A rudderless administration

The more time passes, the more I conclude that the current administration is rudderless. It has no overall direction with most ministers working on their own. The authority of the captain of the ship is missing.

Last Monday, Silvio Schembri Minister for the Economy, EU Funds and Lands, told the Times of Malta that Malta's economic model is being adjusted to attract foreign investment that takes up less land and requires fewer workers to generate economic growth. However, Schembri insisted that Malta’s economic model does not need to be completely changed. He gave no details of any ‘adjustments’ in policy in this regard.

Schembri added that gone are the days when the country had to accept any and all foreign investment for the economy to grow. It could now be selective in the investment it accepts and is focusing particularly on the pharmaceutical industry, which creates more value-added work while taking up less land and employing fewer, more highly-skilled workers.

He defended his position by insisting: ‘You change something that is failing. But our economic model worked and is still working, so much so that we're enjoying one of the highest rates of economic growth in Europe.’

Schembri ignored the fact that the Maltese pharmaceutical industry - which is the brainchild of former PN governments and which is an undisputed success - does not really reflect the current Maltese economic model.

It depends on the input of the highly-qualified professionals that our university is producing. On the other hand, most other investment initiatives - including those supported by government by selling them state owned property at subsidised prices - are now completely dependent on cheap labour provided by imported third country nationals, mostly coming from poor Asian countries.

The tourism and entertainment industry as well as the construction sector are classic examples.

Schembri’s opinion on our economic model clashes directly with that of Finance Minister, Clyde Caruana, who is worried about the rapid increase in population. During a recent Malta Institute of Accountants conference, he argued that Malta needs to find a new economic model because the current one is unsustainable.

While Caruana says that we don’t just need to rethink and reform as we need structural change, not mere reform, Schembri says that Malta’s economic model does not need to change. It just needs to be adjusted to reflect the country's current needs.

Referring to the Nationalist Party’s pushing for a change in Malta’s economic model, Schembri said that this was not the government's vision.

Caruana said that if we continue on the current economic path, our population will have to increase to 800,000 by 2040. Native Maltese will then be a minority in their own country.

But this preposterous scenario does not worry Minister Silvio Schembri, it seems.

Such a serious open clash between two Cabinet members - the Minister for Finance and the Minister for the Economy - is unheard of in any country, let alone among the EU member states. Personally, I think Minister Caruana is completely right, but that is not the point.

Although Schembri made no reference to Caruana’s speech, it is obvious that this is an open clash between the two Cabinet ministers and this reflects badly on the leadership of the Prime Minister. At the end of the day, the buck stops at his door.

What does the Prime Minister think about this incredible clash between two of the ministers he appointed? Does his vision of Malta’s future feel threatened as pointed out by Minister Clyde Caruana, or does he think we only need small adjustments to the current model as Silvio Schembri insists?

Which way is the country being led?

The PM did not say. Sometimes he just spouts out empty propaganda and whenever he is positive about Malta’s economic future he does not delve into such niceties as our economic model, knowing fully that the average Labour voter is only interested in receiving cheques.

Discussions about economic models do not provoke food for thought for many voters. And the Prime Minister’s main concern seems to be whether the polls are confirming his safety in the position he occupies. The lower paid Maltese workers depend on state jobs - also known as handouts - now even more than ever, as trying to compete with imported cheap labour is useless.

The Prime Minister should realise, however, that sustaining the wrong economic model will eventually lead to the party in government losing votes because people will eventually be directly hurt. But in the current economic model that Malta has adopted, it seems that nobody cares about tomorrow.

Meanwhile the country plods on, rudderless.

*   *   *   *   *

Viennese waltzes

A recent contribution on Austrian politics published in The Economist gives an interesting insight on the goings-on of Austrian politics. Austria is the EU’s 14th biggest member state.

The author of the weekly column on European affairs - signing under the pseudonym ‘Charlemagne’ says that ‘A slew of corruption scandals has rumbled on nearly uninterrupted since 2019. Confidence in the country’s body politic has collapsed: the chancellorship has changed hands five times in the past six years, a rate not even Italy nor Britain has been able to match.’

Then he goes on to write that: ‘In 2019 a leaked video showed the then vice-chancellor, Heinz-Christian Strache, chilling in Ibiza with what he thought was the niece of a pro-Kremlin businessman. In it, Mr Strache, then also leader of the migrant-bashing Freedom Party, suggested that his new chums should take over Austria’s most popular tabloid and turn it into a hard-right mouthpiece; in return they would be granted juicy government contracts.’

An official investigation has reportedly claimed that text messages sent by ‘political grandees’ paint a picture of the political elite ‘indulging in everything from dodgy party financing to placing pals in lucrative jobs, bribing journalists or steering tax authorities to their advantage’.

Many persons are being probed, even the former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz who stepped down from the post of Chancellor in October 2021, aged just 35. He denies any wrongdoing.

The growing popularity of the Freedom Party in Austria is being ignored by the mainstream press in Europe.

Meanwhile, it has also grown closer to Russia. Its MPs slowly walked out of Parliament during a recent video address by Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Enough said.