They have been a very trying two months for the Prime Minister. At a rather sensitive moment in time, the floodgates of corruption and sleaze gaped open and washed away the glory of the Mater Dei celebrations and the hype of the euro challenge. During his visit to Australia, Dr Gonzi must have pondered heavily on recent events that have doubtlessly tarnished his administration’s image of good governance and democratic accountability.
Many people would point their fingers at the antics of some of his ministers who have demonstrated that they are either incompetent or have passed their sell-by date. However, much of the malaise cannot but be attributed to the Prime Minister himself, who miserably failed to pass the test of political decisiveness in the face of adversity. Many now suspect that the political determination shown with regard to the former finance and foreign affairs minister, who was dumped out of the cabinet barely weeks after he challenged Dr Gonzi for the leadership of the nationalist party, was based on petty partisan retaliation rather that political chutzpah.
The Prime Minister continues to defy public opinion – as he has been doing ever since he took over the reins shortly after his predecessor’s departure. The general view, then, was that he should immediately shuffle his cabinet, bring in new blood from the back-benches and weed out the elements that were affecting the smooth functioning of government. It was not to be.
Instead the country was regaled with a portfolio merry-go-round that in effect reinstated the ministers of the Fenech Adami era. This was his first great mistake. In spite of his promised “new way of doing politics”, Dr Gonzi’s refusal to inject innovation into the executive bloodstream signalled continuation rather than change.
Indeed, the country continued to fare badly. Tourism passed through one of its darkest patches in living memory, redundancies became the order of the day and high taxation absorbed much of consumers’ spending power, consequently depressing the economy. Leading opinion-makers and editorialists pleaded with Dr Gonzi to make changes to the composition of his cabinet in the hope that it would stimulate fresh enthusiasm and ideas and generate growth. However, Dr Gonzi snubbed his back-benchers again and again. The freefall of his government accelerated – as was confirmed by successive Nationalist Party losses
at five consecutive polls, including the nation-wide European parliament elections.
Dr Gonzi continues to have faith in a turn-around in the economy’s fortunes on the eve of the general election. He is calculating that he will then be able to call the shots. But while he is interpreting statistics positively to prove his point, a relentless string of scandals are hitting the foundations of some of our most trusted institutions. The scandals in the Transport Authority, the Maritime Authority, the Health and Gozo Ministries and Mosta local council, as well as the tug-of-war between Mepa and its own audit office, have all cast a shadow on the moral and political fibre of our country’s institutions.
The police seem to be doing their job. But is the Prime Minister going about his political business properly? It is here that the Prime Minister is missing the wood for the trees. People certainly want criminal justice, but they are also demanding political accountability. The Commissioner of Police has one job to perform, and people demand that he does it well. But the Prime Minister has an entirely different job to perform and people want him to perform it well. It is no excuse for the Prime Minister to say that he is doing his political job well simply because the police are charging people in court.
But instead of the political ruthlessness that leaders are expected to demonstrate in defence of the basic democratic values of transparency and accountability, Dr Gonzi opts to shun public opinion, for the umpteenth time, and astonishingly rushes to salvage his cabinet. In the process he is raising the ire of pundits who traditionally maintain close links with the Nationalist Party, denting his own political credibility and casting serious doubts on his ability to lead.
Right on the eve of the general election, Dr Gonzi is busy quoting statistics to try to give the impression that the economy is on a high. But the Prime Minister does not seem to have realised that, after everything that has happened recently, when people come to make a choice, they are now far more concerned about good and clean governance than about the economy itself!
Dr Gulia is the opposition’s main spokesman on the interior