On notice

By and by Lawrence Gonzi is demonstrating that he did not retain the finance portfolio in his first Cabinet simply to plug a gap but for a specific primary purpose. He saw that his government would stand or fall by its ability to stop the onward rush of the structural deficit monster. He knew that little more could be attempted on the revenue side. The uproar of the eco-tax has provided whatever further proof may have been needed. The PM would have recognised that the point of departure of this part of his tenure lay in tying up tightly the expenditure legs of the monster.

Even if he had another strong character with technical knowhow to put in as Finance Minister in place of John Dalli, the buck would still stop on his own desk as Premier. Might as well make it start there as well with the full authority of the Premiership. Tonio Fenech, a qualified accountant MP, could be and was mobilised to cut his political teeth as number two in the sector, alongside the man in charge. That ministerial occupant must not only be looked up to by his ministry heads and those of the rest of the public sector. He must be able to impose his authority on his fellow ministers, and their parliamentary secretaries.

Meanwhile, Mr Fenech would provide PM Gonzi with the technical expertise he needed to add to his bow. The technical capability would not work unless it was accompanied or backed by heavy political action. Dr Gonzi is making it clear, albeit in his own soft-pitched language - which, he more than hints, should not be confused with softness - that his is the maximum weight and must count. The latest reiteration of the message was made through Thursday's meeting with government-appointed chairmen of corporations and agencies.

Dr Gonzi warned them, as the body of the report in The Times (August 20) said more correctly than the "urged" in its heading, that they must not exceed the financial targets set in the budget (for 2004 and rolling forward). More than that is required, of course.

Expenditure has to be cut back. And rather than howling before any pain even starts, as the tourist sector did when the Malta Tourism Authority was instructed to trim Lm0.5 million off its spending, which it could do by reducing fat, the public spending entities should be required to come forward with definite cutbacks.

So far the Prime Minister's main metaphor to transmit that message is the Mater Dei bottomless pit. That is an understandable metaphor but to be useful on a broad basis it has to be applied right across the whole public sector spectrum. There is a lot of spending that has been queried by the auditor general year in, year out. There is other unnecessary spending. The PM's effort to create another metaphor for that by pointing to summer overtime was a clumsy spinning exercise. If he must spin, he must get a good doctor. I would advise him not to spin at all but to tell as it is, straight from the shoulder, up front, first time and at every possible opportunity. In his recognisable personal style.

Spin does not become Dr Gonzi. Nor does it become him to continue to stymie his own message with an inability to rid himself of the Richard Cachia Caruana legacy. He should exploit the man's abilities, to be deployed within normal limits, with total transparency and accountability. But to continue to accord him special treatment and to defend the Brussels property splash in spite of all the objective arguments against the extent of the outlay bodes ill for the PM's ability to travel without unnecessary baggage. Dr Gonzi's berth should be above any inherited obligations and practices that have burden the country and also have no place in his own profile.

From that berth he could exhort and demand more authoritatively. Not just from the civil service heads and government-appointed chairmen in the rest of the public sector. But particularly from his Cabinet, including any schemers within it. When the Prime Minister speaks to the public sector bosses, he may be presumed to have already spoken in similar terms to their political masters. He would have done that in the Cabinet. If the public sector heads are on notice, the ministers and parliamentary secretaries must again be presumed to be on prior notice.

The more Dr Gonzi shows he is his own man, the greater the probability that his team will feel uneasy, take the notice seriously and pull up their socks.