She meets me mid-morning, in-between two public appearances, neatly yet simply dressed, softly spoken and smiling warmly with enthusiasm, even though she has been interviewed so many times in the recent past. Is there anything more to say? Perhaps, perhaps not, but with a national election barely two weeks away, Michelle Muscat’s role is even more significant than ever before. Standing side by side with the man who could become Malta’s new and youngest prime minister to date must definitely be a remarkable responsibility.
Michelle Muscat has been actively campaigning on behalf of her husband and for the PL for some 10 years now and has become pretty accustomed to being a public figure. “I have been doing home visits since before Joseph was an MEP. The first home visits I made were in Gozo and this was during 2003/2004. I have met all types of people and families since then. You know, at the time, 10 years ago, I noticed that people were more hopeful of a good future. Over the years I’ve come to realise that this hope has somehow dissipated. I can feel the difference in the way people talk to me, in the way they express their angst, their worries and their concerns. The ‘bread and butter’ issues have worsened considerably, right across the board.”
Asked what has impressed her most about the hundreds of women to whom she has spoken over the years, she admits to a great admiration for Maltese women. “You know, I have come to realise that women are the best economists we can ever have. They remain the focal point of families and are capable of making ends meet, of multi-tasking, of looking at difficulties in a holistic manner and of balancing their act well. They manage families, extended families, jobs..... Whilst task-sharing between couples has definitely increased, the budgeting side of things seems to be still a priority mostly delegated to women. Considering all the aspects of the recession, it is women, irrespective of their social or professional position, who address the many challenges involved in keeping their own and their families’ lifestyle stable.”
She speaks of the way Malta has become shackled by bureaucracy. In this sense she also realises that women are especially affected by this. “I have lived abroad and have travelled to various European countries and to the United States. While Joseph was an MEP – which involved five years of regular commuting between Malta and Brussels – I learnt to observe how women abroad and women in Malta are not, after all, so very different. Maltese women know there is no such thing as a stereotype woman any more and that they can reach their full potential if they put their mind and heart to it, just like women in other European countries. I know that many women need to work and that is why we have provided the option of free childcare. However, I also know that some women prefer to take time out to stay at home with their children but would still like to have a home-based job that allows them the best of both worlds. The PL manifesto includes proposals that will allow and encourage women to take up challenges, for small business start-ups and part-time ventures that are not hampered by undue bureaucracy. The national economy depends on increased female participation if it is to flourish. Our proposals have been created as a direct response to what women have told us and what they felt needs addressing in this respect.”
Michelle Muscat explains that she has witnessed serious financial hardship and difficulties in middle-income families as well as low-income ones. “People on a low income just get on with it by tightening their belts that much more. I strongly disagree, however, with the notion that only low-income families suffer when the economy goes wrong. If expenses increase, they also increase for those who have a high income and are used to a high-flying lifestyle. They may be professionals or business people, or have just inherited family wealth. People leading simple lives have simple issues to deal with; people leading complicated lives have complicated issues to master – everything is relative, but when the national economy is in dire straits, the whole nation suffers.”
One of the facets of meeting members of the general public is dealing with people's demands, requests and expectations. How does she tackle this? She looks at me somewhat sadly and openly admits: “I speak to people and listen to them, but am extremely careful not to raise their expectations. I disagree with those who promise the earth just to look good in the eyes of the public, because in certain situations you can only promise to listen. Then again, people in general are fed up with promises, futile promises that are not kept. This trend of broken promises has led people to become highly sceptical of politicians – false promises tire people out. Therefore, I feel that honesty is the best policy. I only promise what is do-able in the current circumstances and what the PL’s manifesto includes – plans that are do-able in the future.”
Michelle confirms that she was involved in the setting up of the PL’s policies in many ways, supporting the decisions taken from the feedback gleaned from her own meetings with various groups where issues relating to health, disability, education, animal welfare and others stood out. Michelle says that all the proposals are significant, as they were all influenced by what people said.
“Our challenge at that point in time revolved around the need to ensure that we drafted possible and genuine proposals that could be brought to fruition. I was particularly satisfied to received phone calls from people who recognised their own comments and pleas in our proposals and who appreciated that we had actually listened and taken action in as tangible a way as possible.”
Against such a social scenario, I ask what she finds most challenging in her public role. With no hesitation she answers: “Knowing the realities out there. Really knowing them well and understanding what concerns people. Finding a balance between what is portrayed in the media and what is the actual reality is the crux of it all and I think that is extremely challenging.”
What is definitely not a challenge for her is her role as the wife of Joseph Muscat. She voices the need to remain supportive of him, of keeping him grounded, of keeping his life as normal as possible. “A steady and stable family life keeps him attached to reality. The one huge mistake any politician can make is to become detached from real life. Joseph’s position can become a very lonely one at the top, that of a leader. By remaining grounded, I feel I personally do not become pretentious, I remain close to people, honest and approachable. Therefore I help him to remain grounded too. Then again, his experience in the European Parliament has helped him look across the aisle at other groups, neither of which has a majority. “Therefore the experience has proved to be unparalleled by any other – Joseph has learnt to listen to and have discussions with people who have diverse ideologies, backgrounds, beliefs – it has been a humbling experience, really, one which allows him to make no assumptions.”
Asked about her relationship with her daughters and how they can learn from their parents’ involvement in politics, Michelle Muscat recalls how her generation was brought up with a woman holding the presidency and that this was an example that proved to her that equality of the sexes is possible. “I feel that in raising our children, whether they are girls or boys, we should all go back to our roots and give them positive examples of honesty, integrity and respect, whilst instilling in them a good dose of self-confidence. These are values which benefit everybody, irrespective of their social position and responsibilities.
“As far as my daughters are concerned, I prefer to explain things myself rather than allow them to have to interpret what others tell them, especially on the subject of the political scene. I like to encourage people to use the social media in a positive manner, not by commenting negatively with divisive remarks that hint at political polarities, but by choosing to be part of a unifying force. I believe we should all aim at providing the next generation with a better quality of life and one way of doing this is to start reducing the political polarisation that afflicts our country. We are part of the EU, after all, let’s uphold a European mentality. Our children should learn to respect what others think and say and feel free to think and say what they feel is right.”
She stops mid-sentence and lowers her tone, but not the intensity of her words: “What I want my own children to take from this whole ‘political’ experience is the knowledge that their father was instrumental in increasing a sense of national unity.”