Politics is about substance. It is not about speculation, but about what actually happens. It is a fact that this government in this term on a number of issues did not have the necessary majority

It was also the case last Friday when, at the end of an 11-hour debate on the motion presented by the Opposition on the situation of the public transport in Malta, the motion was only defeated with the casting vote of Mr Speaker. Soon afterwards the Prime Minister presented another motion, this time to seek a vote of confidence in his government.

The Prime Minister is trying to keep his government together and instead of concentrating on the difficulties that the country is facing and that the economic and financial crisis is creating, at times he is more focused on internal issues within his party and, as such, within his government. One can say that the Prime Minister is trying to keep up appearances that the government is still strong. It might appear as such but in substance the factions within the party are evident and not everyone is happy with what is happening in our country and in its administration. And I am not only referring to those who had the courage to speak up.

In a democracy, the Opposition of the day has every right to present motions and to criticise the government. The roles of both the Opposition and the Government are distinct from each other. They are not the same and their work is not the same either. A government is entrusted to govern and offer solutions for present and future problems while the Opposition primarily is there to scrutinise the government and keep it accountable. Of course there will come the time when the Opposition as an alternative government will make its proposals too. This is what happens in every democracy.

In Malta the Nationalist Party in government expects differently. This was also the case during the debate of last Friday. The Nationalist Members of Parliament made every effort the discredit the Opposition for the current situation of the transport system in Malta especially the routes designed specifically by the government. They kept on repeating that the Opposition was at fault. They also expected that the Opposition, without the necessary tools the government has, will solve the current problems in the transport system.

They also said that the Opposition was not correct when the motion was presented in Parliament since the reform was still underway. The motion was presented after four months, and not four days. It must also be remembered that the minister and the government raised expectations when they launched the transport reform. Added to this, we were never told that the reform was going to be implemented in stages. Not only, but in the very beginning we were told that this was a very positive reform.

I think that the Opposition acted very responsibly, since we gave ample time for this reform to be put in place and to see how it works. We did not put spokes in the wheel and did not interfere in any way. Personally I must admit that I kept receiving feedback from a number of commuters who grumbled about the transport system, especially the routes and the frequency and also urged me to try and do something in Parliament about this situation.

The routes have been revised six times since July. I am pretty sure that other changes will follow. According to the CEO of Arriva from the beginning of this reform almost 80% of the routes were changed. This confirms how much the consultants appointed by the Minister did not do their job correctly. All this comes at a cost. Not only were the consultants appointed by the Minister paid €400,000 but all the changes affected came at a cost too. Can someone tell us how much money has been spent on all this?

The government wants to give the impression it is not responsible for the mess. The culture of accountability and responsibility in Malta still has a long way to go; the current administration thinks that it can do whatever it wants.

This should not be the case and someone needs to shoulder responsibility. Otherwise we cannot expect that other workers be held accountable and responsible when those in government do not shoulder their own responsibilities. The government, on the one hand, admits that there are difficulties but expects to be given more time. After all the motion only spoke about the Minister and other politically appointed persons who were responsible for this mess. The Opposition did not ask all the Government to resign but only those responsible to shoulder the responsibility of the broken promise and expectations not met.

Carmelo Abela is Labour Main Spokesperson for Social Policy

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