First Victim Last Laugh

The Malta Independent



In election campaigns, as in war, truth is the first victim. And I would add that those who offend truth most are the ones that are losing and forced to resort to lies, untruths and half-truths rather than persuasive arguments.

This must be a good omen for Labour considering that the Leader of the Opposition had to file a libel against the Times and abort an interview for unprecedented journalistic hostility, whilst I had to file a libel against a senior government Minister and demand a right of reply in terms of the Press Act against the Malta Today for publishing a supposed private conversation I had with their Managing Editor, an act that even if it were true offends journalistic ethics.

`those who offend truth most are the ones that are losing and forced to resort to lies, untruths and half-truths rather than persuasive arguments.` This in itself symbolises the choice that confronts the Maltese electorate. They must either confirm a fatigued government who has to rely on public funds to feed the friendly media that puts make up on its facial faults to the extent that they publish outright lies on the Opposition, or they choose to allow democracy to take its course to send the PN for an overdue cleansing on the opposition benches, deflating their big heads from their arrogance overdose.

A choice between those who have no solutions left for the debt and debris problems they have created leading to a soft economy which is failing to create sufficient new opportunities for development, and Labour who have a young team rearing with enthusiasm to make a difference and continue the job that was so untimely aborted in 1998.

A choice between those who see EU membership as an objective in its own right in order to address the problems they can no longer manage, and those that see the relations with the EU as a means to give `our citizens a standard of living improving in sustainable real terms whilst promoting peace, stability and social justice both domestically as well as internationally.

A choice between those who see EU membership as a necessary shock to break the strategic decline that our economy has developed under the burden of successive fiscal deficits and debt explosion, and those who believe that the economy needs a kick-start to regain self-confidence in conducting serious re-structuring leading to fresh and substantial investment inputs that are so essential to achieve successful restructuring without undue social pain. `The Maltese electorate will see through such gimmicks and have the last laugh by deciding in the long term interest of our country.`

A choice between those who, in order to suppress their sense of guilt, continue to deny the existence of economic problems in the face of hard undeniable evidence and those who are willing to call a spade a spade and are prepared to devise sensible and creative action plans to tackle the problems before they maim us irreversibly.

A choice between those who believe that problems can be solved simply by throwing money at them through expensive report writing and those who believe that at some point in time the studying has to stop and determined, planned and focused action has to start to achieve the desired objective.

A choice between those who are bent to undervalue our national assets and our strategic importance and resources and those who know how to build an aura around these resources to enhance their value and chip them in at the desired effective level to negotiate properly economic benefits through our international relations.

A choice between those who sold Mid-Med Bank at half price and are now scare-mongering just because Labour would be seeking to make HSBC live up to their promises and use their dominant position in the national interest rather than narrowly in the interest of the majority shareholders, and those who are not afraid to defend Malta`s rights and interests in all circumstances.

The lies, untruths and half-truths are symptoms that this government can no longer defend its record and can only attempt to look slightly better by rubbishing the opposition.` The Maltese electorate will see through such gimmicks and have the last laugh by deciding in the long term interest of our country.