The election has come and gone and the horns and celebrations have died down. The PN has emerged yet again a victor and no amount of stupidities by a few Labour supporters on the Times.com blogs is going to change this fact.
But it would be a very sorry day and indeed a very sorry situation if Malta’s biggest political party thinks that a victory is in any way a carte blanche for it to sustain its present existence.
The PN lost thousands of voters and these will not return unless the PN works hard to regain their trust. The last PN administration was peppered with mostly environmental issues that made many shy away with great velocity; sagas such as the Ramla il-Hamra, Ta’ Cenc and projects taking an unacceptably long time to be completed. The main challenges for the PN government as I see them are as follows:
Mepa
This is no doubt the government’s biggest problem. The PN’s attitude towards this authority has been much too passive, so much so that it has become more powerful than the minister himself in certain situations. It was simply depressingly hilarious to see Mepa considering “projects” that would have caused environmental havoc such as the Ramla il-Hamra one and then shoving ridiculous computer generated ‘candy floss’ at us to justify itself!
Mepa needs to get its act together and any harmful projects such as this (which no doubt cost the PN hundreds of votes) should be immediately given the cold shoulder. The government cannot hide behind the “autonomy” of any authority because after all it is the politicians that we elect, not the Mepa architects and decision makers.
The PN government should strike more of a balance between what the authority can do and can’t, and should see to it that the Prime Minister holds the right to stop any development that is considered harmful.
We cannot be like Nero and fiddle while Rome burns!
Mepa lost a lot of credibility when it dealt with ODZs. I do have to give it full marks when it comes to inventing pathetic excuses for building this or that in a protected area, but I do have to give it below zero for the fact that this institution has completely bent over backwards when pressure was exerted by anyone and everyone who thinks he’s right. Mepa has lost its backbone and so did the government on this issue: How else can you explain the fact that Mepa organises a discussion about the Ta’ Cenc development and the owner brings many of his employees, threatening they would lose their jobs if this project wasn’t approved and Mepa seemed to give in?
The government should stop this power struggle and protect areas such as Ta’ Cenc, and refrain from giving in to threats made by people who have a vested interest in pieces of public or private land if it wants to be taken seriously about Gozo being an eco-island!! We cannot afford another Ramla il-Hamra and if it surfaces again in another place it should be the Mepa (reformed I hope) itself to slam the door and protect what is rightfully ours.
It was a very good step of the PM to take Mepa under his wing. Now it’s time to turn the PN’s biggest liability and the albatross around the country’s neck into the PN’s next electoral asset and, more importantly, Malta’s best guarantee of accountability and transparency.
Difficult? Yes. But anything less than that is not good enough!
Ministers’ portfolios
I’m not going to mince my words; Jesmond Mugliett was not a good minister. Too many times he was too excusing of contractors who failed to keep to a simple timetable.
True sometimes a water pipe is found and sometimes a drain and sometimes even a burial place from some 100 years ago, but it cannot be that every single project takes so long and the minister ends up in the very embarrassing situation of not keeping to his own deadlines over and over again!
J. Mugliett did a lot of good work but it seems that everything he did was overshadowed by some inefficiency or other, or by very poor PR. I mean look at the St Paul’s Bay bypass; a very nice road that was much needed, but this too was overshadowed by one missed deadline after another to complete part of it and the fact that the roundabouts took so long to be given the neat and ‘green’ look they have now!
The Manuel Dimech Bridge was and still is a gargantuan task, true; hats off to Jesmond. But then again, when faced with a powerful Labour media he failed miserably. One of his biggest mistakes was to send a couple of architects to meet a few journalists who were asking a thousand questions and all they were getting was “... heq heq heq, ahna ma nwegbux mistoqsijiet politici...(we do not answer political questions)” dingdong! Mhux ovvja, (isn’t it obvious) if they’re not politicians.
And so Charlon Gouder had a field day telling half the island that the minister shied away from the press and that matters such as deadlines and accusations of corruption were not dealt with! And it sounded very believable, believe me Jesmond!
I have to publicly say it now that the election is over; dear Jesmond that was your worst political piece of PR ever!!
That J. Mugliett acts all surprised and shocked when he was not given a ministerial role again is quite cheeky; you don’t get a ministry if you were a failure of such epic proportions!
In this sense the fact that Gonzi kept the good ministers (like Gatt – the PN’s best minister in my opinion), reduced the number of ministries and introduced new blood with people such as Clyde Puli, Tonio Fenech, Mario de Marco and Chris Said is very welcome news indeed. Let all of them keep in mind that its not only big projects that make you a good minister but tact, good PR skills, excellent timing, continuous results and knowing what to say and when to say it!!
Jesmond had none of these and fell victim to a merciless Opposition media that was in no mood to exercise moderation!!
Social issues
The PN has been the party that pushed Malta towards new heights over and over again... it was the party that set in motion the restructuring process, that liberalised various sectors, that created thousands of careers and invested heavily in education (new schools, MCAST, stipends, Uni, and so on) and yet it still hasn’t been the party to push for certain social issues that need to be addressed.
Cohabitation is one of them. Dr Gonzi has promised to tackle this issue and if he does, it would be another giant step in making this an ‘everyone’s” party. However, the party needs to realise that there are others who deserve attention such as gay people, separated couples and single parents.
Much has been done in the sphere of domestic violence and drug addiction, thanks to the capable Dolores Cristina, but a great deal still needs to be done to attract hundreds of voters (the gay vote in Malta is getting very strong and that is where you have a good chunk of floaters who’ll be ready to vote MLP next time round if the PN persists in ignoring certain rights, and I’m not referring to marriage here!!) to the PN fold!
Dr Lawrence Gonzi has turned out to be more of a socialist than the MLP, as “hijacked” by the Sant clique and socialist parties are very including of people who “technically” live on the margins of society.
Nice words are not going to be enough; the PN needs guts and courage!
The baggage seems very heavy but I’m sure that with a very capable Prime Minister and a much better, more constructive Labour Opposition the above will be challenges turned into opportunities for all those who have the Nationalist Party and Malta at heart!
Albert Gauci Cunningham
ST PAUL’S BAY