John is a clerk working in a corner in a dimly-lit room in a small department posting social security cheques. He is a University graduate and is not close to the circles that wield power. His chances to advance in his career are as dim as the light of his morbid room where he spends eight hours a day, five days a week.
Like John there are thousands of employees in government employment who do not have someone who can promote them, who can offer them a transfer to a more fulfilling job. Many of these workers happen to be either in the centre or on the wrong side of the political divide.
Recently, the PN media came down like a block of concrete on a few youngsters who are fed up with the present government and who worked out a plan to oppose, in a democratic way, an age-old government that does not meet their aspirations. Some of them were threatened, others vilified in their places of work, while the rest were ridiculed. However, the most heinous crime of all was committed by those who had no scruples about delving into the private e-mails of these youths. This is a very serious case which threatens the e-mail security of each and every one of us. The PN media are publishing with gusto the e-mails exchanged between a group of youths… and who knows? Maybe tomorrow you will find some of your e-mails in the press. If the PN media can do this, others might try as well. This strategy shows how an old and tired political party can work.

This kind of yesteryear politics has encompassed our personalities for an odd 20 years. Big Brother is watching us day and night, and if we do not fall in line, we are condemned without any hope of redemption. That is why half of Malta has been castigated to oblivion and a 20-year-old government has established its presence in every corner of the country. The logical consequence has been lack of initiative by the ordinary person and the slow growth in economic activity.
Government-induced costs have eroded our competitiveness and made the life of the small self-employed persons miserable. Whenever I talk to these persons they always say, “we can hardly meet our ever increasing expenses let alone make good profits.” Many of them live on an income which does not surpass by far the minimum wage. They urge their wives to find a part-time job so that at least they can make ends meet. Those who are in their 40s and 50s do not have many options and stay in their small businesses as the only alternative they have rather than registering for work. They know that if they find a job it would not pay much more.

A 20-year-old government has shown little concern for the environment. On various occasions we have witnessed environmental groups marching in the streets of Valletta defying the government and MEPA on the issue of obscene permits that have ruined the countryside, if not the private properties of certain individuals who saw the values of their property vanish in thin air. The reason? Some blue-eyed boy obtained a building permit against all expectations. Sliema residents have seen their environment deteriorate day after day. This had a great influence on their lives. Sliema residents feel lonely knowing that their children and relatives rarely pay them a visit due to lack of parking space.
The Cottonera area has been left in a dilapidated state. Valletta is in a shambles, and no one should blame Jeremy Bosseivan who has described Malta as the dirtiest country in Europe. On the eve of elections, government is spending thousands of liri on printed material promising a project for the Valletta area. The same project (with a little bit of power point adaptations) has been circulated by the same government on the eve of other general elections.
During the last 20 years of Nationalist rule, no plans were made for alternative sources of energy. When the new power station was built in Delimara we were told that this power station would solve Malta’s energy problems and in a few year’s time, the Marsa plant would be dismantled in the name of a cleaner environment. Although the per capita consumption of energy in Malta is below the EU average, between 1990-2004, we increased our consumption by 53 per cent. EU members must at least produce 6 per cent of their energy via renewable energy sources by 2010, with the Union discussing the possibility of increasing this to 12 per cent by 2020. At the moment, three years away from the established target date for alternative energy sources, Malta depends totally on imported oil with no effort at all to meet the EU objective, and with a spiralling bill for the imported black gold.
The government has not tapped solar and wind energy – two sources of energy within our reach.
The government has also failed to establish close relations with our neighbouring countries. Nearly every government in Europe, and not the least the US, are tapping Libya’s new emergent market by sending their envoys and commercial missions to Tripoli to sign hefty contracts – even though up to a couple of years ago, Libya was out of their dictionary. The Maltese government had close ties with Libya, but they were left to deteriorate to the advantage of our international competitors.
All this leads to the logical conclusion that the country needs a political shake up, a government with new initiatives and with more energy to offer new and better perspectives to its citizens. The power of change can reap for us a new kind of politics where everyone finds his place irrespective of his/her political beliefs. A few liri here and there given in a pre-election budget should not dissuade those who have made up their mind to invest their vote in a completely new government which would look to new pastures for their own benefit and those of their beloved ones.