A very positive development is in evidence in this general election round. A larger sector of the electorate have cast away their chains with their voting traditions or the voting traditions of their families and are making their own assessments and their own decisions on the way they will cast their vote.
This is very good for the country, provided that the decisions are taken on the right criteria. The worst thing that can happen is that the vote is part of a barter deal – vote against some type of favour. The best thing that can happen is that the vote is cast after an assessment of who will deliver the best results in the long term.
Elections are not short term affairs. We were lucky it was short term in 1996 when we were given to change course after 22 months of Alfred Sant’s government.
We were not so lucky in 1970 when Labour took over a vibrant country, revving after achieving independence, and transformed it into a quagmire of economic stagnation, institutional degradation, violent repression and reduced personal freedoms.
Someone mentioned DNA the other day... well, there it is. We are also taught that we should know the tree from its fruit – and people from their track record.

No short term affair
Elections are not short term affairs.
In the short run that Labour was in government between 1996 and 1998, they took decisions which could have had a devastating effect.
The mess they made in their haphazard changes to the indirect taxation system caused a huge inflation spike as the effective rate was increased to 21% and at the same time created a hole of Lm50 million per year in the revenue of government as they destroyed the discipline of tax collection.
The huge increase in the price of electricity when the price of oil was hovering at around US$13 per barrel (in contrast to today’s US$95 per barrel) threatened to break the social fibre of the country. The worst part of the system introduced was that there was a heavy increase on the charges for the meter. This meant that the tax was on getting the service of water and electricity whatever the consumption. A very antisocial measure indeed.
This huge increase also threw competitivity out of the window and threatened our economic progress. This in fact was evidenced by the sharp drop in investments that were registered during Labour’s term.
The decision by this short-term Labour Government to freeze Malta’s application for EU accession could also have had a devastating effect had that government not collapsed in a spate of internal strife. We would have had to wait and maybe reapply for accession with Romania and Bulgaria or for the next window when Serbia will come in. In the process we would have lost our eligibility to the over €800 million in funds that the EU has budgeted for our use in the next seven years.
With our accession to the EU, we have added a powerful motor to our economy and to the way we do things. Our standards have taken a leap forward and we have become a very attractive location for investment in the industrial, services and financial sectors. Imagine if, because of Labour, we had lost all this.

The future
Therefore it is very good for the country if more and more voters are looking to the future and assessing how this future can be enhanced. Today’s concern is quality of life, expressed in high values, an effective education, a state of the art health service, an economy that presents the means to develop one’s potential and capabilities, an environment that is properly managed.
Voters are assessing which team will be the best team, which players within the team will be the best players to participate in the tough competitive match that lies ahead. That is why it is important to make every vote count.
So our decision on 8 March will forge the future for our country and for us and our families.

Website
My website had now been launched on johndalli.eu. It contains information about me and about the issues that I stand for. I would appreciate your comments.

www.johndalli.eu
comments@johndalli.eu