This article first appeared in Malta Today

As people continue to quibble about what the Prime Minister Robert Abela said or didn’t say in his interview with the Times, what it really boils down to is the message being conveyed behind his words.

Did he actually say, “under Labour anyone can afford a boat” – no, not quite.  What he said, quoted in full and taken in context is the following:

“The greatness of the Labour government is that many things that were previously considered luxuries have now become affordable to many people. We went from a situation in 2013 where people were begging for jobs that pay €1,000 monthly to a situation where today they can buy a new car, a modest boat and maybe even go on holiday abroad twice a year. That’s how we elevated people’s quality of life.”

The point here, however, is not the “everyone has a boat” reference which is being used as a sarcastic one-liner all over social media.  It is the fact that PM Abela is clearly tone deaf to Malta’s other realities when he talks in this way.  It is true that there are people who are living the good life he has described (and not necessarily because they earned their money legitimately), but somewhere along the line Abela seems to have forgotten which party he is the leader of. Maybe he needs to be reminded that he represents the Labour Party, and just in case he is still confused, the clue is in the name. 

It is the party (supposedly) of the blue collar working class which is on the left-wing of the political spectrum and certainly miles away from the capitalist ideology Abela seems to embrace with such fervour. He is following Muscat’s playbook who was always so gleeful about all the “little rich people” who sprung up out of his economic model. There is nothing wrong with being aspirational and working hard to “elevate” your life as he puts it, but the politicians of the left should not be spouting the kind of things he said in that interview. The whole point of a Labour Party should be to ensure social justice for all by encouraging education as a means to better yourself, and by providing a level playing field when it comes to the earning power of the working class vis-a-vis the cost of living.  I hate to break it to him but those jobs paying only 1k a month still exist and how people are managing to make ends meet on that kind of salary is hard to fathom.

If Abela needs any left-wing role models, I suggest he directs his gaze to the Mayor of New York who recently fulfilled one of his campaign promises when  a New York City housing board approved a rent freeze on one and two year leases on rent-controlled apartments. Over one million apartments will benefit from this rent freeze, giving some breathing space to tenants who cannot keep up with inflation. It is measures such as this taken by Mayor Mamdani which directly affect lower income groups which is the demographic that need the most help.  Landlords, of course, were livid at this decision for obvious reasons, but when you see a whole strata of society struggling to keep a roof over their head, how can you only think of schillings and pence rather than human beings?  After all, affordable housing is a basic human right. 

What I find particularly grating when Abela continually prioritises money and the economy is that it has seeped down to the common man. This was never more evident than this week with the story of a Libyan couple with 5 children who ended up living in their van.  They have lived in Malta for the past nine years after being granted refugee status, but needed to go to Tunisia for medical treatment for their daughter. On their way back, they realised their Maltese Identity cards had expired but the Maltese embassy in Tunes issued temporary permits allowing them to return to Malta.  Unable to go back to work because of an expired ID, and unable to afford current rent prices, they are in a Catch 22. 

“I need an address to be able to apply for a new ID and without the ID card I cannot work and do anything,” the father says. 

The family’s predicament is shocking enough as it is, but what was even more shocking were the callous comments. I hope no one dares describe Malta as a Christian, let alone a Catholic, country any more because the suspicion, the cynicism, the snide remarks and the insults were too much for me to stomach. I had to stop reading. What ever happened to our humanity and compassion for those less fortunate? I guess they sailed away on one of Robert Abela’s boats. 

“Yes it’s illegal, but so what?”

The problem with Robert Abela’s worship of the mighty Euro is that it is spreading like a disease and mirrored in other instances as well.  The now infamous padel courts built illegally on Manoel Island but now magically “sanctioned” have further illustrated the mindset of a nation which these days only cares about money. Wait, let me rephrase that: I think it has always been a very materialistic country but now with the Prime Minister openly bragging about how many luxuries we can afford, the floodgates have been opened for the majority of people to repeat his mantra.  This includes elected officials who seem to have no sense of right or wrong, let alone shame.

One Labour Party local councillor, Ryan Tanti, went so far as to write the following, completely oblivious as to how bad it looks: “… yes I know it was built illegally and someone is profiting off it. But so what. You really need to pick your battles and in my humble opinion this is not one worth your energy.”

Try unpacking the weight and implication behind this sentiment and you will realise how far Malta has sunk in its values.  What he’s basically saying is who cares if a portion of Manoel Island (public land) which had been leased to Gzira FC was taken over without any permits by the president of the football club, a well-connected private individual who built very profitable padel courts on it. This was flagged before the elections, and surprise, surprise, now that Labour is back in power, the PA had no problem sanctioning the 20 illegal courts on the very weak premise that the land’s designated use was for sports facilities. The penalty of €25k fine is peanuts for him. The PA went even further and approved 10 more courts.  It would be different if they were affordable sports facilities which were available for public use, but just try booking a court and then calculate how much revenue is being generated.  

On Friday, the Gzira United Football Club issued a statement that it faced ‘huge financial pressures’ after its €10,000 monthly income stopped when government terminated the MIDI agreement and the padel courts were a “critical investment” for its survival. It insisted that the land “will always be used for sports, as originally planned”.  How convenient. 

I think next time Abela tries to say that he gave Manoel Island back to the people for a national park, we should ask him if that means we can now all go play padel for free. After all, we are paying for it.