Vince Farrugia is widely blamed for helping unseat the Nationalist Party from government in 1996. Herman Grech asks the Malta Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU director general whether he feels comfortable contesting the upcoming MEP elections on the PN ticket.
What can Vince Farrugia provide that the other candidates cannot?
Experience at the negotiation level. I have a vast repertoire of issues spanning a lifetime. It's very important for an MEP to have vast experience.
Do you think you're one of the stronger candidates?
From the contacts I've had with people it appears so, but I'd rather be more humble and understand that in politics it's what people do in the ballot box which matters.
Your candidature took many by surprise. Who first approached you to contest on behalf of the PN?
(PN general secretary) Paul Borg Olivier approached a number of people I know with the idea. At the GRTU we had already discussed that perhaps my next step would be to contest the MEP elections. I said I would consider it but I wanted to know whether the Prime Minister was behind me. When I met him, I had to consider whether to contest as an independent or with the PN.
Coming from a Labour background, do you feel comfortable contesting this election on behalf of the Nationalist Party? And do you think that all factions of the PN are comfortable with you?
I have not met a single Nationalist voter who said he wouldn't vote for me or that they wouldn't want me in the party. There was a comment by someone in the media but he told me it was a misquote...
... of course, they would be saying it behind your back.
To my face at least they never said it. I've been met and welcomed with great enthusiasm, wherever I've been. I'm confident that the PN is the best party at the moment. A lot of people in the Labour Party, including the leader himself, do not come forward as convincing where Europe is concerned. The PL is saying we are in Europe because people have voted for it, but it's not a vocation. Labour needs to cleanse itself of those who worked towards the 'partnership' option. That day hasn't come and it's going to take a long time. People like me cannot embrace the Labour Party until then - even if in my younger days I felt I could belong to it. Since 1981 I have not belonged to the PL in any way.
Joseph Muscat is now clearly trying to steer his party in the EU's direction. If the PL had invited you to contest first on their ticket would you have considered it?
I would have said no.
Many still blame you for contributing to the Nationalists' defeat in 1996. Is it justified?
Well, there is an element of truth. In 1996, the PN came up with a programme which included the introduction of VAT. One of the arguments at the time was that we would have been included in the next group of EU accession. All of us who knew how the EU worked, together with the required screening programmes, knew that was a big fat joke. The Maltese were not convinced that the EU was the only option.
The Labour Party, led by Alfred Sant, was always anti Europe. The alternative to EU membership (eventually transpired to be) a non option - Sant proved it within 22 months.
So you're saying that you yourself weren't convinced that EU membership was the best option?
As way back as 1968, as someone who even took part in discussions on the implementation of the EU association agreement, I knew that the next step was membership. In 1996 the majority believed the EU wasn't the best option. I was one of those who believed the EU was the best option but I had my doubts as to whether we could carry the GRTU's rank and file who were convinced that first we had to look at the alternative. Furthermore, they also perceived the Labour Party as being protectionist (which suited them). As a professional director general of the GRTU, I could not act against the wishes of our members. Once that issue was ironed out, for the commercial community there was no alternative to the EU.
Do you acknowledge that it was a mistake to try out this alternative to the EU?
Dr Sant proved it was a mistake.
Do you have any regrets over the decision you took at the time?
No, I don't. On the contrary - the fact that the country went through that opportunity was a consolidation of the vote in favour of the EU. I think this is where the Labour Party missed the boat. In 1998, they should have helped us bargain a better deal with Europe but since then the PL has gone into the wilderness.
But nowadays some of the main Labour exponents acknowledge that objecting to EU membership was one of the biggest mistakes.
Certain people still genuinely fear the EU. We've succeeded to convince the rank and file of the GRTU that the positives outweigh the negatives by far.
Last week, the Labour Party media published a photo of you addressing a discussion of the Campaign for National Independence, a group staunchly objecting to EU membership. What tune were you sounding at the time?
That was in 1993 - people were discussing the EU in a different context. I was expressing my views in different forums. I sounded more sceptical because I was operating within a sceptical framework, but being sceptical and anti-EU are different. At the time I wanted people to be with me and not against. And I think I proved it successfully when I went to the EU referendum with the majority of SMEs behind me.
You also steered the anti-VAT campaign, which led to the PN's defeat in 1996. Do you now think it was the right decision for the government to introduce VAT then?
Strangely enough, the person who wrote a thick paper as a consultant to GRTU, saying that VAT should be introduced at 15 per cent, was called Vince Farrugia. When I joined the GRTU, I realised that the majority of businessmen, most of whom were staunch Nationalists, were dead against it. I had to go back to the government and suggest they don't adopt the paper. The government didn't want to change it because of Brussels. All of us made a mistake then, considering the financial consequences.
So are you saying it's unjustified for the hardcore Nationalists to blame you of working against their party in the 1990s?
If you look at it from a politically narrow point of view, of a party which wants to be in power forever, it is justified. If you look at it (from the point of view) that a political party can be in power one day and out the next; that it's good to look at the world from the opposition, even if you're a Nationalist, you will say it was a blessing in disguise. I don't say I planned that blessing in disguise. The Nationalists' image of me is not 1996, as some people like to say. Their image of me is the pre-EU referendum period. Look at the speeches of Eddie Fenech Adami - he used to mention me by name. I'm not saying I was instrumental for the 'yes' vote to win, but I was one of the more important influences. The people had to stand up and be counted not in 1996, but in the pre-referendum period.
You've just said that it's good for a party to spend some time in opposition. Some people say the PN is well past its sell-by date. How will you be arguing come the next election when the Nationalists would have been in power for 15 consecutive years?
I like the way the PN is an all- embracing political force. I feel at home. I am making an effort to persuade others traditionally aligned with Labour to join the PN, which is not the PN of yesterday. This is what Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama did. This is what Dr Muscat is trying to do but will continue to fail. When the British Labour Party was against adhesion they picked all those who campaigned against the EU and eliminated them. In Malta it hasn't happened. Dr Muscat has to admit he made a mistake on the EU.
Some people would throw back the same question at you and say you should apologise for some of the comments you made.
Quote me and I will reply.
In November 2003, when the government upped the VAT rate to 18 per cent you told The Times: "The government has managed its finances badly and should not resort to the consumer to make up for its mistakes." And later: "The government was becoming increasingly heavy-handed with those who were in line with the system, but lenient with others" Do you still believe that was the case?
That was the case then. At that time it was hardly talking to the GRTU or Vince Farrugia. Since then, I've become a (board) member of Malta Enterprise, among others. I'm not saying the government is better today but the level of consultation which came about because of those public outbursts by people like me have reaped results. I will continue my public outbursts if I feel I can bring about change.
So how would you react to some of the terms that have described you - "unpredictable", "opportunistic", even a "mercenary"?
They don't hurt me because when you're a public figure you will be perceived differently by different people. I'm offering my services to the country. When Dr Gonzi asked me to contest he strongly believed that my kind of experience would serve the country well in a European Parliament. It's not because I'm an opportunist. I want to serve for the next five years. I can be a good voice in a European People's Party whose values I strongly endorse.
A controversy arose over whether Dr Muscat asked you to contest on behalf of his party. You said it was the case. He said it wasn't. Who's lying?
I don't lie and people know I don't lie. I met Dr Muscat four times. He has an excellent way of talking to people. On all four occasions, he was probing whether I wanted to bite. If I said yes, I would have gone through the formality. I never said yes, but the invitations were clear - they were overheard by others. I had people with me. I keep saying it's the truth. Every Labour Party supporter who meets me keeps asking me why I didn't join them and if Joseph asked me to do so. I am doing him a favour saying that he did.
Are you saying that Dr Muscat is lying?
Dr Muscat is not telling the truth - and he knows it.
And you say he approached you four times?
I met him on four occasions and on each he tempted me to accept to join the PL as an MEP. It was clear. He knows it - and (his wife) Michelle knows it and those who were with him know it. And he also knows that Vince Farrugia does not lie.
Why would he be saying otherwise?
Ask him.
It seems to have become trendy for the PN's MEP candidates to shoot down government decisions at will? Isn't consistency with your party's beliefs important in politics nowadays?
The campaign I'm steering is the true Vince Farrugia - I criticise harshly and I offer solutions. This is what we're proposing with the electricity rates, the new public transport system, rent reform... there is a long history. This is the GRTU I have built... My appeal to the PN's formidable team of candidates is to be consistent - we can criticise, we can't be morons and just accept whatever someone else dictates, but we have to be careful. We are in a political battle and are surrounded by banana skins.
Don't you feel you have a conflict of interest in your current role as GRTU director general? You're not speaking on its behalf but you say you're involved in technical issues. Don't you have an unfair advantage over the other candidates?
I haven't looked at this case as being unfair or fair towards the other candidates. I've declared that one of my strengths is my representation of the 65,000 people who work within the SME sector. I'm a strong voice where it comes to economic development in general. The GRTU has a vast list of issues where the prime mover is Vince Farrugia. It would be a great disservice to our members if I had to abandon those issues (and hand them over to) somebody who is not as well equipped as I am. I am reducing my role in the sense that new initiatives are now being assumed by others but I will remain responsible for those initiatives which I've steered. That's what our members and council want. I don't see the conflict - I can create the conflict if I abuse my role. I run my campaign from a Sliema office. I welcome all the support of GRTU members but I am not pushing anybody in any way. We received just two e-mails from members who complained.
But it is also an issue of ethics. Another candidate, Edward Demicoli, took six months unpaid leave from his EU-related office to campaign. A few months' break wouldn't really have harmed the GRTU would it?
It depends. I have people who have very important issues on their hands. I am a professional. How would you feel if your lawyer had to abandon you during a court case? The same thing applies if it was your favourite doctor.
But this is bound to be interpreted as being opportunistic, that you're capitalising on the fact that you're popular among your members.
It's also unethical for a professional to abandon his clients.
What will you do if you're not elected? Do you just go back to the GRTU and pretend nothing happened?
If the GRTU wants me back I hope I will be strong enough to do so. The choice is theirs. I will decide what's best for the organisation.
Why haven't you ever contested a general election?
I don't think I can take the kind of pressure MPs take on a day-to-day basis. I have it in me though to be a good voice for Malta, to be one of five or six MEPs to talk in such a large assembly.
You're 64 years old. You're contesting against some candidates who are still in their 20s. Will age work against you?
Well, there are three of us in the same age bracket - myself, Frank Portelli and Edward Scicluna - and all of us are enthusiastic. It would be bad to look at age as a negative factor. And I believe I've got the energy.
Are you optimistic that you'll get elected?
I'm an optimistic man by nature. I'm fighting for it.
Watch excerpts of this interview on www.timesofmalta.com.