Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/589122
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2015 7 News Busuttil punches hard, but where's the beef? effective and hard-hitting on Labour's opacity and political appointments, but less focused Opposition leader's strategy enough to make him prime minister? asks JAMES DEBONO Secrecy in energy deals Busuttil is also right to hit out at the government's secrecy in its en- ergy deals. He is right in demanding the full publication of agreements signed with ElectroGas from which En- emalta will buy LNG. And if energy from the Sicily inter- connector is significantly cheaper from that established in the power- purchase agreement with Electro- Gas as Busuttil claims, it's only logi- cal that Enemalta buys energy from the cheapest option. For while it is clear that Enemalta will be contrac- tually bound to buy energy at a fixed price from ElectroGas for the first seven years, it is not clear how much for our energy needs will Malta be obliged to buy from ElectroGas. And since Enemalta is bound to buy all of ElectroGas's energy, Malta's flexibil- ity in the use of the interconnector is already severely limited. In this sense it is up to government to clarify whether it has retained its sovereign right to determine Malta's energy mix or whether it has relin- quished it. But Busuttil went one step further, committing himself to renege on a legally binding agree- ment and allowing the government to throw the ball back in his court, by questioning his credibility in honouring commitments made with the private sector. Busuttil's hardline stance may be reminiscent of Alfred Sant, who when elected found himself unable to honour major commitments to reverse contractual decisions taken by the previous government. Busut- til affirms his party's independence from ElectroGas consortium while trying to throw Labour in the un- comfortable position of sounding like the mouthpiece of energy oli- garchs. But is Busuttil's unwillingness to accommodate big business on this issue helping him make inroads among a category of Labour vot- ers averse to Muscat's pro business stance? Government is yet to silence him on this front, and this can only be done by confirming whether the ElectroGas agreement obliges Malta to buy a set amount of energy and for how much. If it turns out that gov- ernment is contractually bound to buy a fixed amount of energy from ElectroGas, Busuttil will be vindi- cated. On this major transparency issue the onus is on government not on Busuttil. But Busuttil's criticism on energy pricing lacks the populist bite for one simple reason: his criticism is that prices have not dropped enough, an argument that's much harder to sell considering that previ- ous PN governments raised tariffs. It is ironic that the interconnector and the more efficient BWSC plant started to reap fruits under a Labour government, enabling it to honour its electoral pledge to cut rates de- spite the LNG plant delay. But voters are more likely to re- member the higher tariffs than the investment made in the energy in- frastructure. Environmental contradictions On the environment Busuttil's ap- proach is contradictory. Malta is risking a property bub- ble, he warns, adding that even ODZ was no longer safely ODZ. But is still not clear how far Bu- suttil will go in excluding ODZ development. "We are not against development but we want sustain- able development," is something Leo Brincat would say to justify his own government's abysmal record. So how can one trust Busuttil if he considers a tunnel linking Malta and Gozo as "sustainable"? This is his greatest environmental contradiction, a proposal which is bound to impact on marine habitats while increasing the flow of traf- fic in to Gozo. Busuttil actually ex- pressed his disappointment that the government had wasted three years by not immediately following up the former government's plans for a tunnel between Malta and Gozo. So Busuttil speaks lyrically on the environment but remains lukewarm on any proposal which may cost him votes. He remains silent on the theft of water resources and even criti- cizes the 50c tourist tax as a 'hidden tax' instead of welcoming the enact- ment of a measure first proposed under Gonzi as a contribution to the environmental fund. No bluepri nt for change Also striking is Busuttil's failure in outlining the basics of a Nationalist blueprint for the country's future. The only hint he gives is that he is averse to government spending and any increase in jobs in public sector. Busuttil's contention that economic growth cannot be sustainable if the government continues to em- ploy people in the way it was doing – 5,500 in two years he claimed – needs to be qualified. His claim would be more credible if he distinguishes between those employed in ministries for admin- istrative jobs and those like Learn- ing Support Assistants employed in important sector like education. Moreover Busuttil may have been too trigger-happy with statistics – some of which open to interpreta- tion – giving Muscat ammunition to hit back by belittling the Opposi- tion leader in his reply. In tackling the government's economic record Busuttil seemed more interesting in sowing doubt than in presenting his own blueprint. Busuttil also hints at low wages and increased poverty risk, but he fails to make one concrete proposal to alleviate these hardships. On the other hand this government has taken steps in making work pay, in- troducing free universal childcare and increasing benefits for those en- tering the labour market. This is one case where Muscat delivered on the narrative he formulated in his own Budget speeches. Busuttil so far has failed in com- ing out with his vision. Much is ex- pected from Claudio Grech who has been trusted by Busuttil to draft the party's economic vision. In outlining a more social vision, Grech would also be exorcising his own reputa- tion as Austin Gatt's disciple. Ultimately Busuttil sounded more like an Opposition leader bent on narrowing the gap between him and the Prime Minister by capitalizing on the shortcomings in governance characterizing Muscat's admin- istration, than a future PM with a compelling narrative for change. But with Labour's elves going into overdrive to depict Busuttil as being "negative" and "destructive" con- firms that the PN leader is indeed scoring a number of points in his bid to narrow the gap by 2018, to remain in the game to become PM by 2023. Once again as happened before lo- cal elections, which saw the PN nar- rowing the lead, attempts to belittle the PN leader may backfire. Busuttil was bent on narrowing the gap between him and the Prime Minister by capitalising on the shortcomings in governance, rather than a future PM with a compelling narrative for change PHOTOGRAPHY BY: RAY ATTARD One of Busuttil's best sound-bites in his budget speech was his challenge to government to mention any one completed capital project by Labour