In his first interview since undergoing surgical treatment just under four weeks ago, Labour Party leader Alfred Sant yesterday hit out at what he describes as “shameful spin” and speculation over his medical condition, stressing the fact that the details of his ailment were never kept under wraps, but rather, were made public according to a pre-planned sequence of events.

Speaking to The Malta Independent yesterday at the MLP headquarters, Dr Sant, still officially convalescing while the party is being headed by acting leader Charles Mangion, was upbeat and looking forward to officially re-entering the political sphere in earnest on Sunday at the party’s general conference.

Yesterday’s interview, he said, marked the beginning of his return to politics after having taken a step back from the arena over the last month, during which time he underwent major surgery to remove a tumour, and a period of convalescence at home.

Dr Sant, who has yet to begin a post-operative chemotherapy course, says his health is progressing according to doctors’ expectations and that he is taking his recovery gradually, commenting, “day after day you climb the next step”.

Asked whether he is up to a fully-fledged electoral campaign, which can be taxing under even the best of health conditions, Dr Sant said, “We are ready to roll, and we are going to roll very well as a party in the next elections. Our campaign is well prepared, all our teams and structures are in place, and we are ready to just press a button and go at a moment’s notice.

“The wind is in our sails, but that does not necessarily mean we are taking anything for granted – breezes can change, currents can change and we have to keep it steady as she goes.”

Since the party announced Dr Sant’s impending surgery, speculation on his fitness to stand for election in a gruelling campaign, as well as questions and criticism with regard to whether or not he should remain at the party’s helm, have been rife in certain media and in the writings of some columnists – observations Dr Sant preferred not to react to yesterday.

The Labour party has also been criticised over the past month for having, according to some, hushed up the truth behind Dr Sant’s medical condition when it first became apparent – an accusation Dr Sant flatly denies.

“This is one of the spins that have been circulating over the last few weeks, which is shameful,” he remarked. “The whole thing (the diagnosis and decision on the treatment of his condition) developed just three days before Christmas. Within three days a decision was taken on the diagnosis, and a decision to operate was also taken.

“At the time everybody was in shut-down mode, with politics taking a back seat, as always, during the Christmas season, and I had very little time during which to communicate, even with my family.

“It is totally shameful the way all this has been manipulated by certain people. It was my intention, right from the start that – once I knew what the prognosis was, how the operation had gone, what the follow-up would be and after consulting with my family and the party – to explain all the details.

“This is precisely what I did at a pre-planned press conference (on 14 January), which had actually been scheduled about nine days before it actually took place. There was absolutely no attempt to keep anything hidden,” Dr Sant stressed. “Everything had to come in its own time. But now I’m used to this kind of manipulation, and this was simply the usual partisan politics from a number of people who should know better. They should have waited to see exactly what the situation was.”

Certain media have also been accused of sensationalising the matter, but when asked for his reaction to the reports and opinion pieces that have been flooding the media since the first whiff that something was amiss with the Opposition Leader’s health, Dr Sant was polite: “That’s up to them and I won’t criticise them. If they want to do it, they do it.”

Asked what he thought of such criticism, particularly from those who suggested he should have perhaps considered stepping down, he was equally tactful, observing, “What I think doesn’t really matter in these matters; they will go on doing it irrespective of my opinion.”

But despite such “shameful” behaviour, Dr Sant has been encouraged by the good wishes of people from both sides of Malta’s political spectrum. “Of course I had a great deal of support from people I know, but I was also touched by those who sent their best wishes, even though they do not support my politics – that is something you truly appreciate. It’s a good feeling to know that, despite all the spin and the political antagonisms, people feel human about something like this.”

Dr Sant is now preparing for his official re-entry into the political arena on Sunday, when he is pegged to deliver the closing address at the MLP’s general conference. On Sunday, he will be making his “comeback”.

“It will have to be a keynote speech that sets the theme for an electoral campaign. I will be presenting a forward-looking policy, and I will also be making things clear as far as what our options are. We have quite a good policy plan and our priorities have been set.”

Dr Sant has a list of proposals for governing the country in a better way than at present, but, he added, “they can’t all happen at the same time – you have to prioritise and these priorities constitute the way forward. My task on Sunday will be to set these priorities within a policy that has been declared, discussed and adopted by the party.”

The priorities centre around initiatives in the fields of investment and job creation, improving the country’s competitiveness, especially in the light of Malta’s recent eurozone accession, education, health, environment, and, of course, cracking down on government inefficiency and corruption.

“What we need to do,” Dr Sant explained, “is to have things in place to get the economy running at annual gross domestic product growth rates of four to six per cent. But we now have to do that in terms of eurozone rules. As such, we need to identify what can be done within that context to really push growth forward. We need to do that because we are really lagging behind our competitors, both within, and outside the EU. So, what we need to do, is see how to create more investment and job opportunities, and how to improve on competitiveness.

“This is a major priority – if we do not push this country forward to its full potential, we will continue to lag, the same as we are doing at present.”

The second priority, he explained, is linking economic imperatives to social concerns, particularly in terms of education. “We say that our best resource is our human resource,” Dr Sant observed, “but when you check the output of our education system, in terms of the rest of the European Union, you find we are seriously need to catch up when it comes to literacy, technology and information technology, scientific education and the number of university graduates.

“The most important element of our educational priorities is at primary level, where we are not managing to decrease illiteracy rates. We have among the highest rates of illiteracy, and of people who go through primary education without really knowing how to work with numbers, or how to read and write. That is where we will be placing a big priority.”

Another main priority is Malta’s healthcare system, which, he said, needs to be more rationalise, more accountable and more responsive to the needs of the people.

“We need to see how to cut down waiting lists at the hospital and determine how the primary health care sector, which has been regressing dramatically, can be developed, while at the same time rationalising the expenditures of how different hospitals and services are being run.”

The MLP also has its environmental priorities but, Dr Sant underscored, “we also need to look into how much we are going to spend on environment, in relation to other uses for public funds such as education and health”.

Also top of Labour’s list of priorities is cutting down on what Dr Sant sees as the current levels of government inefficiency and corruption.

“This is something,” he remarked, “that is making people pay more taxes and is creating more inefficieny in the way in which public expenditure, especially in terms of capital projects, is being delivered. This inefficiency, of course, is creating more of the same, which feeds into the national competitiveness problem and which is holding back the development of real opportunities in the economic sector.

“In my opinion, these priorities are being addressed very inadequately by the government. Our analysis is that there is a lot of lip service being paid but it is not being translated into real, tangible action at ground level. The government, of course, says otherwise, and is at the moment trying to marshal as much support as possible – you can believe them if you like, but that is up to you.

“People need to judge the facts for themselves and on the basis of their own experience,” he added. “About two years ago, the government had said it aimed to see the people living a better life (through the publication of its Biex Int Tghix Ahjar document) and what people need to do is ask themselves whether they are actually living a better life now than they were two to three years ago.”

Dr Sant sees Malta’s main challenge – as a new eurozone member – as economic growth, an area where, he said, “If we lag behind in this area we will have problems”.

“What I dislike about the forecasts I have seen, such as those from the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, are the forecasts of another three years of slower growth in real terms, for Malta. That is a problem. We need to catch up and get in line with others in terms of growth.”

The MLP has made the point in the past, that Malta’s eurozone entry was somewhat premature, but now that the deal has been made, Dr Sant advised, “Let’s not only make the most of it, let’s make a success of it.”

Malta’s cost of living has been a continual sore point for the government, and Dr Sant acknowledges a certain amount of inflation being imported into the country. But he also perceives another degree of inexplicable home-grown inflation.

“To be fair,” he commented, “there has been an inflationary push across the world due to the prices of oil, cereal and dairy products, which have been rising across the board.

“But what is worrying is, that while there is this element of imported inflation that you cannot really control, there is also a lot of non-imported inflation. The question is this: Why is it that in Malta we are seeing inflation on foodstuffs, educational materials and services and health products of between double, if not three times those of other eurozone members? The answer is that there must be an element of non-imported inflation, but what is being done? No one seems to have an answer to why we have this extra inflation.

“The problem is also that, and even the IMF accepts this, at the same time labour costs have only risen moderately. As such, the local inflationary element does not result from growth in wages, so it must be coming from somewhere else.”

With a view to the upcoming election, to be called at a time of the government’s choosing, Dr Sant, while acknowledging issues such as government inefficiency and corruption will need to be discussed, calls for a “civil” electoral campaign free of mudslinging.

“Basically, what we would like to have is a civil electoral campaign, in which the issues are discussed rationally and are brought forward for the people to decide upon. That is going to help us all ‘live a better life’.”