Labour governments have been an absolute and total flop. In 2013, Labour inherited a modernised and transformed country that had worked so hard to join the EU, had upgraded and transformed laws, taxation and work methods and had negotiated favourable terms and conditions with the EU of which we became a proud member.
This tiny island, with no natural resources, was enjoying steady success and growth, managing to successfully introduce the euro and to steer safely through the world financial crisis and the Libya crisis. Do you recall when two Libyan jet fighters landed unexpectedly at the Luqa airport and when foreigners working in Libya were successfully evacuated via Malta?
Malta was in the news for the right reasons. The way forward looked bright.
Education and training were given the push and importance that they deserved, a new campus for MCAST was under construction, a new state-of-the-art hospital was constructed and new industries that offered high value-added and lucrative wages were introduced.
The country’s overall appearance was upgraded and bastions were cleaned. The path for quality tourism was laid. The theme chosen by the PN for the 2013 general elections was ‘in pursuit of excellence’.
Along came Joseph Muscat who promised to improve matters by introducing ‘meritocracy’, ‘accountability’, ‘transparency’, ‘a great environment’, and ‘Malta for all’. And he certainly managed to persuade many people.
These buzzwords were mercilessly flushed down the drain before they could even take off.
Eleven years down the line, we are discussing the reshaping of the economy and the need to shift from quantity to quality. Everyone is concerned about overpopulation, overdevelopment and too many tourists. Once we are discussing change, it means we are on the wrong path.
The reality is that the Labour governments overheated the economy, doubled public debt, squandered public funds, appointed incapable party loyalists to top positions and presided over corruption the likes of which had never been experienced.
We are now experiencing and suffering the consequences of bad administration, a lack of leadership and wrong decisions being taken. Mater Dei Hospital is on its knees, what used to be an envious education system is stagnant and in poor shape and the traffic situation is a nightmare.
But the real flop of Labour governments is evidenced by the poor legacy that ministers and officials in high positions have left, while others still in office are heading in the same direction.
Former finance minister Edward Scicluna did nothing when the country’s greatest robbery took place. Former health minister Chris Fearne left the health system in absolute disarray. Former tourism minister Julia Farrugia, the one who had all the “mechanisms” in place, was swiftly sacked.
Owen Bonnici made an absolute mess of every ministry that he was entrusted with. Former education minister Justyne Caruana, the one who labelled Nationalists “sriep” (snakes), received the axe too for wrongdoing.
Former parliamentary secretary Rosianne Cutajar joined the fray and, once her colleagues were acting like pigs, devouring more than they could swallow (“kulħadd jithanżer”), she decided to give herself a hefty salary from ITS for a job she was not qualified to carry out and there was very little evidence to suggest she did any work at all.
Once we are discussing change, it means we are on the wrong path
Former transport ministers Joe Mizzi, Ian Borg and Aaron Farrugia succeeded in causing massive traffic jams and a total collapse of the transport system. Their successor, Chris Bonnet, will probably end up jammed too.
What about former Labour MP Silvio Grixti who is charged in court in connection with his alleged role in the social benefits racket?
We must not forget how poorly all the parliamentary secretaries and minsters who oversaw local councils fared, like Stefan Buontempo, the late Silvio Parnis and José Herrera. Alison Zerafa Civelli is on track to fail miserably too.
We have now experienced the disgraceful and disgusting debacle of ministers Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri who shamelessly promoted an unqualified and incapable PA to the role of a consultant, paying her an annual salary of €68,000.
In my opinion, the biggest flop of all is the closure of Air Malta. During 2012, the PN government successfully negotiated a restructuring plan with the EU. In 2013, the then chairperson of Air Malta informed us that all was on track. Then came Konrad Mizzi who even had the audacity to tell us that Air Malta was running at a profit. Before we even knew it, Clyde Caruana was forced by the EU to give it the axe. How sad. What a bunch of incapable politicians.
This government failed to efficiently regulate any new sector that gained a strong momentum during recent years and it only intervened when crisis mode was hit. Activity in the construction industry exploded during the last 10 years but the government only tried to regulate the industry after several people lost their lives on construction sites.
They only solved the mess created by the introduction of e-scooters by giving them the axe. Books may be written about the confusion and lack of direction that has reigned in ‘modern’ taxi services that were introduced nine years ago. We are now experiencing an absolute mess in the booming short-let industry.
The Swieqi local council has been warning the government about problems in the industry for more than eight years and has proposed solutions. They did absolutely nothing to address the situation and now we are facing a crisis. What an absolute flop.
We have had more than enough of scandals, bad news, corruption and false leadership. Our reputation has been tarnished and we are suffering the consequences of greylisting. We are in the news for the wrong reasons.
We cannot afford the mass exodus of youths and the rapid increase in the brain drain. This country deserves much better. We need serious and efficient people in office. Time is running out.
We must unite and work hard together with all people of goodwill to oust this corrupt and inefficient government. We must be on guard not to allow Labour to deceive and dupe the electorate once again.
Hope is on the horizon.
The wind of change is being felt.
Noel Muscat is the mayor of Swieqi.