One particular aspect that has stood out in Joseph Muscat's political career since when he was emerging as a top-class journalist inside the raging volcano that a political newsroom anywhere can inevitably be, is his inclination to tackle hitherto "impossible" issues. The trend continued to show as he progressed from political journalism to real-time politics and his highly visible stint at the European Parliament.

On attaining the leadership of his party, Muscat did not flinch at taking on challenges that had been shelved for far too long. Three consecutive electoral defeats had taught him that the party needed to revamp its act, update and open its policies and go out there to see what people, not just hard-core supporters, thought needed to be done. It is fair to say his predecessor, Alfred Sant had done his fair share of intra-party changes, but so much more still needed to be done.

Five years on from the 2008 general elections, which had resulted in a perverse result that nonetheless kept Labour away from power, Joseph Muscat won an electoral victory of historic proportions - an event that of course brought with it more challenges that the previous administration, caught in its own quagmire as we are still witnessing to this very day, had preferred to shy away from.

The economy was ailing, the country's debts had become a nightmare, unemployment was fast rearing its ugly head, the deficit was seriously worrying both the European Union's economic gurus and the major international credit agencies, and governance had not only gone to the dogs, but its patched-up version was surrendered to a restricted group of people who decided things for everyone, everywhere on these islands.

All that changed in less than three years. The economy is booming, the unemployment rate is the second lowest within the EU, the deficit has been steadily narrowing, and governance, though still a major thorn in the side of an otherwise enterprising administration, seems to have become the next declared target.

In between all this, we need to remember that Malta has now become the place to be when it comes to civil liberties, economic performance, EU funds uptake, social policy innovation, and infrastructural progress. Yes, you can't walk past anywhere in Malta's urban jungle without seeing a tower crane looking down on humanity, but is there a better way to tackle such decades-old problems as sustained development and the preservation of the natural environment than by replacing many old, ugly places of no cultural or historical value with new, garage-space-conscious edifices?

There are realities which everyone, over the span of numerous administrations, seems to have either purposely overlooked them or simply did not have the stomach for the challenge. Public transport (well, Austin Gatt did try, with his usual penchant for calamity) and major projects like the Coast Road and the forthcoming Kappara roundabout upheaval readily come to mind. For me, however, it's the action being taken to rid Malta, and Valletta in particular, of their numerous vacant and derelict properties that confirms that while this is not a flawless administration, it certainly has courage.

 

At a time when Malta's shrinking countryside has rightly become a major source of concern, so much in fact that even in the case of highly beneficial economic proposals, such as the American University, doubts immediately crop up.

The very idea of utilising the 40,000+ vacant properties - most of them shuttered, shabby and projecting an instant image of general neglect - to meet growing real estate demands rather than losing more of the countryside and precious, arable land should be music to environmentalists' ears. But have you heard a single whimper of support from those organisations that continue to persist with their criticism of the AUM project even after it was pruned to cause as little natural damage as possible?

Legislation is finally being put in motion to make owners of vacant, derelict properties decide on either selling them or putting them into good use. The nation has had to face an almost perpetual housing crisis while thousands upon thousands of properties were left to rot as a result of family feuds and legal procrastination. This timely intervention is really should have been made ages ago.

 

It takes a brave government to take on this issue at a time when it will soon be readying itself for another electoral test, but that is typical of Joseph Muscat. A challenge is a challenge and it needs to be tackled. The winners will eventually be the owners themselves, the majority of whom probably have been long waiting - and being denied by obstinate individual co-owners and inheritors - for this opportunity, and the country. Malta is just too small and its countryside too restricted to afford the reality of so many vacant properties.

 

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Wogan's soft spot for Malta

 

The sad passing away of Terry Wogan, the BBC presenter every Eurovision singer dreaded because of his often humorous, tongue-in-cheek commentaries which he turned into the art of innuendo, did not go unnoticed among us.

Malta and her singers had, after all, in the past been selected for a lashing from Wogan's biting tongue as he rightly made merry of the whole Eurovision Song contest circus. He did the same to other nations and other singers, though, including the UK and his own Ireland.

The truth is Terry Wogan had a soft spot for Malta. There were in fact times when he actually went out of his way to compliment's Malta unstinting efforts at one day winning the contest. I met him once, during Birmingham's 1998 staging of the ESC. Norman Hamilton, an old acquaintance of the Irishman who was eventually knighted, introduced me to him. I remember he had only kind words to say about our entry that year, Chiara, and seemed quite amused we Maltese had amassed on him to help heal the rift that had once been created between the Maltese and UK delegations on previous occasions.

The BBC coverage of the ESC has never been the same since Wogan decided to call it a day. What's funny is that even those who felt most berated by him actually missed him.

 

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Concealed monuments

 

One could hardly avoid the comparison. The recent story of nude Roman statues being hilariously concealed prior to a visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Italy during which he signed business deals worth €17 billion, immediately reminds one of the no less comical attempts made at Luqa when Pope Benedict drove past the "infamous" monument on a roundabout just off the airport.

While nude statues that lay in Rouhani's path were obstructed with crude makeshift boxes, allegedly to avoid offending his Islamic sensibilities, at Luqa we had a group of hot-headed Catholic fundamentalists raising banners and streamers to obstruct Benedict's view of the phallic monument as he waved at the many well-wishers welcoming him to the Island.

The question of course is: Apart from the embarrassment of such acts of cultural submission, was it worth it to lay hands on those Iranian contracts that Italy needs more than it needs water or pizza?