Perhaps the strongest line in Simon Busuttil’s speech at the meeting on the Granaries marking the 52nd Independence anniversary was his stress on the need for the country to win back “independence” from corruption, abuse, injustice and impropriety.
There was hardly any need for the Nationalist Party leader to explain what he meant. His message was loud and clear: it was time for the country to have a clean government. Dr Busuttil promised that if his party were to be put back in power in the next election after its heavy defeat in 2013, he would work for the achievement of that goal.
The truth of the matter, though, is that there is hardly any political party anywhere in the democratic world that does not promise a clean government when in opposition. In the last election, the electorate trusted Joseph Muscat’s words that he would deliver on what he had so enthusiastically promised: meritocracy, accountability, transparency, clean politics and much more besides.
In no time after the election, however, one of his Cabinet ministers opened a company in a tax haven, Panama, and Dr Muscat set about knocking down his own promises one by one until, today, they have almost disappeared from the statute book.
Polls may show that Labour under Dr Muscat still enjoys a great deal of trust. However, it is clear that, in the wake of the string of scandals that has rocked Castille over the past three years, many of those who gave Dr Muscat a chance may now think twice before casting their vote.
Dr Busuttil is seeking to win back the trust the Nationalist Party enjoyed for so many years in government before hubris led to its downfall. He and is party know it is an uphill struggle but Dr Busuttil is banking on his personal honesty and on his pledge to restore back societal values that have taken a heavy battering over the past three years.
The next election will be a straight fight for the restoration of basic societal values. It will be a contest between two contrasting young political leaders, one who has let the electorate down on his own party’s major promises and another who, very much like Alfred Sant in 1996, is asking the electorate to give him a chance to prove his worth at the country’s helm.
It will be a contest between a man who was in the forefront of the drive to get Malta into the European Union – the most important political achievement since Independence in 1964 – and another that was against membership. Is this of any relevance today? It is, for it shows foresight.
It shows that Dr Busuttil was well in tune with the vision of the Nationalist Party leaders and of the majority of the people to see Malta finding its place in the European Union.
Membership has helped raise standards, though there is much that has yet to be done on this score. Dr Busuttil told an interviewer only recently that his vision now “is to see a country that is more just and strives towards excellence… let’s ditch mediocrity once and for all. Let’s do away with this mentality of ejja ħa mmorru (anything goes). More needs to be done in this respect and I am determined to do it.”
Dr Busuttil may have made far too many promises already. What will count most, what most of the people now want, is a clean government, the basis of good governance. It is his commitment towards this end that is most significant.