People • 26 January 2003

I’d rather ride the Caravan

MARSA – Lino Spiteri has a smug look about himself. The look of a man satisfied with his life. One might think he ought not be looking so smug. He never became Labour Party leader for example, but that does not seem to bother him: "I am not upset about not being leader – I never cared much for that. I left politics, but still have my own personality."
Doubts linger. Does Spiteri believe something was amiss when he lost the leadership to Alfred Sant?
The answer came succinctly: "The evidence is still there," and pursed his lips.
Spiteri is proud of his past. He has an impressive academic record, was the youngest deputy to enter Parliament, was always re-elected when he contested and took a decision to retire at the end of the 1996 Labour legislature. Not everybody has kind words about Mr Spiteri and doubts linger on in some people’s minds about parts of his political history, but he denies any wrongdoing puts forward his side of the story.
"At my stage in life it is a good feeling to be away from party politics. I decided to retire thinking that another five years would see me reaching sixty-one. I did not however, have any inkling it would be such a short term in office."
Retired is everything Lino Spiteri isn’t: he is a prolific writer, a regular columnist, a financial management consultant mostly to manufacturing concerns and sits on the Board of a number of companies including: Middlesea , Medavia, Tumas Finance and Bortex. "I don’t miss party politics at all. Party politics is no great ball," Spiteri smiles.
Pressed to say what he disliked: "In any party one must compete with candidates from the same side and this is not always done to Queensbury rules – there are lots of hits below the belt."
Spiteri is often asked to go back into the fold: "Mostly by Labourite individuals. But I would not consider it even if there was another political party to join. I am a one party man."
"The Labour Party has had its turbulent times but now it is sailing in the direction it has chosen. It has probably recovered the popular voters it lost at the last elections."
Spiteri’s time in government remains a subject of some controversy. Value Added Tax became an issue in 1994 when it was proposed by the NP in government. "As an economist I was aware that it was the best among the regime of indirect taxation, but the party was committed to remove it by its leader, Alfred Sant."
"Although I disagreed in private, in public I went along with that decision." Asked whether the entire VAT debacle was more about gaining votes that a matter of principle or an attempt at greater efficiency, Spiteri said he thought not. "However, there was a vote catching element in the suggestions that cash registers could be removed."
Since then Spiteri has been able to speak openly about VAT and even Alfred Sant has change d his tune, but one wonders what the outcome would have been had Spiteri chosen to be more outspoken when in government.
Lino Spiteri also found himself in an unsavoury position as trade and finance minister at a time when the Mintoff government was tightening the belt.
Many voices echo insinuations of favouritism in the granting of trade licenses. "Trade Licenses were given as broadly as they could have been at the time."
"Although the trade restrictions were resented, the procedures – which I inherited – were followed correctly."
"There was no conscious discrimination. I tried to loosen up as much as possible."
Asked whether he ever had complaints from people married to foreigners that wanted to by property in Malta but were not given a permit, Spiteri said: "I never received any complaints."
Asked to comment on former Labour leading politician George Abela let the Labour Party down, he commented: "He quit because he felt let down. I am certain he would have done great things for Labour and for Malta if he had stayed." Would he make a comeback: "Who knows, he is still young."
Asked about the Nationalist Party’s performance of the past few years Spiteri had this to say:"I see a tired lot and one which is suffering from a syndrome which Eddie Fenech Adami used to speak about in the past.
"The government has been in office too long – people in power become bored and arrogant."
"The NP is, barring a few exceptions, lethargic and in some cases arrogant. Among the better ones according to their light are John Dalli, Austin Gatt and Lawrence Gonzi.
Lino Spiteri is aware that there has been ideological convergence between the two large parties in the past years, but "Still there are swathes of areas where there are differences. Take education – now it is clearer that there are big differences.
"The MLP focus on the state schools, and the primary and secondary levels, while the NP is much more concerned with the tertiary level and private schools.
Asked what he thinks of insinuations by the MLP leadership that if elected in government it will look after its own flock Spiteri said: "All political parties address their party base either bluntly or not so bluntly with this type of message."
"As a social scientist, the current approach to politics shows how much politics has changed. Once support was based on class. This is no longer so One denudes the principle of class interest by stating that the party would favour its own supporters."
"I favour EU membership on a net basis although in the past I used to believe that, on balance Malta could fare better outside. It would have more freedom to act.
"However, analysing the economic situation and Malta’s prospects one can only conclude that both are bleak.
Spiteri is not at all optimistic about future and expects things can only get worse. "To tackle Malta’s problems properly I see a rough road ahead and if I’m going to cross the desert, I would rather do it on a caravan than alone."
Spiteri did not get a first class economics degree from Oxford for nothing: "I do not think that Malta’s current problems are related to any economic cycle. We have long term structural problems.
"The manufacturing industry is ageing, competitiveness is declining, we have not achieved enough penetration in the financial sector and tourism is ageing and needs to be fundamentally re-positioned.
"Although the structural deficit is projected to decline it is still very high in absolute terms and I would suggest that it will be higher in the coming years."
"It is not a rosy situation at all. We must cross the desert and to cross on a camel or alone could be a dangerous and silly thing.
"In the EU would mean that as we are in a region with structural problems we should be eligible for assistance. Not handouts. We should look at things in terms of recovering our economic strength and becoming well enough off to contribute to the well-being of others. We cannot go through the centuries expecting handouts, but until we can recover we need assistance."
The other reason Lino Spiteri would rather see Malta in the EU than out is related to developments over which Malta has no control: "We Maltese often think we make the world go round – but it spins round on its own axis."
"The WTO is laying down obligations which we cannot ignore. Even if we don’t join the EU the Mediterranean Free Trade Area, which Malta is part of will affect us.
"There will be changes in the way the EU disposes of its agriculture and dairy products. At the moment we benefit from prices that are lower than Union prices.
Since Malta cannot be in complete control of its destiny Spiteri believes that "the need to be part of a caravan becomes more evident."
Spiteri recognises that there would also be some negative consequences of EU membership and that there will be decisions taken by the Union that will go against Malta’s interests, but holds that EU decisions could also affect us negatively if we fail to choose membership.
Did the Nationalists negotiate a good deal?
"It may have been the best it could have in the circumstances," Spiteri starts slowly, "the deal is not bad – but in the context of the expectations of silly talk aroused by the Nationalist Party before the 1998 elections then the deal looks weak."
Would Labour have done better?
"According to various EU commissioners that was the best package that could have been handed to Malta – but who knows if the negotiators had been different?"
For very much the same reasons Spiteri is not worried about loss of sovereignty should we join the EU.
"Sovereignty today has a different meaning to the time when the concept of the nation state was being formed. Nowadays all countries must give up some sovereignty as it must participate in international fora."
"Take the case of Iraq. It can shout its head off that it is a sovereign state, but the UN has the power to interfere." Spiteri points out that Malta has several international obligations and is subject to WTO, IMF, and UN policies, to state a few.
"As John Donne said: ‘No man is an Island,’ the same applies to countries. Just look at Iraq, see what happens to economic cycles – these all affect us."
"Perhaps the loss of sovereignty arguments are somewhat exaggerated as we do not, in practical terms have control over our sovereignty. Not even Robinson Crusoe could be an island."
Lino Spiteri expects the Maltese to choose membership, but is uncertain about the election outcome: "Both will be very close. The referendum will probably pass, but the elections will be a closer call," Spiteri said.
If things were let up to him he would skip the referendum. "In the circumstances I would simply call the election and make it the deciding factor.
"I feel the issue should be decided by a referendum, but once we don’t have the mechanism of one which is binding, and since there is no agreement between the parties that it should be binding, the elections should be the deciding factor."