It is all very well for Joseph Muscat to argue in The Sunday Times of Malta that “the past is not our future” and that in this special year in which four important anniversaries will be marked the country ought to seek greater national cohesion.
But the message would have sounded more meaningful had the Prime Minister led by example. Contrary to expectations and to the impression he gave before the election that he would seek to make even party adversaries comfortable working with the new government, the Prime Minister is at times doing the opposite.
If Dr Muscat wants the appeal he wished to put across to make any sense at all, he has to believe every word he said and act upon it all the time, not when it just suits him and his party.
Dr Muscat said: “As we edge closer to the first of these four anniversaries I call on all women and men of goodwill to join me in a quest for more unity in diversity, more respect for one another, for more thinking outside the political box, and more pride in who we are and what we have achieved together.”
What is particularly striking in this call is his declared wish to see greater respect for one another, which is precisely what Dr Muscat has disregarded so often in the time his party has been running the government.
What kind of respect is it when the government imputes bad national motives every time the Opposition in Parliament disagrees with it? Just as in the time of the socialist government of Dom Mintoff, Dr Muscat is consistently accusing the Opposition of working against the national interest, as if only Labour is endowed with the capacity of protecting the national interest.
Dr Muscat falters badly every time he goes down this path. And yet, without seemingly batting an eyelid, he calls for greater respect for one another. How can Dr Muscat expects to be sincerely believed when in the debate on the citizenship scheme in parliament he spoke and acted in a manner that threw Malta back to turbulent times?
Far worse than this was the way his government handled the way leading to the enactment of amendments to the citizenship law when, according to what the Prime Minister himself admitted, he had in mind subjecting the citizenship scheme to the negotiating process. In doing this, he showed disrespect not just to the Opposition but also to Parliament.
Were the Cabinet members and the backbenchers aware of what he had in mind? In any case, this is surely not the way to run an administration.
The government fumbled badly on the citizenship scheme and in most people’s view, it should have listened to its critics from the start to avoid all the harm that has been done to Malta’s image. The government appears to be listening only after it slips.
Goodwill is built on trust and respect. Dr Muscat was convincing in many of his arguments before the election but he is now fast disappointing many who had given him the benefit of the doubt and voted for him and his party.
When Labour in Opposition had so forcefully accused the Nationalists of arrogance of power, Labour in government is showing the same traits. The kind of nice words Dr Muscat wrote in his appeal last Sunday would need to be backed by solid examples all the way if he wants to be believed.