Giving credit when it’s due

What does it take to applaud the capabilities and achievements of a politician? Not much. But this is not on the cards for some of the boys at Pieta.

On several occasions we have expressed clear sympathy for the difficult task facing the minister responsible for managing the finances of this country.

When every Tom, Dick and Harry was looking at his pay cheque and counting the missing fringe benefits, it was us who unfurled the lonely flag to rally support for this so called draconian move.

We were the ones to explain that this was not a measure, but an attempt to fill a leaking hole of blatant evasion. Not even the boys in blue could bring themselves to say such a thing. And Labour, with all its credentials for a social conscience, was busy gathering cannon fodder for its killer campaign.

When we repeated similar praise for the benchmarking exercise, we too were alone. The lawyers association called us names and the tile layers said we were busybodies. The Labour party was more simplistic - it simply called us lackeys.

The Pieta clan were nowhere to be seen.

On the contrary, they were secretly kicking up dirt saying that the Finance minister would lose them the election and it was an election they wanted to win.

This was two years into an administration and yet the inexperienced boys were unwilling to wait and see.

Now that a Xarabank survey has confirmed there is a positive outlook towards the budget, the same boys are keen to throw a party for some personalities in the party.

Irrespective of whether the persons ever concretely contributed to this evolutionary process or not. But worse they are eager to leave out the man who has the ability to manage the mechanics that run the finances.

Internecine scuffles in political parties are not unheard of, but what is happening in the Nationalist party is a coordinated effort to ostracise one group from another. The aim is clear.

Call it a democratic process but in reality it is an attempt to anoint an heir apparent against all the natural rules of succession.

Perhaps this debate is of little interest before Yuletide, but it will be an issue next year. If the Nationalist party wants to steer itself into the next election and referendum with a tail wind it must not only appear to be fair to its current prominent leaders but be seen to act in such way.

Until now, the party machinery has surfed on a high, believing that all the inroads attained are self made, when in reality the true reasons are linked to Labour’s leadership crisis.

The unspeakable truth is that the Nationalist party has very few gifted leaders. Perhaps someone should whisper this unkind fact in its members’ waxy ears.


An independent and accountable judiciary

The answers published in today’s newspaper from Dr Austin Gatt are frank and straightforward. There was no beating round the bush. Dr Gatt agrees that the judiciary should declare their assets, but he stops short of concerning himself over the business connections of judges and magistrates.

We all know the involvements of some judges and magistrates and before commenting on the issue, we should state that we find no fault or dishonest behaviour on the part of Noel Arrigo, Malta’s future Chief Justice. We believe that he is a very capable man at his job.

But this should not stop us from investigating and looking into his background, considering the relevance of his future post.

Our consideration here is that magistrates and judges should be career jobs and not cherries on the cake.

In other countries, such as Germany, France and Italy, magistrates and judges are not lawyers who leave their business or legal profession after being selected by the government of the day.

There, the judiciary are composed of individuals who study and sit for exams to be accepted as qualified magistrates or judges.

This reform will not take place in Malta, but we could get closer to the norm by allowing the judiciary to set higher standards for itself and for its members to be less dependent on government when choosing its own representatives.

saviourbalzan@maltamag.com