Muscat says MLP should be treated as equal partner by government

Crying sour grapes already eh?
Wait for it coming! Wait for it!

Let's imagine MLP won the elections, (which is not the case) simple mathematics proves this. MLP got less votes and they are in opposition seats. This is pure fact.
One must respect those who voted MLP 47% and also respect those who DID NOT vote for MLP 53%
Going back to the point I ask :
Would the 50% reduction of surcharge which was to come in force in the first week be sustainable? One must be out of one's mind to think so.
Would tax free overtime be sustainable when all industry are doing all that is possible to cut overtime in order to remain competitive and instead improve work practices .

Dr. Gonzi, before the elections, repeatedly mentioned that this year in particular will see inflation currents coming towards us and it will be up to the new Govt, whoever it would be, to take the necessary measures in order not to lose what we had successfully attained through our sacrifices. Who says this is not true is not being correct .

Yes promises are there to be kept - but expecting that all promises should be fulfilled during the first few months of the new legislature of any Govt whether MLP or PN or anyone else is far fetched.
The Govt , any Govt must adapt to change and remove or introduce fiscal measures according to the needs and priorities of the economy , with the aim to saveguard JOBS , which are the MOST important factor to keep the economy,purchasing power, social benefits , healthcare and education rolling .

What would people say if the Govt said -
'Stop stipends for all students so we shall be like other countries in europe where students have to do a part time job to pay for education? Will all of us shut up, clap our hands,or protest ?

An electoral manifesto is not a static document and priorities may have to change in order to allocate funds for more important issues .
This is how all Governments try to work.
Unfortunately foreign evolving changes will not permit a govt to stick to original plan 'A' and hence will have to resort to plan 'B'.

No, no no! There is no compromise and no irritable excuses now. Gonzi assured us (unless he lied through his teeth) that the economy is healthy, doing very well, and that it is in good hands. Hand out the increases, and tax reductions. That's right, those hefty stealthy taxes that we had to endure during these last 9 years.
That includes the 4 days leave robbed by this administration and to which Sant just stared and done nothing. How did Sant expect the hard hit that suffered to vote Labour, when he himself was gutless to defend the poorest? This was and still is beyond comprehension! If the Government does not deliver on what it promised, then one hopes that the new Leader of the opposition has more sense then the apathy and intransigence of last!

If you ask me the government did what it had to do to win the last election. It effectively portrayed an image of confidence where we re all somehow safer in Gonzi's rather large grasp. 'Together Everything is Possible' or something of the sort was splattererd over billboards across the country. The pity is that the international situation which has been brewing for many months before the elections and that everyone who bothered to follow international affairs knew about (let alone the government), will result in some harsh decision making. Yes we ve been lied to, or atleast misled to some extent. Electoral promises will be disregarded or forgotten, only to be regurgitated five years on. But then again did anyone actually expect anything different to happen? Did the whole mythology created in the last election of a new PN led by the 'almighty' Gonzi actually convince anyone that things would really change? I think not.

Increasing wages at this point in time will have a very negative mutiplier effect on competitivity and also increase overheads in the private and public sectors.
With the world economy as it is today, fuel and oil prices surging in record high values + rise in cost of essential food stuffs our economy cannot afford high wage increases - we shall risk losing jobs which will go to countries of the Eastern block where workers are paid much less . this has already happened.
The other option of reducing taxation will at least reduce the impact of less purchasing power .
Yes the forecasts are not good and we shall see prices of essential goods rise.

It will be a good idea for local Banks to reduce or eliminate certain charges and for professional services to be monitored in such a way as to be fair .
Also how about profit margins made by importers of goods - Can these go down to a more reasonable value.
Comparing prices of certain items here with items sold in the UK one finds that we are paying 1:1 equivalent of sterling pound vis a vis maltese pound (now 2.33euro).
These are but some issues which have to be dealt with by the govt and opposition together because we are heading for a very big rise in cost of living .

If some people from the now minority think that the majority is going to forget who destroyed Maltese society with his preaching in 1977/78 is very much mistaken. One of the reasons that PN had been re-elected is that Sant was not responding to the arrogant bulldozing attitude of PN!
As for the salaries and wage increases, some people conveniently forget that Malta had been plunged into recession for 3 whole years because of bad economic management. Even after hefty tax increases and other stealth taxes the Government’s finances are now is such a terrible state, that there is no room to manoeuvre to help with increase in food and oil prices. Watch what is brewing for the next budget, and contrary to what Gonzi had promised, deficit will be over 3% and National Debt above 60% of GDP. According to someone the Government KNEW what was coming in the international economic arena!
Our disposable income is going to be further reduced especially when compared with other western EU countries, the ones that EFA used to compare us with in 1978.
Dr. Muscat was not referring to the past hypocritical attitude of PN, but the Labour Party.
£m1 + some tax reduction for the cost of living. Give us a break. How about increase in percentage like other countries? That is what EFA preached and so far NOTHING. Remember the following? - "X'igifieri l-gvern jghati u jiddeciedi hu kemm niehdu zieda ghall-gholi tal-hajja! Pajjizi Ewropej jizdiedu bil-percentwali skond l-inflazzjoni"
It is about time that people start to remind PN to put the money where their mouth is! One has a feeling that ALL Labour Party Leadership candidates are well aware that this administration is going to be short lived.

MLP should be respected but in no way be treated as an equal partner.

I hope Muscat doesn't have the Sant syndrome when it comes to numbers.

PN won the election although by a few votes.

They have a right to govern and MLP cannot pretend to be an equal partner

My dear friend Joseph, your appeal makes sense. Yes a government with a relative majority should show more respect to the Opposition. I agree 100 %. But I see other priorities and being one of the five contenders for leader of the Labour Party, Joseph and co. let us truly see that we really putting our house in order, first.
Let the five of you, Joseph, George, Evarist, Michael and Marie-Louise, have a common appeal to the delegates meeting in the extraordinary general meeting next Friday, May 9, to discuss the petition calling for all paid up members to have a say along with the delegates in the election of the new MLP leader. It is time for a complete overhaul, come on let us do it, without weighing your personal interest above that of the party.
Once that is set, hopefully, there should be not a fixed and rigid time frame to have the election on June 5. First it has to be seen and vetted by the Electoral Commission that only those eligible to vote, will vote, and ascertain that there are no members who enrolled recently and perhaps somebody had the guts to show them as having been members since the required deadline to qualify as voters.
The election of the new MLP leadership should take all the time necessary, even if needed beyond June 5. Our main concern is to show all, even the Nationalists, that the MLP is doing things in a transparent, credible and accountable manner.
Such a performance will open a different route altogether to what has been happening lately and the contrasting reports we have been reading about the way the general election campaign has been run. There has been a lot of finger-pointing at the CNL regarding the general election campaign.
So it is a must that the process for the election of the new leadership will have no shady tinge. We must truely be credible, transparent and accountable.
As regards the MLP duties in parliament, Hon. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi if necessary will have to wait. As far as I am concerned the parliamentary set-up on the MLP side is in place, and has nothing to do as yet with the leadership matter.
After all in a few weeks time, the House of Representative will rise for the summer recess. Hon. Gonzi already showed us that he can have his way, wherever he wants to, so the MLP must show him that we have ever right to have our way and the priority to have the party in order.
For us Labourites this is the moment of truth. There are a lot still to be settled, even with regards to certain faction/ or factions that might still becraving that Malta will find a way of opting out of the European Union.
Joseph to your credit you spoke clearly. Even George spoke clearly about this matter and I do not doubt that the other contenders do not think it differently.
So for the sake of the party, the five of you do your duty towards the party..see that everything is done properly to really set the route towards Castille. The five of you must not only be credible with the labour diehards, but on a wider scale, because whoever is leader will be calling for support from all the electorate of Malta and Gozo in 2013.
Yes, i agree the MLP is an equal partner to the government, but this issue can wait for a while. The five contenders main task is to explain the delegates that there is still a lot of work to be done, principally the emendment of the MLP statute, before a new leader is elected.
And certainly the new leader should be elected by all the paid up members eligible after a rigid scrutiny.
Once settled, a list of all the voters eligible should be carried both on the MLP website and local papers and the election of the new leader could only be held then, when not only the MLP statute is in order, but the party as a whole,.
Please let us not have a new leader with any shadow of doubts stringed to his integrity. Let us do our things, our own way, and forget about the Nationalist Party. The Blues did not hesitate to use the advantage of incumbency to get back to power. The MLP leader is ours, the party is ours, and so we must show that we are doing things our own way. The rest, please, shove off!

A Daley: - Dr. Joseph Muscat is not interested in the past - any past .

Dr. Muscat is right, and correct to remind the Government that the opposition is now in the majority and if not treated correctly, the Government is not going to be able to actually govern.
Should we be reminded of EFA teaching in 1977/78, (Labour majority of votes and seats)
The exact teaching of solidarity was as follows -
"Jekk lill gvern niqfulu l-hin kollu, dejjem, u f'kollox, jirrizenja jkollu"
Some people don't forget!

Mr. Muscat should very well know that first the MLP must change his negative attitude and get good responsible members in the party.

"..... are credibility statements - not probability statements. " I would like to comment that statements better be possible and truthful. Credibility does not necessarily mean truth. One can lie and still be credible. It is a trick used by many a politician.

I have read this article. First on my mind is the refusal to participate in pre EU membership talks when the Govt had invited the opposition to do so.
The EU which Dr.Muscat is now so proud as being a member of and wants Malta to become the best - I fully support his vision.
Second thing is the refusal of Opposition to participate in pension reform talks when it was invited by the govt .
The previous Govt had a greater majority and yet invited the opposition which refused every invitation to participate in major political issues.
Dr. Muscat was living in Malta and knew about this and said....Nothing .

As for his first comment quote '...it expected to be treated as an equal partner by the government', I say we live in a Democracy the meaning of which is : A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.
However small a majority it still remains a majority and the majority must be respected by the minority and minority rights must be respected by the majority . There is no equality resulting from the last elections results.
Next point and I quote 'He said the government should not be acting like the increase in energy and food prices was happening all of a sudden, after the election'
This is not correct and politically unfair.
The previous budget forecast of a rise in cost of living catered for an additional allowance of 2.33euro (LM1) + reduced income tax + other measures.
Additional cost of living increase was given in anticipation when it should have been allocated in the coming budget because the previous Govt was proactive and expecting what was going to happen. This was made public on all media. Whether this was enough or not is another issue .

During this MLP leadership contest Dr. Muscat , Mrs. Coleiro Preca ,and all the contestants should be focussing on what they themselves can offer better than their opponents to the MLP voters and to the country if they were to be elected MLP leader and not use this campaign as if it were a general election campaign by criticising Govt decisions.

What the voters who will elect their leader want to hear from these contestants are credibility statements - not probability statements.

Joseph Muscat must be crazy to suggest that the government should treat the MLP as an equal partner. There may be a time in the future however, when this could be possible. First, the MLP needs to stop criticising EVERYTHING the government does and stop trying to spoil everything the government tries to do. You simply cannot have a partnership with a body that tries to shoot down everything you do. One would expect an enemy not a partner to act in that manner. Secondly, the MLP have plenty of opportunities to work in partnership with the current administration. They must be big enough to support good policies openly rather than critisize everything for political gain. When this happens the MLP can be a near equal partner. There cannot be an equal partnership until our democracy turns into government by committee. And that is not going to happen.

Definitely good news from Dr. Muscat, let's hope he or whoever else will be at the helm, lives up to expectations. this is what the country needs. the 'no - to anything tinted blue' antics, so typical of the opposition during recent years has to stop. Does this mean a 'go - ahead matey, pat on the back opposition?' Definitely not - though an opposition with concrete arguments would be a welcome change. Not only 47% of the nation demands this, but it is the whole country who hopes it will be so.

It is of fundamental importance that the Government endorses and takes part in open social dialogue with all of civil society, unions, NGO's and especially the Opposition that represents 47% of the electorate. Once this equality is properly reach and the partisanship that is currently consuming Government appropriately shed then we may truly move forward as a nation; socially economically and environmentally. Likewise the Opposition should be equally willing to participate in open social dialogue. Therefore, it is good news to hear that Joseph Muscat is "open for debate in all fora where his party was respected as an equal parter in discussions."

My sensation is that this has been going on for some years now...MLPN!

I'm sure that if the PN Government shows the way and starts to detach itself from its disdain at anything tinted in red, than perhaps we can start dreaming of a unified Maltese nation. It will take a strong national figure to initiate the process of eradicating once and for all the scourge of parochial political antagonism so prevalent in Malta. In this respect I find Joseph Muscat's proposal for the PN Government to start treating the MLP as an equal partner as an important first step towards achieving this aim.