Be yourself or stop being yourself

Dear Dr Muscat,

I hope you will be here around this Sunday to read this. 

It is the eve of Santa Marija and most of the population is either outdoors, in Gozo, or on the beach. 

This is probably your last quiet summer before the next election. 

I’m pretty certain you won’t be taking it that easy, when that time comes.

But let’s get to the point. 

I assure you, none of this letter is plagiarised. Poor Nikita Alamango and stupid David Agius would have carelessly copied some missal and sent it you.

The other day, you met a delegation from the hunters’ federation.  I don’t know why you even bother.

Do you mean to tell me that you will be caving to their demands?

Can’t you see that they are a dying breed, and that their voting lobby is one big bluff?

Or are you hungry after each and every vote?

Can’t you see that if you are to be Prime Minister in two years time, hunting and trapping will be more regulated than ever before? You cannot suck up to each and every lobby. People want strong leaders, not ones who say ‘yes’ to everything.

But on to more mundane matters.

Let me start by stating that yes, the Nationalist administration is not fit for office. But that does not mean voters believe you to be the better alternative.

I am of the opinion that the Gonzi administration is expired, and is now wasting all its time on surviving and doing little to administer the country.

You are being criticised for not coming up with concrete proposals.

You are arguing that if you are to publish these proposals, they will be dismantled by the ‘free’ media and the Nationalist media machinery.

This is all probably true… but you have no alternative except to make your proposals known.

And those proposals should be presented by the people who are expected to captain their implementation. 

If the men and women who are presenting these policies have skeletons in their closets then rest assured that someone will expose them before the election. And unlike the JPO contract – which was kept a secret until the eve of the March 2008 election – the Nationalists have a knack to dig deep and display them for their own purposes.

You are also being taken to task for taking in everyone into party.

I would tend to agree. Having welcomed Marisa Micallef Leyson, who crossed over, and then proceeding to embrace Cyrus Engerer were seen by you as pluses. But are they long term investments. 

My view is that Labour has enough good quality people to foster.

There is a great inferiority complex – fuelled by the hate and bile bloggers – who picture Labour as party of the underclass, and a bunch of morons.

Rest assured that there is a real concern – that if you are in government, their fiscal umbilical cord will be severed. So expect them to be vicious.

The best policy is to ignore this class talk and outdated view of political campaigning.

If the Nationalists want to see what ‘class’ is all about, they should parachute into a coffee morning with Clyde Puli in Qormi. 

Maybe then all these refined PN women and men can be dragged off to Baia beach to linger on with those who consider themselves custodians of a great body and classy style… even though, I have to say, some Qormi girls have curves like nothing I have ever seen.

You will also be facing a gargantuan task if you are to do what Lawrence Gonzi promised… and then simply not deliver. Just to remind you: he promised a new way of doing politics and did the complete opposite.

You will have to make many sacrifices if you are to implement his idea of ‘a new way of doing politics’.

After 25 years in government, you have a regiment of angry and frustrated Labourites who want blood and revenge. But they also want to be given appointments.

If Gonzi had any sense, he would have widened his network of appointments and regulated the extent of his apartheid system.  Stupidly, he did the complete opposite, abetted by the puerile petty politics of his soldiers Edgar Galea Curmi and Gordon Pisani.

How are you going to tackle this?

Good one. You will have to be tough.

And tough means appearing tough.

There’s nothing wrong with changing all the political appointees, but don’t then replace them with creatures who spout red fumes instead of blue smoke.

So the blend must be based on meritocracy.

Everyone will welcome fresh faces, but they must be competent people, and not buttheads who are only good at looking good.

The same applies to everything else: from ambassadors, to TV hosts, to consultants and even Commissioners of Police.

Meritocracy is the answer?

Then you have the long list of businessmen and women who are now embracing Labour. They are obviously not endeared to Labour for ideological reasons, but surely because of the fact that they have been forgotten by the PN in favour of big giants like Zaren, and are the recipients of repeated circulars from the contracts division that their tender applications has been turned down.

That will mean that they expect to be given preference.

You will have a very difficult time saying ‘no’.

When you start saying ‘yes’, there will be no turning back.

Elected as Prime Minister, you will be facing an amazing economic crisis. Apologists such as Pierre Portelli argue that the country is least affected by the crisis. He would not know of a crisis of course… unlike him, many small businesses make money by creating their own money and not depending on the benevolence of government.

But anyhow, in government, you will be facing a debt crisis of enormous proportions, you will not be able to tax more and you will have no money to dish out to ease the great stress index on the middle class.

You would have to make a Thatcherite move and go for a windfall tax on the banks, which could give you a small reprieve.

A windfall tax is a difficult decision, but you will have no money to spare.

You would also need to create a feel good factor to people.

How, is the question?

For one, the state of our surroundings should be given priority. 

EU funds should be centralised and utilised to upgrade our infrastructure.

Not only that, you will need to eradicate the warden system once and for all and give more of a role to the police. Beef up the police and divert all funds to the police, make them a force that could gain our respect, and which is made up of respectable men and women.

The social welfare gap cannot be solved by simply saying “we have a problem.” You will need to look at the private pension system and think of incrementing the social contributions for pension system.

The same will apply for the health system. Mater Dei cannot solve its problems with waiting list if it does not have doctors and paramedics to man the rosters. That means money, more money… and there is no money. So you will have to sit down with the private insurance companies to devise a private health scheme that works.

You will also need to eradicate all the private contracts at Mater Dei, with the security firms and clerical and cleaning staff.

The property crisis cannot be solved by simply doing away with MEPA and the high tariffs, but rather by reviving our city centres. Renovation and reconstruction should be the buzz words. Extensive underground parking to allow businesses to attract clients who cannot get to retail centres should be a starting point.

New initiatives to gentrify our centres and to bring life back into our centres, whether it is business or domestic.

The construction industry can get back on its feet without some direction.

But before doing that, the hoarding of property can be stopped by introducing incentives or doing the unthinkable and introducing a hoarding tax.

Getting into government not because you offer policies but simply because your opponent has lost the plot, is like winning a football game based on auto goals.

You have to work on policies, and implementing policies. 

This country can work. It can have a smaller government which serves the people rather than construct hurdles for creating business and investing.

Which is why MaltaEnterprise must be turned upside down and, together with commercial officers in our embassies, attract more investment which is supported by the best conditions one could ever think of. Doing away with people like the man who likes cars and crashes them – Mr Alan Camilleri, who is more preoccupied about the body hairs of his staff members than anything to do with business.

Business across the board should be given the kiss of life, venture capital should be made available to allow new business ideas to flourish. Companies that have been diligent and paid their VAT and national insurance and tax on time should be given some ‘credit’ for their financial diligence.

The idea of awarding amnesties to defaulters should stop.

The collection of tax should remain a priority and should not be influenced by any policy change.

But the legal provisions for criminalising failure to respect deadlines should be reviewed.

The great challenge in the next years will be the creation of jobs.

Gozo should be a centre for government’s processing centres in tax, inland revenue and social security. That way, employment there will be given a boost.

The idea of defying the tradition of expecting employment to be generated from the traditional manufacturing concept should be discarded.

The dream of having Malta serve as a Smart hub for IT development and services may well be the solution for the young IT-fluent generation… very much in the same way that Austin Gatt’s farcical vision at Xghajra with Dubai TECOM was supposed to develop.

The next years will see the turmoil in North Africa turn into an opportunity that cannot be ignored. Your policies on the refugee crisis must change from being xenophobic to being humane and forward-looking, and your vision for Maltese investment and presence in the area should be opportunistic.

Malta’s positioning in the international sphere can also bring prestige and finance.  We should be promoters of initiatives, and offer a base for mega-companies involved in energy to set up research here, together with a more pro-active university.  Research institutes beyond the one office institute confine in language, in Mediterranean studies and regional conflicts should be welcomed. 

The hospital should specialise in promoting special centres attracting foreign patients for certain medical treatment. A specialisation in the field of cardiology comes to mind, but there certainly are others.

In tourism, it is about time we come to terms with the fun side, which will require a government that relaxes regulations which attract hordes of rowdy young tourists. Yes, we may need to take a small chunk of the Ibiza crowd, but for that to happen, we will have to change.

On the other hand, the idea of going for the high end of cultural tourists and promoting small boutique hotels in Valletta, the three cities and other localities may well serve to bring an added sector to our tourism.

As you eye Castille, I ask you: do you have an idea how to handle the burocracy that inflicts every segment of government?

Apart from the fact that the civil service in general will do anything that’s possible to disrupt you.

And finally, there are important institutions which need to be reformed if the country is to leap into the 21st century. I would suggest a closer look at the resources and independence of the judiciary, the police and the auditor general.

At the importance of transferring the role of the Commission on corruption to a inquiring magistrate and of giving an executive role. 

At the importance of taking PBS and transforming State TV into a channel that serves a democracy and provides a solid educational and cultural role, should be a top priority.

In all these priorities, the implementation can only be successful if the right people are chosen. People who are committed to making change, and not just committed to having a bigger salary and perks.

It’s not going to be easy. 

But as you look at these points, I am sure you are still wondering whether it is possible to get to Castille in the first place. On a personal level, you are more liberal than the present Prime Minister, give credence to that label and use that new symbol to promote a cultural change in a society overtaken by the supremacy of the Church and dominated by the networking ‘mafia’ of the last years.

As in all things in life, you can never be sure that you will win the next election. The ball, I’m afraid, is in your court. Don’t expect anyone to do the dirty work for you. 

Most especially the press and the media, who are traditionally either emotionally and financially attached to the PN or too mindless to take a decision.

Yours sincerely,

Saviour Balzan

This article appeared in the Maltatoday printed edition of 14 August, 2011