It almost didn’t happen. In less than three weeks, local elections will be held in 34 local councils in Malta, an exercise which, after more than two decades, is well-established in our political landscape. Yet, had Joseph Muscat had his way, this round would have been postponed. Had it not been for the insistence of the Nationalist party, these elections simply would not have taken place.

Costly elections and cheap bailouts

It would cost too much, he said. Not that the Prime Minister is usually adamant about loosening the strings of the public purse. He bailed out the owner of Café Premier to the tune of €4.2 million. And it has just been announced that he gave Cyrus Engerer a pay package of €80,000 for no reason other than that he is Cyrus Engerer, the man who saw the guiding light. Sixteen-year-olds who thought they were to have been given the right to vote in local elections found out that if eligibility were lowered, the date would have been postponed. This would have meant that the reform would have made a difference only to the Prime Minister’s marketing opportunities, in company with fresh-faced young people.

Making a difference

This is the theme chosen by the Nationalist Party for this round of local council elections. We mean it. Over the years, many have tried to dismiss these elections as an exercise in frivolity. Many derided the division of a small country into small political and administrative divisions. Both feelings have been tapped into by Labour leaders – first by Alfred Sant and now by Joseph Muscat. We are now two decades wiser. No amount of political snobbery can do away with the fact that local councils are making a difference to people’s lives. Sure, big picture issues such as the environment and the economy are important but there’s no denying that the local election is also an important contributor to the quality of life. Local councils have addressed a specific segment of people’s lives, a segment which previously was left to the Minister (usually the one responsible for public works).

Without adequate funding

Local councils need money to operate. Small wonder that the naysayers who felt it would not be convenient to constrain councils politically tried to do so financially. The first was Alfred Sant, who slashed councils’ budgets soon after he was voted into office. Enter Joseph Muscat and, bang on cue, the local council budget is slashed. I could continue in a mind-numbing way, quoting reams of budgetary statistics, but there has been something more dramatic: Joseph Farrugia, Birzebbuga mayor since 1994 and a party loyalist, is not standing again for election. This decision has not been taken for the usual “personal reasons” but quite simply because he refuses to stand for a public body that has been so deliberately starved of funds. Local councillors do a lot of hard work, often unappreciated, for which they are mostly rewarded by the satisfaction of knowing that they have made their town or village a better place in which to live. When government reduces local budgets it is also reducing the major currency in which councillors are paid in for their often thankless task.

Trickling down sleaze

I am ready to give the nod just once to the “it’s too small a country” argument. That is in recognising that the transition from local to national is a small matter. It is hardly the case that national politics, its values and approach, is not reflected in local politics. Trust me, Muscat’s rewarding of political acolytes the way he has will trickle down to local elections. It is an attitude that does not have to travel very far. Rest assured, local Labour bosses will be taking note of the sleaze, of how – when it becomes so prevalent – it’s the new norm. No doubt the influence works in the other direction, too. The way you vote in three weeks’ time will be taken note of: a vote that is indifferent to what this country has become or a vote that will signal that we have had enough and that it is time for the ship of state to start being steered in a different direction.

 

Mr Puli is the Opposition spokesman for Citizens’ Rights, Civil Rights, Equality, Social Dialogue, Consumers’ Rights, Internet Rights, Communications, Broadcasting and Audio-Visual Policy