At some point in the next 12 months the adult population of these islands will be expected to cast their votes in the general election.

It will be an election like no other. There are, to my mind, some less reassuring aspects of the current Nationalist administration. A percentage of Nationalist supporters appear to have been tempted into swinging towards the traditional Fascist, far-right party. This has been seen in its more extreme form in the far-right group led by Norman Lowell, and I would argue in conventional politics with the suggestion that the unfortunate citizens who were deported for internment during the 1939-45 war should have a monument erected in their memory.

When I first came to Malta in 1957, as a young conscript, support for the less extreme Italian style of Fascism, although muted and 'behind closed doors', was most certainly still 'alive and well' at a certain level of Maltese society.

Although we are now an EU member state, the current administration appears to think that we are of such importance that EU directives can be safely disregarded. Hence, a risk is being taken that by allowing hunting in the spring season no Nationalist votes will be lost from the hunting fraternity. However I am not alone when I say quite bluntly that there is a very real risk that many people like me who abhor hunting, and only tolerate it during EU-approved periods, are more than likely not to vote at all.

The EU has instructed member states that a reasonable percentage of energy by 2010 will be derived from renewable sources and by 2020 20 per cent of our electric power must be obtained from renewable sources. This government has more or less ignored this directive as well. Another vote-loser?

However, there is still time to dismantle the incredible array of war period radio aerials, an enormous 'farm' that nobody complains about, taking up a large area at Wied Rini near Bahrija, and placing in their stead a farm of totally contemporary wind turbines.

There is still time to power the reverse osmosis plants with wind turbines. One state-of-the-art large turbine could provide enough electricity for a village the size of Mgarr, and the local council has done some preliminary research into the matter.

There is still time to erect a giant photovoltaic farm inside the boundary fence of Luqa airport. This, without encroaching on the runways, would, with our climate, generate quite a lot of power. There is still time to convert the top of Filfla, suitably cleared of explosives, into another photovoltaic farm.

Alternative sources will be the norm in only a few years. Why the heck can't we get a government that takes decisions and lets us be innovative rather than the one country that always faces EU fines?

Another vote loser is the disruptive divorce question. For many years now, almost 50 per cent of marriages have ended in separation (900 out of 1,700 last year alone) - 1,800 people were directly involved. The parents and siblings of the separated were also heavily involved. Parents feel most deeply for their children, and the divorcees, for the most part, don't want to actually live and produce children without the security of a formal tie.

And within the moral context, common law relationships do little or nothing for the long-term investment in the desirable state of real, lasting family ties. Geographically, we are a very small nation with nowhere to escape to in an effort to remake lives and Government cannot let this sad and damaging situation continue further. Legislation should surely be introduced to allow civil divorce and civil remarriage, before the situation becomes totally out of control.

Over even a ten-year period at the current rate of separations, 9,000 people will be directly involved and at least a further 9,000 relatives will also bear the unhappiness of separation.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.