“The measure of a man is what he does with power” (Plato). There is little doubt in my mind that the European Parliamentary elections in 10 weeks’ time will be treated by electors and commentators alike as a direct judgement on how Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has used his power over the last year. Has he grown with power or has power diminished him and those around him?

Like Banquo’s ghost, it is almost inescapable that the constant presence at the Euro parliamentary feast will be the Prime Minister’s performance in his first full year of government. While the Nationalist Party will be seeking to win one more MEP seat to equal Labour’s three, and will be counting the total number of votes cast for Labour and Nationalist candidates to see whether the 36,000 vote margin of 2013 has been even slightly reduced (it would be a miracle if it were not), the pivotal issue deciding these outcomes will be an assessment of the Prime Minister’s performance.

On that judgement hangs the fate of the Labour candidates standing for the European Parliament and, therefore, of the Nationalist candidates too.

It has been a chequered year for the Prime Minister. Some of the shortcomings in government performance have been caused by errors of judgement and were not simply a reflection of inexperience. The cash-for-citizenship scheme was crassly handled from start to finish and had repercussions way beyond our shores.

The promise of a non-partisan and meritocratic approach to politics (Malta Tagħna Lkoll) proved hollow and a woeful betrayal – none more so than in the way promotions to the topmost posts in the AFM were so blatantly ill-managed. The latest Enemalta scam involving smart meters was mishandled. The gross size of the government, packed with party apparatchiks, is proving unwieldy and poor value for money.

The approach to irregular immigration and the botched institution of a pushback policy were an international embarrassment which failed to move Malta’s interests forward and brought it into disrepute.

The resurgence of Mepa as an environmental movement hate figure (never difficult to achieve but made easier by its behaviour in the last year) and, especially, the vacuum which has been caused as a result of the mistaken decision to ‘demerge’ the environmental directorate from planning, have stoked genuine fears of a construction free-for-all at the very time when restraint should be paramount.

These can all rightly be listed as misconceived. The question for the electorate now is twofold. Do these issues matter to the ordinary man in the street. And does it judge that the Prime Minister is big enough to look failure squarely in the face and to learn from it?

As to the high profile mistakes of the last 12 months, there can be no doubt that the cash-for citizenship debacle has hurt the government. Even the ordinary man in the street can recognise when his country has made a hash of things. Support will have been undermined.

The betrayal of those who looked forward to a more meritocratic and non-partisan approach to political appointments – probably the majority of ‘switchers’ at the last election – may incline many to return to the Nationalist (or Alternattiva) fold, if only to send a message they should not be taken for granted.

But I sense that, sadly, the populist immigration policy and the environmental vandalism that awaits Malta will cause only the slightest ripple with the man in the street.

These will be glossed over in the electorate’s assessment by the imminent reductions in crushing utility rates, cleverly timed to coincide with the Euro-elections, and the continuing feel-good factor in the economy (where the European Commission has given the government’s financial management a vote of confidence).

Moreover, for those who care about how Malta is governed, there can be, on balance, only one positive, objective conclusion. The massive difference in drive, energy and output of this government compared with the Nationalist administration that preceded it is profound.

Politicians will do almost anything to convince themselves that a policy is working even when it isn’t

GonziPN had been a lame-duck government for almost four years before the March 2013 elections, wracked by internal dissent, largely comatose (except, in fairness, on the economy and during the Libyan crisis) and, it is now becoming increasingly apparent, riddled with corruption.

By contrast, matters of fundamental importance, such as the reform of the justice system, the hospital service, civil rights (such as civil unions, the Church-State concordat on ecclesiastical courts and transgender rights), the education system, public service reform, the new energy strategy and the concomitant signs of a clean-out at Enemalta, the long overdue introduction of a Whistleblower’s Act and proposals for party financing – all of which had lain dormant and neglected under previous administrations, are at last being addressed.

Although some of the populist rhetoric that accompanies these improvements rankles – and is frankly unnecessary – there is a can-do mood in this administration which had previously been lacking, even if implementation remains extremely ragged at the edges.

As to whether the electorate feels that the Prime Minister has learnt from the failures of the last year, he has openly admitted that things could have been done better, especially on the Individual Investment Programme. If this were a genuinely mature democracy, the electorate would admire politicians that were honest about their own failures, while holding in contempt those who seek to deny, ignore or spin them away.

But, sadly, politicians are often blind to the opportunities that failure offers. Politics here, as elsewhere, is bedevilled by an inability to learn from botched errors. Politicians of all parties stick to their guns and search for evidence – any evidence – to back their case, even to the point of duplicity, as we saw on the cash-for-citizenship scheme.

Politicians of both parties in Malta will do almost anything to convince themselves that a policy is working even when it isn’t.

Catastrophic failure on the scale suffered by the Nationalists last year is, sometimes, the most telling and precious learning opportunity of all.

It remains to be seen, premature though it might seem, whether Simon Busuttil has yet set the stage for the modernisation of his party and its regrouping into winning ways again.

In science, a willingness to learn from failure is the most effective guarantee of progress. Bloodletting in medicine was practised for centuries for the simple reason that doctors were not willing to learn from thousands of needless deaths.

They ignored the suffering. They buried their heads in the sand. It was only when they were prepared to challenge the methods they had trusted for so long that innovation occurred.

One year into his term, Joseph Muscat would be wise to instigate an attempt in every policy area to discover failure, to find error, to eradicate corruption not play party games, to test alternatives and, above all, to make improvements.

It is not about being open about what went wrong. It is about understanding that progress is not possible without it.

The outcome of the Euro-elections in May should tell us whether the Prime Minister still retains the overwhelming trust placed in him a year ago and if the electorate believes he has learnt anything constructive from the errors made.

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