Tonio Borg made it.
In spite of all that was said and written about his beliefs and convictions by people who then preach about tolerance; and in spite of all the stories that were invented about him in order to negatively influence MEPs who were to vote for his nomination as European Commissioner, the Maltese Foreign Minister obtained the support he needed.
The envious local Greens – the colour really suits them, in the Maltese sense of the word – did all they could to stir up trouble for Dr Borg. Arnold Cassola was on TV several times to speak against his nomination, and they must have done their best to pressure their European friends to take a stand against it. For them, the national interest was not important. But then, I should not have been surprised: Cassola found it very easy to shun Malta for Italy when he had the chance.
What irked me most in all of this was the level of prejudice and even fundamentalism that emerged from those same quarters that describe themselves as modern, progressive and liberal. This was not the Europe for which we all fought before membership. The Europe we cherish is one built on diversity and the respect of others.
I did not see that much respect for Dr Borg but, thankfully, reason prevailed over bigotry. And notwithstanding all the mud that was thrown at him, Dr Borg’s victory was overwhelming considering that more than 100 votes separated those in favour of his nomination and those against. In Maltese terms it was a landslide victory for him.
It is a real pity that l-orizzont have not learnt any lesson from the way the EU referendum result was farcically interpreted. Once again, in analysing the result, they chose to include the MEPs who did not vote to try to diminish the result obtained by Dr Borg, in similar fashion to what they did, together with the Labour Party, when they counted all those who did not vote – including the deceased – to claim that the idea of a partnership with the EU had won in 2003.
Speaking of partnership, it is like a bolt out of the blue that Alfred Sant – the man who fought tooth and nail against Malta’s European Union membership – has said he would like to contest the election for the European Parliament. It does not mean that he has converted in favour of membership: he never loses an opportunity to criticise everything that is EU-related. If he makes it, he will join a number of others who are euro-sceptics but have a seat in Brussels.
The move could, however, be one of those political mistakes that Labour will live to regret because the news has given ammunition to the Nationalist Party. The PN is already using it to portray Labour as a party that has not changed its views on the EU in spite of what it says to the contrary. Added to this, it strengthens the PN’s contention that Labour has failed to renew itself in spite of having lost the last three consecutive elections.
The question I have is whether Joseph Muscat is really in favour of Dr Sant’s candidature. Or did he have to bow to his former leader over whom he seems to lack the same control he exercises over others?
Conversely, the Nationalist Party is set to continue its rejuvenation following the acceptance of Dr Borg as commissioner. The next step will be the election for the post of deputy leader, which will be held at the end of this week between Tonio Fenech and Simon Busuttil.
Beyond that, there will also be the resignation of Dr Borg as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, which will give the Nationalists the chance to bring a new face into Parliament, and possibly also lead to a Cabinet reshuffle that could be greater than just replacing one minister with another.
The election of the new PN deputy leader comes just two days after one of the contestants, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, presents the government’s budget for 2013. Although the budget has lost much of the aura that surrounded it many years ago – the publication of a pre-budget document which is discussed and updated from early summer onwards has dampened expectations – it is still an important financial and political exercise that will lay the ground for the coming 12 months.
This is more so on the eve of an election. Still, it would be wrong for the government to dish out goodies to gain political mileage, as the negative consequences would be great. The government has been careful in recent years, and this meant that Malta has not had to suffer the same fate as countries such as Greece, Spain and Cyprus. Employment has remained high and there has been no need for austerity measures as have been adopted elsewhere. All this could be lost if the budget tries to please voters.
The vote on the budget could be the last sitting of this legislature, although we will only know for certain when the time comes for the MPs to stand up and be counted.
Before that happens, it is good to note that both sides of the House have come closer to reaching agreement on the IVF bill that seeks to regularise a practice that has been offered in Malta for the last 20 years.
What I did not like is that the Nationalist Party presented Health Minister Joe Cassar on the frontline when controversy raged on the bill, but then it was someone else who announced that an agreement had been reached by the two sides on the presentation of fresh amendments.
I am sure that Dr Cassar gave his input for the law to be redrafted to include the changes that has brought the two sides closer to each other. But it seems that he is a not a blue-eyed boy.
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