“We know that there is no such thing as public money – there is only taxpayers’ money” (David Cameron, April 2015).
Irrespective of one’s political background, all would agree that there is so much truth in this statement. Public money is raised through taxes paid by the people. Men and women of all ages working hard to earn a living.
These same people expect their government to spend such amounts wisely, properly and in the interest of the common good. So the question one puts here is: are the millions raised through taxes paid being spent well by the government of the people for the people? The answer to this is a big ‘No’.
Take as an example the cost of Robert Abela’s cabinet.
Malta has a population of less than half a million. It’s the smallest state in the European Union in terms of population and geographical area. On November 24, Abela announced a cabinet reshuffle – appointing no fewer than four new ministers, bringing the number of ministers up to 20 (excluding the prime minister himself), complemented and assisted by another six parliamentary secretaries. A total of 27 from a government parliamentary group of 37.
A staggering 73 per cent of the whole government parliamentary group today forms part of cabinet. How ridiculous! How irresponsible! What an abuse! What a shame!
This is how we ended up with such a huge cabinet. Abela appointed his first cabinet in January 2020; just over 10 month ago. This cabinet was one big mess, a total failure. There was sheer incompetence in the elderly sector, a complete disaster in the energy, education, and tourism sectors. Michael Farrugia, Owen Bonnici and Julia Farrugia Portelli were out of their depth in the posts they occupied. This was clear to all. Even Labour diehards would admit this much.
Robert Abela’s cabinet is as big as Boris Johnson’s cabinet presently negotiating Brexit in the midst of the pandemic- Beppe Fenech Adami
In a normal, functional democracy, a prime minister would thank the three ministers for their efforts and send them packing to where they belong – the backbench. But Malta is no longer a normal country. Abela removed Farrugia Portelli, Bonnici and Farrugia from the ministries they occupied and, rather than sending them to the backbench, he gave them a new ministerial portfolio. He actually invented new ministries to accommodate them. This, to me, is abusive behaviour. This is not good governance. This behaviour verges on the immoral. Moreover, this comes at a very high cost. Millions of taxpayers’ money is being spent on ministries ‘populated’ (to use Konrad Mizzi’s word) with party cronies disguised as persons of trust.
Abela’s cabinet is the biggest cabinet in Maltese history. It is as big as Boris Johnson’s cabinet presently negotiating Brexit in the midst of the pandemic. It is as big as Italy’s Giuseppe Conte’s cabinet. Bigger than the Austrian, Spanish, Irish, Czech and French cabinet and so many others.
The largest cabinet headed by my father consisted of 13 ministers; ministers who negotiated and steered Malta successfully into the European Union. Lawrence Gonzi’s last cabinet had 12 ministers, a cabinet which steered Malta out of the world’s worst ever financial crisis.
All present 20 ministers and six parliamentary secretaries have their private secretariats. All have their persons of trust chosen by the minister, all handpicked and paid from our taxes; the likes of Neville Gafà and Keith Schembri and others graced these lists.
By a rough estimate, Abela’s present cabinet will cost the country some €25 million a year to maintain, close to three times as much as the last Nationalist government cabinet.
Is this taxpayers’ money well spent? Definitely not. At a time when money does not grow on trees, at a time when business is slow, at a time when social problems are on the rise, all public money is to be well spent.
The government has a duty to use taxpayers’ money to help people out of poverty, to invest more in our health and education system, to assist the local manufacturing sector, to assist small businesses. The government is bound to support the weakest in our society.
Abela has no right to squander public money to keep his buddies happy. His so-called reshuffle did just that. Doing so is an abuse. Doing so is simply not right.
And he knows this much.
Beppe Fenech Adami, Nationalist Party home affairs spokesman