On the eve of the storm

As we enjoy the last peaceful day of this fake non-belligerent political lull, we can just as well prepare for a nine week long stormy and hard-hitting political campaign, where no mud will be spared and where all tricks in the book, and some new ones too, will become the order of the day.

On the eve of such a storm I propose that you read one of the articles I recently posted on this blog which I believe is more relevant today than when it was written:

CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE: BECAUSE OF VS. IN SPITE OF

I again urge my readers to remain sober and distinguish between the noise of the campaign and the substance of the alternatives we have to vote for.

Often I am asked by undecided voters whether I sincerely think that Joseph Muscat would be a better Prime Minister than Lawrence Gonzi.

And as always I offer the most honest reply.   We are not deciding the past.  The past is history that cannot be changed.  We are deciding about the future.   So the question is not whether Joseph will be a better Prime Minister than Lawrence has been,  but whether Joseph will be a better Prime Minister than Lawrence would be.

I honestly don't have a 100% secure reply to that.  Joseph has never been a Prime Minister before so we have no way of knowing how successful he would be in that role.   What I know however is that Joseph has grown immensely in his maturity and leadership qualities since he became Leader of the Opposition and that there are all reasonable expectations that he will continue to grow in his position if he is elected as Malta's next Prime Minister.

What I know for certain is that another term, a fourth consecutive one, for the PN will be a democratic disaster.   Already the third term has produced a degree of vintage arrogance and corruption which suffocates and makes makes mockery of democratic checks and balances.   Continuing to govern without a parliamentary majority and pretending doing so in the national interest is offensive to honest law abiding citizens.   The way the public transport re-organisation has been mismanaged and the clear incompetence and dishonesty in the award of the extension of the power station  contract shows that the PN administration has lost all sense of accountability to the electorate.

Democracy demands alternation.   If we continue rewarding the same incompetence purely because we are afraid of change we would be denying ourselves of the true benefits of democracy.  We would continue with a situation where the PN can finance itself extravagantly from its benefactors who can then expect the reward through privileged contracts financed by our tax money.

In 1996 we changed.  Alfred Sant was found wanting and we changed again.   That's democracy!

The time to change is again due.   If Joseph fails to deliver we will have time to remove him in five years' time and in the meantime the PN will have had a  much needed opportunity to cleanse itself through a full term on the Opposition.

But this time it is time to vote for a true democratic change.