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From London to Brussels with love

From the London PN office he helped set up in the seventies to the infamous bus ticketing scandal, former minister Michael Frendo talks to KURT SANSONE about his political career

Michael Frendo’s foray into politics started almost 25 years ago when he was involved in the student movement that was resisting the removal of the University’s autonomy by the Mintoff government.

It was 18 November 1977 when Dr Frendo was asked to give the traditional graduation speech. It was a hard-hitting speech during which the President of the Republic and the education minister walked out in disagreement. But to top it all Dr Frendo was accused of defaming the Head of State by the way he looked at him during the speech. Such an accusation had never been made before in Maltese case law.

Dr Frendo recalls that halfway through a civil suit he had left the island to go and study in London and did not come back, fearing the authorities would issue an impediment of departure.

After having graduated as a lawyer, Dr Frendo went on to do a post graduate degree in European law in London. He smiles at this point and explains that in 1979 he thought the Nationalist party would win the 1981 election and thus pursue European Union membership soon after.

"I miscalculated the event by 20 years," he remarks with a laugh.

Dr Frendo then recalls the time he spent in London where he helped create and run the Nationalist party’s London office in his free time. The aim of the branch was to highlight Malta’s human rights problem to the international press and keep Westminister informed of the situation. The office was also instrumental in organising the meeting between Dr Fenech Adami and British Prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

"The situation in Malta was an erosion of democracy rather then a complete collapse. We gave the party every possible assistance and maintained contact with the Maltese people who had left the island because of the repression," Dr Frendo adds.

He recalls the 1981 election, which was monitored closely by the London office. "When the final result was known and it was evident that the Nationalist party remained in opposition despite getting the majority of votes, we used our contacts in the international press. The story made news headlines but unfortunately, we lost the top headline spot a day after because Poland had declared a state of marshal law. Malta’s electoral saga was upstaged by another news item of far more crucial importance to the international community."

Dr Frendo returned back to the island in June 1982 after having settled the libel case with the President of the Republic. Dr Frendo begun working fulltime with the Nationalist Party and was heavily involved within the media set up of the party. "My international contacts proved invaluable and every week we used to issue a press briefing on the situation in Malta to keep the international community updated with the situation," Dr Frendo muses.

The 1980s were undoubtedly a black period for Malta and in Dr Frendo’s words, "I would go to work at the ‘stamperija’ and not know what to expect."

He continues, "The Nationalist party had to take difficult decisions, such as the boycott of parliament."

Eventually a PN general conference decided to end that boycott but the party led a wave of civil disobedience, which included a boycott of products advertised on State television.

I ask Dr Frendo whether this particular boycott was fair on businessmen considering all the constraints they had, but the lawyer does not flinch.

"I had worked alongside Roger Degiorgio in the boycott office and we were constantly faced with angry businessmen. At one time government had also threatened to put an additional tax on water for those businesses that did not advertise on State television. It is true that we put businesses under pressure but we were fighting to save democracy, a choice had to be made."

I raise the possibility that the violent incidents that occurred during that turbulent period were instigated by Nationalist party activists but Dr Frendo plays down that possibility.

"I do not believe the instigation theory. The party had made a non-violent choice and I believe it was a good choice. If the party had adopted violent means this country would have had a bloodbath, creating wounds that would be difficult to heal."

Does the 1987 electoral result, which gave the Nationalist party a slim majority of 4,000 votes, surprise Dr Frendo?

"Yes it does. I believe that it was an unjust result. After years of repression and violence I imagined a much larger victory. But it is fair to add that the media was manipulated at the time. People who did not experience violence first hand would have never seen it on TV. I prefer to believe that the true reaction to the 1981-87 period was the 1992 electoral result, because people could compare administrations."

I change conversation to the current situation and bring up the negotiating process with the European Union, an issue Dr Frendo was critical about some time ago.

“Now I am satisfied with the negotiating process but there was a time when I clamoured for more information to be given to the public,” Dr Frendo remarks.

It was during a meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee between Malta and the EU that Dr Frendo raised a number of concerns about the negotiating process. I ask him to elaborate.

"I insisted for a substantially relevant representation in the Commission for Malta. I had also expressed concern about the scarce availability of land, which should be protected for future generations. My third concern related to Malta’s small size, which makes it difficult to act as an industrial manufacturing base, so the EU had to be aware of this and make sure that the island remained economically viable."

Dr Frendo adds that he was confident that with some perseverance the Maltese negotiating team could have obtained the necessary concessions from the EU. The Nice Treaty gave Malta a Commissioner, while the derogation on the purchase of property by EU citizens will guard against speculation.

"The EU has to be sensitive to the needs of small countries and not present insurmountable obstacles during the negotiating period. The negotiations till now show that the EU has been sensitive, which also indicates that the union wants us to become members," Dr Frendo explains.

Referring to the allocation of parliamentary seats as established in the Nice Treaty, Dr Frendo says that it was a mistake to allocate Malta five seats instead of six but he does not see this as a big problem.

"I would like to see an increase in the number of MEPs, but that is a mistake that can still be rectified. There is a practical reason, apart from the country’s pride, to lobby for six seats. It would make more sense to partition the workload among six representatives rather than five."

The discussion about EU membership inevitably turns to the sovereignty issue and whether Malta will have a meaningful voice within EU structures.

Dr Frendo is adamant that in the current set up it is important for Malta to have a commissioner.

"Not that the commissioner will be there to promote Malta’s interests but it would be good to have somebody who could understand Malta’s reality as a small country bordering the North African continent."

But Dr Frendo goes deeper than that. He presents a crucial question, "Will Malta be more sovereign inside the EU or outside?"

He explains that in the 1960s it made sense to be independent with no political links to other countries but in a world enveloped by the phenomenon of globalisation, interdependence is becoming a more obvious choice today.

Dr Frendo quotes former president of the republic Censu Tabone, "everybody is equal around the negotiating table."

The lawyer says that it is better for Malta to be sitting at a table where decisions affecting its future are taken, rather then not being there even though the decisions would still have an impact on the island.

"Recent history, both in political and economic terms shows that if Europe sneezes, Malta catches a cold," Dr Frendo adds with a smile on his face. He continues, "In the 1970s the EU had locked out our textile exports because there was a glut in the market and that hit us rather badly."

Dr Frendo reiterates his belief that Malta will be "substantially more sovereign inside the EU rather than outside."

However, the Europhile lawyer explains that another possibility for Malta would be to become a trade centre tied more closely to the US economy rather than the EU.

"Perhaps, being closer to the US would benefit the island just the same, but the EU option is more in line with our culture, history and identity and given our trading patterns, it makes more economic sense."

Dr Frendo then shoots down the much flaunted theory pushed forward by pro-EU campaigners that Malta will serve as a bridge between the EU and North Africa once it becomes a member state.

"The North African markets will be open to us once we join the EU. Despite the close relations we have with Libya and other Arab states these have not translated into the opening of markets through a network of agreements. On the other hand the EU is developing free trade agreements with North African states and on becoming a member, Malta will be able to benefit from them."

Dr Frendo then talks about the referendum, an issue he considers to be of utmost importance. "The Nationalist party has pledged to hold a referendum and I believe that it is also a duty. It is a question of trust. A referendum on such an important change, with all its dangers and difficulties is necessary not only in terms of democratic principles but to ensure continuity of choice."

Dr Frendo does not rule out the possibility of holding a referendum after the general election or on the same day the election is held. "It is the principle of holding a referendum before membership and after the final package is known, that counts," he explains.

Dr Frendo then chides Alfred Sant for saying that he will not respect the outcome of the result. "Dr Sant’s statement is a negation of direct democracy. He is taking sovereignty away from the people," Dr Frendo stresses, adding that the Leader of the Opposition should give people a chance to decide on the Labour option through a referendum.

I hark back to 1996 when the Labour party had embarked on a mud slinging campaign to discredit Dr Frendo in what was popularly known as the 'bus ticketing scandal'. His face becomes serious.

"It was a big injustice especially on the part of those people who believed Dr Sant’s vile accusations. I had a clean political career and I earnestly believe that I was targeted on purpose," Dr Frendo replies rather enigmatically without revealing more details.

I ask him whether the whole episode has left its mark on him.

"I have changed, and I hope I have matured. Today I do not take peoples’ actions at face value but look deeper into them."

Dr Frendo says that he never lost his interest in politics but after the 1996 election he ended up without a job and had to dedicate more time trying to earn a living by setting up a legal practice. But Dr Frendo’s biggest disappointment came in 1998 when he was only elected in a by-election after Guido de Marco was appointed President of the Republic.

He admits, "I was angered by people from my own political party who conducted a negative campaign in my regard." But Dr Frendo harbours no grudges. "Unfortunately that is the reality of Malta’s political system. But that is now the past and should not be dwelt upon any further."

The lawyer intends contesting the next election, adding that he feels he still has a lot to contribute to the country. "But I will not contest another by-election if I am not elected directly," he insists.

I steer the discussion towards what could be termed as Dr Frendo’s biggest political achievement as a minister, the liberalisation of the broadcasting scene.

The satisfaction of that achievement is evident on Dr Frendo’s face.

He recalls, "at the time the biggest resistance came from the Labour party, which also voted against the bill. But the biggest fear was that the restricted market would not provide enough advertising revenue for radio stations."

Time proved those fears wrong because the advertising cake increased even though the number of radio stations more than doubled.

"Radio stations provided small businesses, which normally did not use the traditional newspaper advertising, a new advertising outlet," Dr Frendo explains.

But, for Dr Frendo, the biggest achievement of pluralism was the increased liberty and freedom of expression, which strengthened democracy.

"The Maltese public became less scared of a microphone and they began questioning things more. Pluralism also made politicians more accountable and brought them closer to the people," Dr Frendo says.

Commenting on the radio and TV licences handed out to the political parties, Dr Frendo describes this as a reflection of Maltese society. He admits that nowhere else in the world do political parties own TV stations, but explains that it is not because parties are disallowed from doing so.

"Abroad political parties feel they are adequately serviced by the private media but in Malta, following the negative experience with State television the parties felt that owning their own stations was a means of ensuring freedom of expression."

Dr Frendo recalls the changes made at Television Malta, which was re-named Public Broadcasting Service.

"We hived off state television from Telemalta and deliberately adopted a policy of farming out productions. The idea behind this policy was to encourage the birth of the film and TV production industry in a bid to export locally produced broadcasting material. But I am disappointed with the outcome because the country and private enterprise has not done enough in this area."

Dr Frendo believes that the next step in the broadcasting scene should be a revamp of the Broadcasting Authority. The convergence of Internet, digital interactive television, satellite and other new technologies cannot be catered for in the current BA set up according to the media savvy lawyer.

Having had transport under his realm, Dr Frendo also highlights the need to solve the public transport problem once and for all. "If the country does not solve the problem vital sectors of the economy will suffer, apart from the fact that the pollution generated by cars is taking its toll on the environment and public health."

Dr Frendo finds it hard to stomach that after the bus ticketing scandal erupted nothing was done to improve public transport and stille, the electronic ticketing machines have failed to make an appearance.

But the lawyer insists that Malta should go beyond the traditional public transport. "I believe we should be looking at a mass transit system similar to the underground or trams, which would work concurrently with other means of transport," he concludes.