Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1412606
8 ANALYSIS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 22 SEPTEMBER 2021 1. Friend to all: the continuity candidate Joseph Muscat prided himself in being a moderate social democrat that stood for the little guy while facilitating business and in- vestment. Muscatonomics centred not on class but on aspiration, using eager synergy between government and business to provide people the springboard for upward social mobility. Robert Abela drew on this exact senti- ment during his speech on Monday, label- ling himself a European social democrat at the helm of a liberal and progressive party that championed civil rights. He said that the party's focus should al- ways be on the "little guy" who is falling be- hind as society moves forward. He spoke on the importance of giving employers a level playing field so that employees can climb the corporate ladder, but his rhetoric on the importance of the worker movement to the party failed to go beyond the usual 'saħħa lill-ħaddiem' mantra. Abela is not only carrying Muscat's legacy but also the success Labour has had in its Third Way approach to politics. This ap- proach has allowed the post-2013 Labour Party to have its cake and eat it, by cosying up to business lobbies while maintaining its image as a social justice party for the people. Abela says he believes in the worker, but doesn't stop to acknowledge that the inter- ests of the worker class often stand diamet- rically opposed to the interests of business lobbies. Both Muscat and Abela have suc- cessfully walked the tightrope to keep both sides satisfied, but neither have been forced to choose between the two classes. A strong, organised labour movement that doesn't brand itself Labour nor Na- tionalist could potentially pose an existen- tial threat to the Labour Party. An organ- ised worker force that stands up for higher wages or better working conditions, at the expense of their employers, could force the Labour government into a situation where compromise is impossible. This would be the ultimate litmus test for any centre-left Labour Party across the world – having to choose between the business lobby it cosies up to, or the worker class that it says it represents. But that threat is nowhere to be seen and Abela will continue walking that tightrope for more time to come despite the econom- ic challenges created by the pandemic and Malta's greylisting. 2. Green redemption: pretty as she goes After almost two legislatures dominated by environmental degradation, the Labour Party is looking for redemption. On Mon- day, Abela posited the environment and sustainability at the centre of his speech, and insisted the Labour government will work on lowering emissions through busi- ness incentives, while speaking heavily on the need to make Malta "prettier". The greening of public spaces is easy and non-controversial. On the other hand, carbon neutrality is a pledge that has been largely forced upon us due to EU and UN commitments. However, Abela does well by emphasising the social impact of carbon neutrality, and more importantly, stating clearly that the impact will be accounted for. In his speech, he suggested that govern- ment will tackle carbon neutrality through business incentives, nudging them towards cleaner and more energy-efficient opera- tions. He also emphasised on the need to go electric with private vehicles, but said gov- ernment will help in this transition. While commendable, these are the easier environmental subjects, and Abela knows what he's doing by framing the issue around green spaces and carbon neutrality. The problem in Malta comes with the built en- vironment, which is largely dictated by the controversial 2006 local plans. Land use has always been Malta's biggest issue, and small size means capital projects often have to be built in somewhat close proximity to residential areas. Everyone's a stakeholder when it comes to land, meaning that land use requires tight consensus to ensure that necessary developments do not impinge on the col- lective good. Arguably, this cannot be done without re-evaluating the local plans, and both government and the Opposition have shown little to no determination in this re- spect. The planning process is Malta's prima- ry environmental issue, and more power ought to be given to local councils in deter- mining applications in urban areas to help decentralise the process. But going down this road is politically tricky and puts the major parties in a po- tential conflict with developers and the construction industry. Neither are in the mood to upset the applecart so close to an election. 3. Electoral reform: a vague commitment Robert Abela stated clearly that Malta needs a serious discussion on electoral re- form, so that local electoral laws can "better reflect the society we live in". Electoral reform has long been talked about, but never discussed. Every experi- ence with electoral reform over the past two decades starts by trying to change the system as a whole, but invariably ends up with constitutional amendments that sim- ply patch up whatever came before it. Not to mention that the amendments tend be implemented within the sole inter- ests of the two major parties. Calling for electoral laws that better re- flect society is a vague notion that can ei- ther mean a radical overhaul to encourage a multi-party system in parliament or a cos- metic adjustment. The recent gender quota mechanism will likely prove to be a net ben- efit to the way parliament works after the next election, but it is no radical change to the system as a whole. In fact, electoral reform doesn't get more superficial than the gender quota mecha- nism. The power dynamics still lie in favour of the PL-PN duopoly, and only goes so far as to change the cosmetic make-up of par- liament. The major issues in electoral reform boil down to proportionality between seats in parliament vis-a-vis valid votes cast, and the district-based quota system that limits rep- resentation to candidates that secure 16.6% of the vote in their district. The first issue stemmed from the 1981 election when the Malta Labour Party won a majority of seats in parliament, but the Na- tionalist Party gained the majority of votes. A subsequent amendment then stated that whoever gains the absolute majority of votes, but not seats, will have the right to govern. But this amendment didn't cater for rel- ative majorities, a prospect that became more plausible after the 1992 election when the newly-formed Alternattiva Demokrati- ka had secured over 4,000 votes. In 1996, a constitutional amendment established that if a political party with the largest number of votes did not obtain the largest number of seats, then it will have its seat total in- creased until a one-seat majority is attained. A 2007 revision sought to make the system more proportional, whereby the number of seats won by a party can increase to reflect better its share of first preference votes. The pitfall is that all amendments to date have been based on the assumption that two parties are elected to parliament, or where multiple parties are elected, one par- ty is able to attain an absolute majority. There is yet to be a wholesome reform of Malta's electoral system that goes be- yond piecemeal changes. The question is whether Abela will adopt the more cos- metic gender-quota-style amendments that change the appearance of parliament, or force ahead with a comprehensive reform that will make it easier for smaller parties to make it to parliament. Robert Abela Continuity, pretty green and vague reform Three take-aways from Monday's rallies The Labour Party closed an extraordinary general conference on Monday with a rally addressed by Robert Abela. Nicole Meilak was present for the event. This is what she took away from it