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Former heavyweights of the political class already feel that alienated voters have nowhere to go. They spoke to Karl Stagno-Navarra
It’s the economy, as Bill Clinton had said, but it’s also arrogance, empty promises, a party in power for far too long and an opposition taking a back seat and expecting to win by default.
The list of reasons for voters’ disenchantment is lengthy, but all former politicians point at the economy as the chief reason for mass disgruntlement.
“Primarily, it’s the state of the economy that is generating most disenchantment, it is not generating the desired wealth,” said former Labour deputy leader George Abela. “The people are concerned about their well being, and are not making ends meet with their bills at the end of the month. The state of the economy is hitting their pockets, particularly due to the energy surcharge”.
Former Nationalist finance minister George Bonello Dupuis also agrees the economy is forcing people to struggle to survive.
“The current state of the economy that is struggling to keep up with the surging price of oil that consequently impacts on the everyday running of energy in houses, factories, business, and transport,” he said. “That generates a lot of discontent, which in turn breeds disenchantment towards the party in government which gets the blame for introducing the surcharge on energy.”
The former MLP secretary general, Jimmy Magro, says people are concerned about job stability at a time when they were supposed be benefiting from EU membership. “The main factor that is generating voter disenchantment is definitely the state of the economy,” Magro said. “People are preoccupied about their economic stability, their job security, the future of their children. This coupled with the disappointment of after EU membership. I believe that the government hyped up people’s expectations about the benefit of EU membership, and now two years on, we have an ailing economy and the much awaited boost never actually happened.”
George Hyzler, the former PN parliamentary secretary, admits it is true that voter disenchantment is higher than ever before, but he sees its causes as “mostly trivial”.
“I see disenchantment spreading mostly within the PN voter base, and what strikes me mostly is the fact that these voters are not intending to vote Labour,” he said. “Apart from the obvious economic situation, triggered primarily by a difficult period for tourism and the ever increasing price of oil and its impact on generating energy, and the general cost of living, the disenchantment I see is mostly trivial, although reasonable. It’s a disenchantment based mostly on wardens, speed cameras, and MEPA, areas where the central government or rather the party in government has divested from its traditional power or influence.”
George Abela disagrees that disenchantment is mostly trivial – it is a reaction to government arrogance.
“When people point out their opposition to something, and the politicians just ignore that, that’s arrogance,” he said. “The Nationalist voter seems very disappointed, if not sick and tired of vague promises. The Malta Labour Party on the other hand is anchored in its negativity campaigns, a style of politics that has strayed many voters away from it. The lack of positive thinking from the leadership, the lack of ideas, counter proposals to government, show that the MLP is still stuck in rhetoric, and still doesn’t offer itself as a credible alternative as a government in waiting. The MLP is passive, distracted, unprepared and poor in thought”.
People perceive certain attitudes as arrogance, Bonello Dupuis conceded.
“They want to be listened to, but seem to be ignored on sensitive issues. I remember that when the PN was elected to power in 1987 and I was sworn in as minister, I turned to my colleagues in Cabinet and told them, listen up, let us now not believe that we are gifted with the Holy Spirit and infallibility, we must listen to the people and be sensitive to them. Unfortunately, some, and not all, have not got the message!”
Hyzler on the other hand seems to be in denial, referring yet again to the old Labour days when arrogance reigned supreme.
“As to arrogance by government, I would say it’s more of a generally unfounded perception. Many would mention arrogance, but believe me when one sits down and looks deep into the popular contested issues, one finds that the level of perceived arrogance is quite mild as to what Labour got this country used to when it was in government. It is true that the PN has been in power since 1987, with a brief and forgotten interval of 22 months between October 1996 and September 1998. However, many would be mature enough to ask themselves, what is the alternative, and why has the PN been repeatedly trusted with power? The answer is logical”.
Labour as an alternative government is indeed problematic. For George Abela, the fact that the MLP has no position on pensions is enough to scare many voters.
“This is damaging the party’s credibility,” Abela said. “Moreover, the MLP seems to have abandoned its grassroots, mainly the ordinary worker, and has left them defenceless when faced by a series of issues that are hitting them directly. This because the MLP has no clear policy about the issues, or rather it is distracted with too many frivolous matters”.
Jimmy Magro says the PN is facing a difficult time, with some of its ministers “clearly showing symptoms of arrogance while corruption in certain sectors is rife”. The government is also facing a revolt from the self-employed as the sector is in serious difficulty of survival, mainly because of rising costs to run their businesses, the energy surcharge and bureaucracy. But when it comes to Labour, Magro sees it “repeatedly failing to be the alternative government”.
“The leadership keeps missing on all opportunities to prove itself as a credible alternative to the current administration,” he said. “The people are disgusted at the way the MLP is handling the pensions issue, and will not be taken for a ride about it. While the MLP states that it is waiting for studies to be completed by its experts, I ask what experts do we have here? The truth is that for documents of this sort to be completed, you must have the input of international experts. The government’s report was mainly compiled with the opinions from experts within the World Bank, just to point out the seriousness of the issue.”
Bonello Dupuis says the PN’s greatest asset remains Lawrence Gonzi, who retains the highest levels of credibility.
“However I sense that the people were expecting more from him, even though he has been faced with a number of difficulties since he took over after Eddie Fenech Adami in Castille. Contrary to the PN, the MLP retained its leader, Alfred Sant, a man who both the PN and the MLP voters have experienced in government. Unfortunately he lacks credibility, and Labour knows he is a burden. Sant, who is strong in his party, and who could have possibly been capable of redirecting the party boat, has instead ousted or sidelined people like George Abela, George Vella and Lino Spiteri.”
Describing Alternattiva as a joke, Bonello Dupuis said a political party cannot be centred on just one person, “a one-man band, a single individual who talks and talks and writes and writes”.
Even Abela aggress Alternattiva will not win over disenchanted voters. “AD is perceived to be more of a party for critics, rather than a credible proposer. It seems to try to take political advantage on important issues by riding over the crest of public malcontent. It’s too much of an opportunistic party that fails to deliver what the people really want. In other words, AD lacks the intelligence to foster the issues and win the people’s trust.”
Magro, like Hyzler, foresees a Labour victory in the next election purely by default. “The situation is that PN voters who will not vote, will not vote for the MLP, and that vacuum will leave the MLP to benefit,” Magro said. “The AD will not gain from anyone and will stay right where it was, garnering an insignificant percentage of votes.”
Even Bonello Dupuis forecasts a Labour victory unless the PN wins back its traditional allies.
“Come election-time, the PN must do its utmost to regain its ground and credibility. It must revive the spirit that has traditionally characterised it and brought it glory. Unless the Nationalist voter is given reason to believe in it, it will hand over Castille to the MLP on a silver plate”.
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