The Malta Independent 26 August 2026, Wednesday
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Fifty shades of GonziPN

Leo Brincat Tuesday, 6 November 2012, 14:51 Last update: about 13 years ago

I will depart from GonziPN’s habit of doing things and stick to my tradition of not meddling in their own internal affairs but I think the people are owed an explanation as to who and what does GonziPN really stand for – particularly on the eve of the appointment of a new deputy leader.

Will it be a party that practices and preaches reconciliation as their candidate in pole position has pledged to do by reaching out for the three dissident MPs and many others who have fallen out with his party, or will it be a party that merely preaches reconciliation without practicing it – as the party’s official hard line has intimated and reiterated?

How can these people be taken seriously that they will unify the country if they cannot even keep their own team united?

How does Dr Gonzi himself have the cheek to show himself shocked that 48 hours have passed and he has so far been left without a reply from Joseph Muscat as to when, how and by how much will utility rates be reduced if the PL is elected, when we – regardless of our age, views, background and orientation – have been waiting four whole years for him to implement his pledge to reduce income tax (within the first financial year of this legislature – end 2008) as well as to create 7,000 new jobs in Smart City?

How dare he query our energy plans, when we happen to be almost literally on election eve (or at best/worst months away) when to date Government does not even have a formal and approved national energy plan in place?

Why does he even bother to query our plans for the next legislature, when the EU has been repeatedly criticizing his government for not having a medium to long term plan for public finances? Relying as it has been doing far too much on one off measures to correct the budget deficit in a manner that is far from sustainable.

What is the whole point of Gonzi’s claims that he is running a serious minded government when tender variations have been the order of the day, and when Government has been shirking away from the strong recommendation (that goes back to 2010) that there should be a technical and financial audit of such plants as the incinerator? Better referred to as the Marsa Terminal Treatment Plant

How much truth is there to reported rumors and claims that certain mega tenders have seen their final award dragging on for well over a year, without government bothering to confirm or deny if this delay could be attributable to the fact that the bid by a particular contractor very close to GonziPN and one of his closest collaborators has been judged to be non-compliant?

When is the Whistleblower Act to become fully operative?

How much have people been made aware of the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and how they should go about it to be able to dig into data and information that can now become practically public domain should some initial hand holding be offered to facilitate the process for those who are prepared to benefit from such long overdue legislation?

As for the various projects that I have mentioned where delays could be involved, I sincerely hope that these would in no way prejudice the EU co-financing element involved.

It is pointless for Gonzi to try and ridicule the PL for having shown up Cyprus as a role model until recently.

By the same standard GonziPN used to consider Ireland a success story until only months ago.

As for Cyprus the problem there was mainly a banking issue where the Cypriot banks were heavily exposed to Greek government debt which led to their significant difficulties, triggering in certain cases a run on Cypriot banks too. This was also compounded further by the unfortunate explosion of one of its two power stations which obviously adversely affected the Cypriot economy in the process.

GonziPN on Sunday tried to put the fear of God into the electorate, that the PL was against the sacrosanct right to vote, when it has been evidently dragging its feet for months on end, to ensure that the ID Renewal process will be firmly in place by the time the elections are called. Whether this is done prematurely or at the very end of this legislature.

How does Gonzi dare boast that there will be a reduction in electricity generation costs when the interconnector with Italy is in place and the power station extension is commissioned, particularly when claims reaching us from Enemalta sources that there are fresh delays regarding the interconnector start-up have neither been confirmed nor denied by government. This should be of interest not only to Malta itself, and the Maltese electorate, but obviously also to the EU who I would understand have been long monitoring our performance in the energy sector because of our underperformance in this area.

Government seems to be afraid of an audit of the public service.

It should fear even more an audit of the whole public sector, including the parastatal companies, particularly since certain ministries have been reluctant so far to disclose certain details on the way they are run and how certain strategic decisions are taken and made.

In Transport Malta’s case in spite of various rumours that new jobs have been popping up like mushrooms, the Minister for Transport…yes Minister Gatt – the same man to whom we owe our ‘thanks’ for BWSC and Arriva, has by the time of writing remained reluctant to disclose the relevant information in Parliament – in reply to a PQ of mine.

As to how many people have been employed with this Authority on a month by month basis since the beginning of the year, and in which grade.

The thicker the silence, the bigger shall be the probes if a PL government is elected.

Where transparency will have prevailed we are not interested in any witch hunts.

Our only concern and determination is to make people directly and politically responsible for their actions. Period.

 

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www.leobrincat.com

 

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