Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1499951
NEWS ANALYSIS 9 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 MAY 2023 aimed at hurting political al- lies of the prime minister. The journalists were only acquitted from conspiracy charges in 2022. Moreover, both governments have been under the interna- tional spotlight for the alleged push back of migrants cross- ing the Mediterranean, a prac- tice denounced by NGOs, but which endeared both govern- ments with xenophobic voters in both countries. And Greece like Malta has a history of partisan rivalry between two big parties; the socialist PASOK and the con- servative New Democracy that dominated Greek politics till the advent of Syriza in 2015, often competing for votes by dispensing political patronage at local level. But there are also significant differences between the two Mediterranean countries. In Malta the opposition National- ist Party had lost power to a La- bour Party led by Joseph Mus- cat who emphasised continuity in business-friendly economic policies. In contrast, Syriza had taken on both New Democracy and the socialist PASOK, promis- ing a radical break with their corrupt ways while promising to use its mandate to re-nego- tiate the terms of the financial bailout imposed by the EU and financial institutions. The lat- ter promise proved to be Syr- iza's undoing, paving the way for New Democracy's come- back in the 2018 election. And while Syriza had inherit- ed a devastated Greek economy when elected to power in 2015, two years earlier the Labour Party in Malta had inherited a lethargic but stable economy which it rebooted by pushing the accelerator in sectors like construction while opening the employment market to cheap labour from outside the Euro- pean Union. Neither has Malta ever came close to the collapse in living standards experienced by mil- lions of Greeks who had to endure pension and pay cuts after their country defaulted on its debt. Malta's public debt had almost reached 75% at the end of the PN government in 2013, with the incoming La- bour administration bringing this down significantly to be- low 50%. Today, despite heavy outlays on COVID wage sup- plements and energy subsidies, Malta's debt remains below 60% of its GDP. Unlike the Maltese, the Greeks had very little to lose when they voted for Syriza and for a rejection of bailout terms imposed by the EU in a subse- quent referendum. But Syriza's distant victory in 2015 stands as a reminder that when hard- pressed by deteriorating living standards electorates can also demand a radical break with the past, albeit satisfying such expectations may well be a tall order for insurgent parties like Syriza, which can generate an even bigger disappointment. In this sense Tsipras's attempt to change Syriza from an in- surgent party promising a new dawn into a mainstream party has backfired. The strong hand at the helm In fact, New Democracy's popularity is mostly the result of a yearning for economic sta- bility following a roller coaster decade during which Greece had hit rock bottom. It was in this context that Mitsotakis warned that the country needed a "strong hand at the helm" in a time of inter- national instability, and that failure to re-elect his party will undermine Greece's economic rebound after a decade-long debt crisis. And although Mal- ta's economy has largely by- passed any major crisis, the yearning for stability is one consistent feature in the prop- aganda of ruling parties. Mit- sotakis's "strong hand at the helm" is itself reminiscent of the "safe pair of hands" image evoked by Lawrence Gonzi's Nationalist Party in the face of the challenge posed by Alfred Sant's Labour Party which was associated with instability. Even in 2013, the PN warned that Labour would turn Mal- ta into the next Greece with Simon Busuttil warning that Muscat would drive the coun- try against the wall. Ironically, to dispel this per- ception of Labour as a disrupt- ing force, Joseph Muscat went to the other extreme of turn- ing Labour into a pro-business party whose deals ended up facilitating corruption and cro- nyism. But it is now Abela who is presenting himself as the incar- nation of stability while depict- ing the Opposition as a threat to stability. But this depends on his ability to keep the economy running, a task which in the long term could be jeopardized by the problems unleashed by the accelerated growth spurt under Muscat like the unsus- tainable pressures on infra- structure. The PN can easily wear its old clothes to project itself as a reliable manager, in doing so it risks alienating voters who are fed up with Labour but also shun the PN's cozy relationship with the establishment. This could be one of the rea- sons why 16% of PL voters in 2022 are now intent on not voting but would still not trust the PN. Balancing the conflicting need for stability and change remains one of the biggest challenges for oppositions the world over. electorates immune to scandal?