Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1288715
8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 16 SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWS 1. Delia keeps milking the im- migration issue to score points Adrian Delia keeps barking on immigration and foreign workers even if it is clear by now that he is exploiting this issue to revive his candidacy. This approach has character- ised Delia's leadership but it has already failed in winning any traction for his party in MEP elections, where despite the increase in foreign workers, Labour still managed to hold on to their support in constit- uencies troubled by this issue. Delia, who himself had advo- cated a humanitarian approach towards irregular migrants res- cued at sea, is bound to disap- point xenophobes and racists. The danger of emphasising this issue is that of legitimising an- ti-foreigner sentiment while failing to come up with a pro- gramme of strengthening com- munities and in the integration of migrants. Delia has raised valid points on the risks of ghettoes and the risks posed by cheap labour in some sectors of the labour market, but he fails to present a coherent vision. Grech seems more hesitant on this issue. But the difference is mostly one of emphasis. Just like Delia, he seems bound by respect for respecting the life of stranded migrants while expressing con- cern on ghettoes; but is not so forthcoming on how integra- tion can be achieved and the economic model revised. Neither candidate seems to have depth on migration issues. This is one area where the ab- sence of Roberta Metsola and Therese Commodini Cachia from the race is being felt. 2. Abortion has been given greater prominence than social and economic vision Bernard Grech re-exhumed the abortion issue in the PN by first hinting that he would re- spect the result of a hypothet- ical referendum on this issue, but then committing himself to resign if the referendum yields a pro-choice majority. While technically he would still be "respecting the result" by re- signing, Grech presented this argument in stages, with his commitment to resign com- ing after facing a conservative backlash. On this issue Delia has re- mained consistent, sticking to an ultra-conservative position while Grech's balancing act may have backfired, irking lib- erals and conservatives alike. But the prominence given to the abortion issue contrasted with the absence of concrete proposals on more immediate issues like wages, housing, land use and economic policy. For while the debate on abortion is still in its infancy with the vast majority remaining opposed to legal abortion services, the PN can only appeal beyond its middle-class constituency by speaking on the daily problems faced by those on low wages paying exorbitant rents. The absence of issues related to gender equality also speaks volumes on the risk posed by an all-male contest, which flies The PN race has not even formally started but the 'debate' between the middle-aged, bespectacled male lawyers is as stale and predictable as it gets. Whoever wins, it will get more predictable when they face another male lawyer PM, with the odds heavily stacked against the PN. JAMES DEBONO tackles the issues that have emerged from the Grech-Delia interviews PN leadership race: Repetitive