Brussels would not deal with a prime minister who went against a clear expression in favour of EU membership by the Maltese, according to Foreign Minister Joe Borg.
In an interview with The Times, Dr Borg said yesterday he was convinced that if Labour leader Alfred Sant were elected to power, the EU would immediately start questioning his democratic credentials.
He said the international community was aware that Dr Sant had launched an attack against all forms of accepted democratic principles on two counts: first and foremost by not accepting a clear result in favour of Malta joining the EU and secondly, by taking measures such as claiming victory and calling people to manifest support when he was aware he had lost.
"In my view, Dr Sant's behaviour is diametrically opposed to what one would expect in a democracy. The international community, including Brussels, is aware of what he has tried to do."
Dr Borg stressed that European countries that held Maltese democratic principles to heart were viewing Dr Sant's reactions to last Saturday's referendum as anti-democratic and would find it very difficult to accept such behaviour or even start discussing or meeting with a such a person.
"I am quite certain that Dr Sant has lost all credibility with the European countries. If he were to win the election and were to decide to abandon the membership process, if he went and asked Brussels to start talks with the EU on the 'partnership' issue, Brussels would tell him to stick to the outdated association agreement. Malta would be stuck and all the other countries would attract all the investment.
"If Dr Sant were to win the election, Brussels would tell him there is nothing to negotiate with him. And even if there were anything to negotiate, I am sure Brussels would find it very difficult to enter into negotiations with a person who has spared no effort to insult all those within the European Union with whom he has had dealings, including the very people he needs to negotiate with.
"They would find it difficult to accept to deal with a prime minister who feels comfortable going against the expression of the clear majority of the Maltese. I am sure that Brussels itself would question his democratic credentials.
"Electing Dr Sant as prime minister would mean jeopardising our relations not only with the EU but with the international community in general, because in this day and age no democratic country is willing to deal with a leader whose democratic credentials and credibility have been severely compromised.
"With the ploys he has exercised both in the run-up to the referendum and after the result was announced, Dr Sant has contributed significantly to a further loss of credibility on his part and that will make it very difficult for any country to have anything to do with him or establish any form of relations.
"Malta will suffer significantly on the international front if Dr Sant is prime minister. There is no doubt about that. It will be a recipe for disaster. The international community - not just the EU - will isolate him. The only problem is that this will mean the whole country will be suffer greatly, both politically and economically."
Dr Borg said it was clear that the minute Dr Sant realised he had lost the referendum he took action in order to ensure his political survival and to maintain his position.
He said Dr Sant did so in two ways: by personally going to the Ta' Qali counting hall in order to manifest a show of force, risking trouble and by calling for a manifestation of support of what he interpreted as success for the "partnership" option.
"He went as far as urging the people to go out in the street to celebrate when he knew very well that those who were in favour of membership were out genuinely celebrating as they had every right to do. He ran the risk of provoking clashes which could have had very serious consequences.
"But the Maltese are mature and those in favour of Europe did not react to provocation; and those who were celebrating - tongue in cheek - the "partnership"'s phantom victory were not keen to cause problems because everyone was aware that Malta had, in fact, said yes to EU membership."
He said it was worth noticing that Dr Sant himself seemed to be abandoning the "partnership" slogan after he realised that the majority of the Maltese electorate had turned down his proposal and that there was a strong voice in favour of EU membership.
Dr Borg described the overwhelming result obtained in last week's referendum as unique: "Almost 54 per cent of the valid votes cast are in favour of membership. This is an excellent result. In a country like Malta, obtaining a majority of over 19,000 votes is in itself a historic and unique victory. The fact that in the referendum the turnout was almost the same as that of a general election is also very unusual both for Malta and internationally.
"That shows that the people were determined to vote either way. The number of people who did not vote was very limited, the number of abstentions was negligible and the number of those who invalidated their vote was very low. One has to stress that the figure of those who did not vote included a significant number of people who have died since the electoral register was issued last October, a number of people who are unavoidably abroad, and could not make it, a number of people who were hospitalised and a number of persons who are just not interested in voting."
He admitted he was expecting a lower turnout.
"The fact that the turnout was so high was a pleasant surprise. In view of the high turnout the result is remarkably significant. Had the turnout been significantly lower then I would have expected a higher percentage of yes votes. I would say the result of the referendum is unique."
He said Brussels was considering the result as a foregone conclusion in favour of EU membership: "It is evident that for the Europeans, the issue in Malta is settled and they recognise that the Maltese have chosen to join the EU. Now, they are waiting for the new government to sign the Accession Treaty on April 16 and then the ratification process will commence."
Asked for his assessment of whether people voted according to party lines, Dr Borg said: "The bulk of the votes were according to party lines and that is to be expected in the Maltese political scenario.
"Having said that, there was a significant number of people who are Labour Party sympathisers who voted in favour of Malta's EU membership and there was a limited number of PN sympathisers who either abstained or voted against EU membership for reasons related to the Labour's fear campaign.
"One particular feature of the referendum campaign was a very tough campaign by the Labour Party to instil fear in the minds of the electorate.
"I was disgusted that the Labour Party had no hesitation in embarking on a fear campaign built on half-truths, untruths and misinformation aimed at deceiving the public. I could mention for example the issue related to the 48-hour overtime regulation and Dr Sant's hit-list of factories he said will be closing down because of membership, though he ignored the fact that the companies themselves were coming out in public contradicting what he was saying.
"I am sure this deceitful campaign did affect a number of people who might have felt that their job or way or life might have been threatened. I am certain that in the coming weeks people will continue to realise that this was an orchestrated ploy aimed at instilling fear in people and more people will continue to see through the fears and fabrications circulated by the Labour Party's unscrupulous 'win at all costs' tactics.
"There was a psychological warfare in the campaign which I have never experienced before. I am used to intense campaigns but the negative intensity of the psychological element of the Labour campaign was new, and it did have an effect on a number of voters. However, a strong absolute majority voted in favour of membership because they saw through the fabrications of the Labour Party."