Time for definite decision

Alfred Sant might have hit the proverbial nail on the head when in his PR contribution in The Times of June16 he says "many people accept that what needs to be done to restructure and modernise Malta's operating systems cannot be telecommanded for us by outside diktat. The Maltese will have to do it for themselves."

This is probably one of the reasons why many people including myself are in favour of joining the EU.

The Maltese have not been able to do it for themselves. We have been hearing this tune from our politicians for as long as I can remember.

Our style of confrontational politics and the lack of agreement on so many important national issues leads me to believe that unfortunately and I stress the word unfortunately, we are not capable of solving so many of the issues that hinder our progress.

We therefore need to swallow some of our national pride and accept laws and standards set by the EU. Many countries large and small have already done so, so why can't we.

By all means let us retain our identity and defend what we consider sacred but let's rid ourselves of this nationalistic mania about Malta for the Maltese.

It is no longer applicable in this day. We cannot isolate ourselves in the middle of the Mediterranean.

Had we been an economic superpower this might have been possible but let us not forget that we are literally a pinprick on a world atlas. We should not be afraid of joining the superleague of European nations.

If Dr Sant thinks that we are capable of doing it on our own then he is also by inference suggesting that we are also capable of "competing" within the Union.

What makes Dr Sant's contribution even more remarkable is that later in the same article, he states that he has come to believe that it might be better for the country to totally shelve the EU issue for a few years.

This, to me, is not an option.

We have waited long enough. Just as God said to Moses "Let your people go", the Maltese people should be given the opportunity to decide on this question without any more delay.

If my memory serves me well, it has been with us since the late sixties or early seventies. Surely it is now time for a definite decision one way or the other.