One must link what is written in this space, to what is written below, to get a sense of perspective. The vote of confidence which Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is putting to parliament, is not needed by his party, it is needed by the country. The State of Malta needs this vote and needs it to go through, loud and clear.
When one looks at the problems Italy is facing, it is clear that many stem from the political instability which is affecting the Berlusconi government. The fact that he cannot count on his government to pass through austerity measures which should help address the massive economic problems of a swollen deficit and a huge public debt, means that the country is paralysed, held to ransom by its own political situation.
Malta is not saddled with the debt and deficit problems in other countries, and for that, we can thank the current administration. It might have got a few things wrong, but this, the all-important finance factor, is where the Prime Minister and his Cabinet have really excelled.
The government has, despite all the turmoil, kept Malta’s finances out of the firing line. Has life become more expensive? Yes, of course it has. But have we seen anything like the austerity measures in Greece, the UK or Italy? No, of course not.
In moving the motion of confidence, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is not doing it merely to show the general public that he is in control. It is all part of the wider context. What people fail to understand is that Malta is not just the goldfish bowl which we believe it to be.
Everything which goes on in Malta is scrutinised by the European Union, and more importantly, the markets. No matter what the spin doctors put on it, this government, albeit with a one seat majority, is a stable one. It attracts investment and the tourists continue to flock to our islands summer after summer.
The Labour Party knows full well that it has every chance to contest the next general election and will stand a good chance of winning. However, for the sake of the country, it should not rock the boat. The vote of confidence in Austin Gatt was more of a political statement, more than anything else. But it should not, in no way or form, be tied into a vote of confidence in the government; the stakes are far too high.
It would be unrealistic to expect the PL to vote in favour of Dr Gonzi’s motion. But we do expect the PL to realise that in the current situation, the government needs the support of parliament, in order to continue to weather the storm which is battering Europe. No matter what anyone may say, this might be the one slogan which GonziPN has lived up to: “A safe pair of hands.”
This motion needs to be moved, discussed and passed, before any doubts of instability begin to creep in overseas. We must learn this lesson once and for all. What may seem to us as inconsequential games in our own back yard are simply not. We are at the scrutiny of the international community and everything that we do has consequences. Stability is the way out of the mess that Europe finds itself in. We are stable, so why rock the boat?