The debate on the vote of no-confidence in Austin Gatt held last Friday unwittingly turned the focus on the core issue that the country is facing right now – Lawrence Gonzi and his ineffective leadership. He is a man who is running the country through management by crisis. It became evident throughout the proceedings that he has become the problem rather than the solution for our country
Things would have definitely been far different under his predecessors like Eddie Fenech Adami in terms of political clout and firmness, no matter how critical I might have been of the man politically.
If Dr Gonzi thinks he has solved anything by trying to tilt matters in Austin Gatt’s favour by the way he tried to orchestrate Friday’s vote, then he must be mistaken.
He will be equally mistaken if he thinks that he will solve anything through this evening’s non-event – the so-called vote of confidence in his own government.
At least two days or so before he had put such an item on the agenda, Gonzi knew full well that Franco Debono had already gone on record stating that although he intended to abstain on the Gatt vote of no-confidence he would vote with government on any overall vote of confidence in the House.
Meanwhile it is somewhat ironic that the man who promised to mould Malta into a Smart Island had to be the same colourful character that turned our island into something far closer to a Maltese version of Fawlty Towers – at least in the public transport sector.
In tandem with the Arriva farce that peaked in Parliament last Friday with Austin Gatt in a fully unrepentant mood, notwithstanding his previous offers to step down and resign, we also had some intriguing revelations that surfaced during the various PAC sittings held these past few days on the controversial power station extension project.
The Arriva project not only had many false starts but at most times it was difficult to discern where the regulators’ and the operators’ demarcation lines were drawn.
This was mainly as a result of the manner in which the Transport Minister and his clones at Transport Malta tried to maximise all the ‘benefits’ of the project when they initially gave the impression that they wanted to literally ‘own’ the project since they might have thought that they had a winning political trump card in hand.
Towards the end of last week we had the Prime Minister shifting his reaction from an apologetic tone to one of begging for forgiveness, when until a few weeks ago the Nationalist government through its Transport Minister was blaming one and all except itself (including the Minister proper): The bus drivers, the ordinary citizens and bus users, local councils, Arriva, the sensation seeking media and the Opposition. Not necessarily in that order.
It still remains a mystery why it took so long for Gonzi to inform us that Dr Gatt had offered his resignation to him a month ago, when only a few days earlier Gatt himself had shown surprise why criticism was being heaped upon him, when the Campus incident arose.
One moment Gatt told us he was amazed at being under fire, the next he offered his resignation, he then gave us a number of mea culpas in the media, until he was reported to have turned up with Cabinet Minutes at a parliamentary group meeting, which then led Gonzi to start speaking in terms of collective responsibility.
The general feeling among most people I spoke to in the run-up towards Friday’s debate, was that the PM seemed far more interested in saving face, and propping up his own government and party, rather than in ensuring that the transport reform itself would finally succeed.
Gonzi’s offer to Labour for a joint House Committee as the motion of no-confidence loomed not only smacked of the same approach to the Black Dust issue, on a far larger and more delicate level, but it was also instantly shot down by Gonzi’s MP Franco Debono himself, who understandably made it clear that such an idea – if at all – should have been floated only before the reform had been drawn up rather than after the government made such a mess of it at the implementation stage.
Austin Gatt must regret having ever called the transport reform a revolution, because in far more emotional and febrile countries, the upheaval among bus users in Malta could have easily led to a different kind of revolt.
Minister Gatt might have had a point when he once remarked that a July political assessment of the ‘reform’ might have been premature, but four months on, since Arriva was launched with much pomposity in July, the PL had a duty and an obligation to raise the issue in Parliament the way it did.
This was not a PL versus PN issue but rather an issue where we had the majority of the Maltese public on our side. We were so prudent and cautious that we were initially criticised not only by our own people but also by discerning voters for having reacted late in the day against the government’s shortcomings. In the long term our maturity and prudent approach has proved to show how serious we were in our handling of this sad saga.
The botched transport reform was stillborn because rather than being the end result of a sustainable transport policy document – which according to the Minister does not even exist – it was the offspring of a reactive mode against the shortcomings of the previously archaic system.
If we add to all this Gonzi’s blockage of any serious moves to regulate party financing; John Dalli’s claim that only the restricted inner circle is getting the bulk of government business and favours; as well as the impression the PM gives me of pursuing party self interest while resorting to self serving decisions as evidenced by the ministerial remuneration increases, we are all left with a jaded palate indeed.
Gonzi’s readiness to crucify Dalli on the evidence of a report by a shady, unreliable character held in low esteem by most, contrasts with the lack of action on his part, to look into the irregularities determined by the NAO.
This modus operandi is also mirrored in the context of another issue. The way the PWC report on the Fairmount vessels report was swept under the carpet.
Government still has much answering to do.
Let us hope it will do so all in good time not only to the PL, but to the general public itself.
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Leo Brincat is the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development & Climate Change