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14 ROLL back the clock to 2011. Back then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was facing intense criticism from Joseph Muscat for his handling of the migration crisis and what was portrayed as a meek stance in securing burden-sharing with other EU countries. But Gonzi had a steadfast reply to Mus- cat's political opportunism. "We choose life when there is a choice between life and fear; life and egoism. We have to continue to expose the needs of our country; that we do need help with this burden, but we cannot ignore the value of life," Gonzi said. On that occasion Lawrence Gonzi also lashed out against "racist" comments posted on local websites amidst an influx of migrants. "We worry when we see these numbers coming. But we cannot forget that eve- ry one of these people, whatev- er their colour, are people like me and you and deserve all the help they can get." In 2012 Gonzi also passed the message to fellow conservative leaders at the EPP, asking: "Do I succumb to the populist ap- proach and pretend there is nothing I should do because this is somebody else's prob- lem? Or do I translate this non- negotiable value into practice, and do everything I can to save those lives at sea?" In a reversal of roles, Mus- cat's strong declarations on migration made in response to Adrian Delia's ambigu- ous statements following the Hal Far riots, were awkwardly reminiscent of the stance tak- en by his predecessor. In his budget speech Mus- cat, himself a harsh critic of Gonzi's migration policies when in Opposition and the author of controversial migra- tion plan presented in 2009 which foresaw the suspension of international obligations if Malta was deemed to be "full up", did not mince his words in condemning xenophobia and upholding the value of hu- man life. "I was mistaken when it comes to the pushback, yes, but I warn the Opposition not to repeat my mistake. I ap- peal to parents watching me on TV right now – if a person is drowning in the Mediterra- nean, would you save them?" Muscat asked. Like Gonzi before him, he appealed to the media "to pay attention to their comments section. This is their respon- sibility too. We do not want certain populist winds to take flight here." In the case of Delia it was more of a case of what he did not say rather than what he said. He limited himself to fanning the anxiety created by the riots inviting his audience to im- agine 300 people rioting in a small village or football ground and awkwardly questioning the government for issuing a statement which highlighted the fact that not all migrants had participated in the riot. He made no effort to show a sense of leadership by also condemn- ing generalisations and on-line hate. In contrast Muscat emerged as the statesman who offers leadership on a difficult issue in which he now finds himself at odds with populist senti- ment. "I don't think I'll be very popular on this issue but when Lassana Cisse Souleymane was murdered a few blocks away from where the riots took place, I said a few things which I'll repeat today: we need to learn from the mistakes of oth- er countries. We are a coun- try of immigration. We went around the world. Ask your relatives whether how they were treated abroad affected how they lived," he said. The Gonzification of Muscat? Muscat's conversion on this issue may well be the reality of power: as a Prime Minis- ter of an EU country Muscat had to change. He may also have come to understand like Gonzi that stamping your feet does not help much in achiev- ing modest results. Still Muscat is less condi- tioned by criticism from EU institutions on other aspects of policy like the golden pass- port scheme, which offers Maltese (and by consequence EU) citizenship to the global rich against a price. One even may be tempted to think that for Muscat it had become po- litically untenable to defend the scheme while still advocat- ing pushbacks for the poor. Moreover, Muscat is facing a different political context than Gonzi. While Gonzi faced criticism from the Opposition on being too soft in confront- ing Europe to wake up to its responsibilities over the influx of boat people, the present day Opposition is more focused on the risks posed by the in- crease in foreign workers, a phenomenon which is not di- rectly connected to the plight of people living in open cen- tres which are inhabited by asylum seekers. Delia himself has on several occasions urged the govern- ment to bring in migrants rescued by NGOs on the high seas even in cases where Mus- maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 OCTOBER 2019 ANALYSIS BUDGET 2020 SPEECHES JAMES DEBONO DEBONO Overshadowed by the Hal Far riots, Joseph Muscat emerged the statesman in addressing popular prejudice, in contrast to Adrian Delia, who veered on demagoguery to use the incident as a curtain-raiser for a simplistic critique of an economic model linked to the importation foreign labour. Yet it is the dark side of Malta's economic miracle, hinted at by Delia, which raises questions on Muscat's own claims to statesmanship Muscat- Delia: statesman demagogue? Prime Minister's keywords Foreigners 12 Sustainability/future proofing 12 Economic growth 11 Investment 10 Housing 10 Problems (which are being solved) 8 Education 8 Women 8 Disabled 7 Climate Change 7 Cosmopolitanism/openness 7 Trust/credibility 7 Job creation 6 Poverty 6 Health 6 Surplus 5 Equality 5 Unity 5 Thrift 5 Child-care 4 Plastic 4 Integration 3 Muscat seems too keen on brushing aside Delia's critique on the dark side of the Maltese economic miracle