One dreary aspect of writing a column is the necessity to wade through mounds of newsprint much of which is either flimsy in content and desolate in style, or, horrendously, a combination of both, or pseudo-intellectual posing as intellectual. It is said that readers have their minds formed by this; I hope not.
It is now par for the course to suggest, as one columnist did last week, that the government is unravelling visibly, which come to think of it, is quite a yarn, and Labour is on the move. Yes, but with so much baggage long past its sell by date surrounding the leadership, in which direction is Labour moving? Towards the left even as the claim is made that its objective is to attract the right and take over the centre?
What, quite, in today's European political lexicon is a 'progressive movement'? How does a moderate or, for that matter, a liberal label explain the illiberal removal of a general secretary voted in by the party's delegates and voted out by diktat? Nor must we forget that the terms 'progressive' and 'liberals' meant opposite things when communism once bestrode the world like a colossus - with, it turned out, feet of clay. How does a moderate cohabit with either one or t'other?
But back to that unravelling bit; some point to Philip Mifsud, a possible contender for John Dalli's seat, saying this, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Franco Debono that, never mind Robert Musumeci. And don't forget, there's Dalli shifted out of harm's way to Brussels where every indication is that he will do a fine job as Commissioner (which says as much for him as it does for Lawrence Gonzi's judgment in selecting him for the job).
And now there's Louis Galea, erstwhile Speaker and as model a one as you could wish, also shunted off to the European Court of Auditors, a punishment, some of the more hare-brained decided, for allowing a debate on a motion over the Freeport extension when the debate took place after he had agreed to re-sprout in Brussels. Yes, but another parliamentary jewel lost to Parliament, someone cried.
What is the world coming to? Wrack and ruin, quite clearly, and this, it has been remarked, because that Gonzi is all about himself, about his survival - I would tag on three exclamation marks there, but the editor is not keen on verticals hovering over a point. The long and short of it is that the Prime Minister now leads a team that has far fewer of yesterday's men than today's Labour, whose leader seemed to be much excited last week by his idea to create a new identity tag for the party.
And, horror of horrors, the Prime Minister announced that he would be having talks with Renzo Piano sometime soon and a spokesman at the Office of the Prime Minister indicated it were best at that stage not to detail out the points that would be discussed. A leader in The Times expressed shock and awe. "How dare anybody, let alone a spokesman for the Prime Minister, treat the people with such disdain?" And as if 'the people' were not enough, up cropped that much-loved word, 'arrogance'.
Anybody would think Gonzi and Piano were plotting to re-design the entire Valletta entrance-theatre-cum-opera-par-liament site behind the backs of the citizens of the republic and exit the country with a few million euros. What can they possibly discuss if not that site and any difficulties troubling Gonzi that, wearing his Mepa cap, he wishes to have clarified, or, for that matter, troubling Piano? And if some private talking is necessary, what on earth is wrong with that?
Statesmen during discussions on nuclear disarmament in Ronald Reagan's time were known to go off on their own - for a walk in the woods - to see if their personal chemistry could unravel sticking points their negotiators were finding it difficult to unglue. Gonzi and Piano are taking 'a walk in the woods'.
But the Prime Minister has become a red rag for some over-excitable journalists and Joseph Muscat, never mind an I hate Gonzi and the PN site (now re-christened) to which some senior members of Muscat's party contribute. The party leader was telling delegates last week that they should not be afraid of admitting the other side had done something well, when it did; and Before Gonzi (BG-AG?), he conceded, Nationalist administrations had achieved a few good things, but with Gonzi there this was not the case.
It is easy to see which way Muscat will be going as election day approaches in a couple of years' time. An anti-Gonzi binge may boomerang badly once we are out of recession and the cost of restructuring is transformed into an asset.
Steady nerves
Without for a micro-moment suggesting that all is roses in Malta, I find fault with declarations often made that the island is, economically, a vale of tears; and disagree with that unravelling business for a number of reasons. Except they place their criticism in the context of the world we live in, those who are inclined for whatever reason to see more motes than this government has eyes run the risk of overkill.
With Greece in the east exhibiting signs of implosion, averted for the time being by austerity measures recently taken by its government; with Portugal in the west in a fix and its neighbour Spain being described as being a more dangerous trouble spot than Greece (help!); with Italy floundering in its deficit and debt ratio and other countries battling to keep their financial heads above water, we have reason to be moderately pleased with our economic performance.
Latest witness for the defence is the recent credit report on Malta drawn up by Moody's Investor Service, which gave Malta an A1 rating. What it had to say was encouraging, for example, Malta's "substantial progress towards real convergence with the rest of the eurozone" and the fact that "market liberalisation and European membership (were) facilitating new export-oriented activities". But, it added, we need to build on and secure our success in attracting investment in financial services, pharmaceuticals, even remote gaming. More to the point, we have to look to our competitiveness.
The report notes that our banking system remained unscathed by the melt-down that had affected the systems of many other countries, but, it warned, we should beware its high exposure to the real estate sector.
Still, steady nerves will be needed in 2010. For one thing, the recession is not over by billions of euros if Greece is to be bailed out - and Portugal and Spain? For another, there is talk of a public debt/deficit crisis in the United States that may spiral out of control. For yet another, the government should be wary of its spend profile.
This wariness should translate into hawk-eyed supervision of every spend authorised in the budget. 'Thou shalt not overspend' should be written over the door of every ministry; any project that threatens to run over budget should be shown a red flag before possibility turns into probability. The finance minister's inspectorate should be poring over departmental monthly returns with x-ray eyes to detect signs of potential over-runs and to stamp on them. Tonio Fenech's thought at the end of each day as he climbs into bed must be what his first thought at the start of each day should be: they overspend over their dead bodies - and mine.
Poverty and social exclusion
The year dedicated by the EU commission to the Battle against Poverty and Social Exclusion was launched in Malta last Wednesday at the National Museum of Archaeology. It is bound to fail. The battle is too self-centred; it is being fought, as the President remarked, on the far too narrow confines of the EU landmass and takes no account of a far more acute level of poverty in undeveloped countries.
A war that ignores a situation where scores of millions of non-Europeans live well below the poverty line will fail. Tens of thousands are leaving their impoverished country in search of a European El Dorado, adding to the EU's problem of dealing with 80 million of their people 'in risk of poverty'.
This in a world where, as economist Jeffrey Sachs, cited by the President, observed, "Ours is the first generation in the history of the world with the ability to eradicate extreme poverty. We have the means, the resources and the know-how. All we lack is the will."
Our contribution to the 80 million, based on a local 2007 survey that fixed a poverty line at €5,477 (Lm6 plus per day), is 57,444. One wonders if this was worked out on income tax returns alone and whether the sum is a household income that is less than €5,477? Either way, it presents a problem that needs to be addressed, as George Abela pointed out, as a matter of social justice - by the state, by society, by voluntary organisations and us.