If Labour leader Joseph Muscat’s call last week on the tourism authorities to exploit the revolutions in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt was crass, his spokesman’s explanation of it the following day was, if possible, even worse.
The PL said with no hint of irony that the opposition leader’s comments were “aimed at the best interest of our country and we have no apologies to make for putting our families’ interests first”.
Insensitivity apart, what the Labour leader is clearly missing is that instability in the Mediterranean could mean people think twice before travelling to the region. This aside from damaging relations and the initiatives, in which Malta has always sought to play a part, to bring countries in the region closer together.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with encouraging tourists to visit Malta. But it is short-sighted to think about reaping benefits ‘in the national interest’ while being oblivious to the bigger picture – which is where our national interest truly lies.
The problem with the term ‘national interest’ is that it has been given different interpretations and meanings by different politicians over the years.
In a globalised world, it is increasingly invoked to justify isolationist policies and is misused to score political points, instead of being applied to arguments to safeguard the nation’s domestic and international policy objectives, prosperity and security.
For example, the national interest was often raised as an argument in relation to the contentious issue of irregular immigration. On the eve of the European Parliament elections in 2009, the two main parties went into overdrive to convince the electorate they would fight tooth and nail to defend Malta from fleeing Africans – even at the expense, if the rhetoric was anything to go by, of breaching the human rights obligations which the country has honoured for many years.
The government has also employed the term to justify increased utility bills and its reluctance to reduce taxes. It has used ‘national interest’ to justify its stand on hunting in the face of legal proceedings by the EU and even said it was defending our national interest by opposing a trade ban on bluefin tuna.
Critics have, with some justification, asked whether such stances have been in the true national interest or in the interest of certain groups or businesses.
Labour, meanwhile, invoked ‘national interest’ when it called into question the government’s support to establish a permanent mechanism to safeguard the financial stability of the eurozone.
Yet what would it have said if Malta’s economy had gone the same way as that of Greece and Ireland and if, in such circumstances, the EU would have turned a blind eye to our economic woes?
We joined the EU for stability and to work in the interests of a stronger Malta, a stronger Europe. Though politicians need to ensure that real matters of national interest are high on the EU agenda, this should be done responsibly and certainly not in the reckless manner Dr Muscat seems to favour.
What happens in neighbouring Egypt and elsewhere is likely to have an impact on the way we live, as evidenced by the rising price of fuel in the past week.
Globalisation and the social media phenomenon mean most people are no longer living in a cocoon where their world view is restricted to their perceived self-interest and neighbourhood.
It is about time Labour woke up to this fact.