The manner by which magisterial inquiries have become “fashionable” seems to me to be the most powerful indicator regarding how governance of the country has been weakened. I am less than convinced that magisterial inquiries can be sufficiently effective to determine the “whole “ truth or to do so “in time”.
If I understand correctly how such inquiries operate, they lack executive tools that are powerful enough to investigate the cases placed before them. It is true that inquiries have the power to give orders to the witnesses they summon and that they can use public funds to appoint experts and other persons to investigate aspects of issues which they would wish to focus on.
But apart from the long time that inquiries take (and not just in Malta), without human resources that respond directly to who is in charge of the investigation – resources which have accumulated their own knowhow inhouse, and which can be assigned fulltime to a case – rare will be the occasions when inquiries will be able to dig deep enough.
Actually, the work they are being asked to carry out, should have been – or should be – done by the police.
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PAY INCREASES
The latest data about the nominal wage that workers and employees receive (covering the third quarter of this year) shows that in the eurozone, this income has grown on average by 2.6 percent. In Malta the increase stood at 2.7 per cent.
During the previous six months, quarter by quarter, Maltese wage income dropped by 0.1 per cent in the first quarter, and had only risen to 0.9 percent in the second quarter, at a time when the eurozone average showed increases of close to 2.8 percent.
So, even when the results of the third quarter (to September) are taken into account, the rise in the wage income for Malta was this year well below that of the eurozone as a whole. Now, things should have gone the opposite way since Malta’s economic growth rate was well above that of many euro countries. What had happened?
The strongest explanation I can think of is that given the immigrants that have been arriving, especially from Europe, the demand for labour is being cleared without any need to scale up wage levels.
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DROP IN SALES
Naturally, entrepreneurs and commercial firms must express concern when they see... as happened in recent weeks... that their sales are taking a hit.
At times of political uncertainty, people will buy less, as they wait for events to stabilise. If moreover, protests and public demonstrations are being held, purchases will be further curtailed.
These two factors, which can separately trigger different outcomes are active among us. When and if demonstrations stop, shopowners will get relief as buying and selling will resume. As soon as the political situation clarifies, which is what one assumes will happen, such relief will become widespread.
In France at the moment, where the government’s proposals for pension reforms have generated huge popular discontent, a similar situation to ours has developed. I would say that the French crisis is surely as serious in scope as ours.