Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1508267
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 SEPTEMBER 2023 9 INTERVIEW if they ignore people's concerns that sort of message, they can simply 'go to Mass'. And secondly, because there are many people out there, who still do not trust the PN over things which it has done in the past. Both when it was in gov- ernment; and even in these re- cent years... such as the ousting of Adrian Delia: which, in my view, was 'not on', because they didn't give him a chance to lead the party for the full five years. So the PN's major issue, I think, is that it's speaking like a 'moralist'; it's still project- ing itself as the 'Holy Ones'. I watched Bernard Grech's speech yesterday, for instance. It was almost as if he was say- ing that Labourites are some- how automatically 'inferior'. He didn't say that in so many words, obviously... but the way he framed things, was like: 'If it's Labour... it's bad'. That doesn't attract people to the PN's cause. Actually, La- bour is only gaining from this: because this is what the PN used to do before, in the days when it used to win one elec- tion, after another. One of the major reasons for this winning streak was that, in the early 90s, the PN had at- tracted a cohort of center-left, middle-class people, with high levels of education – includ- ing university academics - who in another circuit, or in other countries, would never have ended up voting for a center- right party, like the PN. Now, things have changed. The Nationalist Party has sort of 'closed in upon itself': which I think is counterproductive. And Labour, with all its de- fects - and it has very many – is doing the opposite. Instead of pushing people who disagree with it away, Labour tries to, you know, 'suck them all in'. Which is what the PN used to do... except that Labour is do- ing it, in much a better way. By 'better', of course, I don't mean that it's 'ethically cor- rect'. Far from it, in fact. But if you remove morality from the equation, and look at it only from a cynical, politically 'cal- culating' perspective... Labour is certainly being more effec- tive, at the PN's old game. And yet, Labour seems to be suffering from a trust fall-out, too. And this has implications for next year's European elec- tions: given that Labour has now been in power for 10 years... and voters traditional- ly use EP (and local) elections, as an outlet for 'discontent with their own party'. How do you see things panning out? I don't want to make any spe- cific predictions; but I think La- bour has a huge issue, coming up next year. Many people, as you say, use local and Europe- an elections to 'send out a mes- sage'. Some don't turn up to vote, at all; and the major polit- ical parties will know who they are, because they have access – obscenely, in my opinion – to information about non-voters; and will even phone them up afterwards. So some people actually ab- stain from voting, specifically so that they DO get this phone- call, from the party... so they can tell them, directly, 'whatev- er the matter might be'. Others might want to remain anonymous... so they simply invalidate their vote. I myself know many people who are saying they're 'not going to vote': one way, or the other. So I think Labour definitely has a problem, in that regard... even if my guess is that many of those people would still vote Labour in a general election, anyway. Nonetheless, some things are now being dragged out into the open. If you listen to Manuel Cuschieri, for example – who is, you know, like the 'rock-star' of the Labour hard-core – he does mention grievances, com- ing from Labour supporters. And this is unusual, for a La- bour Party that has traditional- ly always avoided 'hanging out its dirty linen, in public'. And apart from Manuel Cuschieri, there have been others. The Jean-Paul Sofia issue, for example. I don't off-hand remember the exact sequence of events. But in the final in- stance, there seems to have been a crescendo: first Deborah Schembri; then Jason Micallef; then Joseph Muscat, no less... all saying that 'there should be a public inquiry'. And this left Robert Abela with no option, but to say 'Yes'. Now: was this planned in ad- vance? I have no idea. But in any case, it shows that there is some form of rupture, going on within the Labour Party. All the same, I don't think it's a rupture that the Nationalist Party is benefitting from, at the moment... and nor are any of the third parties. Speaking of which: ADPD – a party you once led – also seems to be struggling, right now. And yet, we are living at a time when 'the Environment' has risen to become a major concern, in all local surveys. Why do think Malta's Green Party still lags so far behind, in spite of everything? One of the contradictions fac- ing ADPD, at the moment, is that the party is focusing on is- sues which... I agree with, don't get me wrong. I agree with Europe's climate policies, and so forth. But the reality is that those 'global' environmental concerns – climate change, etc. – are not necessarily the con- cerns affecting people in their daily lives, right now. Not to mention that some of the things ADPD is proposing, will definitely not be popular with the electorate. We have seen this in the Netherlands, recently; and other countries like France and Britain. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, for example, has just changed his policies, because there was a backlash against certain cli- mate-friendly measures... But if 'The Environment' is becoming a major public con- cern, at the moment: it's part- ly because of climate change, yes. But it is mostly about the 'smaller' (so to speak) issues, that are affecting the people's quality of life. The building that's going up next door... or the fact there is rubbish accu- mulating on pavements, every- where you look. Even the pavements, them- selves. How often do the bigger parties talk about the state of pavements, in Malta? Never... because they're only interested in talking about 'mega-projects' (and let's face it: there might be other reasons for that, behind the scenes.) But for many people, the state of pavements is actually a very, very serious matter. It's a daily, bread-and-butter, accessibili- ty concern: for the elderly; the mobility-impaired; for parents with push-chairs: and for pret- ty much everyone, at the end of the day. And yet, none of the larg- er parties seems to be in any way interested, or concerned. This is where I see an enor- mous opportunity, for ADPD. I think the party should focus on the local environmental is- sues, more: and for that reason, I think it should invest much more in local-council elections; rather than the European Par- liament.... where, incidentally, I seriously doubt whether ADPD even can get elected, at all. And while the next general election is still too far away, to speculate... there are no signs, at the moment, showing that ADPD - or any other third par- ty, or independent candidate – actually stands a chance, either. In local elections, however, it's a different story. ADPD does have a history of getting elected, at this level. I myself was a councillor for four legis- latures. So was Ralph Cassar... and there were others, too. So that is a huge window of op- portunity, for ADPD: which the party seems to be ignoring. Meanwhile, the fact that AD- PD is not immersing itself, as it should, in local issues, is al- so giving space to NGOs to 'fill up that void' themselves. And rightly so: they're doing what they should logically be doing, under the circumstances. But I would say that ADPD should be there, too – along with the NGOs, obviously. They should really be active on the ground, in local issues; and particularly in local elections, where people are ready to vote for another party, without threatening the status quo. Because like I said earlier: no party – be it PN, PL, ADPD, or any other – can expect to 'speak on behalf of the peo- ple'... if it's not going to listen to the people's concerns.