Former PL MEP Cyrus Engerer has not held back in his recent criticism of the Labour government, but in a series of stories posted to social media this morning, he laid out exactly what he perceives to be wrong with the current status quo.

Over the course of four stories posted moments after this morning’s survey which found that PN could regain Gozo from Labour despite Bernard Grech’s inferior trust rating to Prime Minister Robert Abela, Engerer listed down nine issues ranging from political transparency to worrying shifts in the country’s educational system.

“Maltese youth are becoming financial slaves to banks, forced to take on lifelong loans with excessive interest rates just to buy a tiny property,” Engerer started, before moving on to “environmental destruction” which he said is a result of “reckless development”.

Also highlighting the fact that “schools are failing to produce critical thinkers” (questioning whether the nations leaders are “afraid of a generation that might challenge them”), Engerer went on to list down issues such as “hospitals in crisis”, “immigration policies built on exploitation and abuse of foreign workers”, and “systemic abuse of inmates” in Malta’s prison.

Engerer’s concerns, as expected, also shifted into more political ones, with three separate points putting the government in their crosshairs. 

“The government has changed the law to prevent citizens from requesting inquiries into political abuses,” he wrote, referring to this week’s reform announcement. “Are we in a new dictatorship?”

“Electoral districts are being shifted to prevent power loss,” another point read, this time reacting to leaked district plans which also emerged this week. “Real democracy doesn’t work like this.”

Finally, Engerer dedicated his last point to how, “to this day, not a single recommendation from the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry to strengthen democracy has been implemented.”

“This isn’t just bad governance,” Engerer argued. “This is the destruction of democracy.”

“The question is now simple: will we stand by and watch this happen, or will we rise up and fight for a better Malta? Malta deserves better. We must unite for change.”

Last April, Engerer (back then still a Labour MEP) had joined newly-formed civil society platform Il-Kollettiv, with the group’s aim being of “promoting social justice, equality and better use of common resources.” In the months which followed, Il-Kollettiv – and Engerer himself – has been very vocal in its criticism of the current status quo, quickly emerging on the frontlines of many battles against planned developments in the islands’ countryside and ODZ zones.

Do you agree with Engerer’s analysis of Malta’s political atmosphere?