Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1512115
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 NOVEMBER 2023 ANALYSIS floodgates for Norman Lowell? mother's difficulty in communi- cating with foreign workers who were assisting her. And while Grech touched on a real problem, the question for him is: Would Maltese patients fare any better if Malta stopped 'importing' foreigners and end up having even less assistance in their moment of greatest need? Historical ironies: How parties toy with the far right in opposition In his reply to Grech's speech the Prime Minister was quick to denounce the use of far-right language in an attempt to scare Maltese people about foreign- ers. Abela even singled out an editorial on In-Nazzjon which created a distinction between foreigners and "indigenous" Maltese. In this sense Grech gave Abela the opportunity to stand on the moral high ground and posture for the middle ground. Iron- ically before 2013 it was Law- rence Gonzi as prime minister who used to lambast the La- bour Opposition led by Joseph Muscat for toying with far-right discourse with regards to asy- lum seekers arriving in Malta by boat. Even former PN leader Adrian Delia who said the same things Grech is saying now was often singled out by the then dissident wing of the party for pandering to the far right. Irrespective of ideology, opposition parties in Malta tend to toy with mi- gration anxieties to lure disen- chanted voters from the other side. While Labour pounced on boat arrivals in the Gonzi era, it is now the PN's turn to capital- ise on discontentment with the influx of economic migrants. Robert Abela also reminded his own xenophobic audience that his rival had been reluctant to accept his inane challenge to agree with him that Malta was "full up" with regards to asylum seekers in 2020. But in a scenario where dis- enchantment with the political class is growing, the stakes for both parties may be higher this time around. It is unlikely for an establish- ment figurehead like Grech to capture the anti-immigrant vote and yet he risks mainstreaming far right arguments, giving them greater legitimacy. Turning mi- gration into the main issue of MEP elections could well be counterproductive for the PN. Let's not forget that Delia's attempt to milk the same issue, with mock-ups of Labour bill- boards apologising for 'stuffing Malta with foreigners' was un- successful. In fact, it was the far right which ultimately benefit- ted from this sentiment scoring its best result in a national elec- tion, just weeks after the murder of Lassana Cisse. Moreover, in an election where protest votes have no consequence on who governs the country, angry, dis- enchanted and xenophobic vot- ers may well prefer the unadul- terated and toxic far right brand offered by someone like Norman Lowell to Grech's terse balanc- ing act to capitalise on this issue without crossing the line. The problem for Grech is that the temptation to cross the line will grow, the more he tries to milk it. Like other centre-right parties on the continent, Grech is taking a leap in the dark. Geert Wilders' success in Dutch elections on the same day of Grech's inflammatory speech is a reminder that at- tempts by mainstream parties to capitalise on the migration issue often backfire. Voters dis- enchanted by the balancing acts of the political class ultimately opt for the original doc brand offered by self-avowed 'racial- ists' like Norman Lowell. But while Abela like Gonzi before him is right in condemn- ing the seepage of far-right dis- course into the political main- stream, it is the inequalities ingrained in the dominant eco- nomic model which contain the seeds of discontentment that makes the ground fertile for the far right. Abela insists that he is now correcting this model by clamp- ing down on abusive practices, however it remains to be seen whether he has the resolve to push through measures which could alienate those who have gorged themselves during the 'best of times'. Norman Lowell (left) could very well end up benefitting from the PN's anti-foreigner rhetoric in next year's European Parliament election as he tries to emulate far-right leader Geert Wilders's success in the Netherlands