A most creditable performance

The Nationalists are sometimes their own worst enemies. They tend to inflate anything they think is politically advantageous but often fail to concentrate enough on matters that really matter.

When they slip, as any party does at one time or another, they take time to correct their error, giving their opponents political mileage. This does not normally matter much at the start or in the middle of a party’s term in office but it matters a lot when a general election is close, as it is now.

The Prime Minister gaffed when he contradicted Labour leader Joseph Muscat on the Brazilian firm, which, according to Lawrence Gonzi, had relocated to Malta, giving the impression that this was a project worth talking about. It turned out that the Brazilian company had moved to Malta from Libya, at the time of the crisis there, rather than from Brazil.

And right at the time that the Prime Minister was contradicting Dr Muscat, the firm was in the process of pulling down its shutters.

The way the party handled the issue was amateurish. It should have come clean immediately. Clearly, Dr Gonzi had not been kept informed of all the details and fell into the political trap so wisely laid by the Labour leader.

Other gaffes are bound to be made in the heat of the political campaign – no party is immune to them. Of course, none can afford making gaffes but who is to say who will make the next slip?

That is hard to call but there is no doubt that the party in government also misses opportunities to make capital when it matters. A case in point is the European Commission’s autumn report. Yes, both the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister have talked about it but what they have said so far is nowhere near enough to explain to the people of this country how favourable the report is to Malta.

Not only is Brussels proposing to lift its excessive deficit procedure against this country but it is also forecasting 1.6 per cent economic growth for next year. When millions of people are protesting on the streets of so many cities in Europe over austerity measures – as we saw yesterday – this is highly significant because it shows to what extent the island has been able to withstand the difficulties.

Malta last year managed to bring the deficit down to 2.7 per cent by the deadline set by the EU. The European Commission has now come to the conclusion that “without any change in policy, Malta’s deficit is expected to remain under the three per cent threshold and, thus, we will be recommending lifting Malta’s EDP”.

There is much more than this in the Commission’s report that ought to be well explained.

As expected, Labour focused on two negative points: inflation, which is running at a rate higher than the European average, and an assumption by the Commission of an increase in electricity tariffs.

Inflation has to be well monitored and action taken to check abuses but, as to the assumption on energy prices, it is now hard to believe that the Government would contemplate raising the rates again when it has received so much flak over the way it pushed up the tariffs and when, in the wake of so much strong criticism, it has chosen to raise the fuel subsidy to Enemalta.

So, all in all, when, as the Commission said, most of Europe is expected to remain in recession, Malta’s score sheet shows a creditable performance.