Before the election, Joseph Muscat boasted of gathering a “movement” behind him in the run-up to beat the Nationalist Party. He succeeded in persuading many to join his camp, and ended up winning the 2013 election by a staggering margin.
Two years down the line, Joseph Muscat has failed to deliver what he promised.
He pledged meritocracy, but today it is clear that this was thrown out the window as soon as he was sworn in as Prime Minister.
He gave his word that the government would be transparent and accountable, but we have come to face an administration that is shrouded in secrecy and one that never gives answers.
He promised a power station in two years and said he would resign if it was not completed in time, but here we are and Joseph Muscat is still Prime Minister although not even the foundation stone of the new power station has been laid.
And now we have the Zonqor Point controversy.
Joseph Muscat has managed to unite all the people against him on this one (with the exception of those for whom Labour can do no wrong). And it’s not only environmental organisations which have teamed up to fight against the location of the proposed university. Even people for whom the environment is not a priority cannot see the logic behind the decision taken to have pristine land taken up by a private foreign developer for him to make money.
My suspicion is that, after the “environmental” battle against the university at Zonqor, there will be another – perhaps bigger – one from the education point of view. The public’s anger has so far limited itself to the location, but I am sure that once this subsides there will also be hard questions on the educational credentials.
Maybe Joseph will somehow back-track. Maybe he is already hinting that he will do so. And maybe he will announce changes to the original idea because “the government listens”.
But the political damage has already been done, because Joseph Muscat should have never agreed with having Zonqor Point developed in the first place. He should have never succumbed to the idea, and by doing so he has been exposed as a prime minister who is desperate for a mega-investment – the kind of which he has been unable to bring in over the past two years.
The large projects that he has opened as PM were all conceived and started by the previous administration – the energy interconnector, the new parliament building, the oncology hospital and – soon – the life sciences park. And so the desperation for having a mega-project started and finished under Joseph Muscat must have blinded him of other considerations he should have made as the country’s prime minister.
He has now ended up on his own.
The only movement that exists now is a large group of people that grows every day and which will fight tooth and nail against the project.
Whatever happens, even if Joseph Muscat changes his mind, he has lost this one big time.