Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/954081
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 14 MARCH 2018 News 6 AFTER five years of Labour in government Malta is now a more crowded, bustling and noisy place where post-materi- alist concerns on the environ- ment, immigration, quality of life and good governance are eclipsing bread and butter is- sues. This represents an epochal shift in people's concerns when compared to the last days of the Gonzi administration where people where mostly worried about making ends meet and paying bills. While before 2013 the main concerns were the cost of living and utility bills, the main con- cerns under the Muscat admin- istration have been traffic, the environment, foreign workers and corruption. While nine years ago concern over utility bills reached 33% and peaked at 50% in February 2010, only 0.3% expressed this concern in the last MaltaToday survey, down from 20% three months after Labour was elect- ed in 2013. Concern on the cost of living has also fallen from 44% in 2012 to just 2% now and concern on jobs has completely evaporated to nothing from 18% in 2013. On the other hand con- cern over traffic and roads increased from 9% in 2013 to a staggering 26% in the last MaltaToday survey. This matches an increase of al- most 47000 vehicles in Mal- tese roads between 2012 and 2017. Foreigners and construction: the new concerns New concerns have also emerged under the Muscat gov- ernment. While prior to 2013 respondents used to mention illegal immigration as a main concern, this is now eclipsed by concern on the number of foreigners living in Malta. Be- fore 2014 concern on migra- tion fluctuated according to the number of boat arrivals, reach- ing a 27-point peak in 2009 and rising again to 17 points in 2014. But the latest MaltaToday survey shows 10% concerned with the number of foreigners living in Malta and 6% con- cerned about illegal immigra- tion. This probably reflects the sharp increase in the number of foreigners from less than 13,000 in 2012 to nearly 38,000 in 2016. Even when it comes to envi- ronmental concerns, respond- ents are now more likely to mention problems related to construction than the generic concern with the "environ- ment" mentioned in pre-2013 surveys. But at 16% concern on the environment and construc- tion has now emerged as one of the top three concerns along with traffic and immigration. Concern on construction and over development only started picking up in MaltaToday sur- veys in March 2017 when 4% mentioned this problem. The increase in concern on over de- velopment reflects the increase in new permits for dwellings from just 3000 in 2012 to more than 9000 in 2017. Curiously absent from the list of concerns is any reference to the increase in rents and property prices. The rise and fall of the corruption issue At 10% concern on corruption remains far higher than ever registered before 2013 when concern on this issue never sur- passed the 3% mark. But con- cern on corruption has dipped from a record all time high of 30% in March 2017 when the issue served as the Opposition's battlecry, to 10% now. Con- cern on corruption had already dipped to 8% in September 2017 after the general election. These surveys suggest that during the past five years Mus- cat has managed to address the main concerns impacting the Maltese before 2013 but in so doing has unleashed new prob- lems, which he is less success- fully addressing. Some of these concerns like that on rampant construction and foreign work- ers/residents, can also be the direct consequences of the gov- ernment's pro-business policies. The Opposition's dilemma The new landscape of Mal- tese concerns also represents a dilemma for the Opposition which is desperately in search of a new battlecry after Simon Busuttil's failure to narrow the gap by picking good govern- ance as his main issue. Surveys suggest that corrup- tion is less felt as an issue than the traffic, environment and immigration triad. This may strengthen the Opposition's temptation to give less impor- tance to good governance and more importance to one of the top three concerns even if this would ignore the direct rela- tionship between good govern- ance and environmental pro- tection and good planning. The Opposition is also walk- ing on a tight rope between addressing popular concerns which could further alienate it from business interests and reaching out to the business community which includes segments that benefit from rampant construction and from the availability of foreign workers at both ends of the la- bour market. Addressing the concern on foreign residents and workers may also be tricky for a party that in the past has always stood for openness and a rejection of xenophobia. Yet concern on the social, environmental and in- frastructural problems caused by a rapid and unplanned in- crease in population (an in- crease of 40,000 between 2012 and 2016) cannot be dismissed as sheer racism but may reflect concerns on rising rents and the presence of seasonal migrants with little sense of belonging. Moreover, surveys do not measure the intensity of feel- ings the Maltese have with regards to particular issues. While the environment may be a very important issue for the Maltese it remains doubt- ful whether it can change the way people vote in elections. Furthermore it is also doubtful whether issues like traffic are even seen as electoral issues. One pitfall for the Opposition is that merely exploiting the new concerns does not cancel the need to reassure the public that it will continue delivering on the economic front if elect- ed to government in four years' time. In fact Muscat's greatest ac- complishment so far has been that of dispelling old Labour's bad reputation when it came to managing the economy and in creating wealth and jobs. This also depends on his abil- ity to sustain current levels of economic growth and to dispel fears of an overheated prop- erty market and a possible EU clampdown on Malta's com- petitive advantage in gaming and financial services. The changes beyond the surveys While surveys on concerns give a clear picture of Malta ANALYSIS FIVE YEARS OF LABOUR How Muscat changed JAMES DEBONO Surveys and demographic data suggest that in the last five years in power, Labour has changed both the concerns of Malta's inhabitants and the reality in which they live