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Raymond Sammut
Mellieha
Prior to the EU referendum, the Labour Party which claims to be the Workers’ Party, instructed its supporters that in order to safeguard their own livelihood they should either vote against joining EU or not vote at all. The Maltese workers were warned of the perils of joining the EU, which besides job losses included substantial increases in the cost of living, and the spreading of AIDS amongst the Maltese population. In the meantime, the Nationalist Party, being the party in Government, backed by the considerable resources of the Nationalist Party itself, Government funds, and EU assistance, was preaching the benefits to be obtained once Malta joins the EU.
To the surprise of many, although the party in government was confident that it would attain more than 60 percent of the electorate’s votes, more than 50 percent of the eligible Maltese voters heeded the advice of the Labour Party, by either abstaining or voting against. The result baffled the country so much, that whilst the Government side was eager to celebrate, the Opposition encouraged its followers to rejoice in a moral victory. However, as everybody knows, ultimately the so called democratic rules dictated the outcome.
After the general elections which followed the EU referendum by a few weeks, with the re-instatement of the Nationalist Party in Government, the Labour Party seemed to throw in the towel and suddenly changed its tone with regards to Malta joining the EU. This sudden change of attitude of the Labour/Workers Party - making one of its customary political somersaults - perplexed the Maltese workers considerably. Whilst the speeches against joining the EU are still reverberating in the workers ears, now that the realities of the hardships involved in adapting to EU regulations sinks in, the Labour Party is making strenuous efforts to compete for its representation in the EU. As if four candidates were not enough, the criteria for contesting on behalf of the party was lowered to enable the selection of another four candidates to obtain the much desired extra candidates. Is this a case of “if you cannot beat them join them,” or is this a case of betrayal of the Maltese Workers?
It is with good reason that the Maltese workers feel betrayed by their people’s representatives. The arguments not to join the EU have shown up the EU parliament’s defence of workers’ right as redundancies increase in Malta while unemployment is so high in a number of current and accession EU countries (more than 20 percent in Poland, with high percentages in Spain, Germany, etc..).
In view of the above and for lack of a better word, our Labour/Workers Party representatives deserve to be called ‘Traitors.’ After all, it is the same word they applied to a previous MLP Leader and Prime Minister. One who has done so much good for our country and the workers’ movement and remained staunchly rigid in his belief that our country should remain independent and neutral.
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