Political expediency has been the anchor of the Labour Party’s media campaign in the past four years. Spurred on by Joseph Muscat’s ambition to become Prime Minister, the new political movement within the PL has relentlessly tried to appeal to non-traditional voters, at times even delivering impossible and ambivalent promises to special interest groups. These tactics are far from new and simply form part of an ever-growing media-fuelled campaign to draw sympathy in the direction of a party that is promising its supporters a victory at the next election.

... Labour have run themselves aground in their race to compete for governance...- Caroline Galea

The recent shenanigans in the House of Representatives drew a lot of emotions from people be it frustration, empathy or anger.

The motion of no confidence presented by the opposition which led to the resignation of a respected Nationalist minister brought home with a bang the fact that Labour have run themselves aground in their race to compete for governance with no fresh ideas or sustainable proposals. The last resort was to create dissent!

This was another Labour call in an increasingly long list of political gaffes which all have Dr Muscat’s name written across them!

Dr Muscat’s political vision for this country has, to date, been marked by a series of bloopers that can only leave you wondering as to the nature of his judgement.

For the purpose of this article, I will try to abridge the number of episodes that come to mind although I am sure that readers will readily contribute with more examples of Dr Muscat’s ill-timed and often misjudged decisions.

Dr Muscat wholeheartedly opposed the privatisation of the dockyard, preferring to keep on subsidising this industry instead of seeking reform. It was an error of judgement that was costing us €25 million a year. This annual drain was coming directly out of taxpayers’ pockets!

Dr Muscat immediately caused unrest in Parliament when he refused the pairing system and withdrew from the Select Committee. Subsequent sittings in Parliament were marked by struggles for representatives on the government benches to honour their international and national commitments while still assuring an absolute majority in Parliament, which required a constant full presence due to a one-seat majority.

Furthermore, Labour’s withdrawal from the Select Committee halted abruptly any hopes for progress on much-needed Constitutional reform.

Dr Muscat tried to propose/float an alternative coal-powered energy station to tackle the rising costs of electricity bills. When this proved too impossible to pursue further, he abandoned the idea leaving us all wondering how he is going to finance this much-publicised reduction in energy bills without imposing further taxes.

Dr Muscat’s proposal to the rising cost of living was to suggest introducing the living wage. The vociferous reaction from civil society was enough to make him trash this concept.

Dr Muscat exhorted ad nauseam the virtues of the Cyprus model and how Malta should be copying the political style of this country. Fast forward to present times and the least said on this would be soonest mended.

Dr Muscat chose to sit back and watch and wait without pronouncing his position while Libyan civilians shed their blood in their homeland in their struggles to overcome a dictatorship and make way for a new democracy.

Dr Muscat is promising all youths the luxury of a guaranteed job upon school leaving age. Once again, the reaction from society to this proposal was fast and fierce as dismay and disappointment was expressed at an idea that goes against the very essence of cultivating in our children the desire to improve and receive further education.

Dr Muscat is presently promising a further guarantee, this time aimed at the care and future wellbeing of persons with special needs. While this is undoubtedly a very noble gesture, the Opposition Leader seems to have forgotten the myriad of services and support networks that already exist and are continuously being improved as we speak.

As a party seeking to be elected to government, the above examples are a mere example of the lack of preparation of the Labour Party. Dr Muscat’s zeal to steer his party to a victory may have kindled the party’s media machine into action but it has also exposed the fact that the party lacks the political qualifications to present sustainable proposals as alternatives and as targets to be met when in government.

All this proves that top of the Labour Party’s agenda is political expediency as opposed to national interest, this at a time when the eurozone crisis has not only reached our shores but will continue to pound at us relentlessly in the coming months.

Were it not sad it would seem surreal that the opposition continues to fiddle with petty party politics in an urgent desire for a premature general election. Ultimately, voters will decide on track records and Dr Muscat’s is proving to be an extremely suspect one!

This article was written before Parliament voted on the Richard Cachia Caruana motion.

info@carolinegalea.com

The author is a Nationalist Party candidate on the fourth district.