Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1457526
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 MARCH 2022 OPINION 10 Raphael Vassallo OPINION Do Labour's '1,000 promises' include all the ones it didn't keep in 2017? NOT, mind you, that we can tell what those '1,000 promises' are even going to be: because – be- lieve it or not – with less than three weeks to go before the elec- tion, the Labour Party has not yet published its own electoral man- ifesto. Admittedly, this may well have changed by the time you read this. But it remains a fact that the Labour Party – which, being in government, has a clear advan- tage over everyone else – is ac- tually the last off the mark, when it comes to telling us what it in- tends to do if (more likely, when) it is re-elected. The Nationalist Party published its manifesto almost a week ago; and ADPD – which I now regret having criticized, on exactly the same grounds – did the same thing a few days later (despite, as Carmel Cacopardo told me in an interview, 'not having hundreds of paid employees'). Heck, even much smaller par- ties like Volt and ABBA have managed to come out with a 'published list of electoral inten- tions': be it in print, or only on- line. So it seems that every po- litical party on the island – with a single, rather large exception – clearly understands at least one fundamental principle of de- mocracy: i.e., that voters need to know in advance what the heck they're actually voting for, come Election Day. Ideally, voters should also be given enough time to sift through what is being proposed in all those documents… especially considering that Prime Minister Robert Abela is promising a man- ifesto bursting with 'no less than 1,000 ideas' – in other words, almost 300 more than the PL's 2017 manifesto (which only con- tained 721 electoral pledges, run- ning over a meagre 176 pages.) So… um... what's this Labour Party manifesto even going to end up looking like, anyway? 'The Complete Works of George RR Martin, in 27 volumes'? And if so: how on earth are we expected to digest all that information, in the short time left for us to actu- ally decide our own voting inten- tions? Because that's the thing with electoral manifestos, you know: they don't really matter all that much, when everyone's mind is already made up from the outset. But if there's one thing that has consistently emerged from all our surveys – not just this one – it is that a small-but-hugely-signifi- cant chunk of the electorate does NOT approach elections with the same tribal fervour as a Champi- on's League Final. In fact, they often leave it until literally the last couple of weeks to make up their minds (in some cases, until they are literally in the polling booth themselves). And I need hardly add that this particu- lar segment – the 'undecideds' – happens to be especially crucial, in any election, for at least three reasons I can think up off the top of my head. One: they are the ones who can actually sway an election result, when the gap between parties is at its more customary levels (i.e., microscopic); and by the same token, they also determine the size of the actual discrepancy be- tween the two parties, at all other times (Note: this makes them all the more relevant, I would say, in an election that is ultimately being fought over the size of that very gap); Two: they represent the only class of Maltese voter whose vot- ing intentions cannot possibly be taken for granted: because they self-evidently do NOT identify with either party's support-base to begin with; And three: for a combination of both those reasons, they are also the likeliest by far to actually read (or at least, to WANT to read) any of those manifestos. (Because let's face it: what else even exists, anyway, for those people to base their voting intentions on…?) But no matter: Robert Abela has relieved at least part of the sus- pense, by giving us a sneak-pre- view of some of those '1,000 ideas'. And the very first one he mentioned was: 'The Labour Party has pledged a €700 million fund to increase open spaces and parks in cities, towns and villages around the islands.' Sounds terrific, doesn't it? Or at least, it did… the first time I heard that promise, way back when it was originally made (by Joseph Muscat) in around May 2017. Yup, folks! Remember that 2017 election manifesto I mentioned earlier? It's still available for download, you know. And oh my, what a coincide: it just so happens that electoral pledge number 22 (of subsection 11, 'The Environ- ment') reads as follows: 'OPEN SPACES: A new [La- bour] government will prioritize the creation of more open spac- es, both through investment by the government itself, and also through planning regulations…' As far as I can see, then: the on- ly 'new' thing that Robert Abela has added, to an idea that was originally Joseph Muscat's – and which neither Muscat nor Abela has actually delivered on, in well over nine years – was to quan- tify the exact amount that gov- ernment would invest… at a tidy E700 million, no less. Once again, it sounds fairly im- pressive: until you realise that it is nothing but a more detailed ver- sion, of the same old government promise of 'investing in open spaces' that was very evidently NOT implemented after 2017. Hate to be the one to ask, but… is there any particular reason why we should all expect the same promise to be fulfilled, the second time round? (Wait, let me guess: 'Because this time, it will be different… promise!') Now: if this were the only in- stance of an unfulfilled 2017 electoral pledge, suddenly re-ap- pearing on an as-yet unpublished 2022 manifesto… it would be worrying enough. But 'Electoral promise 22' was one of no fewer than 44 pledges concerning 'The Environment'. And would you believe me if I told you that, of the remaining 43… NOT A SINGLE ONE was entirely kept, either? Well… probably not. (Truth be told, I have difficulties in believ- ing it myself.) But then again, why should you have to take my word for it, when: a) you can simply read the manifesto for yourself, and; b) at least one Labour Party spokesman has actually come out and said the same thing himself? It was, to be fair, a while ago – in May 2021, to be precise – but Cabinet Minister Carmelo Abela did say, at the time, that: "A total of 84% of the Labour Party's elec- toral manifesto has been com- pleted." And what is that, if not another way of saying that 16% of the same manifesto had NOT been completed, within the same time-frame? I hope you're paying atten- tion to all these statistics, by the way: because this is where it all starts getting a little surreal. Just a few lines up, I claimed that 44 of those 721 campaign promises – all the ones concerning 'The Environment', basically – remain unfulfilled to this day. And… um… what percentage of 721 is 44, pray tell? Why, it works out at exactly… Bingo! 16.3%! And, well, there you have it, I suppose. Carmelo Abela actually hit the nail bang on the head (and within an en- tirely acceptable 0.3% margin of error, too!) The Labour govern- ment really has reneged on ALL its 2017 environmental promis- es… and the math only proves it, beyond all shadow of doubt. All the same, however: let's take a quick look at those promises again, shall we? Naturally, I won't list out all 44 of them – but suf- fice it to say that they included: • 'The setting-up of an Envi- ronmental Court'. The last thing we actually heard about this was in November 2019, when TVM announced that "government was drawing up a draft bill [which] would be ready by January 2020". Since then, nothing… • 'A stronger Environment & Resources Authority' (and, even more specif- ically, that 'the ERA will impose tougher adminis- trative penalties, so that its enforcement aspect will be more effective'). I don't think you'll need me to inform you that this one never saw the light of day, either. Not only has the ERA has been no- ticeably weakened over the past five years… but the only admin- istrative changes since then, have been to strip it of its few remain-