Chamber President tells ministers to stamp out clientelism: 'Political accessibility has been abused'

Chamber of Commerce President Marisa Xuereb has told ministers to stamp out the culture of clientelism in a speech delivered to Cabinet on Monday.

She also rebuked politicians for going after quantity rather then quality in a hard-hitting speech that touched upon several raw nerves.

“In the past, we saw a tendency in political accessibility that was abused,” she said. “These practices create a culture of clientelism which increase inefficieny and create a lack of transparency. The systemic use of efficient technologies in government services is an important part of the solution,” she said.​

The media was invited for the first few minutes of the Chamber’s first meeting with the cabinet following the Labour Party’s electoral win last month

Xuereb went on to list a number of concerns such a problematic public procurement, public entities competing with private enterprises, lack of regulation and needless spending, which she said helped a few businesses but “disrupted others.”

She was addressing the Cabinet in a meeting hosted at the Chamber premises in Valletta. Last week, a delegation from the Chamber met Prime Minister Robert Abela at Castille in a courtesy call after the Labour Party won the election.

The media were invited for the introductory remarks.

“You have been given this mandate in a challenging time, one of the most in the last three decades,” Xuereb said. “Peace in Europe, non-alignment, instability in pricing, the country’s fiscal cushion, voter turnout – these are all things we can no longer take for granted.”

She also called for greater emphasis on quality rather than quantity. "During the election debates we hosted, I remember candidates from the major parties competing on who brought the most foreign investment in the country," she said, adding that issues such as ESG criteria, energy, transport, environment, planning, health, education, foreign investment and good governance affect businesses and should not be turned into "a political game".

Parliament and courts lack resources

Xuereb also spoke about how the legislative pillar of the country has more MPs than ever before, but is faced with a lack of resources. She said the judiciary is faced with the same problem, leading to inefficient courts, which is of detriment to businesses.

Marisa Xuereb

She said Malta has garnered a bad reputation, especially among the international media, which needs to be addressed. “The only way we can change this reputation is by being transparent with the independent media, and ensuring the public broadcaster is more balanced.”

Addressing the meeting, Chamber CEO Marthese Portelli mentioned a number of institutional, public procurement, educational and pension reforms that are required.

Portelli also laid out a number of sectors which government needs to focus on in order to ensure more economic growth. These include shipping, manufacturing and aviation among others.

Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne said all points raised by the Chamber “were valid.”

“We have to look at what is going on in Ukraine. In 2022, you don’t expect such a situation in Europe. We are worried primarily about the loss of lives, but we are also worried on how it will impact Malta,” he said.

Fearne also stated enterprises operate as part of “something bigger”, and that is why government plays such a big role. “We believe private enterprise is the driving force behind the country’s economy, it affects everything we do,” he said.

Miriam Dalli and Chris Fearne

Energy Minister Miriam Dalli said government wanted to sustain its collaboration with the Chamber. She made reference to the issues raised by Xuereb and Portelli, and how government plans to address the issues.

“We have an ambitious and well-planned project for the coming years. Together with you we can address the challenges which we will have,” she said.