National dignity

In an inspiring address to the House of Representatives, Pat Cox, president of the European Parliament, addressed the concerns of Malta`s opponents of EU membership.

Like Malta, his native Ireland lived through colonial and post-colonial dependency. Political independence came in 1922 with the first act of Irish liberation. "The second act of Irish liberation began with a planned strategic move towards... engagement with the European Union, the plan to... connect ourselves to a wider set of possibilities."

In the membership debate, critics alleged that with membership all resources and wealth will be sucked out of Ireland. The critics were wrong. EU funds were of enormous benefit for the infrastructure, for environmental projects and transport. But even bigger benefits came from access to EU markets.

When Ireland joined the EU in 1973, its exports amounted to E5 billion, mostly to the UK. Last year, exports amounted to E82.5 billion. "Subject to remaining competitive, that`s the bread and butter on Irish tables today." Mr Cox added that membership provides his children`s generation the opportunities that his father`s generation was bold enough to dream of and that his own generation could only hope for.

Opponents had argued that the Europeans would impose their values on Ireland. In fact, this was not the case. The EU had no say in the introduction of divorce. It was decided on through a series of constitutional referenda. Similarly, Ireland has had three referenda on abortion, and the decision has always been negative. The EU has no say in such matters.

In response the Prime Minister delivered a reply that befitted the occasion. He pointed out that far from being a threat to or infringement of sovereignty, EU membership provides the opportunity to strengthen and put to effect our sovereignty in more significant ways than are possible today. Then it was Alfred Sant`s turn.

The response

How did Alfred Sant rise to the occasion? His speech, which ignored everything that Pat Cox had said, had four key parts. First, Dr Sant regurgitated his past charge of gerrymandering. He must have wanted to impress on Pat Cox that despite appearances, he was really the prime minister but for the gerrymandering that somehow caused him to lose his grip on power back in 1998.

Secondly, the current state of affairs is one where everything in Malta has gone wrong. Third, Mr Know-It-All will fix everything when he becomes Prime Minister again.

Fourthly, Europe is on the wrong track, although he, Alfred Sant, has the solution to that problem too.

Dr Sant`s reply would have been more fitting for a party coffee morning or on the faithful`s favourite radio talk show, where petty divisiveness and general nastiness can work up the crowd. In the House of Representatives, he was unable to rise above the pettiness that makes him reject almost anything that anybody else stands for.

Dr Sant simply had to let Pat Cox know of his version of the facts. Like a little kid, Dr Sant "ried jukzana". In Mr Cox, Dr Sant saw someone that he must report to on the government`s misdeeds.

Yet, used as we are to this sorry show in front of foreign dignitaries, it is at odds with the other sort of Labour Party spectacle. Socialists regularly use the Maltese language media to accuse the government of grovelling to "the foreigner".

Only last week, for example, on the occasion of the EU`s recognition of Maltese as an official EU language, one headline told its readers, "We will grovel to the foreigners in our own language". Instead of celebrating, they try to pass off the breakthrough as meaningless and they use it in their vulgar tirades. The party`s inferiority complex explains why Labour Party officials regularly use occasions with foreign dignitaries to turn on the government.

In his parliamentary response only his stubborn and contrary nature made Dr Sant bring up the ghost of gerrymandering, which he incredibly still blames for the 1998 loss of his parliamentary majority. Only a fool would fall for his excuse. Had there been gerrymandering, only incompetence would have kept Dr Sant, through all of 22 months in office, from taking corrective measures. Like a grown-up, he should admit that he lost resoundingly an election that he forced himself into by his sheer inability to handle the internal politics of his own party.

Dr Sant would have a better chance of passing himself off as Mr Fix-it were it not for his own track record. In his two years, the country simply went into reverse gear, and next time it will plummet if he gets elected and especially if he were to defy a majority that votes for EU membership.

Aside from the Bugibba promenade, what is this man`s claim to fame? Not his trebling of water and electricity rates! Not his tenfold increase in industrial utility rates! What about his door tax? His tax on doctors` certificates? And what about his non-VAT mumbo-jumbo tax? After his promise to eliminate VAT in 1996 many tax evaders were led to believe the next Labour government would do away with cash registers. While he was on the subject of gerrymandering the transparent Sant should have recognised the contribution of those votes to his short-lived victory in 1996.

From the same bag of tricks, we now get the Labour Party`s promise to bring back import levies, providing a fake glimmer of hope to those who prefer the status quo even though it is a dead end for them too.

Labour plays hard and fast with words, but sometimes some things slip by. Before Dr Sant came to power in 1996, they talked of an industrial free trade area. Amazingly while Labour was in office in 1996-98, the word "industrial" seemed to have fallen by the wayside. They talked instead about a free trade area, that is a general free trade area, where no sector - not even agriculture - is excluded from the negotiations.

In office they had to start facing the reality that the Europeans would not let them get away with painless concessions. Lo and behold, now Labourites are again talking of an industrial free trade area, pretending that they would not negotiate away agricultural protection.

A section of the public wants to be told that levies will come back under a Labour Party, even though that`s about as likely as a sleet storm in hell. Preparing for the next election, the Labour Party plays on a fear of the future.

A threat to whom?

Apparently happy with his performance on the floor of the House, Dr Sant opened his later give-and-take with Mr Cox to the press. This time, Dr Sant was not limited to a prepared text, and Mr Cox found plenty to take him to task for. For example, how can the Labour Party build a policy around the "Switzerland in the Mediterranean" slogan, and yet will not follow the Swiss example by respecting the results of the referendum?

Dr Sant was reported to have said that with membership, Malta could be seen as a threat to either the north or the south of the Mediterranean. Mr Cox quipped back, "A threat to whom? This is part of your imagination".

Dr Sant tends to see belligerence all around him, even on the home front. At the time of his party`s meltdown in 1998, he declared that it was going to be "War! war! war!" Now he thinks we are still in the cold war period.

National dignity

The jingoists and chauvinists who object to EU membership would do well to ponder Pat Cox`s words. In our parliament, this proud Irishman said that membership "has allowed us to bring the people home, to become a place that sells goods and services but not our birth rate or identity, our self-awareness or our place".

He added: "the intelligent interdependence which we chose has repaid itself handsomely in a new self-confidence and a new self-awareness in a country with a great sense of continuity of its own identity. Our culture - even our traditional culture, music and language - are in a healthier state today than they were (before membership)."

Those are the fruits of EU membership for Irish dignity, and it is the promise of a similar bright future for ourselves and our children that the Malta Labour Party wants to wave off just to satisfy the whim and fancy of its leadership.