Common Thread

The Malta Independent

Common Thread

I have never experienced the current degree of boredom being expressed by` serious middle of the road people towards local politics.` It seems that politics has become` detached from their real needs, their worries and their aspirations.

Right at a time when uncertainty about their future is at its peak the government continues to tell them` that all is just fine.` Reality obviously is that for the first time in their lives their take home pay has gone down. Inflation above EU levels is eroding their standard of living and they live under threat of further inflation as energy prices will finally have to respond to international forces

Their businesses are strapped for cash as Government continues to drain` cash flow from the private sector by its rigorous tax impositions to finance its unsatiable needs for more and yet more expenditure.

Their job security is not there anymore as restructuring and liberalisation will change the rules of the games for domestically oriented industries which will unavoidably shed off labour. Meanwhile opportunities being created are few and not matching the skills of those whose jobs are threatened.

Yet government seems oblivious to their concerns and blows out the usual rhetoric about the EU.` On the local front its priority is keeping alive and pumping up to the limit of fantasy the supposed rigging of the election of Alfred Sant` to leadership of` the MLP.

Thus people who have lost faith in the government turn to the opposition and see it in a disgraceful state of` bickering with former influential exponents who seem to have made it their mission to destroy Alfred Sant even at the expense of making the party unelectable.

Normally sensible people with abundance of intellect to tell fact from fiction seem to have lost their logic and are on a relentless crusade to destroy Sant. They absolutely do not care that their case is based solely and uniquely on the revelations of a self-confessed liar who retracted all his stories. They maintain their credence to his original story without explaining how anyone could have stuffed 150 votes in a ballot box guarded by candidates representatives and yet have the finally tally agreed except for 5 votes which were not cast and considered as abstentions.

There is only one logical conclusion which could explain what`s happening.` The only common thread running along all those who are ganging on Labour and Alfred Sant is their devout belief in Malta`s mission to become an EU member. They are well supported by the English press which again falls deep within the euro-phile ranks.

Could it be that the only way they could keep Labour out of government in the next legislature is by making it unelectable through internal bickering so as to give the PN a free ride for a further term which would present` realistic time-frames for realising the EU dream` Nothing else explains the illogical` behaviour of otherwise sensible people.

God forbid if the EU is shoved down our throats through such dirty tricks! When an opposition is not allowed to oppose it is the death of democracy. We could be heading for the EU through a process which betrays the basic democratic credentials we must have to be considered for membership.` `