Some weeks are worse than others for this government.
While, on the one hand, on the macro level the country is doing fine, and the assessments being made by the European Commission as well as entities such as Fitch are extremely positive, on the other hand the government is failing on the same matters which brought down the Lawrence Gonzi government.
The last Nationalist administration worked wonders on a general level, in times which were even more difficult in economic terms, but it was unable to manage the situations that came up day after day, little by little leading to a loss of confidence that ultimately led to Labour’s huge election win.
Well, nearly two years later, Joseph Muscat is more or less following in the same footsteps of his predecessor.
Last week was particularly awful for Joseph Muscat and his government.
1) It started off with the infamous defence of two former Nationalist ministers who The Malta Independent revealed as having had secret accounts in a Swiss bank. In his haste to show his political hatred towards Austin Gatt, the Prime Minister ended up expressing support to two ministers caught evading tax. The PM should be in the forefront in fighting tax evasion but here he was shielding tax evaders.
2) It continued with the report issued by the Auditor General on the way the government dealt on the Cafe Premier property. The Prime Minister’s personal involvement in a transaction which to describe as shady would be an understatement is a matter that would have led to a resignation in another country where transparency and accountability really matter. But Joseph Muscat ploughs on as if nothing happened.
3) The Ombudsman took an unprecedented step to take the government to court over Armed Forces of Malta complaints after the Home Affairs Ministry refused to acknowledge the possibility of his intervention on matters pertaining to the army. The government’s behaviour in this regard does little to show respect towards this institution.
4) The Malta Environment and Planning Authority turned down a request to sanction illegal developments in a Zejtun farmhouse owned by Equal Opportunities Minister Helena Dalli and her husband. Again, this is a matter that elsewhere would lead to a resignation.
5) Parliamentary Secretary Justyne Caruana was accused by the Union Haddiema Maghqudin of threatening workers. She claims that the allegations are defamatory and false, but has not taken any court action. In a day an age when politicians are quick to resort to the courts of law for the flimsiest of reasons, one would have expected Dr Caruana to challenge what the UHM is saying in court to defend her name. But, so far, she hasn’t, and this therefore strengthens the UHM’s bold statement.
6) Last but not least, we had the Home Affairs Minister asking the UHM secretary general to surrender his mobile phone before going into a meeting with him. Rightly so, the request was turned down. What Carmelo Abela did was show deep distrust in a union leader, one of the social partners the government says wants to work with hand in hand. I don’t know if Tony Zarb has met Mr Abela since the latter took over from Manuel Mallia, but I doubt it that if this meeting took place Mr Zarb was asked to surrender his mobile phone.
These are all situations in which the government has been embarrassed, and they have all served to dent the government’s credibility. They all came a week before the start of the campaign leading up to the local council elections, and also a week before the self-imposed deadline for the building of a new power station expires.
They expose a Prime Minister who, apart from his own shortcomings, has failed to deal with those committed by his underlings.