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MT 8 May 2017

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maltatoday, MONDAY, 8 MAY 2017 News 8 Joseph Muscat's strengths Economy To a certain extent, Muscat's unrivalled economic success is built on foundations set by pre- vious PN governments. Admittedly, Muscat inherited a sluggish economy as Malta was still reeling from the 2008 global financial meltdown. Al- though Malta was spared the full brunt of the crisis which crippled much of Europe and other big economies, Muscat inherited a country with a defi- cit at 2.8% of GDP and unem- ployment standing at 6.5%. Four years into his term the country registered a 1% surplus – the first since 1981 – and un- employment at 4.1% – the third lowest in the EU. Credit agencies such as Moody's and Fitch and other international institutions such as the European Commission and the International Mon- etary Fund (IMF) have been "impressed" by Malta's growth figures. The impressive stats are backed by an unprecedented development boom and grow- ing consumption. The re- duction in energy prices also strengthened the feel-good factor which has been pre- dominant during his four-year tenure. It must be said that Muscat was aided by a favourable glob- al climate, with oil prices at a record low. The "pro-business" Muscat has described these successes as an "economic miracle" and is urging the electorate to keep him in office to guarantee what Labour is terming as "the best time". Talking last year on what has been termed as 'Muscato- nomics', Muscat told the Econ- omist "we are saying that the market is not a bad thing, that it needs regulation, that gov- ernment should leave it to the private sector to do what the private sector does best and that it needs to intervene where there are market failures and social issues. And we are also saying that given the EU rules governing the euro and other things, the only credible way of developing infrastructure, of investing, is by roping in the private sector rather than be- ing antagonistic to it." Reforms Once Muscat quits politics, he will probably be best re- membered for introducing civil unions in a predominantly conservative Catholic country. Doing what was unthinkable just a few years ago, Muscat's government introduced civil unions with the right to apply for adoption together with a cohabitation bill, a gender iden- tity bill and fiscal incentives to encourage more women to join the workforce. Muscat prides himself for having led "a so- cial revolution" with universal childcare ser- vices being the cherry on the cake. Leadership Muscat is now a sea- soned cam- paigner and judging by his p e r f o r m a n c e in the first few days of the campaign, the Labour leader is a far superior public speaker when compared to Si- mon Busuttil. This is reflective of the con- stant lead Muscat has enjoyed in the trust ratings over Bu- suttil. According to the latest MaltaToday survey, Muscat enjoys a 4.7 point lead over Bu- suttil, confirming a lead which he consistently held despite a series of corruption scandals which hit his administration. Since taking over the Labour Party in 2008 Muscat has por- trayed himself as an assertive leader, who at times did not shy away from taking ruthless de- cisions, such as the decision to ditch his deputy leader, Anglu Farrugia, on the eve of the 2013 election. Although he has not shown the same ruthlessness with Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri, Muscat remains highly popular with the party grassroots who will forever be grateful to him for leading the party to an unparalleled vic- tory in 2013. Muscat might have lost some of his freshness and sheen but he still comes across as a better de- bater than Busuttil, who despite drasti- cally improving his public per- formances still lacks his coun- terpart's charis- ma and aplomb. Muscat has also proven himself to be an astute chess play- er and rarely has he put a foot wrong when it comes to political strategy and ma- noeuvring. Yet, this election is his greatest test to date and this time he not only has to fight a combative opposition but he must also overcome his own miscalculations. Joseph Muscat's weaknesses Panama Muscat's decision to retain his chief of staff, Keith Schem- bri, and minister Konrad Mizzi following the revelations that his right hand men held off- shore companies in a tax haven cast a shadow on his judge- ment. He mishandled the Panama- gate fiasco by failing to de- mand Schembri's and Mizzi's resignation in April of last year. This reluctance to ditch them will haunt him throughout the election campaign (and prob- ably his political career) as the battle lines are being drawn on the basis of good governance versus his stewardship of the economy. Nobody in government is in- dispensable and Muscat will possibly pay a heavy price for sticking with them and creat- ing a groundswell of uncer- tainty. Proper governance demand- ed a full transparent investiga- tion, a police investigation into a predicate offence, and the appointment of an independ- ent inquiry into the Panama- gate affair. Instead, Muscat marched on in the hope that the electorate would overlook his failure in dealing with Panamagate appropriately by shifting the focus on to the economy. Previous scandals, such as the one involving Marco Gaffarena and Café Pre- mier severely dented La- bour's impregnability. Then came the Panama scandal which definitely robbed Muscat of his greatest strength: his invulnerability. The very risk of losing next month's elec- tion indicates that his failure to seek closure on Panamagate has tarnished his s q u e a k y - c l e a n image. Environment Muscat's ambivalence to land use and green issues have clear- ly presented the PN with an op- portunity to present itself as the more pro-environment of the two main parties. In this sense, environmental issues may be for the PN what civil liberties were for Labour in 2013. The approval of two ma- jor high-rise projects, and the Paceville Master plan which envisages the construction of numerous skyscrapers have all but confirmed Muscat's vision for Malta, turning it into Dubai in the Mediterranean. Under Muscat's helm Malta has gravitated into a perilous 'business-first-at-all costs' orbit, and as such we are clearly head- ing towards an environmental and infrastructural crisis. Moreover new policies such as the controversial Rural Policy in Design Guidelines approved in 2014 are facilitating the ce- mentification of the country- side. According to this policy, any roofless and long-abandoned countryside ruins can be trans- formed into small villas. All the owner has to do is prove that the structures had once served as dwellings. Moreover, the decision to postpone the approval of new local plans to after the general election raises the prospect of an avalanche of private, pre- electoral promises to landown- ers in the coming months if La- bour is re-elected. The flip side of Muscat's "eco- nomic miracle" is the grow- ing inequality and the press- ing need to regulate the rental market and raise the minimum wage. Muscat has gone as far as ad- mitting that economic growth has not reached everyone and in a predictable move to the left, he said that a new Labour government would prioritise social housing and a rental market reform. He has also hailed the mini- mum wage agreement which Muscat is describing as a rise. However, while Malta Employ- ers Association director gen- eral Joseph Farrugia insisted this was no minimum wage increase but a mechanism to reduce the number of workers earning the lowest amount set by law, civil society and anti- poverty activists said the agree- ment does not go far enough. Joseph Muscat vs Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil are vying to be the next Prime Minister – the fourteenth Joseph Muscat Age: 43 Position: Labour Party leader since 2008, Prime Minister since 2013 Previous job: Member of the European Parliament Job before politics: Economist, journalist Education: St Aloysius College, University of Malta and University of Bristol

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