It is not without trepidation that the people of these Islands have rung in the New Year. As they crossed the threshold and face a future whose outlines are already determined, they know that hard realities await them

Not so long ago, they were promised a New Spring and a “mini-boom” in the embrace of the European Union. Things turned out to be far different.

Malta’s accession to the EU opened vistas to distant objectives but ushered in instant discipline.

Within the first year of EU membership, Brussels insisted that the Malta government revised its long-standing money-no-problem policy, with a view to bringing its deficit under control, and to roll back the national debt. The government complied instantaneously by drawing up a convergence programme, without either informing Parliament in advance, or consulting the social partners.

No going back

For the Gonzi government, there was no going back. The consequences began to emerge with the recent budget speech. The word “began” is used advisedly, because there is a lot more in store, which has not been spelled out in that speech.

Together with the increased water and electricity prices, the increase in bus fares, new eco and other taxes, and reduced holidays, the workers and their unions are soon going to be involved in discussions about revised pension terms, a reform of the health sector and related benefits, proposals to tighten up means-testing-procedures, as well as other reforms in the education sector.

It is at once wise and prudent to wait until one comes to the bridge before making preparations to cross it. Crossing it will, in all circumstances, be difficult and painful – all the more so because the budget measures already spelled out will have already started to further debilitate, or otherwise set back, workers, pensioners, businessmen and

consumers alike.

Gloomy scenario

This gloomy scenario has two sinister aspects that need highlighting:

(i) the government’s finances and the Maltese economy are in this predicament due to the government’s sustained recklessness and incompetence, and

(ii) having been brought to its senses by the EU (the Fenech Adami administration flew in the face of earlier warnings and admonitions from local and foreign sources) the inexperienced Gonzi administration tried to do everything by itself. It drew up a convergence programme as it thought fit. It had its set method

of implementation of this

programme, via the budget and, though it feigned to consult

the social partners, it was adamant in its insistence on its main

proposals.

The government’s precipitousness and obstinacy has since made matters worse by opening up the possibilities of friction with the EU (on the issue of the proposed airport departure tax and the freedom of movement of EU citizens) and the International Labour Organisation (on the proposal to amend the Industrial Relations Act in a way that encroaches on established rights acquired by formal collective agreements).

This situation will be complicated by unrest in the industrial relations sector and will, in turn, stoke the fires of instability.

It is at this point that the thinking reader should hark back to the prepared, prevaricating statements of politicians, whose perspectives were blunted by their inexperience and their obsequiousness to Brussels.

Stark scenario

A government that professed its belief in, and championed, dialogue has imposed itself, mainly on the less privileged, to recover the losses arising from its mistakes.

A government that preached solidarity has introduced indiscriminate tax measures, leaving the poor and the needy in the lurch, and

proposes to encroach on the entrenched rights of thousands of workers.

A government that demands austerity and sacrifice from the working multitude (to the point of banning Christmas parties for the staff in government departments) performs as if it has a divine right to proceed in its capricious ways to spend public funds as if there was no tomorrow.

Opinion-makers and media moguls, who operate in the front line trenches, reduce their perceptions and do not see the wood for the trees. They portray the government’s rigidity as a show of strength. Workers who make a stand in defence of hard-won rights are demonised. Emotive and utopian slogans are employed by a

permanent network of communi-

cations to stifle reflection and

discourage protest. It has been well said that propaganda invariably serves the long-term interests of some elite.

For those living under these restrictive and suffocating conditions, the spirit of resistance is bound to build up. This stark scenario is closer to the truth than the nuances of many editorials.

Despite all the manipulative efforts of media gurus and communications officials, backed by press conferences and communiqués, the home truths, which the average Maltese citizen is experiencing at a personal cost, can break through the manufactured atmosphere which claims that the economy is making progress when it is, in fact, sinking .

Malta desperately needs stronger and more imaginative leadership, willing to take initiatives, and giving top priority to productivity and growth.

It needs courage to fight against the odds. Above all, it has to jettison the long held assumption that it is always the poor who are expected to make the most sacrifices.

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