time has come for the Prime Minister to call a meeting of his disciples at Girgenti to try and knock some sense into his dysfunctional team.

This is what the people expect and this is what he must do to avoid the phrase Crisis? What crisis? being engraved as an epitaph on his government's tombstone.

Dr Mangion is a Labour member of Parliament.

cmangion@keyworld.net