Need to do politics seriously

The two major political parties are poles apart both in substance and in style. While the government focuses on generating jobs and stimulating the economy, the opposition concentrates on attacking the government at every turn, playing the "populist" card and offering no solutions to boot! This is indeed a great pity as the opposition's input becomes more crucial when the world is experiencing such exceptionally difficult times.

A leader of The Times prior to the Budget 2010 (October 14) warned the opposition it was wrong, very wrong, to raise expectations unnecessarily and "for generally acting as if Malta has escaped the impact of the slowdown when facts and figures show otherwise".

To reach optimum results the leaders of our country, civil society and the constituted bodies must work together to overcome the challenges in the national interest. But Labour irresponsibly prefers playing to the gallery. In fact, two recent court judgments clearly confirmed that, putting it mildly, Labour is not playing a fair political game. Labour loves to indulge in double talk, depending on the circumstances and audience, and seems to lack the political courage to make any serious decisions.

I ask what was Labour's "positive" input in the reforms launched by the government, namely: local councils, primary health, rent regulation laws, education, the drydocks, Mepa, public transport etc.?

As far as I know, apart from its pro-divorce stance and its proposal to introduce the bulk buying system again it has zilch to show as far as its "values" and vision are concerned. This is the major bone of contention I have with Labour, a mega juicy one at that. Will Labour, once and for all, divulge its top secret "principles", that is, if it has any?

Needless to say, Labour loves to emit deafening noises when it comes to fuel price hikes but when push comes to shove the Labour leader fails to give his guarantee that a Labour government would reduce these "blessed" tariffs.

It is true that, with higher utility rates, we will all be feeling the pinch but the government can hardly afford to foot the rising costs. Anyway, taxpayers would have to pay up sooner or later and I prefer paying now for what I am consuming than later when interest accrued will perforce triple my bill.

It is all well and good to criticise and but has anyone at Labour ever heard that we are living in an "information society"? And this is the crux of the matter: Malta has a gaping vacuum as far as a possible "alternate government" goes. Labour needs to start offering a helping hand in the running of our country. We need substance and commitment and not rhetoric and superficial "models".

So, will Labour take up the gauntlet and say how it would tackle the effects of the global recession? How would it manage the deficit; generate jobs; check unemployment; control prices; curb inflation; attract more local and foreign investment and safeguard the environment? What energy-saving measures would Labour introduce? How would it stimulate tourism; handle the "illegal" hunting and immigrations sagas; manage gender discrimination; raise female participation in the workforce; arrest tax evasion; deal with illiteracy; eradicate bureaucracy; do away with hospital waiting lists?

Which reminds me; during the 2010 Budget speech, Joseph Muscat picked on Mater Dei Hospital's waiting lists. He shared the "bad" news that the lists are getting longer. Typically, he conveniently forgot the "real" news that this government is investing heavily in ultra-modern life-saving state-of-the-art equipment, that traffic in Mater Dei is more intense, that many more services are being offered locally and that 2009 registered a substantial increase in the number of operations performed, out-patients visits carried out, etc. More importantly, he ignored the sacrosanct truth that all personnel at Mater Dei are working 24/7 to provide the fifth best health service in the world!

Fully absorbed in highlighting the government's deficiencies for two whole hours, he ignored the government's remarkable achievements and positive performance compared to its European counterparts. As expected, he foundered miserably when it came to offering any tangible and sustainable solutions to overcome the severe challenges Malta is facing.

To add insult to injury, when Parliament discussed the budgetary allocation of the Office of the Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat chose not to participate directly in this parliamentary debate and remained mum... a first in recent history. Abdicating this parliamentary responsibility, the Leader of the Opposition gave up the golden opportunity to share his vision on the substantial portfolio he shadows, which embraces national security, the armed forces, tourism, local councils, information, Mepa, the MCESD, Meusec, etc...

The opposition's excuse for generally refusing to tango is that it believes the onus to govern falls on the government alone. I have never heard such silly reasoning. With that kind of logic, people who voted for Labour have no say in how this country is managed. I clearly recall Labour's pre-EU accession stance fretting over the fact that Malta's micro-voice would not be heard if we were to become a "full" member of the EU. But now, thanks to Labour's smugness and non-committal style, many Maltese have totally lost their macro-voice in Malta. How's that for a "new way" of doing politics?