Editorial

Labour is still riding high on a wave of euphoria following its third consecutive win in local council elections. The MLP has interpreted the verdict as a clear-cut indication that the people want a change of administration. Alternating power is par for the course in a democracy, and with the Nationalists now having been in government for so long, it is hardly surprising that more and more people would want to see if the government-in-waiting is now fit for the job or not.

In truth, unless the Nationalists give their administration a really good shake-up, the likelihood is that Labour will continue to gain in political strength. As it has been pointed out countless times already, the Nationalists are mainly slipping in matters that have been irritating people for years. Unless they get to grips with these and prove that they are sensitive to the needs of the man in the street, they will continue to lose popular support.

On the positive side, they certainly cannot be faulted in any way when it comes to their sense of direction, as shown when they convinced the electorate that the island's place is in the European Union. Labour's stand over Europe was confusing.

But that is now history, as is the short time the MLP, under Alfred Sant, spent in government before it had to go to the polls again after losing a confidence vote in Parliament. Labour's task now is to convince the electorate it can do better than the Nationalist Party.

Labour may well think, unwisely, that having done that at council election level, the electorate is now eager for a change of administration. But is it or is Labour in fact winning largely by default, as it has been so forcefully argued by so many? Labour knows that the fight for power is to the finish and that there is still a very long way to go before the electorate decides whether or not the MLP is fit to make it to Castille.

If Malta is to have a change of administration, it goes without saying there would need to be a change for the better. What kind of change is Labour offering? Is the electorate believing Dr Sant when he goes about declaring in town and village squares that his party would do this and that in six months' time after winning power? What kind of change does Labour have in mind? Surely Malta's economic parameters have now been so well established that the MLP can hardly come up with anything new. In fact, most times it speaks only in generic terms.

If matters go as well as they are doing now (except for performance in local council elections!) for the government, in two years' time the budget deficit should be well under control. Surely Labour would want to keep it that way. And if, by then, international fuel prices are still high, and perhaps rising too, how exactly does it plan to face the challenge? And will it slash taxes? If yes, how, and what would make up for their loss?

Labour constantly gives the impression it has a magic wand. Of course, it has not. It probably does not have a vision either.

Labour has yet to do much more to convince the electorate that its policies are better than those followed by the Nationalists. Even so, anything can happen between now and election time and counting the chickens so early in the day is certainly not advisable.