All about credibility

Monday’s parliamentary debate, which only happened at the Opposition’s request, centred on the Prime Minister’s major promise.

It was, as such, a debate about the Prime Minister’s credibility. Now that a public admission has been made that the power station project will not be completed in the stipulated two years, and that the Prime Minister will not stick to his promise to resign if this did not happen, his credibility has been tarnished. We now know that he was merely bluffing, and gambling his way into office.

Two weeks ago I wrote about honesty being the best politics, and Karmenu Vella’s statement of having voted in favour of Malta’s EU accession. It seems to be more obvious than ever that the credibility issue is the weakest link of this Labour government.

We all know that projects can go wrong or be delayed, and indeed, most do – but this is not the issue here. It’s about the Prime Minister’s hardheadedness in insisting on the impossible, prior to the election and up until last week – when he was sure that this could not be done.

Having kept the truth hidden for all these months, he now wants us to take his word and believe what he says about the secret agreements entered into with Electrogas, the company tasked with building the new power station, and the memorandum with China. How do you expect me to believe somebody who seems to have the bad habit of bluffing his way through politics?

What is keeping him back from publishing these contracts? The opposition has requested these time and time again, for ‘transparency’s sake’. Last Monday, the Prime Minister, whom we have now classified as an excellent salesman, in his short 15-minute speech emphasised that his government is one based on transparency. Flabbergasted, as I was listening to the speech, I realised just how this government excels at portraying the false.

Furthermore, the government wrongfully bound this administration, and successive governments, to purchase all the energy generated by Electrogas and the Chinese. What happened to having a free market? When, on the other hand, it may be possible through the interconnector to purchase electricity at cheaper rates during the night. Binding ourselves with Electrogas and the Chinese would be absolute madness, when a cheaper option would be available.

China has one of the largest economies in the world and certainly a fast-growing one, so we were rather perplexed with the news that the Chinese have opted to purchase the BWSC – wasn’t this the curse of Malta less than two years ago? They have either confused the heck out of themselves and made the wrong choice, or the cancer factory statement was nothing but bollocks.

Let’s just for one moment believe that the BWSC plant is indeed a cancer factory. How is it possible that they left it running for so many months since the last general election? Having labelled it as a cancer factory during the election campaign, the Prime Minister must be very irresponsible for having allowed it to do harm and operate for so many months! Not only did he promise to stop using heavy fuel oil, he also promised to do so as of day one of his leadership. In all counts he has failed. This again brings up the issue of his credibility, and once again it has been tarnished.

All this begs the question – if the power station has not been completed yet, and it is claimed that the utility bills have been reduced, where has the reduction come from? The “cancer factory” has been saving €1 million per week in fuel expenses for Enemalta. The reduction in the utility bills passed on to consumers by the government does not even add up to the yearly savings made through the BWSC plant.

It is thus a state of fact that the reductions to-date have been possible through an investment undertaken by the previous administration – definitely not thanks to the roadmap, as it has not even been found yet!

As for Muscat’s major promise, he has failed on all counts. He failed to build the new power station in time, refused to keep to his promise to resign if this was not completed, he lied about a power station being a cancer factory, failed to stop using heavy fuel oil, privatised when he promised not to, promised to be transparent but refused to publish, and changed Alice in Wonderland to such an extent that Alice is no more.

Enemalta’s main assets are three – the BWSC plant, the interconnector and the Petroleum Division. Each is a legacy of the previous Nationalist Administration. But each asset has now been damned by the Labour government. The BWSC has been sold to the Chinese; the interconnector, though not yet commissioned and behind schedule, will be under-utilised due to the commitments entered into with ElectroGas and the Chinese; and the Petroleum Division, the only profitable part of Enemalta, sold.

With the introduction of the interconnector and the BWSC in operation, it will be possible for the Marsa power station to be shut down, once and for all. There is no doubt that the Prime Minister will organise a pompous closing ceremony. It will certainly be more pompous than the two cents-fuel-reduction shenanigan, and much bigger than the one he never gave to inform all and sundry of his failure on the biggest promise made. During the Marsa shutdown press conference, he will assume credit, which in truth is not his, and there is no doubt that no credit will be given to the previous administration.

Why am I not surprised? This is what happened in the case involving the flood-relief project in Qormi. Not only is this government’s credibility waning, it is taking undue credit for work accomplished by others. Indeed, a new style of politics! Uppps, another broken promise.