Reflections on a vote foretold

1. Had he still enjoyed the trust of a majority among the elected MPs, I believe that Gatt should have remained in his post to sort out the mess created by the new routes, while safeguarding the positive aspects of the reform. A change in minister in the middle of a difficult reform would only have worsened the situation.

2. Austin Gatt did not manage to get the confidence of a majority of MPs. He held on to his ministry thanks to the casting vote of the speaker. This has weakened his position immensely. While constitutionally the Speaker did nothing wrong, politically Gatt’s position became untenable once he lost the majority among elected MPs. I surely do not see any reason for triumphalism on Gatt’s part, and no reason for jubilation among his officials. He could have at least given himself six months to sort out public transport and resign afterwards.

3. Lawrence Gonzi did the right thing in assuming collective responsibility for a policy endorsed by his government. I disagree with Franco Debono’s argument on individual ministerial responsibility. Debono’s argument holds only if we were dealing with a case of corruption or breach of ethics (of which we had plenty and nobody on the government benches asked anyone to resign).

In these cases ministers all around Europe are expected to resign. But when it comes to implementing policies approved by Cabinet, the buck stops with the Prime Minister. This is also the case in most of Europe where ministers often stay in power despite the unpopularity of their reforms. Had Gonzi let Gatt sink, the whole concept of collegiality would have collapsed. In a Cabinet it is either one for all and all for one or everyone on his or her own.

4. The debate on public transport was a poor one. The opposition failed to recognise the magnitude of changing a shabby service and the wisdom of the decision to get rid of one of Malta’s most arrogant monopolies. The government failed to explain concretely what went wrong in the formulation of the new routes. Perhaps the grilling in parliament of the officials like Manuel Delia who were responsible for the reform would have been more fruitful than the sterile discussion we had.

5. It is true that when it comes to policy the buck stops at the Prime Minister. But this does not hold to individual responsibilities of those who actually approved and formulated the routes.

Personally I think that the idea to decentralise the system through a system of interchanges was a good one especially in the long-term goal of encouraging a modal shift from car to bus use. Modern commuters simply do not need to go to Valletta in every single trip. But instead of embarking on a process of incremental change the whole network was transplanted from paper to real roads in one day.

To further complicate matters a third of Arriva’s drivers failed to turn up on that day. The revelation that the new routes did not take traffic congestion in to account is also damning. It is becoming more and more evident that cardinal mistake was that of not testing the new routes in peak traffic conditions. In this sense people are right to demand that those responsible are held accountable for their mistakes. 

6. That said, the situation is neither all black nor all white. For example the Opposition’s claim that the service is more expensive is an outright lie. People are saving money over the past if they use a week ticket. On the basis of personal experience, in some places like San Gwann the system is working better than it used in the past. Still there are many who spend more time travelling  from point A to point B than before. 

7. The Prime Minister is correct in asking for a vote of confidence in his government. But the problem he faces is that while none of his backbenchers are willing to serve him with a final blow, some are bent on submitting him to Chinese torture. How far he can go in calling their bluff without risking the collapse of the whole edifice is difficult to say. What is sure is that the current scenario is a reminder that one party government are not immune from instability and that essentially Gonzi is in a coalition with a number of individuals.