Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1503999
NEWS ANALYSIS 9 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 JULY 2023 diciary is often associated with the PN-aligned establishment. To justify his change of heart Abela lashed out at the mag- istrate for extending the Sofia inquiry for yet another period. There is nothing wrong in pointing out that eight months seems a bit too long for a mag- isterial inquiry to be conclud- ed, especially when a similar inquiry in the Miriam Pace case lasted one-and-a-half months. The Opposition could well have defused this weapon in Abela's arsenal by joining in the call on the magistrate to conclude her work as fast as possible. But the PM's choice to blame it on the magistrate sees him threading on thin ice. His out- burst may further undermine trust in the judiciary on the eve of major decisions like that re- lated to the pending inquiry on the Vitals scandal, which may lead to the prosecution of for- mer Labour politicians. Moreover, the PM was hitting out against a target (the mag- istrate) who cannot defend herself in public to justify her position. It is also pertinent to point out that the problem of delays in inquiries is a long-standing one to the extent that 34 out of 59 inquiries on deaths or major accidents in the construction sector (40%) commenced after 2017 remain pending. Surely this requires serious reflection and action, includ- ing that of ensuring the ju- diciary is equipped by all the necessary tools to deliver jus- tice in a timely manner. More- over, Abela himself has never questioned the delays in other pending inquiries including those related to the spin offs from the Panama and hospital scandals. Still, while no cow is sacred, and the judiciary is not above scrutiny, it is clear that little has changed since last week when the 40 Labour MPs voted against a public inquiry. Even at that stage there was no clear indication that the magisterial inquiry was nearing conclu- sion. And even at that stage Abela could have committed himself to calling a public inquiry im- mediately after the publication of the magisterial inquiry, thus leaving space for manoeuvre. Instead, he argued that in this case a public inquiry was not needed as justice can only be delivered by a magisterial in- quiry. This clearly shows that what changed was the public mood and the angry backlash against the government among, in- cluding Labour's grassroots, who sympathised and identi- fied with Isabelle Bonnici's im- passioned call for justice. This was also a case in which Opposition leader Bernard Grech played his cards well, leaving space for civil society to set the tune while show- ing his support without going overboard. In this sense it was difficult for Abela to depict Bonnici's campaign as a parti- san one. Bonnici's own words of praise for the PM during last Monday's vigil was proof enough of her unwillingness to play a political game. This also shows that while Abela excels in direct conflicts with the Op- position, he is much weaker when confronted by non-par- tisan campaigns and calls for justice. In this sense, Isabelle Bonnici was a hard nut to crack, even harder than Daphne Caruana Galizia's family which in the Labour psyche is associated with her vitriolic anti-Labour bias. Abela's history of U-turns The latest episode also ex- poses one major strength and one major weakness in Abela's political character; his inabil- ity to stop digging when in a hole and his inability to stop elegantly by providing a logical explanation for his U-turns. Even before being elected La- bour leader, Abela initially failed to see any conflict on his wife retaining her lawyer job in the Planning Authority. Yet, faced with a backlash he changed tack promising to do away with this potential con- flict. Before the general election he had dropped a yacht marina proposal in Marsaskala which his government had previously supported to send a message to disenchanted voters angered by the government's poor track-record on environmental issues. This was a classic case of Abela testing the waters be- fore withdrawing when faced by a backlash. But in this case the withdrawal was well cho- reographed as an act of green redemption during the elec- toral campaign. Those criticis- ing the PM for being weak for committing a U-turn may well consider the alternative of hav- ing a PM who rides rough shod on popular demands. Yet there have been less ele- gant U-turns. Even with regards to Rosianne Cutajar, the PM changed tack from wholeheartedly defend- ing the Labour MP from a "mi- sogynistic attack" to ditching her after her chats with Yor- gen Fenech became the talk of town. Just weeks ago, Abela even tried to give the impression that nothing had changed in proposed amendments to the abortion law, despite the fun- damental change that unlike the original amendment, the final version did not include any provision for abortion in cases where women risk grave jeopardy to her health in non-life-threatening situa- tions. Instead Abela chose to ditch what he originally presented as a feminist principal worth fighting for in the face of a conservative backlash, to avoid a damaging constitutional cri- sis involving the Presidency. In so doing pro-choice voices felt understandably betrayed sim- ply because Abela had over- reached ultimately promising what he could not deliver and for sacrificing a principle on the altar of political conveni- ence. And while on abortion Ab- ela had a principle to fallback to for pressing ahead with the reform, in the case of Isabelle Bonnici's call for a public in- quiry his obstinance was moti- vated by an incomprehensible legalism. The latest U-turn does sug- gest that the PM is not pig headed but the fact that he did not anticipate the turn of events has raised questions on his political savviness and nous. It remains to be seen wheth- er Abela's U-turn has arrested the haemorrhage of trust in Labour's own heartlands. Not pig-headed but brusque