No news bulletin would survive without party political activity. We live in politics and political decisions matter to all of us. After five years waiting, the referee has signalled the beginning of the short campaign leading to Election Day.
The Nationalist Party has started its electoral journey with an astounding false start. The Prime Minister’s blushes have not been spared; the Nationalist Party campaign team have been caught red-handed copying Sarkozy’s billboards. I cannot figure out how a leading party could misfire so miserably on the eve of election. If this is the prelude, the PN is not going to go too far in its campaign. The PN Government has been accused of lack of ideas after 20 years in government; the Party is not being creative either.
If one had to dissect the PN’s leader speeches, the result is too revealing. Systematic attacks on the opposing party and the dissemination of the fear syndrome among the electorate. The PN is also resorting to fears of the past which have no real significance or relevance today. The PN strategy is also attacking Labour plans without proposing an alternative policy. It is convinced that the people are happy with the status quo which should remain with us till the end of our lives.
Labour has been meeting civil society for a number of years culminating in the publication of a policy document based on the suggestions made throughout this lengthy dialogue. While the PM is hosting the constituted bodies at Castille, the Leader of the Opposition is meeting the electorate in commercial centres, shops and streets. Labour has listened to the people’s aspirations with the aim of implementing them once in power.
On Sunday the PM criticised Labour’s proposal of a reception class calling it a repetitive year.
Being no expert in educational matters, I visited the internet finding a site called The Standard’s Site hosted by the Department of Children, Schools and Families in the UK. The Reception Class caters for specific subjects as well. For instance in the teaching of maths, the reception class introduces to four year olds basic concepts through games and other activities which children of that age enjoy doing. The Reception Class precedes Year One when pupils start the National Curriculum. The idea behind the Reception Class is to prepare children for a more formal education. Its importance lies in the fact that children who are too young to grasp abstract learning are given a better chance through play and other activities which we tend to forget in our education.
The Government cannot boast of our educational achievements in the last few years. Compared to our EU partners we have fared much worse than new entrants on the east side of Europe. Considering the extent of finance that we are pumping into our educational system we should be better off.
The educational sector needs pruning for the realisation of better results.
But the short campaign is not limited to education. It would highlight a new start for the country after years of stagnation. We need more transparency in the spending of public funds; more accountability and a government fresh with new ideas.
And some fresh dramatis personae too. The Prime Minister is neither in the mood nor in the position to effect changes in his Cabinet if re-elected. How can the PM leave out Ministers who make a good show in election? If he dares he would start the new legislature with internal ruptures that no Prime Minister would want. On the contrary, a Labour Government could start from a clean slate.
The short campaign is prompting the government to make popular overtures to the electorate: the children’s allowance cheque; cheap internet; the laying down of foundation stones in schools; the issuing of promise letters to people who have applied for a grave at the Addolorata Cemetery; the appointment of contract workers to more secure jobs, etc.
Labour has embarked on a more solid campaign. During the Annual General Conference, the MLP leader gave a brief exposition of what Labour would do in government by highlighting certain targets that Labour would meet in a staggered and planned way. His government would have a priority scale embarking on policies that would trigger economic efficiency and revival. Labour promises lesser taxation because it believes that the economy has slowed down due to government induced costs and lack of vision.
PR experts believe that the short campaign preceding a general election does not have far reaching effects on the electorate. Many would have already made up their minds to which party they intend to vote. But the political game has its rituals too. In a democratic country, the electorate is being asked to choose between the party with ideas and the party believing in holding fast to power for perpetuity irrespective of its results. After a very long span of 20 years in government, it would be difficult to convince the electorate that you have new plans for the future.
It is time for change. Malta needs to catch up with its EU partners. The old formula has failed; the country badly needs new policies implemented by new people.