If I had to describe the Opposition’s pre-budget document in a word, I would use the term self-defeating. This is not to be confused with self-defeatist, which usually refers to those who have a low self-esteem, or those who accept defeat without a struggle. On the contrary.
Simon Busuttil’s foreword to the document sounded like a cocksure cheerleader whose team had just scored. While reading it I could almost hear a shrill “Go Blues!”, and expected to be hit over the head with a pompom.
No, the document is self-defeating, because it presents one argument after another, only to be contradicted by the facts it then presents, and which should have sustained the arguments, had they been valid in the first place.
The Opposition made the unfortunate choice of using tables copied from NSO documents (they probably set their Whip on this one), with the intention of convincing us that their arguments made sense. This, however, only served to convince us otherwise.
The Opposition is demanding the immediate reduction of fuel costs, apparently in order to alleviate the traffic problem. This one has to be the epitome of self-defeating arguments
For instance, on employment the Opposition is still adamant that the low unemployment levels are due to an increase in public sector employment.
To demonstrate this, it published a table showing the number of occupied persons in various sectors, including the public sector. It emphasised that the private sectors shown did not represent the whole spectrum of the private sector, but only the main sectors.
This table showed that the private sector jobs in manufacturing, transportation, retail, financial services and accommodation all increased their number of employees between 2013 and 2015, with the only exception being the construction sector.
The public sector increase was shown to be consistent with the increase in the private sector.
Moreover, this year the public sector employees only amounted to half the private sector employees shown in the table, which only represent a cross-section of the private sector.
The above-mentioned table was enough to dispel the PN’s myth on public sector employment, however the Opposition felt the need to dismantle its argument even further by immediately proceeding to enlighten us on the increase in the number of foreign workers in Malta, quoting a 21,000 figure for 2014.
It also mentioned the sectors most commonly employing these foreign workers; all of which form part of the private sector, with an exception for the health sector. And yet another self-defeating argument was made on the amount of persons at risk of poverty. It is indeed refreshing to listen to the Nationalists finally recognising the reality of poverty, as up until the run up to the last general election, they were still repeating the mantra of poverty as a perception. And because they just miraculously recovered their sight, they now want us to believe that poverty increased under a Labour administration.
“The percentage of people living in the risk of poverty increased from 15% in 2009 to 24% in 2013 and 2014,” the Opposition said, giving the impression that poverty has soared in the past two years.
However, just a cursory look at the NSO table they slotted in not only discredits this false propaganda, but actually shows that persons at risk of poverty did not increase from 2013 to 2014, with the last increase occurring in 2012. In fact, 2014 was the first year in which the number of persons at risk of poverty did not increase when compared to the preceding year, after three consecutive years of poverty-risk increases from 2010 till 2013.
Other arguments made in this document are similarly self-defeating. The one I personally enjoyed most was the proposal to supposedly alleviate traffic.
The Opposition is demanding the immediate reduction of fuel costs, apparently in order to alleviate the traffic problem. This one has to be the epitome of self-defeating arguments. Alan Turing would have been proud.
Dr Etienne Grech is a Labour MP.