Whichever way Mr Speaker might have ruled last night – if he did – I am genuinely convinced that GonziPN will remain boxed in a corner

For the simple reason that what many thought might have been an application of reverse psychology to get government to do the right opposite, most of the voters that I am coming across – discerning ones and undecided Nationalists included – all seem to share the same opinion.

That the longer GonziPN drags its feet in clinging to power, the better it will be for the PL and the more painful it will be for the country itself.

Only last Sunday, the Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, an eminent and long-established businessman did not mince words when he stated without any hesitation in another newspaper that the political uncertainty created at a parliamentary level that has been ongoing since the beginning of the year, has had a negative impact on business in Malta – even more so when compounded with the international crisis raging abroad.

While claiming that so late in the day the election date proper hardly makes any difference, and implicitly suggesting that the damage has been done already, the Chamber president also said that an election campaign during the Christmas period will surely impact negatively on the local business sector.

He also said that it is simply not fair that the country and the private sector are having to go through such troubles on the basis of internal conflicts within the governing party.

He is also reported to have indicated indirectly that there is a general feeling that regardless of the election results, there will be continuity in the business sector, particularly since the country has matured well enough to realise that an election and even a potential change in government will not necessarily mean the end of one’s business or the end of the world.

This is indeed the continuity, peace of mind and stability that we intend to promote and practise if elected to government.

While I respect the academic qualifications and competence of a new PN candidate from the human rights sector, if she was reported correctly a few weeks back, I must take exception to her argument that one should not change government once the PL seems inclined to stick to certain policies as a sign of positive continuity.

If we promise change for change’s sake we are rubbished as being opportunistic and power hungry.

While if on the other hand we have been promising continuity in such areas as financial services, e-gaming and the digital economy among others, we are being attacked too.

We saw this happen over the 5+5 conference too.

While Joseph Muscat was man enough to congratulate government on the success of the conference, and people like yours truly even used Twitter to lift positive comments on the said conference by the EU Commission, Il-Mument which specialises in painting even white things black, accused us of trying to hijack the conference.

This is the fundamental difference between the two parties.

While the PL made mistakes in the past but has evolved since then by learning from them, the PN remain an unrepentant lot.

And if you think that the PN are taking spin into the realm of downright lies only on the minimum wage issue, then you must be mistaken.

They are doing the same this week also on the stipends’ issue. A marathon that gained momentum since last Sunday.

But please allow me to clarify one important issue that exposes the political hypocrisy of the GonziPN regime.

The way they deceitfully implied that a PL government will abolish Cola – the cost of living increases.

In chronological sequence here it goes:

September 2009: The business community, through the MEA, had claimed that since the cost of living adjustment was set to cost employers a staggering €38m at a time of economic crisis, apart from arguing that this could lead to unemployment and the shedding of some 20% of existing jobs, they had also suggested an alternative formula. That government should intervene by issuing part of the Cola as a bonus that will be paid by government and that for 2010, assuming a Cola of €5.80, €3.50 will be paid by the employer and the rest will be paid by government.

July 2011: The local media reported Gonzi as wanting to increase the pensionable age further and also according to the PL of wanting to remove the cost of living adjustment. This had come at a time when we had reports that GonziPN had actually engaged in discussions with the EU on an EU Council recommendation that Malta should revise its wage bargaining and indexing mechanisms to better reflect productivity and competition.

April 2012: The Gonzi-appointed Governor of the Central Bank had said categorically that consideration should be given to measures which permit greater flexibility in the application of the Cola mechanism.

July 2012: This is where GonziPN started changing tack because there was already much talk of elections in the air gaining ground in political circles. Playing with semantics, he had said defensively that he was now against any Cola revision under the flimsy pretext that it was the EU that had changed tack. In the sense that last year they had just asked Malta to look into the issue, while this time round they said that we should actually do so.

Playing further with semantics in his typical nebulous manner, GonziPN had been reported by the media to have said that with regards to the Cola mechanism, he agreed that the wage (cost of living) increases should reflect increases in production, but not at the risk of diminishing workers’ standard of living.

On one hand, he wanted to discuss the mechanism with the social partners, while at the same time he said it would not be prudent for government to intervene over the inflation measurement on which the Cola mechanism is built.

Which brings us to the last lap before GonziPN went ballistic over the whole issue.

Later in July 2012, the GWU had suggested that there should be a bi-annual review of the cost of living adjustment allowance which the EU believes should be reformed and not indexed to inflationary increases. When asked whether he agreed with the GWU proposal, Muscat had merely said that the proposal was up for discussion – without even committing himself categorically.

By merely making such a declaration of intent, he was instantly rubbished by Tonio Fenech who accused the PL leader of making dangerous statements on reducing retirement age and on reviewing Cola twice a year without consultation with social partners.

All this goes to show that with GonziPN we are constantly faced by a lose-lose situation, which explains why this week they continued playing the fear factor to the hilt.

With one twist.

That this week the flavour of the week is stipends!

Just track Gonzi’s speech on Sunday, Il-Mument’s lead articles, Net TV spin and some of the programmes ostensibly camouflaged as discussion programmes on NET TV 1 this week. I will not be surprised if NET TV 2 – that is TVM – and certain production houses will follow the same lead too! In parrot-like manner.

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www.leobrincat.com

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