.Aero
You stated "In my personal and professional opinion" yet you are not a pilot, a fact that you stated on the Middle East forum. By all means have a personal opinion but leave the professional one to the specialists in that field.
Much has been written about MPL mainly by people who haven't taken the time to actually study ICAO Annex 1, ICAO Doc 9868 etc. MPL wasn't born overnight, it was put together over a long period of time by industry experts. The regulatory controls put on MPL are far more stringent than for any other licence.
Its a fact of life that many European and Middle East carriers have been putting 200-250 hour pilots in the right hand seat for at least the last 20 years. They all followed the traditional training methods, which haven't really changed much in the last 40 years but look at the technological advances during this period. Its a bit like teaching someone to drive in a Jeepny and then putting them in a formula 1 car.
I have been involved in ab-initio pilot training, on 3 different continents, over the last 17 years. I have seen it all. There is a world of difference between CPL/IR's issued by the various countries. I know all the short cuts - yes it's pretty easy to get a license by burning holes in the sky, falsifying logbooks and greasing a few palms.
There are many CPL/IR holders out there who would not pass an MPL course because it is competency based and that's not how they got their licenses. Look at the Annex 1 minimum requirements for a CPL/IR. I see people everyday who hold instrument ratings but have never flown an ILS approach or a VOR hold.
Go and do ATPL theoretical knowledge in a JAA country and it will take you 6 months. But you can go somewhere else on the east side of the med and you can get ATPL theoretical knowledge in 2 days. Go further east and you can do your instrument rating, get your logbook signed up, do the flight test and have the rating issued all from the comfort of your own home-all you have to do is send the money.
I haven't seen it mentioned yet but ICAO are funding an MPL training school in Cameroon to train African pilots.
So yes MPL is the future and it will require fine tuning and as much as we like to resist change it is here to stay.