Unfortunately, the Nationalist Party has a long history of attempts at undermining the legitimately elected government of the day. Back in 1927-32, it did its utmost to bring down the ‘Compact Government’ led by Constitutional Party leader Gerald Strickland, who was supported by the Labour Party.
It succeeded, thus depriving Malta of the leadership of a creative and far-sighted politician whose ideas then had to wait for several decades to come to fruition.
Much nearer to our time, in 1998, the PN exploited the disagreement between Dom Mintoff and Alfred Sant, resulting in the latter’s calling of an early general election which led to a Labour defeat and several years of government by the PN.
Today, we again have a situation where the PN is doing its utmost to derail everything the Labour government does.
Let me make some points clear before I am accused of writing a partisan article. First of all, I recognise the right, indeed the duty, of the Nationalist Opposition to constructively criticise the government on any issue of public importance.
Likewise, I also believe in absolute freedom of expression, especially that of the independent press. Any attempts to silence government critics, by any means, would be strictly out of order in a democracy. I also condemn the political tribalism that sometimes is the plague of Maltese politics, the ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality of so many people.
I will also be the first to admit that mistakes have been committed by Labour governments, both those of the past and the present one. Indeed, I believe that Labour still suffers from a “siege mentality syndrome” where certain exponents of the party overreact to criticism and retaliate by making crude and very rough statements about people voicing their criticism.
This is something negative that needs to be addressed in the very interests of the Labour Party itself.
Having said all this, however, I must also express my utter disappointment at the way the PN behaves when in Opposition. Starting with the Labour government’s performance, I think that everybody agrees that its track record is impeccable.
We have had three years of success: the economy is strong and growing; unemployment is at a record low; tourism is booming; our educational system is being overhauled to reflect the realities of an ever-changing world; our health services are equal to the best in Europe; in the field of justice we have seen important laws being introduced; social measures to aid the most vulnerable are regularly implemented; etc.
Today, we again have a situation where the PN is doing its utmost to derail everything the Labour government does
Despite all this, however, the PN media persists in painting a picture of depression and negativity. Listening to the Nationalists, one would be excused for thinking that we live in a Third World country. This is not constructive criticism, this is destructive criticism.
Furthermore, one really disappointing aspect of the PN’s political strategy has been that of using European Union membership to further its partisan political agenda. On several occasions, when it failed to get its own way on various issues in Malta, it involved the EU in the controversy and tried to use it as a lever to get the Maltese government to do as it demanded.
This is condemnable because it means that the Nationalists want to go on running the country even when they have been kicked out of office in the most democratic way possible, through the people’s vote at a general election.
It is also obvious that the present PN leader, Simon Busuttil, has chosen the confrontational path in his relations with the government. The language he uses, for instance, is highly inappropriate for a politician who aspires to one day becoming prime minister of Malta.
He is the prime example of somebody whose main aim is simply to undermine the government. To be fair, there were some exceptions but these have been few. One of them was when the PN issued its proposals for good governance. That is the type of Opposition the country is yearning for.
The PN has done a lot of good for the country throughout its history. Still, it is also a fact that, when in Opposition, it has always had the defect of trying to undermine the government of the day.
The performance of the present Labour government can only be praised. However, it has set itself high standards of accountability, which it has sometimes failed to meet. This is where, perhaps, PN criticism is justified.
All this, however, does not excuse the obstructionist stance taken by the Opposition leader and the people who run the PN. Such obstructionism only serves the purpose of undermining the legitimately elected Labour government and goes against the national interest.
Malta needs a constructive Opposition, a credible alternative to the present government as Labour will not remain in power forever. In this regard, Busuttil and the political party he leads have failed the test very badly indeed.
Desmond Zammit Marmarà is a Balzan Labour councillor.