He said it was going to be a keynote address, aimed to finalise the plan of what would be a Labour government if the MLP wins the coming election. In an interview he gave to The Malta Independent last week, he said that his speech to close the MLP annual general conference would be forward-looking and will set the priorities.
But, in the end, the only difference that one could see was the way the speech was delivered, rather than its content. It was more of a change of style, rather than a change of substance.
MLP leader Alfred Sant last Sunday made his comeback to politics following the major surgery he underwent two days after Christmas. As expected, the party faithful gave him a warm welcome – outside the party headquarters and inside the main hall – and they all cheered him during and after his 65-minute speech.
Yet, his address was meant to convince not those who went to Hamrun with their flags, who will vote Labour come what may, but the many others who stayed at home to watch the conference on TV or read about it in the media. This is because these are the people who will be swinging the balance one way or another when the time comes to vote – the so-called floating voters.
What they could see was a man who was more composed than usual, who chose to speak more slowly and in short, crisp sentences, and whose voice remained even all throughout. There was no raising of tempos, no frills and no fancies, and all throughout Dr Sant kept smiling; it was a man who wanted to show that everything was under control.
His attacks on the government were also limited to the occasions when he wanted to prove a point, as he preferred to concentrate on what the MLP is planning for the country if it is given a five-year mandate.
But this is where more was expected from Dr Sant. Although he did speak of the MLP ideas on a wide array of political, economic and social issues, there was little of substance other than the usual “need to work hard to improve the general well-being of the country”. The speech did not make things any clearer as to what the MLP wants to achieve and how it intends to get there.
Most of what he said was already known – that, for example, the MLP in government would reduce the fuel surcharge by half. What he did not say was how this will be achieved. Will it mean that other taxes will be introduced? Will it be another case of replacing VAT with CET as had happened when Labour was elected in 1996?
Two of the few targets he mentioned were the proposal to increase the number of tourists to 1.6 million every year and to increase the number of jobs by 6,000 (2,000 in already existing industries and 4,000 new opportunities). With regard to tourism, with the way things are going we should be there anyway. As to the jobs, are these over and above the 5,600 employment opportunities that will be created through SmartCity?
Where the Opposition Leader raised eyebrows was the way he dealt with what would be Malta’s relations with the European Union. He took the government’s line – and this was nothing new – in saying that the EU should share more of the burden Malta has to carry with the influx of irregular migrants.
But he did strongly hint that an MLP government will not take things lying down in matters regarding the EU, meaning that in spite of what it says about accepting the decision taken by the people in 2003, the MLP is still rather sceptical about Malta’s position within the European bloc.
Does this mean that a Labour government will be entering into unnecessary disputes with the EU?