Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and his government seem to have one primary objective between now and the next general election, namely to give the impression that, thanks to their superior governing ability, the Maltese have never had it so good. They have either lost touch completely with the realities that the average Maltese family is experiencing or are in a state of denial of the steadily deteriorating quality of life of most of our people.

We are repeatedly told that what matters now that we are members of the EU is that our Prime Minister can rub shoulders with world class leaders like Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair and Angela Merkel and with them decide on how Europe is governed. Like other types of snobbery, this political snobbery is a reflection of the inferiority complex of those who only feel fulfilled as persons when in the company of political heavyweights.

Like most European citizens, the average Maltese is more interested in how the quality of his life is being affected by decisions made by the government in his country, as well as by the mandarins moving in the corridors of power in Brussels. Seeing on our television screens the Prime Minister hobnobbing with the famous, and not so famous, leaders of other European states has lost all its excitement, especially in the context of the harsh realities being faced by our families.

The escalating cost of living, the exorbitant water and electricity bills, the poor state of public services (especially those relating to health), the lack of suitable employment opportunities for our young people, the steady decline in our tourism industry, the poor results of our educational system, and the deteriorating quality of our natural environment, are the realities that need urgent attention. However much this government tries to keep up appearances of prosperity, people are not stupid and know that their concerns are not being addressed.

The Prime Minister continues to bombard the public with a plethora of statistics aimed at convincing us that the financial problems of the country are now mostly resolved, and all we need to do now is reap the fruit our past labour. This is a fallacy, because even if some economic indicators, like the annual fiscal deficit, and annual government debt, may have improved, this has been done at the cost of selling the family silver or taking other short-term measures that are not sustainable in the future.

This government has no real plans on how to promote economic growth, or at least support our traditional wealth-creating engines like tourism and manufacturing.

But the spin that the country is on the mend and the future is rosy is only aimed to create the feel good factor on which this government relies to deceive the electorate into voting it in power again for another five years. This spin is reinforced by the devilish tactics of the Nationalist government that resorts to the old stratagems of rubbishing the opposition and its leadership.

With their brazen political snobbery, they want the public to believe that in this country they are the only ones with any grey matter in their heads, and that it is their God-given right to lead this island forever. But the reality behind these appearances is very different. More and more people are realising that this is a government that has been in power for far too long and has lost touch with the harsh reality being faced by most families.

This is a government that lacks substance because it has run out of ideas on how to make this country prosperous again. They resort to rhetoric and tactics aimed at keeping up appearance of well-being, because their actions lack traction and cannot bring about the change that is needed to promote economic growth.

Our constant contact with ordinary people convinces us in the Labour Party that the priority for this country is to ease the burdens on families and businesses so that they can begin to look forward again to the future with renewed optimism. More people are convinced that what this country needs is a change that will bring about new ideas on how to support our ailing industries and at the same time attract new investment.

This change cannot be brought about by a government that is geriatric in the political sense but by a Labour Party which has used its years in opposition to keep in contact with the aspirations of ordinary people. The majority of the electorate are fed up with being treated like fools by those who ignore the harsh realities of everyday living in today's Malta and resort to just keeping up appearances.

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