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Last year the pro-EU vote thanks to Labour’s post referendum antics, was confirmed twice on the 8 March (the EU referendum) and on the 12 April (the General Election). On both occasions the Maltese Electorate chose ghalina, ghall-pajjizna and ghall uliedna (for ourselves, for our children and for our country) a clear and well defined path; a culture change. An unprecedented majority (at least from the post war period onwards) voted for better environmental and social standards, for freedom of access to information, for better opportunities for professional development, for a greater participation of civil society in public life, etc, etc.
The European Parliament (EP) election scheduled for the 12 June can serve as a catalyst, for Malta to shed its present parochial, polarised bi-party system, a system which is alien to the European Parliament and to the European reality as was rightly pointed out by Pat Cox (President of the EP) “Malta is so polarised that everything is black or white. It is a perfect example of a bi-party system that is not found in the European Parliament (in fact it is not found anywhere in the European Union).”
The temptation to continue threading the same obscure, mediocre path is persistent, and is being nurtured by the nomenklatura of the Nationalist Party, through their constant diatribes. If anyone takes a look at the sermons delivered by Dr (Fr) Gonzi & Co. on the upcoming EP elections one gets the impression that these elections are going to be contested by the PN and the MLP only. It seems that the spinners that be at tal-Pieta’ have issued instructions to avoid any mention of Arnold Cassola, Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) – The Green Party’s candidate.
The reason for this is more than obvious: the PN is so short of ideas and of capable people that in order to field candidates for the EP elections it had to resort to people from outside the party (with the exception of Michael Falzon).
A glance at the names being fielded by the PN reveals that none of these people can match Arnold’s experience in the EP combined with Arnold’s experience as a politician (both in Malta and in the Europe).
Afraid of losing some shreds of the power they have clung to for some 20 odd years, the triumvirate at tal-Pieta’ (Gonzi - Borg - Saliba) is choosing to play the three monkeys’ game of “hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil.”
If Malta is to make the most out of its EU membership, if the Maltese Electorate is to get what it bargained for when voting for Malta’s membership in the EU then there’s no other way, but to elect Arnold Cassola to the EP.
The Nationalists have proven to be incapable of delivering what they promised in the run down to the EU membership referendum.
What environmental credentials does the Nationalist Party possess when its government proposed a landfill 500m away from a World Heritage Site?
Were it not for Arnold’s insistence through the Green Group in the EP the government would have gone ahead with a plan that no European Politician with a non negative IQ would have even thought of, let alone propose.
Not to mention the way in which the Nationalist Government sought to appease the hunting lobby by managing to persuade the EU of the necessity to continue depleting our wildlife through hunting in spring.
Can anyone seriously and in all honesty say that the Nationalist government is doing it’s utmost to gain some of the EU’s funding?
Remember the millions of liri in agricultural funds which Malta lost just because it did not have the necessary infrastructure in place, or how we were not going to get any funds in compensation for the damages incurred after the floods way back in September?
And all this when the country’s financial situation is far from fis-sod (rosy) as was touted some time ago last year.
One must not forget how the Nationalists used the NGOs in the referendum campaign to create the impression that Civil Society at large was involved (Maqgqudin mhux ghall-Partit - United, but not because of our political affiliation) in the ‘Yes’ Front. That the NGOs should be in favour of the EU is understandable, the Nationalist Government’s inertia on granting NGO’s a legal status is not.
What about the training opportunities which we were promised? Yes, even in this field the Nationalist government is failing to deliver! Ministerial Authorisations (sic. blessings) for personnel working at public bodies to attend training courses in Brussels often reach their addressees after the course has started, the result being that Malta is losing its credibility since it is the only country not taking part in these courses.
Last, but not least, the veil of confidentiality still covers most of the work that is carried out in our ministries. This is a far cry from the European Concept of Freedom of Access to Information!
One actually starts to wonder whether the Nationalists are as pro-EU, as they claim to be.
It is high time for the Nationalists to be shown that the electorate is tired of its incompetence in delivering the numerous benefits which should accrue as a result of Malta’s EU membership.
Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg was urging us to “vote for the party which believes in the EU.” Yes Dr. Borg I agree with you, June 12 is an occasion for all Maltese Electors to confirm last year’s vote, by voting AD - The Green Party and Arnold Cassola.
AD – The Green Party and Arnold Cassola took an active role and strove hard in favour of Malta’s EU membership and are proposing an electoral platform which is truly European in spirit based on safeguarding the environment, on strong social and economic security for all European citizens, on empowering citizens, on strengthening peace, on reforming and regulating the currently unfair system of globalisation and on promoting grass roots globalisation.
AD - The Green Party is “the party which believes in the EU” and Arnold Cassola “is the best and most consistent candidate.”
Mark Scerri is an
ex-Moviment IVA activist
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