Mintoff asserted that Malta was not in a position to handle its huge and growing deficit now hovering at near 8% of GNE. In this he was conclusively correct. Then he softened the severity of the worsening crisis by championing a slow cure, lest people of modest means got hurt through application of radical surgery. He sounded in defense of sustaining inflated employment by the government sector, where six persons would suffice to accomplish the work of two, and by omission overlooked the artificial high rate of exchange favoring the Maltese Lira against the US$ and other solid world currencies.
Perhaps Mintoff should take a closer look at Mexico's near bankruptcy of not long ago and the bitter medicine it swallowed under IMF lending rules in an effort to recover from a spiraling economic bust of potentially enormous consequences. There was nothing in Mintoff's rhetoric which promoted fiscal discipline, the kind of which has never been applied in Malta. Instead of focusing on stopping Malta's hemorrhage with a tourniquet he proposed the application of a Band-Aid. It would of course be political suicide for Mintoff and other self- serving demi gods to educate the free spending public with the reality of the cancer , as well as the gravity the national debt imposes on the present generation and many other generations yet to come. The emergence of Europe as an economic mammoth sharing a common currency bodes ill for the unsupported Maltese Lira whose value is pegged exclusively on fluctuations of the international money market rather than the island's gross national product.
Mintoff is at his height of illusionary visions when championing Malta's neutrality within its Mediterranean sphere of influence. Lacking the power of military and economic enforcement Malta is less dangerous than the proverbial paper tiger. There is nothing Malta can say or do as an independent country which will impact the political and military fortunes of nearby Africa or the Middle East. Like it or not Malta is an inconsequential pawn moved here and there on a chess board by powerful nations, in a game which is simply out of its league. Mintoff would serve Malta's foreign policy better with his advice on granting sovereignty of Sant' Anglu to the Knights of Saint John, instead of fussing about the misfortunes of his dear friend Ghadaffi and his other mentor Arafat. The policy of strict neutrality and non- engagement so dear to Mintoff is clearly of no consequence to the world at large. The matter is of value only within the Maltese political structure in that it embellishes the electorate with a false but comforting sense of importance.
Given its diminutive size Malta's strength lies in recognizing its weakness. Only as a member state of the EU can it gain favors and in turn contribute towards the whole, through limited participation. Within a united Europe dominated by an assertive Germany there is bound to be a first amongst equals complex. Even in a diminished capacity afforded proportional voting as a less favored Southern European country, Malta's share of prosperity will far exceed any wealth it might generate on its own limited resources and merit. It is this premise which regulates the economy of size that Mintoff seems to conveniently dismiss in his ramblings favoring foreign policy neutrality and against EU membership.
Mintoff would do Malta a service if he limited his moribund political leanings to local meetings held within his electoral district. The world has past him by but he seems not to have noticed. In the English vernacular the condition of being removed without loss is called redundancy. From a far distance Mintoff's resurrections at political intrigue appear remarkable, as indeed they are. Like the fabled Phoenix he refuses to fade away, resurfacing instead to stroke the cauldron with divisive and at best fancy assertions. He then fades away into the Western sunset letting others take charge at damage control. While nobody can deny an old man's legitimate right to be heard, it is time for younger, better informed leaders to take the helm of state in hand and stir Malta towards the future without hindrance of obsolete attitudes left over from the cold war.
Mintoff aside the larger question which begs an answer is whether the EU will accept Malta's application for membership should it happen.
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