Truth, not perception

Desmond Zammit Marmarà opted to defend Alfred Sant in Between Truth And Perception (Talking Point August 3). What I cannot understand is why he is so astonished that people are not willing to vote for the Malta Labour Party because of Dr Sant.

Perhaps Mr Zammit Marmarà was abroad when the Labour leader was Malta's Prime Minister between 1996 and 1998, those famous 22 months when every day we had to endure something new. If he weren't abroad he may perhaps have gone into a long sleep. I remember quite vividly those 22 months when the going was tough with all sectors of the population.

I remember the long and irrelevant fights with the university students because of the stipends. I remember how VAT was done away with and replaced with a tax system, CET, that had not been tried anywhere in the world. I remember as if it were yesterday when businessmen used to ask questions about dumb things, such whether doughnuts were CET taxable or not, and then someone from above would answer: "Well the doughnut itself is not taxable but the jam is".

There was the tax on medicine, the fight with the dockyard workers, the rise in car licence fees, the rise in the firearms licence fee, the enlarging of the Mater Dei Hospital when the promise had been to pull it down, the attack on former Premier Dom Mintoff and many other issues. Not even a single day went by when a sector of the population wasn't targetted.

Mr Zammit Marmarà wrote that the Nationalist Party media managed to put the people off Dr Sant. He also praised Dr Sant, saying that upon becoming Prime Minister, he immediately issued a circular that no transfers were to be carried out in government departments and other state-controlled entities. Was this circular obeyed?

Mr Zammit Marmarà also tried to convince us that there was no distinction made between citizens. Perhaps workers who used to work at the National Pool and other government departments may beg to differ. He also said that Dr Sant was proven right on a number of occasions and that he runs the biggest political party in Malta. Since when have the local council and MEP elections determined which is the biggest party in Malta?

How many times has Tony Blair lost seats and popularity in local elections only to win general elections? This happens in every country. It's the second-rate elections that Dr Sant seems to be winning, but we all know that the bread and butter is at the polls during general elections and the last two have given the PN a 13,000 majority.

It's a pity for our island that there is no alternative to this government. Many people feel there's a need of change but they are afraid of returning to those 22 months of madness. It is utter nonsense to say that the people's opinion is only based on perception. People, including myself, voted for Dr Sant in 1996, even though he was slammed by the Nationalist media.

I had voted Labour since 1981 (the first time I had the right to vote) but then stopped and voted PN in 1998 and 2003 and will definitely vote PN in the next general election.

Please do not put the blame on the Nationalists for demonising Dr Sant. I would like to ask a simple question: Are politicians, and well-known Labourites such as George Abela, Lino Spiteri, Dom Mintoff, Alfred Mifsud, Alex Sceberras Trigona, Anna Mallia, Maria Camilleri, Tony Nicholl, Jimmy Magro and Ivan Bartolo, to mention a few, part of the Nationalist anti-Sant propaganda?

I am certain that if Dr Sant stays on as leader the PN will continue to win the games that count, i.e. the general elections.

Like it or not, Mr Zammit Marmarà, people are afraid of Dr Sant and have not forgotten the chaos of his 22-month reign.

The floating voters and the majority of old Labour supporters keep praying for a change in the MLP leadership. But when?