3 to 1 for PN

The Times of Malta   

10^th April 2003

 

 

This is the end of a long series of contributions meant to project Labour’s policies and principles so as to make Labour the choice of the majority at the next elections.

 

Basically I want to culminate this effort by giving all those who are still deliberating their decision three reasons why they should NOT vote PN and one reason why they should positively vote Labour.

 

“it is bad for democracy to have the same faces in power for a fourth legislature”

Reason No. 1 is that it is bad for democracy to have the same faces in power for a fourth legislature.   It is clear that they are fatigued and have lost touch with reality.   How else can one explain Eddie Fenech Adami’s declaration on April 7^th that our country’s economy has never been in such a good situation as it is today?  Clearly he is not hearing the moans coming up from the grassroots.  

 

How else could one think of a billboard proclaiming that public finances are on a sound footing when latest figures up to November 2002 show that the budget target for the whole year will be missed by some Lm30 million in spite of the Lm21 million quick fix by taking artificial revenue from the MIA deal as if it were regular recurring income?

 

The picture of a young boy sitting comfortably on his father’s shoulders is out of touch with reality.  It would be more factual to have the father’s weight burdening the young boy’s fragile shoulders just as our national debt, declared and hidden, is a burden legacy that a stale PN administration is leaving for our children.

 

A change and a breadth of fresh air in the country’s administration is overdue especially if we are ever to know the truth on such scandals as abusive presidential pardons, opaque sale of Mid-Med Bank without any competitive bidding, escape of drug barons from prisons and so on.

 

 

“it makes sense to give Labour the opportunity to negotiate their partnership and then decide on an informed basis.”

Reason No 2 is that even if you believe that our place is in the EU as full members, it makes sense to give Labour the opportunity to negotiate their partnership and then decide on an informed basis.   Few would argue against a claim that Labour can negotiate much better than a government headed by a Prime Minister who the first thing he did in foreign relations on talking office in 1987 was to inform accredited ambassadors  that Malta was no longer strategically important.

 

The argument of now or never, sort of last train to heaven, cuts no ice as EU enlargement is an ongoing process and the best ticket for entry is a sound and stable economy.   Taking the pressures of the single market when our economy is so soft will rip off our social fabric so painstakingly woven by past governments and for the first 10 years could make EU membership a visit to hell rather than salvation to heaven.

 

 

 

“if we re-elect people whose frame of mind is set on the notion that problems can be solved by simply throwing money aimlessly at them”

Reason No 3 is that if we re-elect people whose frame of mind is set on the notion that problems can be solved by simply throwing money aimlessly at them, we will just

 continue adding on to our deficit and debt while the underlying problems remain unaddressed.   For how long can our financial structures take the load of additional debt before cracking to bury us under their weight?

 

 

 

One reason for voting Labour is that Labour will just do it.  It will do what has to be done to re-structure our economy, bring sanity back to our public finance, reinforce the work ethics which have been eroded by government’s laissez-faire, and address the weaknesses and problem not simply by throwing money at them, but by devising action programmes aimed to solve the problems without spending one single cent more than is absolutely necessary but without false economies.

 

It is time to stop talking about the problems, time to stop writing report and studies leading to further studies, time to call a spade and spade and to start taking action in a determined but meaningful way; a way leading to small wins to be celebrated for morale boosting on the way so that as one nation we can modernise the country economically, physically and morally.

 

It is time for a bit of fresh air to let Labour get on with the job.   It is time to vote Labour. Time to just do it.