One of the cards the Malta Labour Party is playing in the run-up for the 8 March election is what leader Alfred Sant prefers to describe as “bad governance”.
It has been a favourite subject for the MLP for quite some time now. Over the past months the MLP has picked on government projects that were not completed in time or where the cost exceeded the original estimates, and made a meal out of it.
In this regard, the MLP has repeatedly mentioned road projects, particularly the Manwel Dimech Bridge in St Julian’s and the Xemxija by-pass, as examples of government incompetence and inefficiency. Last week, the MLP held a press conference to speak about the ferry terminals in both Cirkewwa and Mgarr, projects that have not been completed and whose cost has over-run considerably.
Dr Sant has promised that a Labour government would finish the projects within the first six months. It is a promise that Labour has made on other issues in the past, and no doubt we will hear Labour exponents renewing such promises the more the election approaches.
The MLP is right in putting forward such matters for the electorate to consider. The Nationalist government has not always been able to implement what it promised. The excuses that were given were wide and varied, depending on the circumstances of the case, but at the end of the day they were simply excuses.
And the MLP is doing the right thing, from the political aspect, in using unfinished projects as examples of government incompetence. It does however forget that, in the past 10 years, the government has been able to start and finish others that have helped to transform the country. Of course, the proverbial glass comes quickly to mind.
What is perhaps more significant, from the MLP end, is its insistence that no investigations have been carried out each time the cost of a project exceeded the original estimate.
The MLP speaks of the need for accountability and responsibility. This is, after all, public money, and the government should explain in detail where the money is being spent and why there have been several occasions when the cost of a project went beyond the initial valuation.
When it did explain, the government said that it often happens that once a project starts, certain unforeseen problems emerge that increase the overall cost.
Bad governance is not necessarily linked to corruption, but the MLP strongly hints that there is a connection, and this they do to gain as much political advantage as possible. Corruption is a word that politicians abhor when it is said in reference to their doings, and one that is used freely by others who want to accuse their adversaries, sometimes just to put them in bad light.
A party in opposition is bound to accuse a party in government on corruption, and the MLP has often resorted to such tactics. The reason behind this is that some mud always sticks, even if in the end the allegations turn out to be untrue.
Dr Sant has said that ministers are free to take him to court as much as they like because he will continue to repeat allegations he has made over and over again. Various Cabinet members have in fact resorted to legal action against the MLP and Dr Sant.
As such, Labour stands to gain ground by mentioning corruption. On the other hand, Labour must also be ready to substantiate the claims that it is making. Still, it is a political game that we have grown accustomed to.
Dr Sant, himself a victim of slanderous comments that were made prior to the last election, and which turned out to be untrue, knows that libel cases take years to be decided in court, and therefore the election will be long gone before judgments are made.