I find it incredible that there are people who are prepared to attack the Labour Party for having connections with big business and entrepreneurs. Indeed, for a future government to be successful, it has to establish an excellent working relationship with the people who are the driving force of the economy, that is, industrialists, contractors, businessmen, etc.
A healthy and positive partnership between the government and big business would pay huge dividends
Such relationships are positive and recommendable. Concretely, they will be translated into more jobs, more investment and economic progress.
The PL has always been open and transparent in all its dealings with the business community, so much so that, in February, 2010, it publicly launched its business forum chaired by entrepreneur Marlene Mizzi. She was quoted as saying: “This way, we hope everyone will be comfortable, like I am, with Labour being in government, because the policies and structures will be in place and created with the support of those directly involved” (The Times, February 3, 2010).
One has to remember that all political parties evolve over time. The PL started in the 1920s as a workers’ party that defended the rights of workers, especially manual workers. However, today’s all-inclusive PL has a long history.
As long ago as July 1933, the Labour leader at the time, Paul Boffa, publicly stressed that the party was the political force representing all types of workers as well as their employers (Il-Cotra, July 6, 1933). Boffa had quickly realised that it made no sense at all for a workers’ party to try and defend the workers’ interests while simultaneously keeping employers at arm’s length.
Coming back to today, one of the primary aims of a new Labour government will be that of generating economic prosperity. All members of the business community will be “essential partners” in this process, as was recently pointed out by Labour leader Joseph Muscat (The Times, February 5, 2013).
A new Labour government and the business community would work hand-in-hand to eliminate the excessive bureaucracy that has stifled so many business initiatives and has also hindered foreign investment.
The difference between a future Labour government and the outgoing Nationalist government will lie in the fact that the relationship between members of the government and members of the business community will be strictly professional and not based on personal relationships. The reason why some people look askance on a close partnership between the political party in government and members of the business community is because this has been abused on more than one occasion by members of the PN and the Nationalist government.
Who can forget the unedifying spectacle of having two successive PN general secretaries holidaying on the yacht of a well-known construction magnate and financial contributor to the PN? Even more serious was the unethical behaviour of a Nationalist government minister who accepted the invitation to fly on a businessman’s private jet to watch a football match abroad.
Incidents such as these and others have only served to undermine public confidence in the necessary professional relationship between the government and big business.
Public perception of this issue has led to a situation where most businessmen are seen as being all out to ingratiate themselves with whoever is in power in order to get government patronage through the allocation of public projects, favourable contracts, etc. Important members of the political party in power, on the other hand, are seen as being only interested in making hay while the sun shines, that is, enjoying all the privileges of power while it lasts.
Unfortunately, the recent Enemalta oil scandal has reinforced this negative perception of the public. This is indeed a pity because a serious government together with the partnering business community can create a lot of national wealth through their combined efforts.
One of the areas where a healthy and positive partnership between the government and big business would pay huge dividends is that of precarious work. Again, it is a scandal that under the Nationalist government led by Lawrence Gonzi this problem of precarious work was never adequately tackled.
The serious and professional relationship with the business community under a future Labour government is stressed in the PL’s 2013 electoral manifesto, which provides for government measures against those firms engaging in precarious work practices, through barring them from participating in offers for government work. Such measures would be beneficial not only to the workers themselves but also to all serious and professional employers.
To conclude, the Labour vision of a new Malta includes a partnership between the workers and their employers on one side and the Government on the other. They will all work in unity to create more national wealth.
The majority of businessmen are honest and a new Labour government will work closely with them for their own benefit and that of Malta’s economy.