interview • 28 September 2003

Illegal drugs are coming in under our noses

Gavin Gulia is an affable, straight - talking politician with an enthusiasm for politics. He sees a future Labour party as one that will be supportive of Malta’s EU membership, and continues to have faith in leader Alfred Sant. Julian Manduca met up with Gulia last week.

Dr Gavin Gulia does not have any of the airs of some of Malta’s more stuffy politicians, he is very approachable and down to earth. Once again Labour spokesperson on home affairs, Gulia admits his party is still struggling to find its feet following the last election defeat. He however opines that the PN in government finds itself in similar waters, despite its victory and the promises of enthusiasm made by the Prime Minister before the elections.
While others have accused the media of not having enough to write about, Gulia believes the government is virtually dormant.
"The government is unprepared to deal with the challenges posed by EU accession. The direction is diametrically opposed to what was promised on the eve of the election.
"Prior to the election, we were not told that the country’s finances were in a mess, we were never informed the health sector needs a major overhaul.
"There was no talk of sacrifices and curbing government expenditure. All the most important ministries are now speaking on a totally different frequency than a few months ago, but without taking action."
Gulia does single out one ministry for its more direct approach, but has an interesting theory of intrigue at the top.
"John Dalli was the clearest and he seemed to want to take action, but I think he has been scolded, or stopped by someone in the higher echelons, because what he said might have been sending a feel-bad message."
Gulia believes the PN in government has continually cheated the public by avoiding the truth. "The Labour Party was truthful when in government for those 22 months and we paid a very high price for that. Our views have, however, since been vindicated.
"The PN, on the other hand, has been taking us all for a ride for much too long. The Nationalists have been thinking in terms of election victories and only want to send positive messages which in the end make people face higher bills in the future."
Gulia’s criticism is direct: "I don’t think this is a government that is prepared to deal with EU accession or with the internal challenges of the country."
Malta’s problems are various and the Prime Minister recently identified job creation, the welfare state, the government budget deficit, the drydocks and the public sector as being the most pressing. There are no simple ways forward in any of the areas, and I quiz Gulia on what he, or his party, would do. "We have to tackle the government’s finances. I think the deficit is conditioning the country’s politics. Any government must face reality and if we don’t put our finances in order all sectors will suffer.
"The government has no money and is not in a position to stimulate the economy. I would not like to see government always intervening, but something has to be done.
"Most of the problems Malta faces are induced locally. The government is not doing enough to stimulate the private sector. It will always cost money, but it makes more sense to invest in the private sector."
Gulia, like many within his party, feels the media treats his party badly and adopts two weights and two measures.
"I remember when the Labour Party wanted to reduce public spending by 10 percent across the board, all hell broke loose, but now the government is moving close to that option. Much of what the Labour Party wanted to do when in government and was castigated for is now being adopted by the PN in government."
While the government continues to plan for reform, doubts have already been shed on what reaction will be forthcoming from the Labour Party and whether it will participate in the reform processes.
Gulia says: "The government still has not announced what it intends to achieve, so at this stage we are not in a position to comment. However, Labour will be responsible and pro-active. We will come to the discussion table with our own proposals."
While the general feeling is that the government is not managing to wake up completely from its pre-EU accession dream, it has also been bandied about in the media that the internal conflicts within the MLP are not allowing it to perform as an effective Opposition.
Gulia agrees. "We have just lost a very important election. There is a lot of hurt, and we have not come out of it completely.
"It would seem to be in the nature of the Labour party to have internal conflicts, while the PN seems to manage to conceal them."
I immediately egg Gulia on to reveal cracks within the PN machinery. He mentions Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s opposition to government plans to place a landfill near the temples, and then says: "Lawrence Gonzi, is being pushed as the annointed leader in waiting and I don’t think John Dalli liked that. Dalli had even expressed his intention to contest the leadership. There are factions within the PN and privately, even to us, the Nationalist MPs speak about these factions. There are those that support Dalli and others Gonzi. Everybody is waiting for the Prime Minister to throw in the towel, but the feelings are now that he wants to stay on. He seems to want to procrastinate and when he does retire the divisions will be even wider."
It still remains unclear in many people’s minds as to whether the MLP is pro-EU or just accepting a situation.
"There has been a consistent majority in favour of EU membership since 1992 and while the MLP stands by its position that it’s option of ‘partnership’ would have been better for Malta, it respects the will of the majority.
"It would be a mistake to work inside the EU and think about the first opportunity to leave. I cannot agree with Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, even if I respect him.
"Our job will be to help Malta overcome the problems of membership, and we want parliament to be involved in all decisions."
Most European Labour Parties are now strong supporters of EU membership, and I ask Gulia whether he would like to see his party go the same way.
"I hope so," is the short, but quick response.
In the media the Labour party leadership is still debated daily, and while some claim Labour has a problem, others turn the argument on its head and say it is the media that is the problem.
"I must say that the English language media – which I consider to be the best part of the media, the opinion formers - has not been sympathetic to the Labour party for as long as I have been interested in politics.
"We have not been treated fairly. Headlines are slanted by media bias against the MLP. Alfred Sant has been treated unfairly. I remember an interview in The Times, where the kind of questions asked where completely different to the sort put to Eddie Fenech Adami.
"The party is re-organising itself, but I think Alfred Sant is a very intelligent man, and he was right about so many things during his time as Prime Minister. He was right about what he said about the deficit and curbing expenditure. The Labour Party will pick itself up, and soon."
Alfred Mifsud was the latest heavyweight to leave the party, but Gulia defends his party on this even if he admits it has lost a very valid person.
"The Labour party remains a very democratic organisation and disagreement is accepted within the party, but we all have to pull the same rope on major issues."
As spokesperson responsible for security, Gulia has had much to say about the treatment of immigrants over the past months. On the whole he finds that his counterpart, minister Dr Tonio Borg, has chosen the right direction in his handling of immigrants, given the circumstances of the country. However he does have some strong words for Borg’s performance: "Minister Borg has adopted a detention policy which we support, but he must ensure that detention is properly managed.
"We cannot accept the number and frequency of escapes from detention centres: over the past three months we have had one hundred escapes.
"This mass exodus is very embarrassing for the minister and his immediate subordinates, and while Borg is a good parliamentarian his administrative record has not been on a par. The sins of his subordinates must be carried by him. In view of the crisis we have I have not asked for Borg’s resignation, as this is a national problem, not one concerning just the minister.
"Having said that, Borg needs to instil more discipline because the buck has to stop somewhere."
Undoubtedly Malta’s position is not easy with so many immigrants coming here intentionally or accidentally.
"Minister Borg took too much time to decide to set up the bigger detention centre in Hal Far. I had criticised him about conditions at police headquarters, and he should have admitted then that the situation was not ideal. We would have accepted that, but he tried to defend the living conditions there and I think that was a big mistake.
"However, detention may not be a good long-term solution. In my opinion some immigrants could be given restricted freedom of movement and even the possibility of work. Even the idea that immigrants waiting for their refugee status be housed with Maltese families could be considered."
In a country where omerta is still part of the culture, it is often difficult to get to the bottom of criminal activity, but Gulia does not see Malta having a major problem with large scale criminal activity.
"The big problem is of one kind: the importation of drugs. Theft of all kind is the other major problem and this has risen yearly – 25 percent since 1998 - and the two are related.
"It is a fact that the use of illegal addictive drugs is leading to theft. Trends related to theft are indicative of drug addiction problems."
While Gulia’s words ring true, solving the problem may not be so easy.
"The MLP had produced a document on the eve of the election about tackling illegal importation of drugs. It is difficult, and it will not be possible to eliminate drug importation completely, but at the moment the government is missing the wood for the tree.
"Illegal drug importation continues unabated under our noses, from the sea. We look at the airport, but not the sea. The drugs are left on the seabed or surface and picked up by couriers from Malta.
"We need increased surveillance and intelligence efforts, otherwise we will fail. We need added investment and intelligence can be improved."