Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had a sterling opportunity to ‘redeem’ himself politically and reassert himself as the natural choice to run the country

That he missed such a chance is entirely his fault as well as that of the ‘gurus’ surrounding him. People have grown immune to budgets and pre-budget consultation documents because in recent years most of the bitter pills that they have been made to swallow have only surfaced between one budget and another, rather than during budget time itself.

This also explains why Gonzi’s speech failed to set any houses on fire.

On the honoraria issue, rather than reversing his mistaken decision – which can hardly be attributed to purely administrative errors – the PM not only unrepentantly ignored the Auditor General’s ruling that this was a good example of bad practice but he also failed to address any of the 12 questions that other independent media felt that still needed to be answered.

The manner in which the Prime Minister arrogantly brushed aside these questions last Wednesday shows that there is little point in his pointing an accusing finger at anyone but himself when it comes to seeking accountability for this controversial, hefty and secretive pay rise which dates back almost four years… in 2008!

While during previous budgets, the Prime Minister had made much play of such mega projects as SmartCity and the White Rocks project – in spite of an uncomfortable smirk from his end, when Joseph Muscat recently discussed that the latter project promoters had been recently asked over to Malta to re-open negotiations on the project – there was nothing but a stony silence on his part.

The same can be said for all the talk of green jobs, a green economy and a low carbon economy that pre-budget documents had hinted at.

What I found almost insulting was the manner in which the Prime Minister tried to rubbish Muscat’s talk of the need of a gradualist approach towards green taxes in lieu of certain conventional taxes, when various pre-budget consultation documents since 2009 have given far more specifics on these issues; issues which apparently have been put on hold due to the fast approach of the general elections.

When Joseph Muscat came forward with his 51 solutions it was evident that at this stage all that he would do would be to offer a vision statement in key areas, as well as a sense of direction as one would normally expect from any Opposition leader.

The moment Joseph Muscat started rolling out his proposals I told a colleague nearby that the PN will soon predictably fall into the trap of the well-trodden paths they have traditionally pursued in the past.

Mainly to rubbish them by claiming that:

• They lacked specifics;

• Some of them did not make sense;

• They focused on the micro economic aspects rather than the macro;

• A number of them were already being implemented;

• The others were way beyond the drawing board stage and on the verge of being put into effect.

There was a time when the Nationalists projected themselves as field leaders in most areas as well as Malta’s natural party to govern.

Now that they are aware that their credibility has suffered badly due to many misjudged decisions taken over recent years, they are trying to play a different kind of ball game – by giving the impression that although they are a party that might be on the slide, warts and all, they can still prove to be far more trustworthy than Joseph Muscat and his lot can.

The mantra is spun even more by having pro-government journalists spin the Castille-inspired orchestrated ‘song’ that the country must feel very queasy about the prospect of a change in government in Malta since our international status could suffer and we might even run the risk of following down the same spiral staircase that the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) did.

If the PM is even reluctant to learn any lessons from such an embarrassing experience as the unjustified ministerial salary hike, how can one expect government to mend its ways on other issues which strike a chord with the man in the street and on which eminent government members have proved to be so insensitive – be it the public transport reform, the utility bills etc.

The way this government has run its business, including its own salary adjustments during this legislature when it commands less than half a quota majority in terms of votes, shows that it is completely indifferent to the barest essentials of what are customarily described as acceptable levels of transparency and good governance.

To cite another example while both the GWU and the UĦM welcomed Muscat’s position on precarious jobs, this was yet another of many issues that the Prime Minister completely ignored last Wednesday.

Even though the usual suspects tried to rubbish the PL even on this front, respectable trade unions reacted instantly in a positive manner to the PL’s firm commitment that a Labour government would commit itself to fight the problem of precarious jobs and give the police, the army, civil protection and prison wardens the right to join a union – without the right to strike.

The unions’ biggest concern as expressed by the new UĦM secretary general is that the issue of precarious jobs is particularly urgent now, and that while welcoming the Opposition’s position, they would like the government to address the issue as soon as possible.

I personally feel and think that what is holding government from taking any firm action in this regard is the fact that there are a number of government agencies and entities that are actually perpetuating such precarious jobs in various sectors of the economy through the acceptance of such unwarranted and anti-social terms even on their own respective premises.

But the really major issue which the Prime Minister conveniently chose to ignore was Joseph Muscat’s claim that the Maltese economy might have grown by 2.6% but in actual fact the Maltese were earning 3% less!

On the basis of these points alone – which deeper probing would have surely found to be far lengthier – Gonzi’s speech on Wednesday deserves to be dismissed as one in which he failed to pass the credibility test.

Meanwhile if further proof is needed of this government’s notion of good governance one does not need to go too far back in time. Just recall the recent MITA incident where Mepa chose to sanction the facade of the new MITA building in Sta Venera that carried out works without a permit by merely slapping the government IT agency with a meagre fine. Once again a good example of bad practice!

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Leo Brincat is the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development & Climate Change