Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1055420
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 NOVEMBER 2018 ANALYSIS PN GENERAL COUNCIL locality. The rest is a wish-list of stud- ies and plans that will form the basis for future decisions. The word 'plan' is found no less than 154 times throughout the document. Plans, studies and more plans The underlying foundation of the document is the call for the country to have a long-term plan covering the next 10 to 20 years. This has been Delia's fixation since becoming leader and comes from a nostalgic throw- back to the 1960s and 1970s when a newly-independent Malta adopted five-year devel- opment plans as it tried to find its feet. While this may not be a bad thing, achieving long-term planning will require the country to adopt several other plans, according to the PN. These include a plan to make Malta a centre for innovation; a plan to foster technologi- cal revolution and attract new economic sectors; a plan to develop workers' skills and en- sure people of talent remain in Malta; a plan to determine new means of transport that cater for Malta's high population density; a plan to safeguard the countryside and farming; and a plan for the Maltese language. Studies will also have to be carried out, including a carry- ing capacity exercise that will determine the adequate popu- lation size and the infrastruc- ture required to cope with it in the years ahead. Another study will determine the type of housing stock and com- mercial buildings the country needs for the future. But while the document is full of 'plans' and 'studies', it is unclear whether these will be drawn up before the election or only when the PN is in gov- ernment. The smart and not so smart migrants On migration, which lies at the heart of population growth, the document raises the plight of workers who end up living in the rough as a result of low wages and poor employment conditions. It calls for a need to understand poverty among migrants. But the answer to this is a proposal to attract to Malta high calibre migrants instead, in a policy the PN calls "smart migration". This is defined as attracting foreigners of talent, who can then transfer their skills to Maltese workers. The implication is that by earning high wages, these for- eigners will definitely not cre- ate the social problems wit- nessed among some of those who live and work in Malta today. However, the document fails to say how companies will be able to satisfy the demand for more workers, who are not necessarily highly skilled, if the doors are closed to foreigners who are not 'smart'. There is the obvious admit- tance that Malta will have to remain open to people from other EU countries – free movement of people is a car- dinal principle of EU mem- bership – but unless the PN is suggesting a forced economic slowdown to curb growth and with it the demand for labour, the document fails to say how its 'smart migration' policy will satisfy the demands of busi- ness. The only other suggestion to boost the workforce is to do more to encourage women to join the labour market without saying how. LGBTIQ no, baby boomers yes On the civil liberties side of things, the document does not once mention the acronym LGBTIQ despite this having been a major political driver over recent years. Instead it drops in a one- sentence mention: "A society that cares is one that respects the sexual orientation of eve- ryone." Curiously, the document calls for 'respect' rather than equality and empowerment that have been defining char- acteristics of the current gov- ernment's policy when it legis- lated for civil unions first and marriage equality later. But there is no wavering on where the PN stands on other ethically contentious issues linked to life and death. "A society that cares, protects life from its very beginning to its natural end, in all circum- stances," the document says, effectively ruling out abortion, even if the mother's life is in danger, and euthanasia. And given the PN's stance in Parliament when changes to the IVF law were being de- bated earlier this year, this statement could also suggest a reversal of legislation that ena- bled embryo freezing. The document does flag a particular demographic reality that may have gone unnoticed when it speaks of the post-war baby boomers. This generation born in the immediate aftermath of World War II is now beyond its 70th birthday and will be approach- ing its 80s, which means Malta will have a larger population in that vulnerable age bracket. To address the growing co- hort of elderly, the PN wants the country to have more car- ers and insists these should be able to speak a language un- derstood by the Maltese. And bang on cue, the docu- ment calls for a plan targeting this generation. A cautious approach With Clyde Puli making it clear the document is not one intended to give defined pro- posals for various sectors, the detail will presumably come later. But there is no mistaking that Delia's PN is trying to become the antidote to the Prime Min- ister's cosmopolitanism. In trying to do so it belies a subtle yearning for slower- paced change. To political observers this may appear as a departure from the bold, reformist agen- da of the PN after 1987, which the document credits as hav- ing laid the groundwork for Malta to be able to join the EU. Time will tell whether the PN's caution is misplaced or whether it is the right ap- proach to address the new challenges caused by a coun- try that has grown and shifted the economic gear upwards. stupid! How often were these words mentioned in the document? 154 86 61 46 36 28 14 12 6 0 Plan Wages Economy Foreigners Immigrants Immigration Studies Cheap labour Corruption LGBTIQ KARL AZZOPARDI THE Nationalist Party will embark on an economic strategy which focuses on the long-term, PN General Council President Kristy Debono has said. Addressing the party's General Coun- cil, Debono said that the party's policies will be built on three foundations. "A long-term economic vision, the fight against corruption and the creation of wealth which is enjoyed by everyone in society, will be the pillars on which we will build our politics." Debono said that in order for the coun- try to have a solid long-term economic vision, the country's leaders must look to invest in serious sectors rather than precariousness and cheap labour. "This economic vision boils down to a serious banking system which doesn't expand through money laundering," she said. "The fight against corruption must continue, as only the corrupt and crim- inal make progress through corrup- tion." The PN General Council President said that before the election, the La- bour Party (PL) had campaigned on the need of a power station, which in turn turned out to be a strategy for a small group of people to make money. "A society which cares means a soci- ety which collectively gains from eco- nomic growth," Debono said. Debono said that financial poverty, the list of people applying for social housing, people sleeping in garages, hospital waiting times and nominal pensions would all be reduced in a soci- ety that cares. "We must help young people to get into the property market as well as start properly addressing the issue of early school leavers. Tackling these issues would make us truly a society which cares," Debono said. On immigration, the PN MP said that the country must have a long-term plan which respects the geographical limits that it has. The current government bases its economic vision on increasing population numbers, rather than pro- duction, Debono said. "The PN had the option to leave eve- rything as it was, but chooses to elect leaders that steer the country into a long-term future," she said. "Unlike the PL, the PN doesn't put forward a 10-year plan and then leaves, instead we want to leave behind us a legacy which is enjoyed by all Maltese." Debono concluded by saying that vot- ers must not only choose the PN be- cause of the corrupt decisions taken by the government, but because they be- lieve in the party's solid political vision.