The dynamics of change

Article from Malta Independent.

No matter how the new British coalition government will perform or even how long it will last, in spite of the fact that contrary to what Andrew Rawnsley predicted, the result did not spell the end of the party (the Labour Party). The overall winners were the dynamics of change. The clarion call of both the Tory and Lib Dem parties.

The new Cabinet, and I am sure the future Shadow Cabinet too, will bring together some of the most seasoned and experienced elements in the respective parliamentary groups, as President Obama did once elected into power. We now have a situation in Britain where not only have the winds of change blown strongly in an irresistible manner but we are facing a situation where both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister are in their early 40s while everything seems to point in the direction of Labour most likely having a similarly aged new Leader of the Party very shortly.

In Cameron’s case, Britain has the youngest Prime Minister of the last two centuries while the age factor was one of the determining factors of Obama’s victory apart from his charisma, vision and excellent communication skills. Further aided as he was in proving himself to be media savvy, a true moderniser and highly capable as Cameron was in transforming his party and making it truly electable.

This explains the discomfort in local Nationalist circles, who in spite of the ideological divide were secretly rooting for Brown out of fear that the result would mark a seismic shift that would show that not only is this a clear signal that an establishment party has been booted out, but also that in Malta it has become even more than probable and feasible to have a Prime Minister who could be in his late 30s by the time the next elections fall due. If the electorate so decides.

As I had argued in an earlier article in another section of the local press, elections always boil down to three main factors: change, fear and hope.

The PN will do its best to resist the former by trying to give the impression that one does not need to change government because it is ‘constantly’ reinventing itself (sic); its perennial card is that of trying to instill fear among the electorate about the present Opposition Party, even more so since I can hardly recall any recent moments or years where the PN’s credibility was so tarnished.

If one had to take for a moment its environmental credentials, they are so dented that it is no longer an issue of PL vs the PN but rather the PN vs public opinion. One only has to recall that in the case of the power station extension criticism against government was heaped against it from the unlikeliest quarters – the institutional Times newspaper, ex PN Environment Minister Michael Falzon, all the major NGOs, with the truly independent and highly regarded Auditor General pitching in to remind one and all that had government heeded and acknowledged the pivotal role that environmental considerations had in the recent power plant tender, a lot of controversial environmental issues could have easily been avoided.

We have now reached the pits... where government is the only one to believe in its own options and proposals.

Stronger proof than this that it is living in a state of denial can hardly be asked for.

This will surely not mitigate the media massaging that will go on this week to try and soften up public resistance to the power plant extension as the predictable outcome of the final MEPA board approval fast approaches.

One can almost predict as of now what the vote outcome will be.

While every trick in the book will be used to ‘allay’ fears, many will surely recall that all those being brought on board during this crucial week – including Cabinet Ministers – were conspicuously silent when issues relating to particulate matter, switched off precipitators, black dust, unregulated emissions, and abusive use of illegal dumping as a means of waste disposal were resorted to.

Last week in spite of being ‘rubbished’ as a power hungry young kid on the block, Joseph Muscat showed political gravitas and even courage when he mapped out 15 practical and clear cut proposals to fight corruption.

After almost 30 years without anyone ever having been found guilty of corruption in politics and seeing the island lumbered with an ineffective and toothless Commission Against Corruption, it came as a breadth of fresh air to come across proposals that are so doable and which only need political will and a determined mind set to pass the necessary legislation to put them into practice.

The PN’s reaction was indeed pathetic.

At the time of writing, the best reaction they could muster was jipprova jnessi l-imgiba ta’ ghajb tal-oppozizzjoni fil-parlament. Almost as if these set of measures were intended to mitigate any political fall-out that according to the PN might have resulted from the PL’s recent firm stand in Parliament after the unexplainable and unacceptable manner in which the executive and the Chair in our opinion, tried to run roughshod over the PL, with ministers even conniving to tarnish the image of our parliamentary colleague Dr Justyne Caruana.

I can personally vouch that Joseph Muscat has been long working on these set of proposals and that his media conference last Thursday was no ‘damage limitation’ exercise – if this was ever needed or else a diversionary tactic or strategy.

The PN’s failure to respond positively to Joseph Muscat’s proposals says much about the frame of mind and state of play within the PN’s leadership.

After seeing a Deputy Prime Minister being publicly accused by many fellow MPs and journalists of being somewhat ‘economical with the truth’ over the dismal Justyne Caruana saga, we now have a Prime Minister who in true keeping with his always detached and disinterested reaction to Transparency International’s dismal findings on our corruption index as an EU member state, failed to rise to the occasion, by showing sufficient political courage to pledge to share these proposals and if need be even commit himself to implement them even ahead of the forthcoming elections.

Without wanting to, one cannot but help recall EFA’s most telling battle cry which was never ever so valid li min ma jiggielidx il korruzzjoni huwa korrott! (All those who do not fight corruption are themselves corrupt).

With certain media the PL always invariably faces an uphill struggle and a ‘lose lose’ situation. If it holds back from pronouncing itself strongly on certain issues it is immediately dismissed as being one of mere style and no substance.

On the other hand the moment Joseph Muscat announced his 15 measures against corruption, he was asked whether this was an early election campaign programme and if he is predicting that the current government will not last the end of its term.

Joseph Muscat rose to the occasion, the same way that he had done on Freedom Day at Vittoriosa by showing true statesmanship.

This time round he stated clearly that this is not an electoral agenda but an agenda for the country.

Concluding he said that ‘We are willing to share our vision because we are on the right side on this issue and because we hope for a better day.’

What might be acceptable to Lawrence Gonzi on good governance or lack of it, is now evidently not acceptable to the PL.

This says even more than the traditional ideological divide that used to separate both parties in the past.

I was recently shocked to receive an e-mail from an apolitical respected environmentalist who told me that he had lost faith in Parliament as an institution for the manner in which Cabinet Ministers ‘lied’ and ran roughshod over the Opposition.

Standards have simply gone down in this country and the only characteristic to shine on the government side is the level of mediocrity many ministers and government decision makers have reached.

I am not at all surprised that certain fat cats and politically appointed people at the head of government quangos must have experienced a strong feeling of unease when Joseph Muscat announced his raft of anti-corruption measures.

I am sure that there was even more unease when Joseph Muscat stated that the party will also speak about other cases of corruption when the time is right.

An interesting point which a Nationalist leaning lawyer recently pointed out to me was that Joseph Muscat’s 15-point plan not only manifests a strong political will to change the tenets of good governance in our country but with his set of proposals he has even bound future administrations – Labour included – from going the way of past governments when it comes to good governance, transparency and accountability.

The reportedly sluggish progress made by the PN government in the Parliamentary Reform Committee is sufficiently indicative of how weak the PN’s commitment to really change things on the ground really is.

It reminds me very well of the time wasting approach they had adopted in the past when they went out of their way to ‘kill’ the political financing proposals that we had worked on intensively at the time of the Galdes Commission where I had represented the PL; only to end up against a predictable PN erected dead end that left us stranded with a thick document that we were unable to implement or even approve due to the PN’s resistance and obstructionism.

Although one may expect a bit of a lull with the forthcoming World Cup, I am sure that Lawrence Gonzi risks facing a long hot summer unless he mends his ways and sheds his arrogance and insensitivity towards those issues that matter most to the ordinary citizen and the average man in the street.

As for the PM’s concluding remarks during the PN Council on Sunday his bland and uninspiring speech will be best remembered for his poor out-take on The Sound of Music and the Climb Every Mountain classic ballad with his pledge to climb every mountain.

The atrocities he will have to shoulder full political responsibility for, during next Thursday’s Phoenicia Hotel MEPA hearing on the Delimara power plant extension, do not augur well for his Vision 2015.

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