As the period for nominations for Nationalist Party leader draws to a close, I find myself again in a reflective mood.
Its name may sound anachronistic today but the PN is in essence a people’s party
What of this party? Against the backdrop of a massive thrashing at the polls, I believe that the PN’s major challenge is reconnecting with the people and the remaking of a party in which many recognise themselves. Dishonestly or not, Labour sent that message loud and clear and we cannot ignore the lessons learnt at our expense.
But one must go beyond identifying the challenge and, in this sense, the party leadership is, needless to say, crucial.
The PN must inspire people. The new leadership must be a source of inspiration for the people, a combination of vision with conviction, a willingness to take bold action where needed.
The new leadership must galvanise the many to believe and to take on, together, the action needed for people to perceive it as the party fit to govern.
And, so, a leadership that is innovative, free from the shackles of past methods and practices, one which leads public opinion rather than follows it is what we should be looking for.
The scale of the defeat allows the PN this one golden opportunity for radical change. The soul searching must give credible answers to the questions: Who are we? What is our reason for being? Which are the core values that distinguish us? Where do we want to take not only our country but each and every one of us?
Our name may sound anachronistic in today’s world but the PN is in essence a people’s party. That is what it all hinges on – April 5.
New chapter
Everywhere I go I keep being confronted with the same question: so what are you up to now? I’m back to my profession, of course.
I’ve dedicated probably the best 15 years of my life to party and country, for which I have not one ounce of regret. But the time has come to move on and it’s back to my profession.
Saying it is an easy transition would be a mockery but I count my blessings also in that 10 of those 15 years I’ve spent close to Mepa, with first-hand knowledge of its multiple policies and plans. In the last legislature I was entrusted with the Works Ministry, which, again, kept me conversant with designs and plans but also project management.
I’ve rediscovered my family and my wife was quick to delegate in part some of the cooking, which I thoroughly enjoy. I also relished watching a few full games but I must say I’m not the laid back type.
I’m used to being on the go and that’s how I like it, so my routine is somehow stuck to waking up pretty early and sleeping late. My brain refuses to go on easy mode so I dream up stuff to keep me occupied all day.
I guess it’s not an easy change but adaptation and looking at the positive side is crucial, as we all know. Life, I believe, is made up of chapters and I’ve just started a new one.
This chapter, it must be said, also clearly contains a strong political tinge. I am a representative of the people on the Opposition benches, a commitment I fully embrace. The task ahead looms large but will be performed nonetheless, keeping my electorate as close as it has been in the past years.
I’m also looking forward to some inspirational reading, which, alas, had severe limitations during my tenure of office. The latest on sustainable development and European politics are already eagerly awaited in the post – April 4.
Unacceptable figure
Six of the seven billion people in this world have mobile phones but only 4.5 billion have a toilet. The shocking figure has just been released by a UN report that has prompted the international organisation to launch a global campaign to improve sanitation for the 2.5 billion people whose health is at risk. UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson called their plight the “silent disaster” that reflects the huge inequalities in the world today.
The 2015 Millennium Goals, set in 2000 to combat poverty, had specifically targeted sanitation and access to clean water. Target 7.C aimed to: halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The target for access to safe water was reached in 2010 but the sanitation goal lags furthest behind.
Even where there is scope for celebration, as the achieved target for access to water, much remains to be done. In 20 years, up to 2010, two billion people gained access to safe water but 11 per cent of the world population, some 800 million, remain without. Some of the places where clean water can be accessed may, nonetheless, be kilometres away! And a shocking 4,000 children die daily due to illnesses related to unsafe water.
The sanitation goal at the present rate of progress will only be reached in 2075 instead of 2015.
Again, there have been improvements, mostly in Asia, but 2.5 billion people without a basic toilet facility is and should well be considered unacceptable.
India alone accounts for 60 per cent of the world population that still practises open defecation. Contrast that with one billion mobile phones in India, a meteoric rise from just 45 million in 2002 – April 2.
More lessons from Cyprus
A country similar to ours in so many ways, a former British colony, an island in the Mediterranean built on tourism and the financial sector. We became partners in the European Union on the same day and adopted the euro together two years later. Five years ago we both boasted excellent prospects for growth. The similarities stop right there.
A couple of years ago, Cyprus started on a slippery slope. It got hit badly by the financial crisis, its unemployment rocketed, its deficit spiralled out of control.
The country’s leaders ignored at their peril the sound advice of keeping local banking and financial services for foreigners separate. It attracted suspect Russian deposits and lent unscrupulously to Greece. Its power station went up in smoke when an ammunition deposit close by blew up.
The bubble produced by an overheated property market also burst, unceremoniously bringing down the banks that had extended finance to developers so unwisely.
Cyprus went begging for a bailout of €10 billion. It finally managed to clinch it, in earnest hope of saving its banks but with tragic consequences for its citizens. Cypriots not only face higher taxes and heightened unemployment but also the appropriation of part of their bank deposits.
The contrast with Malta is huge. The financial crisis slipped by almost unnoticed, unemployment ranks among the lowest in Europe, government deficit remains under the three per cent mark. Our banking regime is sound, as are our government lending practices.
But the afflictions of Cyprus should finally wake us up from our deep slumber. The decision by the EU to burden Cypriot savers with the Cypriot’s Government’s mismanagement was taken in the presence of the new Minister of Finance, Edward Scicluna. It does not seem that he disputed this stance. The much hailed protection of depositors was thrown out of the window incredibly quickly.
Scicluna was happy to be sitting on the right side of the table. Let’s be frank, the fact that he was not on the receiving end is no merit of his or of that of his Cabinet counterparts. It is to the credit of the former Administration, which employed prudence in all matters financial that this is due - April 1.
http://georgepullicino.blogspot.com
George Pullicino is a Nationalist MP.