Joseph Muscat has reiterated his wish that Malta becomes a ‘leader’ in Europe. Muscat’s record of bravado and not too cleverly disguised machismo might still have some appeal with the sheep in his fold but the contradictions and cracks in the ably constructed mask do not cease to multiply. The Labour party and its acolytes continue to speak as though there is no world outside the cave, as though its interpretations of the shadows on the wall are the only ones that count. Meanwhile the myths of nationalism, faith in the Maltese people and meritocracy continue to crumble visibly for anyone interested in noticing them.
If Joseph Muscat is hoping to “lead” Europe with his citizenship programme then he has either lost the plot or never had one. The latest voice to criticise Labour’s scheme comes from Labour’s very own European family. Socialist leader Swoboda stated that the citizenship undermines European values. Quite a heavy statement that. All Muscat sees of course is 1 billion something euros rushing state into Malta’s coffers. The weak tweaking of the scheme was sold to no one other than the “social partners” that had already been bought to the Labour side before the election. In substance it remains the same. There is no element of leadership or creativeness in this scheme. It is an outright sale of a European visa – technically Malta is selling something that is not even entirely its own to give away.
Does Muscat expect other countries to take Malta’s ‘leadership’ cue? What would happen if all 28 countries put the same citizenship for sale at the same price and the same conditions. Aesop’s goose that lays golden eggs comes to mind. In Malta the voter still gets sold with the promise of money shooting into the nation’s coffers – supposedly used to mitigate the infamous ‘cost of living’. It’s a half-baked plan though and worse still it has been entrusted in the hands of “foreigners’ who will be cashing in on Malta’s moment of foreign policy folly. And to think that all that fuss was made on a Maltese clock a while back.
What leadership from a government that is “learning as we go” with petrol procurement? Yes, you can already hear the broken record of “better than the corruption under the nationalist” – sure it is, meanwhile petrol and diesel are more expensive than under the corrupt blues and nobody is batting an eyelid. This same government expects to lead while it commits gaffe after gaffe in sectors such as health care reneging on promise after promise sold cheaply to an electorate whose only motivation was that it was fed up with being screwed over by the same people. A solution to Mater Dei? Pull the other one.
Even the transport shift away from the infamous Arriva is turning out to be a not too veiled ploy to simply give the reins in the hand of a Labour papabile without too much of real reform. No sooner that the incumbent was mobbed out of its contract we have the roadmap government selling the idea of higher subsidies. More bills for the taxpayer to foot eventually thanks to a reluctance to take a real holistic approach to the problem. Add to those bills the probable high bill of the National Bank settlement and you can see government’s sudden urgency to find some easy money.
No wonder Muscat is insisting on the hairbrained citizenship scheme. He might believe that he looks like a determined nationalistic leader – calling foul on those dastardly nationalists who are working against “national interest” but to the more intelligent among us it is evident that the only one operating against national interest is Muscat himself.
We also had George Vella replying to worries echoed in this blog about the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons off the Maltese coast. “No chemicals will be dumped in the Mediterranean” – well, George, that was not the question was it? What really worried anybody who cared was the evidence that this ‘destroying chemicals at sea’ business sounds like something that is happening for the first time. Was Malta – loud, foot stamping Malta, Malta the leader – given a place at the table of nations monitoring the activity? Are our authorities being kept informed of the steps being taken and have they been given any form of reassurance?
We do not really have a leadership or any aspiration to lead other countries. We are in the hands of a bunch of politicians working on knee-jerk policies that are the result of issuing many cheques before the election that now threaten to bounce.
And the nationalist party? Well, they are intent on still sticking the middle finger up at a large swathe of the electorate. Their latest solution: Norman Vella. Now isn’t that grand?
