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15 cat was reluctant. Yet on this occasion Delia toyed with an "us vs them" rhetoric thread- ing between legitimate con- cerns on the "importation of precarious labour" and repre- senting foreign workers as a threat to working conditions, wages and housing affordabil- ity. Neither did he take Muscat to task for addressing prob- lems, which may have con- tributed to the riots. For like Gonzi before him, Muscat is liable to criticism for not doing enough to ad- dress the roots of the prob- lem. Gonzi kept an inhumane detention regime, which iso- lated migrants from the rest of society while introducing open centres in isolated areas like Hal Far or Marsa. Muscat may be credited for reforming the detention re- gime and for being the first political leader to speak open- ly in favour of integration. Yet it seems that not enough has been done to prepare for the latest influx despite the luxury of being given a four-year re- prieve between 2014 and 2018 during which Italy shouldered Malta's burden. Meagre allow- ances, high rents and obstacles to joining the legal economy all contribute to the festering wounds. And even his high-sounding platitudes on saving lives con- trasts sharply with attempts at EU level to trust the life of mi- grants in the hands of the Lib- yan coastguard which keeps them in concentration camps. The dark side of the economic miracle Muscat may be right in blast- ing the Opposition's simplistic arguments which ignore re- alities like the skills gap in the economy which foreigners are filling without competing with Maltese workers. Moreover, the impression given by Delia that non-EU nationals con- stitute the majority of foreign workers is not only factually incorrect but panders to prej- udice against non-Europeans. But Muscat seems too keen on brushing aside Delia's cri- tique on the dark side of the Maltese economic miracle. For while official statistics suggest that less than a fifth of legally employed foreign workers are engaged in el- ementary jobs, migrants are very visible on construction sites, where a number of them are not just exploited but have sacrificed their life on the al- tar of Maltese property boom: eight have lost their lives in 2018 and 2019. Muscat's declaration that these workers have full rights to join trade unions and fight for their rights did come across as a surreal one. For while it is true that unions have opened sections for these workers, the GWU itself had suggested mandatory union membership as a way to circumvent the real obstacles for the unionisation of these workers. Also sur- real was Muscat's declaration that precarious work is being eliminated. And while official statistics do not substantiate Delia's alarmism, there is a case for evidence-based poli- cies based on studies investi- gating the impact of different categories of migrants, includ- ing those on the higher end, on specific segments of the la- bour and property market. Still, by focusing on scare- mongering Delia is letting Muscat off the hook. It is not clear whether Delia wants more rights for all workers irrespective of nationality or whether he is just pandering to those who simply do not like the presence of non-European foreigners in Malta. Reclaiming the centre ground Muscat's sharpest observa- tion in his speech was his dis- section of Delia's politics: that he skirts around the issue, pandering to public concerns without having the courage to go all the way, with the risk of legitimising the far-right with- out him identifying with the far-right. One may well suspect that Muscat is again speaking from experience, having come full- circle from being a demagogue himself. While it remains doubt- ful whether Delia can make any inroads among xenopho- bic Labourites who remain loyal to their strong leader irrespective of their reserva- tions on migration, Delia has once again offered Muscat a golden opportunity to reclaim the centre-ground as a states- man who speaks responsibly, despite lingering doubts on governance issues and his sub- servience to big business inter- ests. In the confrontation on mi- gration Muscat can conveni- ently position himself on the side of openness in a polarity favoured by French leaders, the likes of French President Emmanuel Macron, which pits politicians advocating walls that separate, against politi- cians who are open both for business and migrants. It was no surprise that Muscat turned the tables on Delia, by describ- ing Delia's stance on foreign workers as anti-business and a betrayal of the PN's historic role as a "party of business." In reality being pro-business in Malta often translates in clos- ing an eye to blatant disrespect for law and regulations. Overall the budget speech ritual suggests that while Delia is still desperate to tick all the boxes of discontentment to save his embattled leadership and find a sense of purpose, Muscat can afford to affirm his leadership qualities by directly challenging the prejudices of some of his supporters and do- ing so forcefully. Yet in presenting himself as a statesman Muscat remains exposed to criticism that he fails to show the same sense of leadership in clamping down on corruption and patronage, which are also intertwined with the power of big business interests. The risk is that by twinning justified criticism on governance with scare-mon- gering on migrants, Delia may actually be making it easier for Muscat to re-invent himself as a statesman. maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 OCTOBER 2019 ANALYSIS Delia: statesman versus demagogue? By twinning justified criticism on governance with scare-mongering on migrants, Delia may be actually making it easier for Muscat to re- invent himself as a statesman