|
Six months after assuming the Premiership, Lawrence Gonzi is faced with a dilemma. He must choose between two difficult courses of action. Does he carry on the restructuring process which inevitably involves taking hard decisions and in so doing risk the possibility of loosing the next election? Or does he simply soldier on creating the least waves possible and in so doing risk a worsening financial situation?
The course of action chosen will influence the outcome of the next election. He could decide, and there is ample evidence that this is his favoured route, to bite the financial bullet, reasoning that after 20 years of Nationalist Government whatever action he decides upon, the alternation of power is inevitable. By so doing he could long be remembered as the bold politician who placed nation before Party.
There is a need for tough decisions to address the dire straits of our finances on the understanding that they have a sense of equity. Sacrifices have to be fairly and transparently spread and lavish extravagancies need to be put to rest - the Brussels embassy will remain a painful thorn.
Most importantly all Government action on the financial, political and social front must be packaged in one goal - The Europeanisation of Malta.
This involves driving all European initiatives which will make our country and people the beneficiaries of wider civil liberties, with vaster visible economic benefits and most of all in a more open transparent liberal and ever growing secular society. Membership of the EU was perceived by many as a liberating experience it is just a question of Government unleashing all Malta’s forces and the entrepreneurial spirit to grab the benefits.
The way forward is a three-pronged attack on the financial, social and political fronts. These reforms, once put into effect will modernise our country. They must however, be managed with a soft landing approach and not as has been the case on the issues of eco taxes and the smoking ban.
Winning peoples’ hearts as was so ably done prior to the EU referendum may no longer be sufficient. It is time to win the heads and hearts as well as the battle of ideas.
It is clearly apparent that Government is mainly waging war on the financial front and is discarding the equally necessary reforms on the political and social fronts. Too much talk on the financial black hole risks throwing the country into further difficulties. It seems that years of power risk tarnishing the Nationalist Party record for creating growth and job opportunities. We need to hear more talk on growth, investment and innovation.
On the political front Government needs to open up the administration and govern in a more transparent manner, bridging with all the independent press and not just sections thereof, increasing transparency and accountability. There is a moral case for electoral reform and political Party financing. It also needs to cultivate a culture of bi-partisanship on national issues like the desperate plight of asylum seekers and the revival of our health and tourism sectors. By working together so much more can be achieved.
There is also the need for social reform. All the talk on enticing more female participation in the labour market risks failing unless many of the good ideas are concretised in formal incentives in the forthcoming budget. Government has to recognise the new life style choices the Maltese are making resulting in realities that require modern methods of support.
Initiatives like child care centres, increased parental leave and other family-friendly policies have to be considered. A wider definition of the family is also a necessity to cater for new realities such as cohabiting couples, single mothers and gay couples.
The challenge facing our leaders to Europeanise Malta, 40 years after Independence is a daunting task indeed. It will take a new breed of politicians and a new way of doing politics to grasp the enormity of such a challenge and propose innovative ways forward.
|
