The Prime Minister spoke of a “calm transition” when giving a press conference last week to mark the Government’s first 100 days in office. Joseph Muscat is right, the political transition from the day after the election and over the last three months was calm; Malta is a normal country, the political parties deserve credit for this and we are all better off as a result.
Dr Muscat also spoke of some of Government’s priorities so far such as getting the energy plan to reduce utility bills up and running, making sure EU funds are not lost and issuing expressions of interest for major projects. These are important targets.
The Prime Minister said he was confident the country’s fiscal deficit would be brought under the three per cent threshold and said that for the first time the Finance Minister was receiving monthly accounts of actual revenue and expenditure against projected figures. Hopefully this latter fact will help keep public spending in order, something was has gained in importance since the eurozone crisis.
Some of the other announcements made by Dr Muscat, however, deserve further scrutiny. The Prime Minister’s decision to remove the justice portfolio from the Home Affairs Ministry is the right thing to do, but questions remain about why this was not done when Dr Muscat was first elected to office.
When one considers how Labour in opposition had criticised a joint Justice and Home Affairs Ministry under the previous administration, it was difficult to understand why Labour kept the two portfolios together after March’s election.
The justice portfolio, headed by parliamentary secretary Owen Bonnici is now answerable to the Prime Minister.
In reality, however, this portfolio deserves a ministry of its own, and while its separation from the Home Affairs Ministry is positive, a Minister for Justice should be appointed as soon as possible.
The Prime Minister also announced the appointment of Labour MP Michael Falzon as Commissioner Against Bureaucracy. While there is no doubt that bureaucracy in Malta needs to be drastically reduced, and the creation of a Commissioner against Bureaucracy is therefore to be welcomed, the choice of an MP to fill this post is wrong in principle.
MPs, whether government or opposition, should not be given executive posts; this undermines their independence and blurs the distinction between the executive and legislative branches.
Dr Muscat also defended his decision to appoint certain individuals from non-Labour backgrounds to public positions, saying he was everyone’s Prime Minister. While this point of view is admirable, in reality the Prime Minister’s record on public appointments has been contentious – with too many people being appointed simply because they were Labour supporters or had helped Labour.
One thing he did not emphasise during the press conference, but which is worrying many law-abiding citizens, is the new Labour administration’s close proximity to the construction sector.
Like the Nationalist administration in the 1990s, Labour is treating this industry as the main impetus to boost our economy, refusing to acknowledge that this country has a glut of vacant property, while giving worrying indications about the way it plans to deal with permits.
While the construction sector remains important, it is definitely not the motor it once was. And 100 days since assuming power, Labour should at least listen to the reasonable concerns raised by many about the costs that excessive construction would inflict on the environment, tourism and society in general.