It’s time for another goodie
This is what the government must have had in mind when Prime Minister Robert Abela made the announcement last Monday.
Using a Labour Party activity to launch a government measure – it was clear from day one of the Labour administration in 2013 that the lines between the government and party will be blurred – Abela said that as from Monday tax refund cheques will be distributed to 250,000 workers.
This political trick has now become a yearly occurrence, and it has been used by the government for its political gain. Last year, the cheques were distributed during the election campaign, and we will bet our last euro that next year it will happen again before the European Parliament election.
This year, the government thought it fit to give the tax refund in May, at a time when matters have not been good for the government for several weeks.
The hospitals’ deal judgment has dented much of the little credibility that the Labour government had. In February, a judge rescinded a deal which had seen the government hand over three public hospitals to the private sector, an agreement which was described as “fraudulent” by the court and which has exposed a government in disarray. It was not prepared for this, and it is still unsure what to do – more than two months have passed, and the government is still to maintain its promise of trying its best to recoup millions that taxpayers passed on.
With regard to the health sector, the government is still facing the prospect of a widespread industrial action by nurses and midwives, who have so far dejected the proposals for a renewal of the collective agreement. The MUMN has already given directives, which were suspended until more discussions take place. But, so far, no agreement has been reached.
We are told that negotiations with another important segment of the working population – educators – are moving as planned. Yet, even here, the likelihood of a confrontation between the government and the Malta Union of Teachers cannot be dismissed.
The government continues to be under fire for its reluctance to order a public inquiry into the death of a young man after a building under construction collapsed in Kordin. Abela’s resistance is raising too many suspicions of what could be exposed were such an inquiry to take place.
Added to this, we had the government having to deal with the Rosianne Cutajar issue after the publication of messages that she exchanged with the man accused of being a mastermind in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Cutajar’s now famous – or infamous – “pigging out” comment will continue to haunt her, and Labour, for months and years to come.
So, seeing all this, and with the latest polls showing that the Labour Party is losing ground, the government has thought it fit to play the tax refund card. The government makes it appear as if it is a gift, but we all know that this money has already been paid and is just being returned.