Five talking points from Abela and Borg’s Xtra debate

Robert Abela and Alex Borg may have sensed a pang of déjà vu on Thursday, as they found themselves standing beside one another from across a room, pitching their party’s manifesto for the third time in just four days.

Unlike Monday’s rowdy and occasionally ill-disciplined discussion at university and Tuesday’s more sedate gathering with small businesses, Thursday’s debate took place in the familiar setting of a TV studio, as part of TVM programme Xtra.

Programme host Saviour Balzan quizzed the two leaders on issues ranging from their plans for some of Malta’s most pressing issues, such as traffic and construction, to the seemingly endless generosity of their electoral pledges.

Here are five key takeaways from the debate:

1. Wellbeing index? ‘A certificate of their failure’

Abela came out firing, buoyed by the news that a European Commission report earlier in the day had given Malta’s economy a glowing review.

The report is “a moment of great pride,” Abela said, describing it as “certifying how Malta has by far the best economy and the best job creation in Europe”.

“This document is the bible and its commandments for every prime minister and finance minister,” he added before directing a jibe at his counterpart.

“When you were asked by the press to list the fiscal forecasts of your own pledges you didn’t even know what a fiscal forecast is,” he told Borg.

A clearly unimpressed Borg was quick to retort.

“On paper, things look good,” he said. “But then they have to introduce a wellbeing index in their manifesto”.

“This is a clear certificate of their failure on quality of life,” he hit back.

“The only measure that shows things are going well is on the basis of money and numbers,” Borg argued, saying that “once you dig deeper, you realise that almost 100,000 people are living at risk of poverty”.

2. Fetch the calculator

Throughout the campaign, Labour has gleefully seized every opportunity to question PN’s grasp on numbers, poking holes in the party’s costings and even forcing it to backtrack on its initial calculations at times.  

Abela embraced the strategy throughout Thursday’s debate, frequently turning towards Borg to openly test his knowledge on the state of Malta’s economy.

“How much is the inflation rate? You don’t know,” Abela told Borg early in the debate, sending a shudder down the spine of anyone who has ever been asked by the class swot to explain the difference between sine and cosine just as they settled down for a maths test.

Abela was at it again just minutes later: “what’s Malta’s poverty rate? You don’t know,” he said, again turning to face Borg.

He spotted another opportunity late in the debate, asking Borg “do you know what our population is?”

“574,000 people, you’re only a few thousand off,” he said, in reply to Borg.

The bickering over numbers also featured an unlikely cameo from one of the key characters of the electoral campaign so far: Clyde Caruana’s calculator.

At the mention of the government’s Malta in Motion transport plan, Borg was quick to point to Caruana’s thinly disguised scepticism over the project.

“Clyde Caruana said he hasn’t yet seen the Malta in Motion costings,” Borg said. “He should look at his calculator to see the costings”.

“I hope Clyde is not using your calculator,” Abela retorted when the topic turned to a PN pledge to slash income tax. “Your calculations were wrong by at least €250 million”.

3. Non-committal on euthanasia

In one key segment of the debate, Balzan asked Abela and Borg whether they would campaign in favour of euthanasia should a referendum on the topic be held, as is being pledged by Labour.

Both leaders promptly chose the diplomatic route, evidently keen to ruffle as few feathers as possible at this late stage of the campaign.

The Labour government had fulfilled its promise to kickstart the national discussion on euthanasia, Abela said, eventually legislating for those who wish to create a living will.

But Abela walked back from previous plans to introduce a euthanasia bill, now saying the matter should be decided through a referendum.

“This is a sensitive issue that raises many emotions and personal views,” Abela said.

“The public should express itself in a referendum and then we will respect whatever the people’s decision will be and vote accordingly”.

Instead, Abela turned his guns on Borg, accusing him of regularly standing against social progress, including in one of his very first votes in parliament, when he was one of just three PN MPs to oppose a new IVF law.

“I have no biological children of my own and don’t know if I can even have children,” Borg replied. “How could I be against IVF if I could eventually need it myself?”

“I am in favour of IVF and have always been consistent on the subject,” Borg insisted, branding Abela’s accusation as “lies”.

However, just like Abela, he was less categorical on euthanasia, limiting himself to a promise to “abide by the people’s wishes”.

4. PN’s foreign workers plans

Malta's numbers of foreign workers, so often a topic of controversy throughout the campaign, once again featured heavily in Thursday’s debate.

Early on in the discussion, Abela warned that PN’s plan to tackle population is “to give every foreign worker who arrives in Malta a pension,” pointing to an electoral pledge to give a pro-rata pension to people who have paid less than the current minimum of 10 years’ worth of contributions.

“Who is going to benefit from this? Will it be the Maltese or foreign workers?” he asked. “This will destroy the sustainability of our pension system,” Abela said.

He doubled down shortly afterwards, saying PN’s plans for the healthcare sector involved removing foreign workers’ requirement for a work permit while giving them a €1,200 tax rebate as soon as they land in Malta.

“Where’s the sense of social justice?” Abela asked. “You’re giving people who have not contributed to the system a €1,200 handout as soon as they arrive”.

5. ‘You cannot control your parliamentary group’

Throughout the week’s previous debates, the two leaders frequently traded barbs about the ability of their respective teams.

On Monday, Abela cited the several heavyweight names in his cabinet as evidence of his party’s credibility in Monday’s debate. A day later, Borg was questioning whether Abela was ultimately at the mercy of his cabinet, as he sought to drive a wedge in Abela’s idyllic portrayal of his team.

By Thursday, Borg had turned that question into an affirmation.

“You have a parliamentary group you cannot control,” Borg told Abela at one point in the debate. “Look at Roderick Galdes and Clayton Bartolo, ask them if they’re happy at the moment,” he said of the two (now former) MPs forced off the party’s ticket.

On the other hand, Borg said, the PN team included several people who were once affiliated with Labour but grew increasingly disillusioned at the party’s direction.

“We have Conrad Borg Manché, Charles Azzopardi, Edmond Cuschieri. These are socialists, but they lost faith in the other side,” Borg said.

Abela saw this as an opportunity to again praise his team.

“You’re right, people have to choose between our respective teams,” Abela said. “The choice is between Charles Azzopardi, since he was mentioned, and Clyde Caruana, Ian Borg, Silvio Schembri and Miriam Dalli,” he added.

“Who of these do you want leading Malta’s finances, economy, energy, and environment?” he asked.