TMIS Editorial: Abela is ignoring Caruana
The Finance Minister says he never tried to be popular.In a wide-ranging interview with Times of Malta, published at the end of June, Clyde Caruana opened up about the way he sees things, giving short answers as if he was being careful not to say too
The Finance Minister says he never tried to be popular.
In a wide-ranging interview with Times of Malta, published at the end of June, Clyde Caruana opened up about the way he sees things, giving short answers as if he was being careful not to say too much, perhaps fearing some backlash from his own team, maybe those higher than him in the Labour hierarchy.
Caruana does not seem to like appearing in the media. Unlike some of his colleagues, such as Owen Bonnici and Clayton Bartolo, whose names come up very often on the list of government activities that is passed on to the media every evening, Caruana's name is rarely there.
Perhaps he believes that his two, three weeks of fame when he presents the budget for the following year are enough. In those hectic times, he's all over the news bulletins, news websites and news analysis programmes as he first produces a speech that lasts hours in Parliament and then is hounded by the media to explain things up over and over again.
That time will soon come for him. October is not too far away and, as soon as Parliament reconvenes after its long summer holidays, Caruana will step up with his red briefcase to tell us what the government is planning for next year and how it intends to implement its ideas, as well as to tackle issues that are of concern.
What we are expecting, when the budget is presented, is for Caruana to tell us what the government's strategy is to shift the economic model to one that is sustainable. Because the one we have is not.
If there's nothing of the sort, it would mean that the conflict between the way he thinks the country should move forward, and the way Prime Minister Robert Abela believes we should would still be there for all to see. We're saying this because it is evident that they are not on the same page about it.
Since he became Finance Minister in November 2020, Caruana has been repeatedly suggesting that Malta must change its economic model. Robert Abela repeatedly ignores him, and does the opposite.
The model which has been in place since the Labour Party took over the reins of government is based on being labour-intensive, most of it imported. This has resulted in an unprecedented surge in population, which has jumped up from the 425,000 in 2013 to 560,000 at the end of last year.
The increase will not stop here, if the current economic model is retained. We will arrive at 600,000 by the end of this legislature - Caruana's words, not ours - and reach a staggering 800,000 by the end of 2040 - again, Caruana's calculations, not ours. If that happens, Malta would have doubled its population in 25 years or so.
All of this is thanks to Joseph Muscat and his policies, which were maintained when Abela took over as head of government. Next time you're stuck in an endless traffic jam or on an overcrowded beach, and the next time there is a power cut or drainage spills into the sea, spare a thought for them, because they are the ones to blame.
And, also remember that, added to the resident population, we must also count the thousands of tourists that are on the islands at any given time as our guests. According to the latest statistics, we're heading towards three million by the end of the year, and no doubt we will have Bartolo boasting about this when the time comes, as he has not realised that we have exceeded our tourism carrying capacity and thinks tourism is just about the numbers.
So just try to imagine what Malta will be like in just 16 years' time. If - now - we are already feeling suffocated, if our energy network cannot cope, if the drainage system cannot handle the volume, if the construction industry is bullying us, if what should be a 10-minute car trip takes an hour... what would the situation be with double the number of people?
Caruana has been telling us this for nearly four years. He is the only one from the Labour camp to have expressed this kind of concern. He says that he speaks his mind, and that he does so at Cabinet level too. But he also says that "it's up to the rest to accept what I say or otherwise".
Since things have not changed, and there is no plan for them to change, it means that Caruana is being ignored by Abela and, by default, by the rest of his colleagues, who follow Abela's lead blindly as their predecessors did with Muscat.
If Abela does not listen to his own Finance Minister, is anyone expecting him to listen to anyone else?
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