Towards a Labour government

In any general election, the leaders of the main political parties and the policies they promote play a very important part. Above all, voters will analyse the situation prevailing in the opposing political parties and assess which is the best choice to entrust with the future of the country.

Let us start with the question of party unity.

A capable leader approaches a general election with all members of his party solidly behind him. A divided party augurs badly for the time when it will be in government. Alfred Sant has the total support of all within his party. Indeed, I have never seen the MLP so united as it is today and so confident in the inimitable qualities of its leader. On the other hand, the Nationalist Party goes into the general election divided within itself and with many PN members openly questioning the leadership abilities of Lawrence Gonzi.

Dr Gonzi also has one big insuperable problem that Dr Sant does not have. The present PN team of ministers and parliamentary secretaries have been totally discredited in the eyes of Maltese voters because of inefficiency in public administration. Serious allegations of corruption in public life have further exacerbated an already precarious state of affairs. This is the reason why, during the election campaign, the Nationalist Party is cultivating the cult of the leader and pushing into the background the rest of the PN Cabinet. This, however, in itself creates another problem. If the PN were to be victorious at the general election, who would replace the present members of the Cabinet? Would it be wise to have a Cabinet of mostly inexperienced ministers and parliamentary secretaries? Truly, Dr Gonzi has found himself in a Catch-22 situation!

Turning to the MLP, Dr Sant is blessed with a team of candidates that includes his highly competent ministers and parliamentary secretaries during the 1996-98 Labour Administration. Not only have they proved themselves to be highly competent during the time Labour was last in government but they are even more experienced in all aspects of political life now that they have spent almost a decade on the opposition benches.

A big defect of Dr Gonzi as Prime Minister has been his inability to gauge the sort of hardship his policies have caused to many Maltese families. His biggest mistake has been to concentrate too much on the economic aspect of government and ignore, right up to the few months preceding the general election, the very important social aspect of good government. The MLP slogan of "too little, too late" attributed to the social measures introduced by Dr Gonzi as the general election approached, is fully justified and appropriate.

For a long period of time Dr Gonzi ignored the plight of pensioners, single-parent families, minimum wage earners, the unemployed and other vulnerable members of Maltese society and went on piling the burdens on them. He boasted about his economic successes (proven false by statistical data) and ignored the social cost of his policies in government.

On the other hand, the MLP, both in government and in opposition, has always allied its economic policies to its social ones and has never advocated any policies that would lead to a heavy social cost having to be paid by the people. The best yardstick to measure a government's performance is the improvement or otherwise in the quality of life of the ordinary citizen. It is in this area that the PN government under Dr Gonzi has mostly failed. In contrast, the MLP has an enviable record in this regard.

Finally, the PN has been too long in government. As in everything else in life, a long period in government leads to a sharp decline in creativity, motivation and initiative. Malta needs a fresh team that will solve the national problems created by the incompetence of the PN in government.

Don't be disheartened by the Herculean task awaiting the new Labour government because of the legacy of the PN in government. Dr Sant is a great leader and a great manager. He will bring the best out of his team. In the tough situation faced by our country today, a Labour government under Dr Sant is the answer because "when the going gets tough, the tough get going".

Vote Labour.