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11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 AUGUST 2022 NEWS lition with the 5 Star Movement (M5S) Underlying the dispute be- tween Malta and Italy was the latter's insistence that Malta should take in all immigrants rescued in its search and rescue area. This policy was reversed by Enrico Letta's centre-left ad- ministration, which embarked on 'Operazione Mare Nostrum' with Italy taking responsibility over migration in the wake of tragedies which saw hundreds of migrants losing their lives at Lampedusa. The policy was tweaked by successive governments led by Matteo Renzi and Paolo Gen- tiloni, who openly clashed with NGOs rescuing migrants on the sea after Mare Nostrum was discontinued. But Malta was still largely spared from boat arrivals between 2013 and 2018 as Italy backed off from squabbling with tiny Malta. This period, which coincid- ed with Joseph Muscat's po- litical 'bromance' with Mat- teo Renzi, was interrupted by the election of a populist coalition between the Lega and the M5S, in which Mat- teo Salvini served as foreign minister. Once again Malta found it- self on the receiving end of arrivals, relying on ad-hoc pacts between willing EU member states led by Em- manuel Macron's France, to share responsibility over migrants stranded on the high sea during a number of stand-offs between Italy and Malta. But this policy was partly reversed under subsequent coalitions, including the tech- nocratic government led by banker Mario Draghi, who adopted a less hawkish ap- proach despite the inclusion of Salvini's hard-right in his coa- lition. Fighting organised crime Migration apart, both former Maltese ministers concur on the need of a closer relationship with Italy in combating organ- ised crime. Bartolo contends that Malta and Italy need a strong strate- gic partnership whoever is in government in both countries. "It should include coopera- tion in combating human traf- ficking and human smuggling from North Africa but would be myopic to restrict it to this area. We need to work togeth- er to fight all kinds of economic crime like tax evasion and mon- ey laundering." Moreover Malta and Italy should strengthen their collab- oration in the framework of the Central Mediterranean Securi- ty Initiative to fight oil, arms, drug, medicine and waste traf- ficking that takes place in the Wild West of the Hurds Bank. "The fact that this area is be- yond the national jurisdiction of both Italy and Malta makes cooperation against transna- tional crime more complicat- ed," he notes. Mifsud Bonnici agrees, noting the risk posed by infiltration of organised crime in the econ- omy. "We have a lot to learn from the Italian experience in fighting the mafia with ap- propriate legislation. We need to share the know-how and stronger cooperation between officials on both sides to con- trast the presence of criminal elements which may thrive on economic growth but in the process erodes future legitimate investment." Mifsud Bonnici also notes the importance of concurrent re- gional elections in Sicily which are just as important for Mal- ta as national elections in It- aly, especially in view of the strong connection between the two islands in various sectors including energy. He expects sea connections linking Mal- ta to Europe through Sicily to become crucial in view of in- creased air travel costs. "Therefore Malta's econom- ic prosperity also depends on good roads and rail connections in Sicily." In this aspect, Mifsud Bonnici banks on the election of Rena- to Schifani, a former Christian Democrat and Forza Italia min- ister, who belongs to the more moderate wing of the coalition. The Mediterranean dimension And both former ministers insist on the need of Malta and Italy working together to push the Mediterranean and Africa further up the EU agenda. "I feel that as one-third of EU member states (9 out of 27), the Mediterranean European coun- tries are allowing the Eastern Neighbourhood and Indo-Pa- cific framework to dominate the EU agenda, to the detriment of our relationship with the Med- iterranean and Sub Saharan Af- rica," Bartolo said. He warns that this "geopo- litical vacuum" on the African continent "is allowing devel- opments there not only to be without the EU but also against the EU". Mifsud Bonnici referred to the Mediterranean vision of Italian politicians like Aldo Moro, and notes that the Draghi govern- ment has strengthened its ties with France, recalibrating the balance of power in the EU and restoring Italian prestige as a global player. He also expresses concern at growing instability in Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Libya, warning that in the absence of a European and Mediterranean vision, there is a growing risk of Russian activity in these coun- tries. But according to Mifsud Bon- nici, this depends on high-level dialogue, noting that personal contact between Maltese and Italian PMs was limited fol- lowing the Muscat-Renzi bro- mance. "There have been very little high level contact in re- cent years and contact between Draghi and Abela was limited to meetings on the fringe of EU summits." Less Europe? While not expecting any big rift between Italy and Europe, Bartolo does expect a Melo- ni-led government to oppose a more federal union. A Meloni-led government, ac- cording to Bartolo, will "stress that the EU is an intergovern- mental and not a federal un- ion and that an important role remains for the decisions of sovereign states and that Brus- sels does not concentrate more power away from the capitals of Member States." He also thinks that this leaves room for "common ground" between the two nations. "We should find common ground on this as it is not in our interest to get absorbed in a one-size-fits all federal European Union. We should not be timid in asserting our national interest in the EU. Other Member States do that, even if they camouflage their posture." now formed their own centrist alliance, possibly in the hope that cracks in the centre-right alliance may lead to a new it- eration of the Draghi govern- ment. This coalition has made no remarkable progress in the polls but has attracted former exponents from Forza Italia, like Mara Carfagna. On the right, the agreement between Meloni, Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi stipulates that in the advent of a right- wing victory, whoever of the three get most votes will be- come Prime Minister. Meloni was the only one of the three not to support the Draghi gov- ernment and has seen support for her party increase by 18 points since 2018. On the other hand Salvini's gamble to gain greater respectability by sup- porting the Draghi government has not paid off as his party lost more ground to Meloni. The coalition is united by a promise to cut taxes and intro- duce a socially regressive flat tax, and the introduction of a presidential system of govern- ment. The focus on migration gives the right-wing an easy narra- tive, which is simpler to com- municate through memes and slogans, than the left's more complex, intellectual and mor- al arguments. But moderate elements in the centre-right are apprehensive on Meloni's past sympathy for Vladimir Putin, whom she disowned after the invasion of Ukriane and her sovereignty positions. Despite his misgivings on technocratic governments due to his firm belief in the need of a political mandate, Car- melo Mifsud Bonnici does not exclude a repeat of the Draghi experience as more moderate elements seek to clip the wings of extremists. Who will win? To win the election, a coalition needs a minimum of 201 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 104 seats in the Senate. The number of MPs was drasti- cally reduced from 630 in the Chamber and 315 in the Sen- ate following a referendum in 2020. A third of the seats in both chambers is elected through the first-past-the-post system, with which wider coalitions have an advantage, while the rest are elected through pro- portional representation with a 3% treshold. The latest polls suggest that the right-wing coalition is on track of winning 245 seats in the chamber and 127 seats in the senate, a result which would ensure it a workable majority. But that would de- pend on the right wing coali- tion retaining its unity.