For once, leaders admit they were wrong on their political stands

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat admits pushback threat was a mistake • Opposition leader Simon Busuttil says PN wouldn’t abstain if it had to vote again on civil unions legislation

For once, the leaders of Malta’s major political parties confessed being wrong on their political stands.

Assuming both were not influenced by the political observers, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat admitted threatening to push back irregular migrants had been a mistake while Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said the PN would not abstain if it were to vote again over the civil unions legislation.

The pair were guests of TimesTalk hosts Hermann Grech and Mark Micallef, marking the two-year anniversary of a Labour government.

In what was supposed to be a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ Q&A, the leaders found it hard to stick to a one-word reply.

Muscat refused to rule out former home affairs minister Manuel Mallia from any future Cabinet posts saying that “he considered everyone”.

Busuttil would not say whether he would retain or remove the legislation regulating the sale of Maltese citizenship: “At the beginning I was completely against it but it depends on how the situation would be. I am not in favour of the scheme but I can’t tell you how the scheme would turn around in three years’ time … I don’t think it’s fair.”

Busuttil said he “doesn’t exclude anything” when asked whether the PN would be ready to join Alternattiva Demokratika in a coalition government; he also said that his resignation, if the PN were to lose the election, would be based on the result.

Likewise, when asked if he would resign if the power station is not completed by June 2016, Muscat said he would resign if the price of utility bills doesn’t go down.  

Meritocracy: ‘a great betrayal’

Muscat defended his government against criticism of having failed to honour its meritocracy pledge. Columnist Martin Scicluna went as far as describing meritocracy “a great betrayal” by the Labour government, while sociologist Michael Briguglio said Malta for all had meant “promising everything to everyone”.

“I can take criticism but I can also start listing the names I am constantly criticised for retaining while I appointing people known to be PN-leaning,” Muscat said.

TimesTalk referred to a letter published by MaltaToday on Sunday, revealing how senior civil servant in Gozo until 2005, was asked to retire by then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi after reporting serious interference by former Minister Giovanna Debono’s private secretariat in the workings of the civil service.

“Any wrongdoings which occurred in the past must be investigated … but Joseph Muscat should investigate them immediately rather than wait for electoral campaigns,” Busuttil said.

Insisting that he had set his own standards within the PN, and take action against anyone in the wrong, Busuttil said he was “surprised” to see Muscat sitting next to him.

“It was Muscat himself who pledged to resign if the power plant was not built on time. So how come he is still here?” Busuttil asked, attracting an exasperated sigh from Muscat.

He said that the Malta Taghna Lkoll pledge and meritocracy had become a joke. 

Once again, Muscat defended a €4.2 million Café Premier bailout saying that he averted the opening of a fast food outlet underneath the National Library.

The PN leader however insisted that it was the National Audit Office that revealed how Muscat ordered the payment to Cities Entertainment.

“The Café Premier report raises several eyebrows; it reveals how the government operates,” he said, referring to the PM’s personal intervention. “A few weeks later we had a second report by the Auditor General revealing Konrad Mizzi’s personal intervention in a hedging deal.”

He pointed out that both Mizzi and Muscat had travelled to Azerbaijan without inviting the media: “No one knew that they were going to Azerbaijan. He [Muscat] went to Azerbaijan … When you have the Auditor General criticising a deal in the dark, costing the country €14 million in losses, one has to question whether this was the reason why consumers were paying such high fuel prices.”

Economy: ‘a success story’

As Martin Scicluna described the government’s economic plan “a success story”, Muscat admitted the government had not inherited a “disastrous” situation. “However, we have changed our economy from average to one of the best in Europe. These are the targets we are going for,” he said.

Busuttil however appeared less enthusiastic over Malta’s economic performance when asked by host Mark Micallef whether he was going to “change targets to milestones” over statements that Malta would be seeking a bailout.

“Joseph Muscat is the expert on bailouts. I said Malta would request a bailout if the Labour government were to honour its pledges … In fact it didn’t because we don’t yet have a new power station,” he said.

Busuttil insisted that the Labour government inherited a solid economy, even though the PN administration had operated during difficult economic times.

Environment: ‘an absolute disastrous state’

Both Martin Scicluna and Michael Briguglio had no qualms in dubbing the environment as government’s worst failure. “It is an absolute disastrous area: Labour promised to find a balance between environment and development and instead went totally for development,” Scicluna said.

Briguglio said the government was appeasing developers at the expense of the environment.

On his part, Muscat said he took the criticism “seriously”, but lamented that the closing down of the polluting Marsa power station was not considered as an environmental contribution.

“We never receive credit for this one crucial point,” Muscat said.

Admitting that MEPA had its own problems under a PN administration, Busuttil said it had now lost all autonomy. Busuttil reiterated that the Café Premier scandal took place because the Lands Department now fell under the Office of the Prime Minister.

“One has to ask what interest Joseph Muscat had in taking over the Lands Department out of so many portfolios. What intrigued the PM to take over MEPA and Lands?”

Busuttil said the Opposition had yet to see what the government was planning to do with the MEPA demerger.

According to Muscat, “high rises reduced the pressure” on a small island like Malta with limited space.  

In Bugibba alone, he said, there were 8,000 enforcement notices.

Energy: ‘mixed bag’

There were mixed reactions to government’s energy plan: while the lower utility tariffs and Enemalta’s turnaround was welcomed, questions were raised on the rate by which Enemalta will buy electricity generation from ElectroGas and the Chinese agreement.

The energy discussion also prompted the PN leader to accuse Muscat of having been “bribed”, while the latter was speaking about the investment made by Chinese company Shanghai Electric Power.

Muscat was commenting that it was the PN who needed a bailout, when Busuttil commented that “well, that’s because we don’t get bribed”.

Stopping halfway through his statement, Muscat turned to Busuttil asking the PN leader to clarify his comment.

“Of course,” Busuttil replied as he qualified his statement. “When you have the NAO report saying that you pay €4.2 million to the Café Premier [operators]… these are the suspicions raised by such shortcomings.”
By then, Muscat was on the attack, refusing to turn to Busuttil. “I pity the PN for having been saddled with this kind of leader. Keep digging your own hole.”  

Social reforms: Labour should be doing more for underprivileged

New rights and social reforms in certain sectors were welcomed by Martin Scicluna and Michael Briguglion, but both commented that – as a Labour government – it should be doing more to help the poor, the underprivileged and increase wages.

Muscat reiterated that wealth must be first created for distribution to take place. He said, the government was changing the culture of social benefits by encouraging people to work and incentivise them by not cutting their benefits.

Following the low rating given by Scicluna and Briguglio, Busuttil said the government had failed its “pass mark” just after two years in government.

“These are two independent persons who gave government a fail … an epic fail,” the PN leader said.