Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/199842
13 Interview maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2013 Joseph Cuschieri finally gets to give MaltaToday a piece of his mind, over dinner. It has taken five years, but the Labour MEP is finally interviewed by this newspaper about his work in the EP and Labour's record. Strasbourg... change of government precedes this kind of change, especially with a party that has long been in Opposition. It needs people of trust." Does it also need people of trust like Lou Bondì, Jesmond Mugliett or Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando (respectively, Labour's bête noire of the public broadcaster now appointed on national festivities committee, and former MPs targeted over graft allegations by pre-Muscat leadership). Is that meritocracy? "It's the prime minister's judgement," Cuschieri – who certainly disagrees with the Bondì appointment – saus. "You can disagree with [Muscat], like I did. And then there are former MPs on government boards who have a lot of experience. This is also meritocracy." If anything, Cuschieri says he would have carried out the changes faster, saying a party needs absolute control on the situation when it is elected to government. I ask whether this was only down to the political opportunism of new Labour, with former 'enemies' like John Dalli (former Nationalist minister and European Commissioner) appointed as an advisor on health policy. "In politics the criticism is towards the political attitude of the person… we respected him as a European Commissioner, as much we respect the present commissioner [Tonio Borg]. The tobacco debacle was an unhappy matter, a very uncomfortable matter, for the entire Maltese delegation here. It was a burning issue and we wanted to see that somebody who is accused has the right to defend himself. "I don't think Dalli was given the right to do so, and I think there was the intention from the very start not to give him that right. The Maltese delegation here contributed to ensure, at the very least, that he got the right to defend himself. Whether he is right or not is another matter." As things stand, the Prime Minister's decision to appoint Dalli as a consultant on health policy now is under attack because the allegations of trading in influence against the former commissioner in the OLAF investigation, are still under investigation by the Maltese police, and not yet closed. So has 'Malta Taghna Lkoll' been a strategy to take in any adversary of the Nationalist government, within the Labour fold? "No. We are putting that very slogan into effect in Malta. And even with the involvement of people like Dalli. Because it's not that these people fell out with the Nationalist government, but it was the Nationalist government that fell out with them. Which is why the present government is doing the right thing to use their talents." We finally turn to irregular migration, and what is expected to be one of the more dominant issues in the forthcoming 2014 elections for Maltese candidates. Cuschieri says he will keep on insisting that migration is a European problem, not just Malta's, and that mandatory burden-sharing remains a key plank of Labour policy. We briefly mention the attempted pushbacks last July, and whether this affected Malta's reputation inside the EP. "I think it was a stand that showed the government was not ready to just allow anything. I didn't see any negative feedback here. It wasn't an 'attempted' pushback: it didn't happen, and the government did not breach any international law. As we know the only pushback that happened took place back in 2002," Cuschieri says. "In reality, there were those who were taken aback by the Maltese government's position. I would have condemned the government if a pushback had taken place, but it made a strong stand and I praise that, because migration is firmly on the European agenda. Unfortunately, even as a result of the tragedies that took place: and it is a misfortune. People had to die for an urgent discussion to take place inside the EP. "But it's not a question of money anymore. It's our size that cannot cater for this kind of influx… do we want Malta to be a cage for irregular migrants? "Not ever. It's unfair to asylum seekers, because who can justify an 18-month detention period for somebody who has survived that kind of voyage? I believe that anybody who is granted protection or refugee status does not need to stay in Malta necessarily: and other states have to take a share of this responsibility." Disclaimer: The author was on an expenses-paid familiarisation visit to the European Parliament on invitation of Labour MEP Joseph Cuschieri