‘Victory’ fuels more instability

Early last week the Prime Minister had stated in no uncertain terms that a Franco Debono abstention in Parliament would not be a solution to the political crisis the country was facing.

The need for the country to be run by a stable majority grows even more urgent by the hour- Leo Brincat

Without speculating on what Debono could have done, Lawrence Gonzi had indicated that given such an abstention he would seek the people’s confidence in an election.

Last Thursday when Debono abstained, the Prime Minister and his spin doctors claimed ‘victory’. Regardless of how pyrrhic it might have been.

What they failed to factor in was whether or not the result of the vote taken would have addressed the political crisis the country was facing. As well as the growing uncertainty. The answer to that question is a definite ‘No’.

Even more so when recalling that on the same day the vote was taken in the House, the Business Supplement of The Times prominently carried a leading article entitled ‘Business leaders call for end to political crisis and uncertainty’. In no uncertain terms these business leaders actually called for a swift end to the country’s political crisis that is causing uncertainty in commercial circles.

In the Malta Employers Association’s own words the political impasse is causing businesses and consumers to postpone decisions at a time when the economy can ill afford to deal with such a crisis.

Even more so at a time when investment decisions were being put on hold and consumers were also apprehensive about the situation.

Rather than trying to interpret the outcome of the vote in purely constitutional terms, one must address a simpler question: Does the result of the vote lead to the end of the political crisis? And will it contain and even phase out the long prevailing uncertainty?

Any self-respecting political commentator and or analyst, irrespective of his or her political orientation would undoubtedly reply in the negative.

If anything, with the kind of long-drawn out ‘solutions’ the Prime Minister seems to be contemplating in a somewhat nebulous and hazy manner, uncertainty is most likely expected to grow even further.

Although I was never an Eddie Fenech Adami ‘groupie’ I share the view of various businessmen I have met in being convinced that he would have managed such a situation far better and more effectively.

Unfortunately, most of the hiccups this administration has encountered these past four years have been the result of the lack of teamwork and collegiality that Gonzi fostered in his own parliamentary group.

Even the appointment of parliamentary assistants, which has its own intrinsic merits, was done purely for expediency’s sake rather than out of any conviction. A mere fire-fighting exercise.

If a Prime Minister cannot even contain hate campaigns and character assassination attempts against his own MPs and their closest kin spearheaded by media gurus very close to his inner circle, then he was only asking for trouble from day one. Which he got.

If proof was ever needed that the Prime Minister does not really care a hoot about the country’s stability so long as he and his Cabinet manage to remain in office, this was evident during his parliamentary intervention last Thursday when he juggled around his own earlier definition of ‘stability’ in such a manner that he unconvincingly tried to lead us into believing that all he had in mind were stable policies rather than political stability per se.

With a government that has already made recourse twice to the Speaker’s casting vote in almost as many months of parliamentary activity, the need for the country to be run by a stable majority grows even more urgent by the hour.

Invoking the months spent in the second half of the 1990s by a Labour government in sorting out its internal problems should not be of any consolation for this administration.

On the contrary, it should help it intensify its efforts further to ensure we have a truly stable administration at the helm, of whatever political orientation. Particularly since in these turbulent times, political instability comes at a stiff economic, financial and commercial price. For the country itself as well as for its key economic players and the general public too.

It is pointless to talk of economic governance of whatever order, when political uncertainty continues to cloud the local landscape as a result of ever growing instability.

Although I never laid claim to any prophetic attributes, it was for this reason that on the eve of the vote I had commented that rather than the outcome of the vote itself, what interested me most was whether and how the Prime Minister was prepared to interpret it. As well as whether he would be using his soundest moral judgment to ensure that good governance can prevail.

Unfortunately his mock triumphalism is pre-destined to yield only negative results. That will only serve to make a bad situation worse – in terms of political stability.

Gonzi’s biggest shortcoming last Thursday was that he failed the credibility test and benchmarks he had set himself a week ago.

brincat.leo@gmail.com