Malta’s three political party leaders have made their way to the Where’s Everybody studios in Qormi to take part in this evening’s debate on Xarabank, which is being broadcast live by TVM.
The three leaders had last appeared on Xarabank on 18 January. They had also participated in three debates last month: one organised by university student organisation Insite on 13 February, one organised by the MCAST student council seven days later and one organised by The Times just three days ago.
But tonight’s edition of Xarabank should provide them with the last opportunity to face off before next week’s election, an opportunity they will inevitably hope to make the most of.
Until yesterday, only Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Michael Briguglio were set to take part in the debate. Labour Party leader Joseph Muscat was set not to take part, after his party’s request to reduce the programme’s duration to one hour was turned down.
But the invitation to Dr Muscat remained open, and the Labour leader confirmed he would attend yesterday.
The programme started with lengthy “day in the life” features on each party leader: the Xarabank crew accompanied Dr Gonzi on 12 February and Dr Muscat seven days later. The features provide some light-hearted moments: Dr Muscat discusses the cartoons he watches with his twin daughters, while Dr Gonzi recounts how a spam email for male enhancement pills came up on his tablet computer when a European prime minister was walking past.
The first, lengthy, ad break starts roughly 30 minutes into the programme, and the actual debate was yet to begun. But it began in earnest as soon as the adverts stopped, without Dr Briguglio for the time being.
The debate opens
For the first question, presenter Peppi Azzopardi asked Dr Muscat and Dr Gonzi to comment on the other party’s election slogan, “Futur fis-sod” (sound future) and “Malta taghna lkoll” (Malta belongs to us all) respectively.
Dr Muscat started by stating that the former required the latter, before stating that voters faced a choice between the politics of the past and the politics of the future. He said that his party aimed to build on what has been done well, and change what has not.
Dr Gonzi appealed to the young, stating that “Malta taghna lkoll” reminded him of the students at the Handaq school he inaugurated this week, and of the MCAST students who may not have all cheered him, but who will be graduating and finding jobs. He also mentioned university students, and those who may not have succeeded at school but who still managed to find employment.
The second question focused on change, and Dr Muscat stressed that change was not done for its own sake, but was necessary for the country’s interest.
Dr Gonzi countered by stating that his party had long been the author of great changes in the country, and that it wanted to continue doing so. He questioned the need for a change in direction at this time, stating that Malta was moving forward while other countries crashed.
Dr Muscat then said that the change Dr Gonzi was mentioning was not happening, since unemployment has been increasing for 11 straight months. While jobs were being created in sectors such as financial services, but other sectors were either not creating jobs or creating jobs with poor working conditions.
Dr Gonzi insisted that many other sectors were proving to be successful, and that people should not risk change because they knew where they stood with the PN, but not with Labour.
The prime minister paid a particular focus to the concerns faced by the young at the start of the debate, including by stressing that most of the 20,000 jobs created during the present legislature were taken up by young people.
Members of the audience broke out in applause on a number of occasions at the beginning of the debate, only to be reminded by Mr Azzopardi that such audience participation is prohibited by Broadcasting Authority regulations.
The shipyards, and energy bills
The discussion turned to the shipyards, with Dr Gonzi criticising Dr Muscat for describing their closure as an error. Dr Muscat countered by stating that the prime minister was aware of these problems when the government sent written assurances to shipyard workers ahead of the 2008 election, and pointed out the mismanagement of the loss-making Fairmount contract in 2009.
The prime minister then remarked that Dr Muscat ignored the restructuring efforts which took place over 7 years, and that the government assumed nearly €1 billion worth of debt incurred by the shipyards in an attempt to keep them afloat.
Dr Gonzi then reiterated a question he made in the last Xarabank debate, asking Dr Muscat how he wanted Malta to emulate Cyprus, stating that he expected his curiosity to remain unsatisfied. He was right, as Dr Muscat countered by pointing out that Dr Gonzi had made unsubstantiated assertions of his own in Xarabank debates, including the announcement of a Brazilian investment that turned out to be a 4-man operation being wound down.
The prime minister’s assertion that such arguments did not create jobs prompted Dr Muscat to state that ultimately, people had to determine whether they were actually better off now than they were five years ago.
The discussion shifted to energy bills, prompting the prime minister to defend his party’s proposed night tariff as cheaper for business. But Dr Muscat insisted that his party’s own proposal would lower bills throughout the day, whilst insisting that a PN government would increase daytime tariffs.
This assertion is not contradicted by Dr Gonzi, who instead points out that the KPMG report his party commissioned discredited Labour’s calculations on energy. Dr Muscat counters by stating that in a disclaimer “larger than the report itself,” the audit firm stressed that it used the information provided to it.
The second ad break then began. Dr Briguglio might be disappointed by Dr Muscat’s last-minute confirmation of attendance: so far, his party’s only appearance has been in its political advertisements.
Change, roadmaps, and Cyprus
Dr Muscat, who had spoken a couple of minutes less than Dr Gonzi ahead of the break, reiterated his party’s position on energy position after the break, when he was asked to comment on why the country needed a change of direction, and also pointed out their effect on the environment. Other reasons he provided for change included a disappointing public transport service, bed shortages at Mater Dei Hospital and a high proportion of early school leavers.
Ultimately, he said, the main reason was a need to change mentality.
But Dr Gonzi insisted that he could still not understand the change Dr Muscat was seeking, reiterating that the main priority was job creation and insisting that low taxes were important for this. He emphasised the EU funds Malta obtained through the 2014-2020 budget framework – €1,128 million – before criticising Labour’s dismissal of this as a “been there done that” and reiterating his question on Cyprus.
Dr Muscat again dodged this question, stating that this was a style of politics which Malta had to do away with. On the former question, he noted that he was referring to deputy leader Louis Grech’s experience in EU, and insisted that he would not similarly criticise PN deputy and MEP Simon Busuttil, a somewhat questionable claim.
Dr Gonzi said that his Labour counterpart had talked about a new roadmap for years, but insisted, despite the party’s election manifesto, that he was still waiting for it. He said that he was not ready to risk his country to an “unlit room” – which prompted Dr Muscat to state that the lights may be switched off because of high energy rates.
The prime minister also brought up Dr Muscat’s statements on Cyprus once more, seemingly to no avail. The Labour leader instead opted to defend his election programme as a realistic one which foresaw lower expenditures than the PN, because it wanted to be honest with the electorate. He questioned whether Dr Gonzi would repeat what he had done in 2008 if re-elected: cite an economic crisis as an excuse not to fulfil his party’s promises.
Dr Muscat’s mentions of economic projections led Dr Gonzi to point out that Malta’s economy was still projected to grow while other economies were set to shrink. Cyprus was brought up again, with Dr Gonzi pointing out that the past two years proved that he had acted correctly and that Cyprus had followed a wrong path.
Briguglio joins the fray
Dr Briguglio makes an appearance roughly 30 minutes before the programme’s end, with his own “day in the life” feature, which took him through his day-job as a university lecturer, an AD press conference and a Sliema council meeting.
Asked why people should vote for his party, Dr Briguglio echoed its slogan by stating that people knew where they stood with them, adding that it had also engaged in the most positive campaign and that it put forward valid proposals, not gimmicks. He said that if elected to parliament, AD could help bridge the gap between the two larger parties and seek to convince them to take up its own proposals.
Dr Muscat finally mentioned Cyprus at this point, stating that the prime minister was well aware of the country’s over-reliance on Greece, and pointed out that he could similarly refer to Ireland, which the prime minister had lauded as an example ahead of the 2008 economic crisis. He insists that the PN’s programme was based on wrong economic assumptions.
Dr Gonzi appeals to first-time voters, reiterating – a point often made this week – that once the smoke has cleared, their main concern will be whether they can find jobs. He stressed that the PN managed to create jobs not by boosting numbers in the public sector, but through the private sector.
The leaders were then asked to state why elderly voters should pick their party, and Dr Briguglio emphasised that his party was the only one to push for the introduction of supplementary “second pillar” occupational pensions. He noted that existing state pensions will prove inadequate in a few decades, and that “third pillar” pensions – individual savings - only helped those who could afford them.
Dr Muscat chooses to emphasise his party’s proposal to gradually raise the minimum pension to 60% of the national average income, stressing that many pensioners are at risk of poverty.
Dr Gonzi notes that many pensioners now work without losing their pensions, before stating that the elderly also valued efforts which helped their children and grandchildren, before moving on to health.
Dr Briguglio was then asked on the possibility of AD forming part of a coalition government, if elected to parliament. After stating that AD could end up in opposition – and stressing that it would be constructive if this was the case – he said that the party would seek to form a coalition with the party it agreed the most with.
He insisted that AD would not “stamp its feet” like Franco Debono, or engage in anti-politics like Italy’s Beppe Grillo, but favour dialogue as was the case with most European parties.
‘The people’ tipped to win election
The last question concerned who the leaders thought they would win.
Dr Briguglio noted that polls favoured Labour, but expressed caution, before stressing that his party could be elected to parliament with 2,000 first count votes in one district.
Pressed to explain further, he appealed for cross-party voters, urging AD supporters to also vote for other candidates they favoured, and vice versa.
The other two candidates all said that they hoped for the people would win, and sought to end on a conciliatory note.
Dr Muscat said that it was a privilege to work with Dr Gonzi, despite their disagreements, and hoped that everyone would accept the people’s judgment on Election Day.
The prime minister said that the people ended up winning every election, and that while differing sides argued about politics and had their own colour – blue and red – it ended there, as all politicians put themselves at the country’s service.