Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1508267
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 SEPTEMBER 2023 8 INTERVIEW Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt Politicians cannot expect 'trust', We seem to be living in an age characterised by declining trust in the political system. According to our surveys, the Labour Party is currently haemorrhaging votes. Recent events (especially in Hamrun) suggest that the PN is still suf- fering from infighting, since the Adrian Delia ordeal. Mean- while, the latest Eurobarome- ter survey shows that Malta's trust in the EU has likewise declined by a massive 40%, since last year alone. As both a sociologist, and a former politician in your own right: how do you account for this loss of trust, yourself? As far as the EU goes, I was pretty surprised by that Eu- robarometer survey, to tell you the truth. This sort of thing had never happened be- fore. Usually, it's the other way round: Mata is one of the member states which expresses the highest level of trust, in the EU. It's always amongst the top performers, in this regard. Why is this happening? For what it's worth, my own qual- ified guess is that has to do with migration. Because yet again, immigration is a major concern, according to Euroba- rometer surveys; and the EU doesn't seem to be reaching the expectations of people in Mal- ta, on that front. It's possible that the Ukraine war might also have had an im- pact; but I doubt it, because the same survey also shows that a huge majority [91%] actually support the EU's position on Ukraine. There may also be other fac- tors. One thing I've been hear- ing quite a lot, recently, is that some people may have had higher expectations from the EU, with regard to corruption, governance, 'The Rule of Law', and so forth. So there is that aspect as well; though it's prob- ably not as much of an issue, as it is sometimes projected. Ultimately, however, I think it is mostly related to migration: which is an issue that affects people from all different social groups, and different political backgrounds. Not to mention the fact that migration has been the most important con- cern for 12 out of the last 13 Eurobarometers: even if this latest one didn't focus specifi- cally on the issue... The survey itself may not have focused on migration; but it unfolded against the back- drop of Lampedusa receiving 8,000 asylum seekers – more than the entire island's pop- ulation - in just 24 hours. At the risk of a Devil's advocate question: aren't people justi- fied in 'losing faith in the EU'... when the EU has promised so much, on this issue; but deliv- ered so little? Oh, I think their concern IS justified. First of all, I want to make it very clear that I com- pletely disagree with people – some of whom are friends and colleagues of mine – who au- tomatically label all those who are concerned with migration, as 'racist', or 'far right'. This is happening across Eu- rope, not just in Malta. And it is actually helping the Far Right – and other parties on the right of the spectrum – to win a lot of support, across Europe and the rest of the world. One of the many reasons for this, is that [more moderate] politi- cians, opinion-makers and so forth, do not want to speak about migration, at all: because they will be branded as racist, or whatever, by some of their own cohorts. And therefore, the game is being given away to the Far Right parties... ... who DO 'speak about mi- gration', all the time. If I'm un- derstanding you correctly: the silence of mainstream parties, on migration, allows the Far Right to project itself as 'rep- resenting people's concerns, that other parties ignore'? Exactly. Because how can you say – and this applies not just to political parties, but even to various NGOs: some of which which I support – that you're 'speaking on behalf of the peo- ple'... and then, not even men- tion one of the people's upper- most concerns? Now: migration itself, as an issue, is about more than cases like Lampedusa; or other in- stances where migrants arrive by boat. It also has to do with the issue of 'overpopulation': i.e., with people coming here legally, from other countries, to live and work. And yes, that is a huge issue for Malta. I think it needs be discussed, whatever one's opin- ion in the matter. And obvious- ly, by 'discussion', I don't mean saying: 'Go back to your coun- try!' I don't think we can, you know, just go back to a 'Golden Age' [of Maltese homogeneity], which probably never even ex- isted. But it is an issue, all the same. Even if you ignore all the social and cultural factors, and look only at the infrastructure of the country. This summer, I don't think I've ever seen as many infrastructural problems, since the early 1990s: when we had rubbish everywhere; sewage all over the place; and beaches where you couldn't swim. Not to mention blackouts... As such, you can't just ignore the fact that our infrastruc- ture cannot actually sustain the number of people living on the islands. People are right to be concerned about it; and it's wrong to label those people as 'racists', 'xenophobes', 'idiots', or whatever else... Turning away from the EU, towards local politics: how much would you say this is- sue – migration/overpopula- tion - is impacting the loss of trust in the Labour and Na- tionalist Parties, too? Or are there other reasons why Mal- ta's mainstream parties seem to be losing favour, with the electorate? Let's take the two parties separately. In a recent column I wrote for The Malta Inde- pendent, I referred to the PN as being still attached to a dis- course that's sort of... 'priestly'. You know: a 'holier-than-thou' discourse, which many people find off-putting. First of all, because people don't actually need a political party, to tell them that. If they want to hear Malta seems to be losing its confidence in politics, across the board. For sociologist (and former politician with both AD and PN) MICHAEL BRIGUGLIO, this is the inevitable consequence of a political 'disconnect', with the man in the street