Joseph woos the University

Joseph Muscat has openly declared that he intends to draw intellectuals from their ivory towers, be they in Pietà or Tal-Qroqq, into Labour's house in Hamrun. Furthermore, he hinted that he might actually listen to what they have to say. How's that for a fresh start?

It should be three cheers all around at Tal-Qroqq for Muscat, who is a 'Dr' by virtue of a Ph.D. But how committed is he to this project? Judging from the promo clip that was used during his campaign, the answer seems to be "very much". In the clip, Muscat is seen doing a Hi-5 routine with members of the younger generation, or rather, his generation, with the University of Malta name clearly legible in the backdrop behind him. Moreover, while the Malta and EU flags are given the courtesy of a few frames at the start of the clip to set the scene, the film-editor chose to montage the University flag flying proudly above Dr Muscat's head.

All this augurs well, but is it enough? The high-browed academics at this institution are a demanding lot, and many of them are still hurt by events past. Muscat's fresh style will definitely appeal to the younger generations and students, but not necessarily to the establishment. He has already openly apologised for the Labour Party's past mistakes. If he manages to get his party to officially apologise for specifics, in this case the harm deliberately inflicted upon the University during previous Labour governments, peace will be made.

But his wooing won't be complete; this would be just a clearing of the throat. His technical credentials, into which his environmental credentials will tightly tie in, still need to be proved and tempered. Already during an interview on the TV programme Dissett he fell into a technical trap. He defended his land reclamation ideas by referring to a University study which indicates that sea levels around Malta will fall rather than rise.

Whether Reno Bugeja set the trap intentionally or out of his own technical uncertainty is difficult to tell. The point is that Muscat stepped right into it. His answer will have sent shockwaves among environmentalists, whose primary concern on land reclamation is not that the investment will be swallowed whole by the sea, but the effects it would have on the seabed and coastal areas.

In any case, an academic study was referred to without any context, and offered as a response to an issue that needs to be addressed by the experts before the policy makers declare themselves upon it. Besides, while it is pretty certain that the study referred to by Muscat observes scientific rigor, to the radical environmentalist, by casually listening in, it sounds like the University is trying to refute climate change.

There is also another issue. If the Labour Party wants to equip itself with a 'crack team' of intellectuals, to start off with, these people have to be available on the island. So Muscat and his team on the opposition benches need to start pushing the government to act on the brain drain problem now, if their dream is to materialise in future years.

Maybe they can start by demanding an increase, by an order of magnitude, in resources available for research in marine biology and civil engineering. That expertise would surely be handy to a proland reclamation policy maker.

Overall, Muscat is good news for academics. With the dash for brain power that will ensue if he has his way with the party (and there seems to be no reason to doubt he will) one thing is certain: better days are in store at Tal-Qroqq.