[ANALYSIS] Politics after COVID-19: What will change?

The emergence of COVID-19 has had a sobering effect, with politicians relying more on scientific evidence by experts. Evidence-based policy-making may well become the new buzzword in the next years as the planet faces more challenges and disasters.

The pandemic has also offered a glimpse of how life will feel like with less traffic on the roads in more livable cities and reminded us on how crucial unskilled workers are for collective survival.

But increased insecurity has offered a fertile ground for the politics of fear, with people more likely to seek solace in nationalism, and politicians more likely to conjure migration fears.

Science is back with a vengeance

Luckily Malta has been spared from the toxicity of anti-vaxxers and climate change deniers. But politicians have never been as likely to ground policies on scientific evidence. This may herald a paradigm shift if the same approach is applied to other environmental and social issues, including planning, energy, and climate change and water conservation. The emergence of Charmaine Gauci as a voice of reason in her daily bulletins has contributed to this change. It has also affirmed the role of non-partisan civil servants in the public sphere which is locally suffocated by partisan posturing. Even government minister Chris Fearne has presented a more sober style of leadership which often contrasted with Prime Minister Robert Abela’s more lenient and populist tone, even if this may well have come across as a balancing act between caution and optimism.

The downside is that politicians may also hide behind the smokescreen of expert advice when taking politically strategic decisions. One example of this was the opening of the Spring hunting season, a decision which did not raise the health alarm as the hobby can be practiced in respect of social distancing rules, but which was questioned because of the difficulty to enforce the law during a health emergency.

The Opposition was also caught unprepared especially in the initial phase of the pandemic when its calls for an immediate lockdown were shot down by experts.

The state is once again interventionist

Neoliberalism suffered a major set-back in pandemic times, with the State gaining new legitimacy to intervene to protect the collectivity, even through price controls as was the case with the government’s decision to set a price for face-masks. The citizenry was also asked to drastically change its lifestyle and behaviour by accepting a partial lockdown, something which augurs well for other impending emergencies like climate change which also require a drastic change in behaviour.

Phasing-out of plastics and the shift to electric cars should be easier to accomplish and perhaps in a shorter time-frame than previously envisaged. But one important factor is that in this case people were more likely to feel the immediate threat posed by a virus. They may be less willing to do so to safeguard future generations. Still, it will be difficult for governments to procrastinate further. Another taboo which has been broken throughout the EU is the obsession with deficits, something which curtailed social investment on any massive scale. After pumping so much money to save businesses from collapse, governments have acquired greater legitimacy when it comes to intervene to protect their citizens.

But COVID-19 and future pandemics may also give states greater powers to override individual rights. So far there have been little signs of this in Malta.

A social insurance is needed for low-income earners and small business owners

The Maltese government has ensured that anyone losing his job during COVID 19 is entitled to €800, a sum which is slightly higher than the minimum wage. Although temporary this measure has set a benchmark for a national basic income scheme, which is increasingly being seen as a permanent insurance against the risks posed by a very volatile, globally interconnected economy. The idea that the State should keep a reserve of money to be used in times of emergency has also received a boost. The government may well use this argument to legitimise dubious schemes like the sale of citizenship programme.

No more privatization of health services

Maltese pride in its health system is at an all-time high. The Maltese success in flattening the curve may well have been a collective effort but it also depended on a well-functioning and efficient public health system. The pandemic has dealt a blow to the idea that privatised entities perform better than public ones. In this sense one expects that future governments will be more reluctant in privatising healthcare services as Konrad Mizzi did when he sold public hospitals to foreign concerns. This was one issue where the Nationalist Party struck a chord by demanding the renationalisation of the hospitals which were first sold to Vitals and then resold to Steward.

COVID-19 has reminded us of the existence of the working class

The working class which is also increasingly composed of women and migrants, has kept the country functioning in sectors ranging from healthcare to retail, waste collection and deliveries. Workers in these sectors were also among the most exposed to risk despite being among the least paid.

It remains questionable whether these workers will feel empowered to demand better working conditions. One major obstacle is that many of these workers, especially foreign ones, are easily replaceable by others willing to accept low-working conditions.

A glimpse into a car-free future

COVID-19 has given us a glimpse of how life would look like in our towns if traffic is heavily reduced. Not only has this enhanced livability in our towns and villages but has also resulted in a reduction in air pollution levels which impacts negatively on the health of the population.

While the hardship endured on those whose livelihoods depend on tourism, the total drop in tourist numbers would also offer a glimpse of a Maltese summer without tourist pressures on the country’s infrastructure, beaches and amenities.

Nationalism thrives more than class identity

The display of Maltese flags on balconies stood as a reminder of the enduring appeal of nationalism which has largely replaced identification with class, especially among Labour-leaning working-class voters. The display of flags coincided with an increasingly hawkish migration line pushed by Prime Minister Robert Abela who is tapping into nationalism in the stand-off with the European Union, with migrants serving as pawns in a show of force aimed mainly at the local audience, in what increasingly appears as an attempt to distract the populace from more pressing social and economic insecurities.

In many cases nationalism is fueled by fear of the “others” who are increasingly seen as a possible source of disease and insecurity. And while the government is justified in demanding more European solidarity, expecting leaders like Hungary’s Viktor Orban to change tack during a pandemic, either exposes Abela as naïve or as someone keen on exploiting nationalism while fully knowing that stamping our feet in Europe by using stranded immigrants as pawns, will not get us far.

Labour powerless with some lobbies

The hunting lobby has emerged unscathed from the pandemic, with rampant illegalities characterising this spring’s hunting season. The construction lobby also resisted calls to reduce excavations despite the impact of elderly citizens who are locked down in their homes. But the contrast between the scale of government intervention in everyday life and its inability to restrain these strong lobbies may well result in a backlash among some categories of voters.