Alternattiva Demokratika recently published its first set of proposals on rent reform. In comments made on these proposals to another local paper, the Minister of Social Solidarity was once again on the defensive. The inability of Ms Cristina’s ministry to finalise, within her own deadlines, a White Paper on Rent Reform (that is now 16 months in the making) is evidently becoming evermore inexcusable and increasingly embarrassing. For the landlords, who have suffered this injustice for decades, her procrastination is an outright breach of promise and in many ways insulting. For all others, conscious or unconscious as they may be, the detrimental effect of political paralysis on their quality of life is much worse.

The timeline of Minister Cristina’s missed deadlines is clear. In October of 2004, when AD raised the rent reform issue to the national agenda, it kick-started a process that would enforce government to fulfil a promise, made from “the speech from the throne”, that rent reform would be part of the new government’s political and legislative agenda. We decided at the time that political pressure was needed to force the debate. How right we were! Four days later, Minister Cristina reacted saying that a reform was in the pipeline. What a coincidence! Responsible as we were, and always will be, AD decided to back off and let government do its job. We believed that this was in the landlords’ interest. How naïve we were. Six months later nothing had happened, nothing was said. We decided to turn up the heat and launched our rent referendum campaign, an effort that raised the status of the rent reform issue. The fact that we have not yet reached the signature quota should be of no concern to Minister Cristina, unless she is relying on this fact to delay the matter further. Our campaign will carry on to final success for as long as it takes. The Greens are really in no hurry; the thousands of cheated landlords are. Her government’s insensitivity to their plight and frustration is what she had better be concerned about. Having nothing concrete to announce, that same May, she promised that in August Cabinet would discuss her ministry’s proposals. At the time I had written how sceptical I was that Cabinet “in the heat of summer” would be discussing a draft White Paper on Rent Reform. How right I was.

In October 2005, after a summer in which evidently nothing was done, we decided to apply more political pressure. Minister Cristina reacted, again a few days later, saying that she would be presenting a White Paper to Cabinet in December, and would publish the White Paper in January. In order to finalise our proposals by the time the White Paper was to be published in January, we launched a public consultation exercise to garner the opinions and concerns of all stakeholders. We compiled numerous comments from landlords, tenants and others who felt they had something to contribute. Minister Cristina has attempted to belittle our efforts by suggesting that we only consulted landlords. What a cheeky insinuation! My question to her is simple. Whom have you consulted? The answer is a rhetorical one, definitely for the stakeholders we are in contact with.

Now Minster Cristina is saying that on 16 January Cabinet dedicated “almost a whole session to discussing the White Paper”. Wow! Even ignoring the fact that this discussion was supposed to have been held in December, I find it incredible that nothing was reported in the media about this discussion. Surely if Cabinet did discuss the White Paper on 16 January then Minister Cristina would have instructed the DOI to release the fact.

In January Alternattiva Demokratika decided that it would be best to start publishing its proposals on rent reform, thoroughly convinced that government’s delay on rent reform was strategic and not logistical. Besides, we did promise landlords that if by January government did not publish its proposals, then we would start to publish ours. Despite our limited resources we make it a point to meet our own deadlines.

Minister Cristina has now taken the opportunity to criticise our proposals. I will not rebut any of them except for the charge of irresponsibility. Alternattiva Demokratika has identified rent reform as major national priority and has gained consensus far wider than that of those directly prejudiced by the present situation. It would have been irresponsible not to place this issue firmly on the country’s political agenda. Our stance is based on available data. It is shameful that there is not much more available. With 35,000 public servants at its disposal, the government should have been able to paint the picture in very great detail very long ago. It has not. Nor has it deigned to explore the social, economic and environmental impact of the current situation, which has been retained, unchanged for 60 very long years. No political party that has held office in the last six decades can relish a scientific exposé of the damage done to private persons and to the economy as a whole through blatant, heartless and cynical neglect.

What, in any case does she deem irresponsible? That we have advocated a 15 per cent tax regime for rent, coupled with a strong enforcement regime? Are we irresponsible proposing that, in order to establish that this injustice will someday have a definite end, the inheritance of leases should be abolished except for inheritance between spouses and in other very exceptional circumstances? Is she deeming our proposals irresponsible because we have proposed that commercial leases of property not of a retail nature, such as stores and warehouses, should be liberalised within an 18-month transition period? Does she deem these proposals, in any way, draconian? If so, then what will her White Paper contain?

When Minister Cristina publishes the White Paper, stakeholders can compare our proposals with hers. That is the political test. What I cannot refrain from commenting about are her excuses for the delay, which are starting to verge on the pathetic. She is now saying that her ministry needs to consider data from the Census. Didn’t she know this in November when she promised to publish the White Paper in January? She has now added that she had commissioned Competitiveness Minister Censu Galea to prepare a commercial property census. Now? Why wasn’t this done in August, or September, or October?

Our campaign continues. Signatures are still being collected. It is the country that is waiting for the government to publish a White Paper that is fair to landlords while protecting needy tenants; a point of principle we have always held. However, until such time, we will continue exerting pressure on the government to do what is right, what it has been promising to do. We will continue publishing more proposals in the weeks ahead. That is a promise. Her excuses for further delay will not derail us. They only embarrass the government.

Edward P. Fenech is spokesperson on Finance, the Economy and Tourism of Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party