The second Robert Abela government will be celebrating its first 100 days in office this week.

They were not uneventful, as the government embarked on its mission to accomplish all that it promised its election campaign.

What has stood out is a reduced presence of the Prime Minister, who has made few appearances in the media and is no longer sharing his views on Sunday mornings. Some ministers have also been rather conspicuous by their absence, while others are in full swing.

Here are some thoughts on what happened in these first 100 days, with a view to the five years ahead.

 

FATF

The removal of Malta from the grey list is, no doubt, one of the more positive news that the country received since the Labour Party secured another term in office last March.

The government portrayed it as a great victory for Malta, as it took just one full year of “hard work” for it to be taken off the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force. Speaking about the decision in one of his rare appearances since the election, Abela described it as a success story for Malta. He said that it confirmed that Malta was a serious and reputable country.

We beg to differ about this because, in the first place, the fact that Malta became the first European country to be dishonoured by being placed on the list is not something that we should be proud of.

It shows that, in previous years, Malta had been unable to satisfy the requirements of a “serious and reputable” country in the fight against money laundering and terror financing.

It was rich on the PM’s part to say that Malta is now an example to other countries. These other countries the PM was referring to have never been on the grey list. The only way they will be looking at Malta is to avoid the mistakes that were committed here so as not to be humiliated by being placed on the grey list.

 

Inflation

The rise in the cost of living is hitting hard.

People began seeing a rise in prices long before the election, but in the last three months they have started to feel the pinch more. The war in the Ukraine has continued to add more pressure, and it does not seem likely that it will end anytime soon. This will mean that these costs will continue to increase. We are moving quickly to a fully-fledged crisis, if we’re not already there.

The government has so far absorbed increases in the price of fuel and energy. This has served to limit the financial difficulties of our businesses and families, but one has to wonder whether the time will come when a decision will have to be made as to whether it will continue to be sustainable for the government to take on such hefty additional expenses.

Then again, if these price increases will be passed on to the consumer, there will be an even bigger ripple effect as businesses will seek to pass on the added burden on to their clients, and families – in particular those at the lower end of the social scale – will find it harder to make ends meet.

There has been an exponential increase in the price of certain essential items. This is negatively affecting the lifestyle of many of us. The €10 we had in our pockets in 2021 no longer has the same value today.

 

Comino

One of the most significant events of these first 100 days was the action taken by an NGO to remove deckchairs and umbrellas from the small sandy beach at Comino. This pushed the government into setting new rules.

The Graffitti Movement was commended for its idea.

But it is not only Comino that has been “taken over”. It is happening in many other places that public land is occupied by private entrepreneurs. On occasion, this happens with the blessing of the authorities; at other times, it happens without the necessary permits.

What is sure is that one gets the impression that more public land is being eaten up for the benefit of the few.

The government should come up with a better policy in this regard.

 

1am curfew

A legal notice issued during the first 100 days is enabling outlets in some streets in Valletta to continue playing music till 1am.

This has not been welcome news to the residents, who are complaining about greater disturbances and a negative effect on their way of life.

There are concerns, which have also been expressed by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, that the capital city is being turned into “another nightclub destination” – in other words, another Paceville.

While having more activity in Valletta is something that our capital city needed, it should not come to the detriment of the residents.

Speaking of Paceville, almost no day passes without some serious incident taking place there. People have been hurt, damage has been caused. It has become a dangerous area. And very dirty too.

 

Gozo airstrip

One project that has been presented by the government in these first 100 days is the idea to have an airstrip in Gozo.

The business community on the sister island has welcomed the proposal, as it believes that it would offer better connectivity.

Others are more sceptical about is, even because other similar initiatives in the past, such as a helicopter service, have failed. Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant expressed reservations about it, saying he is unconvinced that the project is commercially viable.

As the government continues with its plans, it should be reminded that not everything that glitters is gold. Just think of the fast ferry service, which was launched with so much pomp not so long ago, and with both operating companies now saying that it is not financially viable.

 

IVF law

As promised, the government is passing amendments to the IVF law in its first 100 days in office.

It happened not without the usual controversy, as is normally the case on delicate matters such as this one.

Apart from increasing the services offered to couples, the biggest polemic was on genetic testing on IVF embryos before their implantation.

The idea, according to Health Minister Chris Fearne, was to avoid heartbreaking stories of babies who are born with the certainty of dying within a few weeks or months.

This, according to the Life Network Foundation, was discriminatory against people with disabilities.

 

Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic is still hitting hard.

Restrictions have been eased, and we are now back to the pre-Covid normality in terms of the way we live.

In the past weeks we have seen yet another wave of new cases, but this has not spurred the government into taking any action. It does not even want to talk about it, apart from insisting that it is not putting pressure on the health services. There were times when, rightly so, Fearne and health chief Charmaine Gauci were regular protagonists on the news; their presence was eventually reduced and then fizzled out completely. Fearne only speaks about it when he attends some unrelated event.

The health authorities even stopped publishing information about the cases on the social media, and the little we get does not include too many details, particularly about the number of people in hospital with the virus.

 

Acting President

The appointment of a non-politician as an Acting President each time the President, George Vella, is away, could be giving a hint as to where Robert Abela wants to go when Vella’s term expires in less than two years’ time.

Frank Bezzina, a university professor, took on the role for the first time last week when Vella was in Qatar.

Except for Sir Anthony Mamo, all Presidents of the Republic and interim heads of state we had in nearly 50 years of Malta being a republic came from the political world.

Whether the appointment of Bezzina will eventually lead to a non-politician being appointed to the highest position of the State remains to be seen.

 

George Hyzler

Later this year, George Hyzler will be replacing Leo Brincat as Malta’s representative on the European Court of Auditors.

Hyzler will therefore be relinquishing his post as Commissioner for Standards a year before the end of his term.

In the last four years, Hyzler has compiled a long list of reports that at times embarrassed the government. He has carried out his job meticulously and with care, calling a spade a spade each time. His office was one of the few institutions that functioned properly.

The real pity is that there were times when his reports found a stumbling block in the Parliamentary Standards Committee. The commissioner’s powers are limited.

Now that Hyzler will be taking on a new post, the government must ensure that there is continuity. The person who will be replacing him should be cut from the same cloth.

 

The environment

In the President’s address at the State opening of Parliament, we were told that the government is to give priority to the environment.

It does not look like this is happening.

Week after week, day after day, the destruction of the environment – in the wider sense of the word – continues.

The concrete jungle Malta has become gets bigger and bigger, higher and higher. And there seems to be no end to this. Reports on plans for mega-projects appear regularly and, many times, permits are given in spite of public outcry.

Roads continue to eat into our countryside, but traffic congestion remains.

Pollution – air, water, land, noise, light, smell, visual and more – has become a major characteristic of the country we live in. Over-population makes the situation even worse.

We have probably already passed the point of no return in this. The authorities seem oblivious to this.

On paper, the government has made the environment its priority in this legislation. We have to see it to believe it.