Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/232206
23 Opinion maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 DECEMBER 2013 Stefano Mallia 2013 is a trend-setter for 2014 he end of a year and the beginning of a new one provide the perfect opportunity to assess the former and speculate about the new one. 2014 is going to be another election year, during which we will be called to vote in the May European elections. Just for the record, 2014 will see the 100th anniversary since the start of World War I, the 50th anniversary of Malta's independence and the 10th anniversary of EU membership. There is plenty to commemorate, but the most important political event must surely be the European Election, in which I strongly suspect Europe is likely to feature only mildly. Government and Opposition will use the election to measure their popularity. Most of what will happen in 2014 is connected to the main political decisions taken in 2013. Hence the year which is on its way out deserves special attention. I think that the March general election is probably the event that marks it as a unique year in Maltese history. It is the year that the Labour Party was returned to government after nearly 24 years in opposition with an unprecedented nine-seat majority. It was a victory built on a mountain of promises and hopes for a better future. The most important of these promises was encapsulated in the slogan 'Malta Taghna Lkoll' ('Malta for All'). It is these promises which come next May, the citizens will no doubt use to judge how far this government is to be trusted. Let us not forget that Labour's unprecedented electoral victory happened because many voters who had never voted for it shifted their allegiance to it. They believed that the time had come for change and that Labour had indeed changed. They accepted its promises that it would be inclusive. In the meantime 2013 is also a landmark year for the Nationalist Party. The heavy electoral defeat which it suffered has ignited an internal process of adaptation that is likely to take a couple of years to mature to its fullness. However apart from its traditional core, those of its other supporters who still stick with it are nervous that change is not percolating fast enough to the surface. Overall the situation reflects a familiar pattern of political behaviour in most democracies. Winning parties begin declining as soon as the last victory parade is over while losing parties begin to recover. The speed of these processes depends on the quality of the respective party leaderships. 2013 has already provided some signs of what to expect in this respect. So we need to ask: how have nine months of Labour government affected public sentiment? Many remain happy that their party is back in government. But others are disappointed by the relative ease with which Labour has slipped back to old and unfortunate habits. PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD T "So we need to ask: how have nine months of Labour government affected public sentiment?" Let us not forget that Labour's unprecedented electoral victory happened because many voters who had never voted for it shifted their allegiance to it Old habits die hard. Over the past nine months we have seen the government behave as if it is still in opposition. The comfortable majority which it won does not seem to have made it comfortably at ease. On the contrary, it may be encouraging some negative trends. Rashness is rearing its head again, as amply shown by the new citizenship scheme. And this was not a "one off". Recall the hastily announced pushback policy from which Malta had later to retreat. Couple this with the call for Europe to smell the coffee. Take the rush to China last summer and the lightning deal whose implications are yet to be fully explained. Add to these the rashly proposed changes to our planning policies and you start to wonder what is really going on. In the public service we have also taken a few backward steps. Trained and resourceful persons who always gave their best in the public interest have been sidelined. So have many who had joined Labour's pre-election "movement". Labourites whose only sin was to do their job well during the Nationalist administrations are also treated with suspicion. There is a worn out "principle" at the heart of both political parties but which is more pronounced with Labour, that the best public servants are necessarily party loyalists. But the effective implementation of policies – and particularly our relations with the EU – requires only the best irrespective of political beliefs. I say these things with nothing but deep regret. Regret that the Labour Party and indeed Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had a real, maybe once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to usher in a new way of doing politics in our country. Its nine-seat majority should have given it enough security to show a political maturity that the country desperately desires. Instead we have been treated with much and worse of the same. 2014 is thus going to be a crucial one. Mindless disregard for public sentiment that often grows naturally from such a big parliamentary majority may not at first appear threatening, but it is damaging in the long-term. The signs emanating from 2013 are not very encouraging. I trust and hope that I am wrong. Stefano Mallia is a Nationalist candidate in the forthcoming European Parliamentary elections Overall the situation reflects a familiar pattern of political behaviour in most democracies. Winning parties begin declining as soon as the last victory parade is over while losing parties begin to recover