“We will look at creating jobs not only from a quantity point of view but also from a quality point of view. We wish to create jobs in line with the aspirations of our youth, of our families, of persons with disabilities and of all those wishing to work”. This must be the first time I started off an article by quoting a Labour Party document. This extract is lifted from the Labour Party’s electoral manifesto, released fourteen months ago. Two months later, Joseph Muscat was elected and given the power to execute his plans and wishes.

If Joseph Muscat’s wish came through we would have seen a steady decline in the number of people registering for work. Our youth, our unemployed would be availing themselves of better paid jobs. However we are seeing the very exact opposite happening. Unemployment is on the increase – it has in fact been increasing month after month. Close to 8000 persons are now seeking a job. Our country has not reached this level of unemployment in the past thirty years. Every unemployed person from those eight thousand has a story to tell. Every one of those has aspirations and commitments. Every one of those persons can contribute to the common good. Every one of those persons is asking where are the jobs that were promised to us? The government is playing ostrich in the sand with our unemployed. It is refusing to acknowledge the problem saying that our country still has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the European Union. Is government waiting for the problem to get completely out of hand before taking remedial action?  How many more people do we need to have on the unemployment register before government acts?

The unemployment statistics could in fact be worse was it not for the fact that over a thousand people were employed with the public service in the past year. The pertinent question here is what kind of public sector jobs are we creating? How many of these jobs are teachers, doctors and how many on the other hand are consultants, advisers and garage-finders? In other words how many are justified positions and how many are simply jobs-for-the boys? How many of these jobs are addressing a national need and how many are simply paying back a pre-electoral commitment? Public sector jobs are paid by our taxes. Any excess wages carried by government equate to wasted taxes, money that could be used to create real productive jobs. The cost of government has increased substantially over the past twelve months. A substantial part of this increase is due to Joseph Muscat’s decision to appoint the largest Cabinet in Malta’s history. He had the opportunity to re-visit this decision when he carried out the re-shuffle. He opted to retain the bloated Cabinet. The issue here is not the salary of the Minister or the Parliamentary Secretary. It is the cost of running additional offices, with all the staff complements and expenses they incur. The additional cost runs in tens of millions of euro ever year.

While jobs in the public sector are on the increase, we are seeing signs of distress in the private sector. Imports and exports are significantly down: between January and October last year imports decreased by fourteen per cent while exports decreased by twenty per cent.  Retail sales are likewise decreasing month on month. The workers in our factory floors and in our shops must be justifiably worried by the drop in sales and production. It is therefore no wonder that consumer confidence is dropping. The only reason we are not in deeper waters is because tourism and the financial services are still performing well, largely thanks to the strategies and policies created by the previous government and embraced by this government. These sectors depend on our country’s reputation and it is paramount that this government protects and enhances our reputation as an economically stable and forward looking country. Regrettably this past year we have seen our reputation being questioned in the international media.

There are things that should be above partisan politics. We should certainly be united in ensuring the economic prosperity of our country.  This government is however adopting a know-it-all attitude, even failing to properly consult the constituted bodies and the Opposition. This despite the promise of being an inclusive government. And this perhaps has been the biggest failing of this government in the past year. This government should hear more, it should talk more and it should see more rather than closing itself in an ivory tower. It should perhaps start by talking to persons looking for jobs. The National Statistics Office has just issued a release saying that there are close to five hundred more persons looking for a job than there were in the same month last year. Prime Minister their wish should be your command.

Francis Zammit Dimech is PN candidate for MEP election