With a little bit of wiggling here and there, the PL/PN tandem managed to fit in 12 additional members to Malta’s parliament. Added on to the pre-election 67 members, Malta is now regaled with an awesome 79-member House. This is a phenomenal level in terms of per capita representation. The island never seems to miss a chance to feature in the Guinness Book of Records!
At a salary/cost of at least €26,500 per head, a recurring taxpayer burden has been increased by over €300,000. Now would it not have been a better idea to reduce House members to 51 seats, with a minimum eight of these reserved for women?
It seems PL/PN also concur on the increase in the number of ministers and parliamentary secretaries. We witnessed a procession of 23 cabinet appointees taking impressive solemn oaths. All these appointees, we are told, are needed to ensure Malta remains steady in maintaining its top position in administrative excellence within the EU! Now we will need more persons of trust, costing about €45,000 each, to help an expanded cabinet. Is it so difficult to conclude that, at most, a 12-member cabinet suffices to manage a country the size of a city?
A PL lacking in ethical and responsible behaviour is firmly in command for the next five years. Now is the PL able to solve some huge problems coming Malta’s way? Unexpectedly, after nine years of rule, some timid talk has started about fat and waste within the public sector. We have also had comments of an ominous ever-increasing national debt and recurring deficit spending.
Of course, we know why, how and by whom this dire situation has been brought about. Mired in nepotism and allegations of corruption, we also know how difficult it is for the PL to discard continuity. As it will hurt the greedy corrupt, any PL attempt to stop unsustainable behaviour will provoke embarrassing revelation threats.
At the start of a fresh five-year PL mandate, it is interesting to draw a parallel with Dom Mintoff’s 1981 doomed third successive term. Then, so many problems started coming to a head with no innovative solutions in sight. The PL became progressively more intolerant and aggressive. Fortunately, Mintoff and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici found resistance in a PN ably led by Eddie Fenech Adami. Today, again, the PL holds the PN in total contempt but there is hardly any PN reaction of note. In the next five years, will this PN manage to sort itself out, become a strong opposition and project itself as a deserving alternative government?
The PN must differentiate and distance itself from the PL- Arthur Muscat
Bernard Grech is facing five critical years during which he has to claw back a 12,000 PN voter loss and seek to re-engage a record 70,000 abstainers. Bold decisions and risks need to be taken. The PN is financially broken and perhaps should submit to bankruptcy procedures. The PN needs a clean fresh start, almost a re-foundation.
The PN must differentiate and distance itself from the PL. The party must stop playing along in tandem with the PL on manifestly shady deals. We have seen such deals produce reciprocal illicit advantages at the expense of third parties and democratic ethical behaviour. Active strong opposition to rotten PL initiatives is desperately required. It is appalling how there seem to be more instances of government chastising the opposition than the other way round.
An opposition’s role is not simply that of opposing. There is nothing to stop a dynamic PN from continuously elaborating and proactively proposing legislation on anything under the sun. The PN must not sit back and lazily await PL legislative proposals and, at committee stage, superficially react with half-hearted amendments and compromises.
The PN needs to clarify and update its policies on many critical issues. Internal discussions must occur, and positions defined, on abortion, euthanasia, defined ODZ constitutionally locked, drug use liberalisation, procedures on sale of public assets, forced mandatory union membership, direct orders, positions of trust and many more.
Labour must not be allowed to conveniently decide on the timing when to raise these issues. Too often, the opposition is found unprepared, unclear, all tied up in knots. With their ‘Be prepared’ slogan, our Girl Guides and Boy Scouts should be an inspiration to the opposition!
A generational transition still needs to be felt within the PN. Fresh young elements there are, they just need to be given a break to get engaged. How about immediately asking them to have a go at changing a rather outdated party anthem and a tired emblem?
Arthur Muscat, human resources and industrial relations specialist