A growing number of citizens are standing up to be counted and this is the first sign of change. Labour can no longer point to its massive support to downplay its disgraceful track record.
Winds of Change is a ballad by the rock band Scorpions. The song was composed during the height of perestroika, the social reforms that lead to the downfall of communism in Russia.
Last June 8, a gentle breeze of change swept over our island. It took many by surprise, despite all political surveys pointing to yet another unassailable lead by the Labour Party.
Although Labour won the majority of votes, as expected, both the European and the local elections, from a political point of view it was a pyrrhic victory.
From a historical margin of a 42,600-vote tally during the previous European elections, not only did Labour lose the support of the majority of the people, as it garnered 45.2% of the total share, but its majority was also reduced to 8,454, that is 34,146 less.
On the local elections scene, not only was the gap reduced by half but Labour also lost a number of seats within their own strongholds and lost the majorities in Mosta, Mellieħa, Birkirkara, St Paul’s Bay, Msida and San Ġwann.
Although the winds of change are still not yet strong enough, the direction of the wind is unambiguously clear to all, except to ostriches. A growing number of citizens are standing up to be counted. This is the first sign of change.
Many are realising that Labour is anything but Labour. Not only has Labour lost its aura of invincibility but it also can no longer arrogantly point to its massive support to downplay its disgraceful track record of governance.
Under Labour, corruption, sleaze, cronyism and clientelism have become the very norm of governance rather than the exception. Labour’s fingerprints of sleaze are found everywhere, turning the party into a den for thieves and fraudsters.
A growing number of people, in particular young people, are seeing through Labour’s tactics and gloss. Labour has a growing credibility problem. Many are no longer ready to close an eye so that the ministers’ canvassers can pig out shamelessly and with impunity.
Many are realising that the price of our economic growth is a hefty one, seeing that our environment is in a mess and our standard of living is suffering, notwithstanding GDP indicating otherwise.
The return of Joseph Muscat did not give any wind to Labour’s sails. Robert Abela’s tactic of bringing him back from the cold and act as his defence lawyer backfired. The tactic may have mobilised Labour’s hard-core but simultaneously it scared the likes of Desmond Zammit Marmarà and other moderates.
The scenes in front of the law courts were reminiscent of the 1980s, which ironically Muscat worked so hard to delete from our national psyche.
Sadly, the former prime minister has become an albatross, not only to the Labour party but also to Malta and its reputation. He risks altering his status from ‘invictus’ to ‘convictus’, from ‘invincible’ to ‘convict’.
Never before in our democratic journey has a former prime minister been subject to grave accusations of misappropriation, money laundering and corruption.
On the other hand, Abela’s outburst about the establishment was like Don Quixote chasing windmills. His reaction to the results by pointing fingers at all and sundry except at himself is pathetic. Surely Abela’s standing is diminished. A number of his colleagues are biding their time before they act like Brutus.
Where does this leave the Nationalist Party? Although the results are the best performance in recent years and give the party a boost in recuperating its self-confidence, the road ahead is clearly still an uphill struggle at various levels.
Although half of the voters who moved away from Labour turned to the Nationalist Party (contrary to claims that the party has made no progress), there is still the other half of voters who are not ready to trust us.
This ought to compel the party to query why, while continuing to connect with a number of significant stakeholders, at the same time it keeps at arm’s length those whose agenda is self-advancement.
The party must regain the trust of the nation not merely by default, on the demerits of Labour, but on its own value.
Thus, it is imperative for the party to be bold, continue updating its vision for Malta and present itself as the alternative government in waiting. We need to give Malta a quantum leap.
People want to live in a country in which justice, the rule of law, equality, and accountability, meritocracy, good governance, democracy, the environment and other core European values are assured. Undoubtedly, people want a government that upholds the interests of the many rather than the privileged few.
People want change not for the sake of change but for a meaningful change.
Let then the winds of change become stronger!
(This article was published on Times of Malta – 2 July, 2024)
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