Politics and political life is ascribed a lot of adjectives from time to time. For sure, what is happening at the moment – and also what happened in the last two years in particular – can be described as anything but boring.

This legislature started on a wrong footing at the outset. The GonziPN clique managed to remain in power despite acquiring less than an absolute majority. And if one had to add together those who did not vote for GonziPN in the last general election, the majority will surely not be in favour of this clique.

As a result of the slight relative majority, following the amendments in the electoral legislation agreed by both political parties represented in Parliament, GonziPN got one seat more in Parliament, which is quite generous considering that about 1,500 votes separated the major political parties. One would have expected a change in leadership style and the way GonziPN governed in the wake of this result. But it was not the case. With the exception of the choice of the President of the Republic, it was the winner-takes-all attitude we are accustomed to. The same arrogance that we witnessed when the PN had a five seat majority was again displayed in these last four and a half years.

GonziPN were boasting about being very generous with the Opposition when they proposed to appoint a Speaker from the Labour ranks – one from the elected Members of Parliament. This meant that the Opposition would have had to cede one of its seats in Parliament and naturally, the Government’s majority would have increased to two seats. Surely, GonziPN did not deserve a two-seat majority in Parliament following the electoral result.

So, evidently, their ‘generosity’ was benefitting the GonziPN clique in government and no one else. The Opposition was very accommodating at the beginning, especially when cabinet members had to attend meetings abroad on government business. What we asked from the government was to inform the Opposition beforehand, so we will give a reply according to the circumstances but in all cases, we agreed on the pairing when the visit abroad was related to work. We also gave the pairing in cases of illness, and quite rightly. So the Opposition was being reasonable with a government which was not at all reasonable with the Opposition, especially in view of the electoral result.

GonziPN had promised that people on public boards will be appointed after a call for applications. This implied that the choice would have been wider and after so many years, we would have had some different faces too. This electoral promise of GonziPN, like many others, did not materialise. So the dictatorship continued, notwithstanding the electoral result. The arrogance shown in previous legislatures was also shown in the current one. It was obvious that with this style of leadership, problems were imminent. And they soon started, since it seemed that the government backbench was not being consulted and was expected to back all the decisions. This may have occurred for some time, but it could not carry on.

We had one project stopped because at least one member from the government was prepared to vote with the Opposition on the issue. The government announced, prior to the debate, that the project in front of the Co-Cathedral will be withdrawn. There were other issues that followed on which the government had to backtrack and as such, reconsider its decisions.

And finally, we arrive to the current state of play. We have a government with 34 official members – as many as the Opposition – and with an independent member supporting the government on an ad hoc basis. So, we have a coalition government. Surely, this does not reflect the will of the people. Moreover, one of the government members is speaking openly and clearly, that he will not support the government on the most important vote; the budget!

In effect, we have a government which does not enjoy the support of the majority of the House of Representatives!

So, to those who have the habit of recalling what happened in the 1981 general election, I ask, “what is your opinion on the current situation?”

God knows how vociferous the GonziPN clique would have been, had this situation been to the contrary! But we, as a Labour Party, are putting the national interest first, since the nation is already passing through some difficult times.

Uncertainty can be felt all around, including in the private sector. Families are experiencing grave problems, to put it mildly. There are several major and minor issues of concern for families and individuals but their government, which has now lost its majority, is not even willing to acknowledge this.

The only concern for GonziPN is to remain in power at all costs, as long as possible. We are in a very bad situation today, one in which with all probability, we will start the New Year with an unapproved budget and a general election campaign. Is this what the country needs? Definitely not!

Stability is of the essence and this clique in government is anything but stable. One can also say that they are not even a government anymore since they do not enjoy the majority in Parliament.

Carmelo Abela MP is the Labour Party’s Main Spokesperson

for Social Policy

Email: [email protected]