Since Joseph Muscat, Leader of the Opposition and of the Labour Party and of the Movement of Progressives and Moderates, discovered that come 2017 whoever is Prime Minister of Malta will also take up the rotating Presidency of the European Union, he has hardly left this bit of news out of his speeches. He has dropped the erstwhile Nationalist mantra of Is-sewwa jirbaħ żgur and instead he has chosen to mention this distant prospect, as if the thought of it is giving him nightmares.
On the face of it, there's nothing wrong with being prepared for such a herculean task expected from the smallest country in the EU and it will certainly require all the efforts that we can muster. But if preparation is Dr Muscat's worry, he only needs to look at the vision set by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi for 2015, embrace it, offer his support at least to the broad brushstrokes entailed in that vision and get his shadow ministers to get a grip on the tasks ahead which should lead to the fulfilment of such vision. Most of his shadow ministers seem to spend their time picking on next to useless controversies both in Parliament and outside, egged on by their leader's example of trying to be all things to all men. What the country needs and deserves is resolute leadership, such as the leadership that helped us deal with the worst economic recession that our nation has faced for a very long time. Not an easy task considering that at the same time we are constantly upgrading ourselves to the standards which our obligations of EU membership demand from us both in the short- and in the long-term.
Lawrence Gonzi's vision for 2015 is already bearing fruit. There are sectors of our economy which are already achieving excellent results and others are nearing excellence. The IT revolution has placed our country way ahead other developed countries. The aviation maintenance sector will soon reach heights which we never ever dreamt off just a few years ago. Our financial services are becoming the envy of many a competitor. The MCAST continues to excel and is very quick to adapt to the new demands that the changing labour market throws up. Education, health and Eco-Gozo are on their way.
Dr Muscat is making a huge mistake in not linking the 2015 vision with 2017. Roamer wrote a brilliant piece about the link between these two dates a few Sundays ago. His conclusion was that 2017 should belong to Eddie Fenech Adami and to Lawrence Gonzi. Be that as it may, it will be the electorate that will have the last word on the matter. But Dr Muscat has allowed himself to get entangled in a double-bind situation. If he mentions 2015, he will be highlighting Lawrence Gonzi's successes (and there are many more to come), and he will disappoint his ardent supporters. And by mentioning 2017 and Malta's Presidency of the EU, he will remind anyone with any grey matter that here is the same politician who never lifted a finger to make 2004 and Malta's membership of the EU a reality, and who now wants the accolade to be given to him on a plate, having spent years buttressing the doom and gloom predictions by Alfred Sant and adding some of his own on the way. Just one example: membership of the EU will be the milliennium cross that Malta will have to bear. How ironic, the poacher has to turn into a gamekeeper. The charlatan politician who took five years to acknowledge the people's vote in favour of EU membership, will be the same politician who come the next election will be begging us for our vote to make him Prime Minister and a future President of the EU.
I trust that the Maltese electorate will be wise enough come 2013 to show the same sense of justice as it has shown both in 2003 and 2008. The frequent mention of 2017 by Dr Muscat will become one of the many hostages to fortune that he is collecting in abundance.