The ongoing political controversy about the exorbitant energy tariffs has centred very much on the price of oil, the process of its purchase, etc. This is only part of the broader picture which simply boils down to the fact that Enemalta operates in an unacceptably inefficient way and this is part, albeit a very important one, of the reason why it is incurring huge financial losses. What the general public would like to know is who, at the end of the day, is responsible for this situation. Is it a case of blatant mismanagement at Enemalta and, if so, to what extent is the Government responsible for the present situation?

The same applies to the controversy over unacceptable Mater Dei Hospital waiting-lists for certain operations. Blame has been put on specialists who monopolize access to their lists of patients awaiting operations under their supervision. The lack of enough beds at the hospital has also been mentioned. Once again, it all boils down to a question of mismanagement. How much is the Government to blame for such a situation?

The ordinary citizen expects clear answers.

STMicroelectronics

It is sad to hear about the present situation at STMicroelectronics. Whenever the jobs of workers are threatened, one cannot but feel preoccupied. I do hope, however, that such an important issue will not be turned into a political football. The Labour Opposition has, to date, acted quite responsibly in the interests of safeguarding the workers’ jobs. The Nationalist Minister Tonio Fenech seems to have made a fool of himself through a statement of his that clearly showed that he was not even aware of the real situation at STMicroelectronics. A serious defect in a country’s Finance Minister! I will not enter into the argument over whether he should resign or not but I sincerely augur that all Maltese political parties will work towards a satisfactory solution of such a troublesome issue. Where there are jobs at stake as well as the future of several Maltese families, partisan politics should take a back seat.

PL General Conference

I attended all the sessions of the Labour Party’s Annual General Conference and was impressed with the quality of some of the speeches. Joseph Muscat showed once again that not only does he have the analytical skills to pinpoint the country’s problems but he also possesses the ability to provide sensible and workable solutions for them.

Personally, I am not fond of General Conferences as I believe that they are, more often than not, a case of preaching to the converted and feeling good about ourselves as Labourites. Furthermore, the senseless ongoing clapping, unwarranted standing ovations and emotional overdrive of many of those who attend are alien to my way of doing things. Leaving a General Conference feeling how good we are will win no General Elections. Icy-cold, rational evaluations of the way the man/woman in the street sees the Labour Party is needed to win, not futile emotional overdrive.