To a certain extent, governance is a big balancing act. Society, at least the liberal-democratic society we cherish so much, brings together various sectors with diverse aspirations and needs, with the aspirations of some conflicting with those of others.
The State must not only ensure that there exist the right elements to nurture these aspirations but also that an achievement in one sector would not hinder progress in another.
This has never been an easy task and, as in any exercise of balance, everyone has to sacrifice a bit for the best benefit of society as a whole. This is the key to good governance - a principle so fundamental that it is taught to us from the very early stages of our education. However, it is a principle that is too easily put aside to favour the ‘privileged few’.
When this occurs, the balance of good governance is lost. The ‘sacrifice’ of some becomes the source of unjust gain for others. Unfortunately in this present day and age, Malta seems to have lost the element of good governance.
We are living in a reality where everything seems to be directed towards the benefit of few individuals or organisations. The Żonqor Point saga and all the other developments being permitted outside the development zones illustrate very clearly this disruption in balance.
By what reasoning can the investment of a private individual be so important as to deserve being awarded vast portions of land for development, inhibiting its enjoyment not only to the present generation but stealing it completely from the assets to be passed on to future generations?
Sustainability is the key to good management. The development of Żonqor Point has shown that for this administration, immediate advantages (albeit hidden from the public) are more important than the environment and our heritage.
Investment is not just the injection of funds into the economy. It is primarily the process of creating opportunities to as large a number of individuals as possible
But of all obscure matters, nothing surpasses the scandal revealed by the Panama Papers. How can society ever be sure that its representatives have its interest at heart when it is revealed that very influential members of the government possessed complicated financial set-ups which are intended to hide their wealth from the authorities?
Such practices undermine the very concept of taxation, which is intended to distribute the wealth of society more fairly.
It is no wonder that poverty continues to increase uninhibited.
When the focus of the administration is solely to attract the wealthy few, without a clear plan for the creation of investment with long-term results and the distribution of the wealth generated to all the strata of society, the gap between the social classes continues to increase.
Investment is not just the injection of funds into the economy. It is primarily the process of creating opportunities to as large a number of individuals as possible, enabling them to progress. Moreover, investment has to address various sectors of the economy. The government has to focus on the creation of links between the sectors of the economy so that a positive effect in one sector would benefit other sectors as well.
If this is not done, we risk creating an economy that exploits people.
A few days ago we celebrated the 52nd anniversary of our Independence. Let us make sure that we do not create another form of oppression. Let us conserve the dignity of every person in our society. When a worker is no longer able to sustain his family, despite his hard work, that person is no longer ‘independent’, especially when the economy should be passing through a positive phase.
The Nationalist Party’s theme for this year’s Independence Day celebrations couldn’t have been more proper: we succeed together. It symbolises the vision that we are to succeed together as one nation and as one family.
Politics needs to be centred around the human person not on statistics alone, because when the economy is not put to the service of society, it loses its effectiveness. Moreover, when one invests directly and systematically in the human person, results are bound to follow.
Malta’s success as a State can be directly attributed to the potential of our human resource. But this investment cannot be made before the re-establishment of balance in the mode of operation of the State.
I firmly believe that the Nationalist Party under the leadership of Simon Busuttil has the willpower and aptitude to re-establish this balance in our society. After all, this has been the driving force behind the insistence of George Borg Olivier that Malta can be an independent state: the idea that we can succeed as one nation where no one is left behind.
Dorian Sciberras is deputy mayor of Iklin and a Nationalist Party general elections candidate on the eighth district.