It was not an accident that the gist of last Sunday’s leading article in this newspaper was corroborated by the findings of an independent survey, carried on the front page of another newspaper that very same morning.
The leader in The Malta Independent on Sunday harped on the fact that “the government, which boasted that it wanted Malta to grow in the EU, is actually making it grow smaller. By choosing the taxation route in its bid to solve the financial problems of the country, it completely disregarded the well being of the people, and forgot that one way of feeling we are European is to feel affluent and at home in Europe. The Maltese have ended working much harder for lesser returns and the government still asks, why are people so angry and resentful?”
Dissatisfaction
The Sunday Times answered the question – by parading the findings of a public opinion survey conducted by sociologist Mario Vassallo on its behalf.
It has transpired from this survey that as many as 80.3 per cent of those interviewed declared that they were not satisfied with the government’s performance. Eleven per cent did not commit themselves and only 8.7 per cent expressed satisfaction.
Those who expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s performance declared “spontaneously” that the main reasons were the high cost of living, the new taxes, and the surcharge on water and electricity bills.
Asked whether government’s policies are improving the economy and creating more jobs, only 11.3 per cent of respondents agreed. Thirty-five per cent neither agreed nor disagreed. A whopping 48.7 per cent disagreed.
Speaking in personal terms, an overwhelming 87 per cent said that their financial situation had deteriorated.
The survey was even more inquisitive. It asked respondents to assess how Dr Gonzi is performing as Prime Minister. Only 13 per cent said he is doing well and 39 per cent said his performance was neither good nor bad. Forty-one per cent declared that Dr Gonzi was doing a bad job and another 3.7 per cent said it was “very bad”. This says it all.
What caused the rot
It was Pirandello who said that facts are like a sack that won’t stand up when it is empty. In order for it to stand up, one has to put into it the reason and the sentiment that have caused it to exist.
There are more reasons than those which emerged from the Sunday Times survey that have made Dr Gonzi’s sack stand up.
The government’s inertia, incompetence and arrogance come into the equation. Dr Gonzi’s failure to live by his personal commitment to introduce “a new style of government” has left its mark. His other failure – deliberate or otherwise – to inject new blood in his Cabinet was, undoubtedly, another contributing factor.
The hardest fact of all was the inheritance of the Fenech Adami money no problem years –a structural deficit, skyrocketing debt and unsustainable debt-servicing costs. This burden had been deliberately incurred (incidentally with Dr Gonzi’s connivance). It created a feel-good climate for a time. No country can live indefinitely beyond its means and Dr Gonzi has since been obliged, under duress from the EU, to make good for past PN extravagance. The result is austerity. It is the people who are bearing the brunt, and it is the economy that got mauled – and not the erring Ministers!
Stark reality
Reality is not less real just because blind men do not see that the economy is in stagnation, the market drying up, and industry (and the tourist sector) becoming steadily less competitive under the unbearable impact of rising taxation. With many middle-class families steadily losing ground, and more and more families finding themselves closer, and even below, the poverty line, the conclusions of the survey conducted by The Sunday Times merely confirm the obvious!
Dr Gonzi and his Cabinet are now playing for high stakes. If they stay the course and persist in moving on with the prevailing level of austerity, the resentment will continue to build up. Would the government cave in prematurely and call it a day?
This introduces an element of uncertainty as to the length of the transition period between now and the general election. I said it in the past, and I say it again: if that uncertainty hardens and gains ground, the electoral terrain could turn into a veritable quicksand.
There will, of course, be a core group of government supporters with political, economic and institutional interests who will be best served under the status quo. But, as the Sunday Times survey has suggested, many have abandoned the sinking ship of the ancien régime. The exodus may snowball and gain further momentum.
I make no claim to prophetic qualities. The above should not, by any means, be considered as cast in stone. But it is worth keeping in mind for future reference – along with the damning report by a commission, appointed by the PN to investigate the circumstances that led to the debacle of the Euro Parliamentary elections of two years ago when the rot had already started.
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