Godfrey Farrugia will probably not remember this.
We were sitting next to each other during one edition of Xarabank a few years ago. Given the nature of the discussion – we sat there for three hours and were involved for a total of three minutes each – we had time to converse during advert breaks and when the programme was off at a tangent, as happens many times when the producers try to fit in too many things.
The subject discussed was the ability or otherwise to forgive. What Dr Farrugia publicly said about how he pardoned someone who had attacked and seriously injured him did have some effect on me, largely because I find it extremely hard to shake hands with someone who has hurt me. But it was what we spoke about on a one-to-one level that led me to have such a good impression of the man.
After the programme, if I had been asked to describe Dr Farrugia in one word, I think I would have used humble. At the time, he had still to make his way in politics, and I would have never imagined that, one day, I would see him on a political list, let alone become a minister. Few politicians can be described as humble.
I’ve criticised him several times in the course of the few months during which he was our health minister. I think that some decisions that were taken on his watch only helped to create more problems in such a delicate sector. The decision to stop using private hospitals for emergencies at weekends, the postponement of non-emergency surgery last December and the infamous decision to have a tent set up to accommodate patients waiting for surgery – then quickly dismantled following orders from above – were all situations that exposed maladministration. It did not help that he seemed to be working without the support of the government, and in particular the Prime Minister.
Moreover, the problems that the Labour Party spoke so much about during the election campaign – such as the waiting lists for operations, patients kept in corridors and shortage of medicines – remained unresolved.
And, frankly, I think it is the way the Labour Party raised expectations on the health sector before March 2013 that led to Dr Farrugia’s downfall. Labour leader Joseph Muscat wanted to win the election at all costs, and said everything he could say to win as many votes as possible, including having a roadmap for improved health services (among other things, of course). Dr Muscat did eventually win, but when it came to putting his money where his mouth is, the promises he made on the health sector were too hard to fulfil.
What Labour used to say before the election came back to haunt them when they soon realised that what they thought was easy is turning out to be insurmountable. The magic wand that would have miraculously solved all problems in the sector was not found. The irony of it all is that it is Dr Farrugia who had to suffer the consequences, not Dr Muscat. The former Health Minister became the victim of Dr Muscat’s pre-election ambition.
When Dr Muscat decided to remove Dr Farrugia from the post of Health Minister, he was only trying to put the blame squarely on the Zebbug doctor’s shoulders. The “excuse” that Dr Farrugia’s services were needed in the social dialogue ministry that had been vacated by Marie Louise Coleiro Preca was only a smokescreen to hide Dr Muscat’s own failures in health.
Marlene Farrugia, Labour MP and the former minister’s partner, has told us that Dr Farrugia was “repeatedly humiliated” by the Prime Minister. Writing in this newspaper’s sister daily, she mentioned the “numerous statements (made) by the Prime Minister regarding matters that he knew full well required huge capital investment to correct, and also being fully aware that the Health Ministry 2013 Budget was quite a few million euros short of being able to cater for basic needs let alone provide for the immediate solution of the considerable bed shortage that this government inherited”. Just when Dr Godfrey Farrugia was finding his feet after 12 months of laying the groundwork, the carpet was pulled from under him.
In her article, Marlene Farrugia also spoke about the appointment of former Nationalist Minister John Dalli as consultant to the government on health and how this affected the administration of the sector.
It is easy to understand that Dr Muscat chose to have Mr Dalli on board to irk the Opposition. And it is also easy to understand that it was difficult for Dr Farrugia to live with Mr Dalli’s shadow looking over his shoulder. Let us not forget that Mr Dalli was health minister before he left for his post in Brussels. The embarrassing moments when Mr Dalli presented his report on Mater Dei Hospital some time ago were there for all to see.
Dr Farrugia however did well not to fall into a second trap similar to the first. When he was offered the post of Social Dialogue Minister, he realised that if he had accepted it he would have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. This is precisely because the way the presidency of Marie Louise Coleiro Preca has been explained makes it evident that her role in the social policy sector will still be quite important. It may not be executive, but it will certainly be influential.
This was confirmed by new Social Policy Minister Michael Farrugia himself when he used the word “consultant” when asked about President Coleiro Preca’s position on social policy. And “consultant” is the same word that was used to describe John Dalli’s role in the health sector.