Bitter sweet truth

Omar Farrugia is a Labour MP and a former mayor. He receives a salary as an MP which is equivalent to one of the lower grades in the civil service. He is also expected to dedicate his life to parliamentary work. Like most of his other colleagues, Labour and Nationalist alike, he cannot cope with his expenses.   

His appointment as chairman of SportMalta and the salary that comes with it will help him make it through the month. 

This episode tells us something about the state of our legislative body. 

I cannot see the possibility of having a serious review in the wage structure for parliamentarians and ministers in the coming months or years and the reluctance to tackle this topic is because of backlash from the electorate. How sad. 

So, to tackle the issue of low and ridiculous salaries for MPs we dish out jobs for the boys. But wait. 

This habit of having parliamentarians working in the state sector and private sector is not restricted to those with a Labour pedigree it is also predominant with a sizeable number of Nationalist MPs. 

We have heard of Rosianne Cutajar, who is now independent, and her consultancy job at the ITS but what we have not heard of is all of the other MPs, blue and red, who also have jobs and do not even turn up for work.   

And what we have not heard is about MPs who have job responsibilities which do not even remotely match their work experience or academic background.   

I could mention all the individuals one by one. But those who cry wolf only seem to do so when a politician is affiliated with Labour,  and lose their tongue with the others. 

The solution to this conundrum is to address the situation at once. This can only happen if the salaries of parliamentarians are calibrated and rectified to reflect what is expected of them. Most parliamentarians are dependent on their private income and businesses and see their salary from parliament as a simple perk.   

More interestingly very few MPs are willing to give up their other income for their MP’s salary. 

The situation is made even worse when it comes to the salary of parliamentary secretaries, ministers, Speaker, leader of opposition and the Prime Minister.  No one in his right mind should be a minister unless they have another income stream from another source. 

Ever since Joseph Muscat’s days there has been an obstinate refusal to address this situation. 

Muscat, who now rakes in hundreds of thousands a year from big business was petrified of an overreaction from the public after he had lambasted Lawrence Gonzi’s secretive plan to raise income for ministers before 2013 through a system of honoraria. 

Gonzi’s decision was one of the main reasons that led to backlash from PN dissenters at the time. And yet his intentions were justified, the method was however diabolical. 

Muscat’s refusal is one part of the story but now we have Robert Abela and it is his responsibility to look to the future. He needs to sit down with PN leader Bernard Grech and agree on a way forward.   

Surely the salaries must be structured to allow for all elected and serving politicians to dedicate their working time to parliament and the executive, as the case may be. 

The Nationalist Party lashed out at Omar Farrugia citing more competent people for the post. Governments should appoint and are obliged to appoint their own chairmen for public entities, more so if they want those public entities to promote their policies. The issue here is the appointment of a parliamentarian. 

Parliamentarians should be parliamentarians and stop there. But they need to be remunerated appropriately. 

They should also be involved in parliamentary work but today backbenchers are as useful as the appendix in the human body - useless. Indeed, they might as well not even attend parliament. 

Parliament needs a boost with dedicated men and women and not men and women who simply see it as a stepping stone to other things or simply a go at their egocentricity. 

MPs should also be furnished with the tools to operate, including paid assistants. 

Today, the conditions of Maltese MPs are a far cry from those of fellow Maltese MEPs. The difference could not be more glaring. MEPs not only have a coterie of assistants but also a budget to amaze their constituency – such as the habit of all Maltese MPs of inviting hordes of Maltese voters to Brussels, all expenses paid including delicious meal of moules et frites from the Grand Place.

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The Palestinians that are dying in their hundreds in Gaza and the irreverence of the Israeli government to International law coupled with the silence from the West will come to haunt to us. 

To those who laud the Israeli State and actions of the US, Britain and the EU, it would be useful to revisit some history, such as the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in 1948 and the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians. The book by Israeli author Ilan Pappé a resident of Haifa would be a first read.   

May I suggest that all Maltese politicians buy the book, The Ethnic Cleansing Of Palestine. Now that would a great Christmas gift for Roberta Metsola and Ian Borg. 

Not knowing history is what makes all of us part of this crowd that are too scared to speak and tell it as it is. 

The Israeli State is oppressive, adopts an apartheid system and is actively perpetrating a second Nakba.