The language used about waste in running the country’s affairs is a political one but it should not be allwoed to stay only that way. Questions about whether an entity is doing enough to ensure the best use of the resources at its disposal -- or whether it could achieve better results even while spending less by altering how it does spend -- make sense for any organization, from businesses to NGO’s.

A best practice is for a regular check to be kept over the management of an entity to ensure that waste and the inadequate deployment of resources are contained and eliminated. Which is why the inputs of auditors -- when carried to the point where not just the factual correctness of financial accounts are analysed, but also the administrative arrangements in internal management -- are frequently of great value.

I always agreed that the utmost importance should be attached to an auditor’s contribution. Indeed, I dislike intensely the attitude of governments -- no matter which -- when they ignore or run down the reports prepared by the Auditor General and his office regarding aspects of how the public admnistration is run.

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THE DOMINANT RIGHT

The truth is that the European political scenario is progressively coming under the influence (or dominance) of the right and the centre-right.

In the European Parliament the Socialists, the Left and the Greens lost seats while the EPP increased theirs. The best positions in European governance are being assumed time after time by right wing representatives. Meanwhile, governments are in their majority swinging right.

What I still find strange in this whole issue is how the left and the centre left seem to have  become quite used to the current state of affairs. With every European election that approaches, fears about the rise of the extreme right and the threat it poses to democracy spread. It then turns out that the progress of the extreme right has not been so significant; yet their gains seem to have been accomplished at the expense of the left.

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MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS POSTPONED

In the British elections, one  issue that ignited controversies related to the management of the national health service.  It was criticised for not keeping up with the people’s needs. In hospitals and clinics, waiting queues get longer, medical appointments are set for too far out in the future, and very often, medical interventions are postponed all of a sudden, just like that.

Such complaints are familiar, for they are also made in Malta. Actually they arise all over Europe.

Although urgency is in order to tackle and resolve the problem, practically no government is succeeding in this. Some have opened up the healthcare sector to private enterprise in a bid to somehow clear the bottlenecks. Families from low or middle income strata have been worst hit and the whole issue is at last impacting election outcomes.

For too many years, social services that are dedicated to health care have not been subjected to a serious initiative meant to update them according to the evolving needs of society. Investment in health services was left pending and they were provided with less than the good care that they deserved. On the issue, governments of left and right have showed the same indifference.