One of the basic tenets of democracy is respect for the rule of law. Good governance is about having an open and fair government that leads by example. It too has to be seen to respect the law.
Since Malta joined the EU, a significant part of our legislation is determined in Brussels. The responsibility of our politicians is then to transpose it into local legislation and ensure it is actually implemented. A case in point is the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2014.
This law was enacted to make sure Malta abides by its obligations to the EU arising from the Stability and Growth Pact as well as the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance. The law envisages the setting up of an autonomous fiscal council, which will be entrusted with making sure the government follows the set rules.
Similarly, it is the duty of the government to inform and educate citizens about the country’s laws and regulations and ensure their enforcement. Malta has been very good at making policies but rather poor in their implementation.
This is partly due to the gradual deterioration of our sense of discipline and respect for authority (inherited from almost two centuries of British rule).
Successive governments have been offering, for all sorts of reasons, one amnesty after the other. This has sadly generated a culture that it pays to circumvent rules. Ultimately, there is always someone to bail us out.
The government is starting to understand how important it is to reverse this trend. It was no easy decision for the Prime Minister to face the ire of thousands of hunters when he recently suspended the autumn hunting season. It is not good enough to put the blame on the ‘irrational few’ for hunters share a ‘collective’ responsibility that the agreed rules are respected.
Only then can the trust of the Maltese people and the EU authorities be won.
Respect for rule of law also provides the inspiration for the 2015 pre-Budget document entitled ‘Creating opportunities not dependencies’. Our social welfare system is the envy of richer and more advanced societies. It is the adhesive that keeps our society together. Welfare does not come cheap; over the longer term it will be sustainable only if assistance is given to those who really need it.
Our expectations keep rising but they need to be managed
This society continues to change at an impressive rate and is becoming increasingly complex. Lower birth rates, longer life spans, significant movement of people, coupled with weaker growth rates, call for regular reviews of welfare programmes. These should adequately meet the needs of the Maltese people.
Social security has to offer the right level of protection, without creating undue dependencies.
Our expectations keep rising and we want the government to provide for our needs from the cradle to the grave. These expectations need to be managed and the government should carry out an extensive public relations exercise to educate citizens about their rights and obligations.
Taxpayers yearn for fiscal discipline; they want the government to be accountable for the money it collects. Social security accounts for a little less than one third (€828 million) of total government expenditure with unemployment benefits, social assistance and allowances for unmarried single parents accounting for one fifth of this sum.
Fiscal discipline demands that abuse of social security be controlled. Abuse ranges from fraud to unjustified dependence on the welfare system. The latter tends to lead to the ‘poverty-trap’; people find it ‘comfortable’ to stay out of work as they almost get the same amount of money through social benefits. These ‘unemployed’ persons have come to shun all sorts of manual jobs considered as physically demanding and demeaning.
Even if they wish to work they often find themselves competing on the labour market with regular and irregular immigrants, who are generally prepared to work long hours under precarious conditions.
Making work pay for the unemployed requires a new way of thinking. Significant training is required, given that most of them have no, or limited, skills. Modern technology permits the Employment and Training Corporation to take a tailor-made approach, building the profile of each individual to improve his employability.
There should also be a pull factor with employers being incentivised to make use of this human resource, which is a burden on our welfare system.
It is unfortunate that on employment the Opposition continues to fire in the wrong direction, criticising the government for bloating the public sector. In reality, only one in every five new jobs in 2014 was in the public sector.
The real challenge for society is to ensure that the jobs being created are taken up by local and not foreign workers.
The 2015 pre-Budget document finds that the economic outlook for Malta remains positive (real GDP is expected to be 2.1 per cent) despite near-zero growth in the eurozone. Local consumers and investors are bullish and this feel-good factor should help to generate more jobs.
Tourism will remain a star performer, with both manufacturing and financial services being expected to recover from this year’s decline.
The government insists it will reach its fiscal targets and that, next year, its fiscal deficit will fall to a low 1.6 per cent.
National debt too is expected to maintain a downward trajectory falling to 63.9 per cent by 2017.
Maltese citizens generally want a responsible government that has the courage to take difficult decisions in full respect of the rule of law.
fms18@onvol.net