Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/785757
14 THE last time I interviewed Mar- lene Farrugia, back in April 2016, the party she now leads – the Partit Demokratiku – was yet a twin- kle in her eye. A lot has changed since then: the PD has since been formally launched, complete with a statute and an executive board... and the last thing we heard, Far- rugia's party was in talks with the PN about the possibility of form- ing a coalition to contest the next election. All along, however, we know lit- tle about the new political party beyond the public (and well- known) persona of its founder and current leader. Beyond the statute, the party is still working on policy papers and formulating an identity of its own. It is by no means clear where it stands on various issues (still less, how its position might sit beside the better known ones of the much longer-established PN). This naturally makes the iden- tity of a possible PN/PD coalition something of a mystery, too. But one mystery at a time. What shape is the PD currently in, almost a year since its inception? And is it the same shape that Farrugia had in mind at the time of our last in- terview? "At the time you're talking about, I had just put up a public call on Facebook, to see who might be in- terested in forming part of a new political movement. We held a number of meetings, mostly at my St Julian's home. With few excep- tions, nobody knew anybody else present. The idea was to discuss what was needed... what everyone felt should be done, to pull us out of the political impasse everybody felt the country was in. We had just gone through a lot of trouble to get rid of a government that had been there for 25 years, and – es- pecially in the last few years – had begun to show its teeth, and dis- appoint in various ways. And yet, after all the trouble we took to re- place it with a new political move- ment built on very attractive ideas – transparency, accountability, meritocracy, environmental sus- tainability, economic sustainabil- ity and many other beautiful words – disillusionment immediately set in within the first few days..." But while that may explain the demand for a new party, it tells us little about the PD itself. What does this new party stand for, for instance? "Our three basic pillars are good governance – to us, that is of over- arching importance: unless you govern cleanly, and guarantee that justice is done and is seen to be done, everything else becomes meaningless. You would have lost your credibility before you even began. Then there's environmen- tal and economic sustainability: if we are going to achieve economic growth, it has to be sustainable growth. But the pillar that is clos- est to our hearts is social justice. We feel that, these days – not just in Malta, but in Europe, the USA and elsewhere – while it may be that society is getting richer, the difference between those getting by, and getting by well, and those who are struggling to make ends meet is too large. We would like to see the wealth generated by coun- tries being distributed fairly..." Well, Farrugia did mention 'beautiful words' earlier; and one of those lofty ideals (frequently cit- ed by both Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposition leader Si- mon Busuttil) is the 'distribution of wealth'. Both the two main par- ties claim that this is their ultimate goal, too. So at the risk of sound- ing cynical (which I must confess I am, up to a point): why should we pay more attention when Marlene Farrugia or the PD makes the same promise? "The other parties have a track record. When you look back in depth over the years, you will re- alise that their policies are not al- ways dictated, first of all, by what they themselves had promised; secondly, by the best interest of the people. On the contrary, they are dictated by interests that we only begin to understand later. "Let me give an example. A gov- ernment which – both sides have done this several times – takes a tract of public land: be it in an ODZ [protected] area or not... it's still public land, which is there to be enjoyed by everybody... fami- lies have the right to go there and enjoy the fresh air, have a slice of mqarrun and a cup of tea... But it is taken away from them by the government, and given to the few... often for peanuts. They don't even bother to get a decent price for land they are denying to the public. Then they tell us that the money raised from this one- time sale will be used to improve the people's quality of life. That's a case in point, and we've seen it from both sides. Zonqor Point, Manoel Island, Smart City... they were all sold off for a pittance. Is this a serious way of doing things, when there are 3,000 individuals – not to say 'families' – in a waiting list for social housing? And people struggling to cope with rent? Are they being serious?" The most recent case was the ITS land transfer, which came in for heavy criticism by PD just this week. Marlene Farrugia slammed the government for transferring the ITS site in St George's Bay – which the Paceville master plan had valued at €200 million – to a private investor [Seaport Franchis- ing] for €60 million. "Apart from the fact that the land was, in our opinion, significantly devalued, the investor – and I wish him well – is paying five million in cash, and the next 10 million over a seven year period at no interest. If the government, which is guar- anteeing the interest-free arrange- ment, used that money as a guar- antee so that more people, for the first time, can buy their own hous- es... because people in precarious employment, or who work without a contract, cannot apply for bank loans. "These people can never make that leap forward, and become home owners. They have to rent, and in many cases they can't keep up... especially how things are shaping up today. So when we talk about wealth creation, we must question whether the wealth generated is, first of all, commen- surate with the value of the assets disposed by government. Are the people getting the full value for what they pay? Or is it the case that – for reasons that we can or cannot discuss, I think everybody knows what I'm talking about – no, the people are not getting their full due? As another example she cites the decision to entrust a foreign company with the construction and management of St Luke's and the Gozo General Hospital: which surprises me, because in a recent interview I had asked Health Min- ister Chris Fearne if the intention was to privatise these hospitals (with significant implications for the health service as a whole), and his answer was an emphatic no. Farrugia is however uncon- vinced. "The way these contracts were drawn up, the most impor- tant parts remain inaccessible to the public. So what the minister claims can't be proven. What I'm saying, however, is this: when you [the government] are dispensing the country's assets, and then you don't want to publish the con- tracts, or drag your feet to publish them... it is a cause for concern. It's not the way things should be done." This brings us to Farrugia's plans to address these concerns, which at this stage seems to involve en- tering some form of official coali- tion with the Nationalist Party. There have been reports of nego- tiations taking place as we speak. What stage are these discussions currently at? "Formally, negotiations with the PN began only this week. Before that, we were discussing ways in which we can create a new politi- cal force which unites the best ele- ments in the country for the times ahead; a force which the people can really see as a credible alterna- tive to this government. From the feedback I'm getting – and I'll say it plain – people right now are not seeing the PN, on its own, as an al- ternative government..." Isn't all this a little ironic, though? Farrugia herself began her career with the PN... contested the last election with Labour... was part of the Labour government for a while... and now seems to be gravitating back towards the PN... "Let me correct you on one point: I have remained where I was. If, when I was with the PN, the PN moved too far to the right... I stayed at the centre. When I con- tested with Labour, it was on the promise of transparency, meritoc- racy and so on. We won on that promise, but what happened? One scandal after another, culminating in the Panama Papers. "I stayed where I was all that time. I didn't get elected to that type of governance; I got elected on the strength of an electoral manifesto that made those promises in black on white. I can understand if real- ity sometimes dictates otherwise, and certain things have to be amended... but you have to at least respect the spirit of the promises you made. I'm not the one who changed my position. Now: if par- ties say one thing in Opposition, but do another thing in govern- ment... [she shrugs]... well, it's a Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2017 From the feedback I'm getting – and I'll say it plain – people right now are not seeing the PN, on its own, as an alternative government ALTERNATIVES Zonqor Point, Manoel Island, Smart City... they were all sold off for a pittance. Is this a serious way of doing things, when there are 3,000 individuals – not to say 'families' – in a waiting list for social housing? SERIOUSNESS Of credibility and alte