The best decision Malta could have made

But when given the choice, Joseph Muscat and his acolytes, as opposed to Simon Busuttil and the Nationalist Party, actively campaigned against membership. They even froze Malta’s pending application. Some have argued that acknowledging one’s own mistakes demands courage, but in this case it is more an indication of the lack of courage showed at that time coupled with a lack of foresight and political vision.

Do not Brexit

Had Malta stayed out, we would not have enjoyed the status and the benefits emanating from membership within the union. Had we stayed out, we would not have the economic success today that the Prime Minister so readily boasts about. So in addition to being sorry, Muscat should further acknowledge that Malta’s economic success is not exactly his feat. But maybe that would be asking too much of a man who won an election and governs a country on make-believe.

Of course, his short sightedness, then, makes no less of a valid case for advocacy against Brexit. On this one we are foursquare behind the Prime Minister, just as much as a few years back we were against the advice he offered Icelanders and fellow Maltese. The UK’s exit from the EU is no-one’s interest. It is not in the interest of Britain and its citizens and neither in the interest of Europe or the Commonwealth. Global problems require more solid forms of cooperation and not less.

Switzerland in the Mediterranean A league of no ordinary gentlemen

Listening to Joseph Muscat today makes the idea of membership within the European Union sound as if it was always the obvious choice for the Maltese, but let’s not forget that had it not been for men of great vision and political stamina, we would still be out of it.

Of course, there were quite a few people without whose involvement we would never have made it, but Eddie Fenech Adami’s vision, Joe Saliba’s campaigning skills, and Simon Busuttil’s charisma and technical expertise were pivotal in convincing the Maltese people to express Malta’s European vocation through a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum. For unlike popular belief, it was not the PN which jumped on the EU bandwagon. Quite the opposite, it was the PN which painstakingly created a movement in favour of its vision of Malta’s membership within the European Union. It was Lawrence Gonzi’s firm hands which spelt the death knell of opposition to the EU by making such a huge success out of Malta’s membership, in spite of unpopular but essential reforms and an international economic crisis. Now that is what I call political leadership.