Two is company

PN leader Simon Busuttil has said that realistically there is room for only two parties in parliament. For someone who portrays himself as some kind of new broom, I really wonder who advised him to mouth such an inane thought.

He gave vent to these astonishing words after an encounter with environmental groups where he announced his proposal that for ODZ ‘national projects’ to get the green light they should be supported by a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Let us first tackle Busuttil’s offensive statement, which is obviously entirely shared by Joseph Muscat, that only the PN and the PL should be represented in parliament or be in power.

His view was shared after the launch of the orange party by Marlene Farrugia, stupidly hitting out at the potential presence of yet another political party in parliament. If ever there was a sanctimonious, self-conceited statement it was this. He truly shot himself in the foot, declaring that in our kind of democracy there is only room for a two-party system.

Coming from someone who at the least whiff of contrariness proclaims democracy to be in danger, this recent declaration on democracy takes the biscuit.

Had he been thinking that Marlene Farrugia, who abandoned Labour, would join the PN? What is clear is that Farrugia was hoping for some rekindled support for a new third party and that she would draw disgruntled Labour voters to her party.

But it turns out from MaltaToday surveys that most of Farrugia’s support emanates from Nationalist quarters and this is something which simply does not suit the PN. The PN has haemorrhaged badly enough; can anyone see its leadership looking benignly on some usurper?

Hence the statement that democracy is best served with a menu of two choices, not three or four, which led to this knee jerk reaction to nip in the bud the mere thought of new political parties inside the House of Representatives.

The second observation is about Simon Busuttil’s declaration about a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives to allow ODZ development. Coming from a political party that literally raped and plundered the Maltese countryside when it was in government it would take more than sweet words to convince sceptics that those words will actually translate into deeds.

There is another aspect which I think is not at all in Busuttil’s radar. Parliamentary democracies make policy, they do not manage it. Since when are majorities determined by a two-thirds vote? If Busuttil really wants to defend ODZ, all he needs to do when he takes over at Castille, is to not propose any ODZ development. It is as simple as that. He would not need to overcome any two-thirds barrier.

If the Maltese population vote in a government that wants to devastate the Maltese countryside and make an environmental mess, then that is the choice taken democratically. Take divorce: 54% voted in favour of it; they did so by a simple majority. 

The problem with this ODZ debate is that the whole issue has been rendered superficial. The problem as presented by some NGOs is that the only bad development is when it happens out of the development zone. But the truth is that the local plans that were rewritten under the watchful eyes of George Pullicino, and many of the party’s acolytes, allow for massive development inside areas which should have never been given such treatment. Now they are up for revision, and Labour intends making the situation worse.

The truth is that both political parties believe that the building industry is central to the country’s economy. Objectively, you can concede that it generates jobs and serves as a central plank for investment attraction. And it’s the industry that has traditionally financed the political parties (not some loan ‘cedoli’ scheme).

Whether we like it or not, this industry elected Joseph Muscat, together with the rest of the electorate which had grown weary of the same old faces. The green lobby, in its multi-faceted variations, is raising awareness but also fails to understand that the issue of land use is not restricted to ODZ.

The solution is not the imposition of a two-thirds majority which conveniently becomes a simple majority, but the reform of electoral laws that will make it possible for new parties, with new thinking, to enter parliament and represent new ideas and challenge the chronic problem of the two-party system.

Marlene Farrugia and the Greens may have limited appeal at the moment but they have the freedom to act, and to speak up without worrying whether they will damage the chance of funding from the big boys.

Politics needs free thinkers, and though Marlene may not be my cup of tea she has given many people – perhaps a few thousands – the chance to dream for a short time that this country will not be represented only by politicians who think simply in terms of numbers, statistical growth, frivolous economic figures, and winning an election at all costs.

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In the mind of our politicians, and particularly our straitjacketed politicians on the right, the focus on Malta’s financial services came about because of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri.

They should wake up to the fact that our financial services, which allow Malta to serve as a tax haven of sorts, have been the focus of considerable attention abroad.

Last week, the prestigious German mag Der Spiegel carried a news story about Joseph Bannister, the chief at the Malta Financial Services Authority, and his involvement as a director of a company in the Cayman Islands.

Bannister is still there because both Busuttil and Muscat want him there. But if he were in another country he would have had the dignity to go, or been booted out.

Just as was the case, or should have been the case, with John Cassar White, the chairman of the Bank of Valletta who happens to be a regular editorial contributor of The Times of Malta.

In both cases these men do not have the dignity or self-respect to know that conflict of interest is conflict of interest.

But more interestingly is that the political parties and the institutions that govern this country continue to stand by these blatant cases of conflict of interest.

MEPs like Roberta Metsola may insist that the European Parliament is eyeing Malta because of Konrad Mizzi. Perhaps, but the real focus is not Mizzi, but our financial services industry, which is an important source of revenue for Malta. These are the services that all our legal and audit firms live on and profit from in a big way.

The problem, though no one wants to admit it, is that both political parties are intent on protecting an industry that is unquestionably too big to fail for Malta, even though the rest of the EU seems intent at taking a swipe at it. But maybe we should look deeper into the way Malta’s financial services industry may have attracted the critical eye of the EU’s member states.

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Chris Cardona has been elected as deputy leader of the Labour Party.

One of his sterling campaign salvos was his attack on Xarabank. I may have my views on Xarabank, but it is utterly crazy and puerile for Cardona to attack Xarabank even though he failed to do so when he was in opposition. At the time the PL portrayed itself as a tolerant political party that could take the flak even when the flak was unfair and biased.

Now Cardona has tried to engage with the party hard-core and in doing so has joined the brigade which wants a say into which programme can be carried on TVM.

If the deputy leader of a party is now aiming to determine what appears or does not appear on television, I for one will be the first to remind everyone that this was exactly what happened before 2013.

TVM was home to one bespectacled propagandist who spent two decades throwing up on the PL; now he serves as a consultant to the PL government whom he did his best to keep out of office.

Yes, this country really deserves the two-party system it votes for, and hand on heart I can say, Simon Busuttil and Joseph Muscat would surely agree.