I ceased to be the director general and chairman of The Today Public Policy Institute (TPPI) on March 3, some three months before the general election.
My closing words to the board and fellows of the institute were: “I want to end with a word about us as individuals of this think tank. For me, it has been a great privilege over the last 10 years to work with people of integrity, who had Malta’s best interests at heart. And, most importantly, who left their politics at the front door when they came to consider any one of the many issues that the think tank has wrestled with.”
I continued: “The absolute bottom line is that this think tank examines Maltese public policy issues in a constructive, open-minded, independent, impartial, non-partisan and non-party political way. The moment it stops doing so its value is diminished”.
Of course, what I said was not original. It simply underlined the Charter of Values which TPPI had adopted from its inception 10 years ago. Specifically, “to address public policy issues in a constructive, open-minded and tolerant manner”; “to maintain an independent, impartial, non-partisan and non-party political stance in advising on public policy issues”; and “to be objective, balanced and free from prejudice in advising on public policy issues”.
These values accurately reflect the statute of the think tank which states baldly: “It is not affiliated to any political party or movement.” It would sound the death knell of the institute as an independent and objective think tank if it ever forgot this.
Although I had long removed myself from TPPI (you might say I had “disassociated” myself three months earlier), in the course of the recent election campaign I was delighted to see a first-class document issued by the institute addressed to all the political parties. It made a heart-felt plea to politicians to adopt a cross-party approach to a range of public policy issues which, if tackled in a bipartisan manner, would not only benefit policy formulation and delivery, but also encourage national unity and cooperation.
I am returning to this subject today because in the hurly-burly of the election campaign the valid proposals that TPPI made were effectively drowned out by the tribal hysteria and the noise.
The document, which is entitled ‘National Strategic Policy Challenges – A Need for Cross-Party Collaboration’ (and which can be found on the TPPI website www.tppi.org.mt), is a plea for parties to adopt common policy decisions on issues which should unite the country, not divide it. It is a valiant attempt to identify national policy issues of long standing which the institute views as candidates for cross-party resolution.
TPPI is of the view that short of an undertaking of cross-party collaboration by all parties, intractable policy issues – such as constitutional and governance issues, healthcare and transportation – will continue to plague the country with consequent adverse social and economic repercussions.
As examples of the benefits of cross-party cooperation, the document also highlights areas where previous bipartisan collaboration in the financial services and ICT sectors took shape and flourished over time. These sectors now constitute two of the major pillars of our economy, with ICT being the enabler for potentially many more.
If Malta is to progress, it must find a way out of the internecine morass of party political polarisation which is holding it back and seek national consensus-building
There has also been good progress achieved in complex policy areas such as pensions and rent regulation, although there remains scope for further refinement and better follow through on implementation in these fields. TPPI sees these as good models for the way in which complex and controversial policy issues should be tackled in future.
The list of candidate policy issues for cross-party resolution identified in this document is by no means exhaustive, but it makes a good start. The only way for these important issues to be addressed in a manner that secures long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability is for these to be taken out of the political arena and, hence, to be “depoliticised”.
Specifically, the institute recommends a serious and urgent cross-party approach to address the shortcomings of the Constitution and governance deficiencies, an issue which the government, fresh from its new mandate following its crushing general election victory, has already now taken up.
TPPI also urges that healthcare financing and healthcare entitlement should be removed from the political discourse and a cross-party approach adopted to ensure their sustainability over the long term. Long-term care should be similarly approached to ensure its sustainability by adopting a balanced institutional and community integration approach.
More quaintly, TPPI recommends a bipartisan approach be pursued in order to achieve the introduction of intelligent saving systems that serve to encourage discovery of solutions by individuals for themselves (encouraging so-called “behavioural heuristics”) so that future pensioners can complement their social security retirement pensions with private savings.
Addressing some of the major challenges confronting the quality of life of Malta, it urges the implementation of a long-term cross-party transport strategy with a view to significantly reducing dependence on the private car and a shift to public transport, walking and cycling.
Cross-party agreement should be sought on key environmental issues, including the proper regulation of land use, in particular limiting Outside Development Zone (ODZ) development, enhancing the urban environment by addressing air pollution and creation of green open spaces, managing protected areas and addressing sustainable water management. The latter was the subject of an excellent policy analysis by TPPI two years ago and deserves a more single-minded bipartisan approach.
TPPI’s identification of national policy priorities capable of cross-party resolution is intended to lay out a compelling case for bi-partisan party resolution of complex policy areas and to do so in a coherent and integrated manner.
The policy areas cited in this document – the Constitution and governance, health and long-term care, pensions, the environment and traffic – reflect some of the most intractable and complex policy priorities facing Malta today.
The institute recognises that similar appeals for a bipartisan approach to crucial policy issues have been made in the past. The current economic, social and political circumstances of the country, however, suggest that the necessary bold policy reforms cannot be further postponed.
In ‘National Strategic Policy Challenges – A Need for Cross-Party Collaboration’, TPPI is calling on the political parties to commit to the formation of a cross-party commission to identify options for long-term and permanent solutions to major policy challenges. The commission should be able to draw upon the abundant technical expertise available within civil society to get this dialogue going.
TPPI has made an appeal to the better nature of politics in Malta: to sink party differences in the interests of the common good. There is an element of idealism, as well as naivete, about this, but all the more reason to welcome it. If Malta is to progress, it must find a way out of the internecine morass of party political polarisation which is holding it back and seek national consensus-building.