The Labour Party has launched what it said were 100 ideas with which it would like to take the country forward.

The ideas cover several aspects of our everyday life, be it the economy, the environment and good governance, among other topics. While it can be said that, from an economic point of view, the PL in government has been able to give Malta a sense of direction which came in handy when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, it has not done well at all when it comes to the environment and good governance.

Malta’s recent grey-listing by the Financial Action Task Force will remain a blemish on the country, possibly for years to come, and one on the Labour Party too, simply because its lack of action allowed the constant deterioration of the country’s reputation in matters related to money laundering and financial abuses.

In his address to launch the 100 ideas – which will probably serve as the basis on which Labour will compile its election manifesto in the coming weeks or months – Prime Minister Robert Abela focused on three principles which, he said, had always been part and parcel of the PL’s vision.

These were the promotion of work, including the relationship between the employees and their employers; the wisdom with which to tackle challenges that come along; and the distribution of wealth.

During the course of his speech, Abela spoke about how when he was elected party leader he was told not to take unnecessary risks because the “opposition is weak” and Labour stood to lose more than it could gain if difficult decisions were taken. His answer to this, he said, was that the PL always lost when it was afraid of change.

The road to European Union membership was probably high on the PM’s mind when he said this, although there were other instances in the course of history when Labour was very much on the wrong side. Where the PM was totally wrong was when he said that the PL had never chosen austerity – well, he may be too young to remember what happened in the 1980s, but we believe that he should have informed himself better before making such a statement. It could have easily been avoided.

We also believe that the PM should have been more forceful in his words when he spoke about good governance. The way he tackled the issue gave one the impression that the PM realised that, on such an occasion, he could not avoid referring to such a delicate subject, given the current circumstances. But he should have taken the opportunity to give a much stronger message on how the government intends to lift Malta out of its current predicament.

The government needs to realise that Malta has hit its lowest point with the FATF ruling, and that it must quickly fight back to restore its reputation. Taking matters lightly, as the government has unfortunately done especially when it was led by Joseph Muscat, is not beneficial at all.