Let's not repeat 1996 (1)

A few days ago I had the pleasure, for the second time in my life, to receive a personalised letter from Alfred Sant, leader of the MLP. When I read this letter it was a déjà-vu for me. I had received a similar letter before the election held in 1996.

At that time I had no vote, and I was going to start university. In that letter Dr Sant had promised me that my stipend would have been secure once he was elected Prime Minister. But what he did with my stipend was exactly the opposite, and if he had stayed in power I would have ended up paying back my stipend together with the interests.

The letter I received recently was similar. It was inviting me to start a new beginning in order to live a better life. No thanks, Dr Sant. My new beginning started when Malta joined the European Union after the majority of the Maltese people, including me, voted yes in the referendum and confirmed that result in the 2003 elections since you did not accept the result and maintained that the partnership won. From that day onwards I've been living a better life, and I hope to continue living it unless someone decides to renegotiate the EU treaty for which I voted.

Dr Sant also told me that his new government wanted to bring changes in different sectors such as the environment, education, training, industry, information technology and tourism. No thanks again, Dr Sant. This government already brought a lot of changes. This government closed Mount Magħtab, introduced waste separation, built new schools and invested in teachers and resources, trained people (also with the help of the European Union), made huge steps in information technology and brought Smart City to Malta, and achieved a new record in tourism.

"Our ambition is your ambition," it said in this letter. Again, no thanks. My ambition is not to make our students repeat a year. My ambition is not to make my fellow workers get paid less for their overtime. My ambition is not to reduce social services to those in need in case there should be a deficit. My ambition is to have a government that creates as many as jobs as possible, not just 6,000 jobs in five years.

And the funniest part of this letter is where Dr Sant tells me that he believes in me and that we can be among the best in the EU. Dr Sant, we are already one of the best countries in the EU. We proved ourselves to be on the same level, as, or better than, other countries and not makku like you used to tell us we would have been. That is why this government managed to introduce the euro and get €850 million for our country, and not €1 million a year like you had told us. That is why our youths are being offered loads of opportunities to study or work in the country they choose. That is why if I should ever be unsatisfied with something or think I've been discriminated against by someone, I can always go and complain with other authorities in the EU. That is why Malta now is more secure, both geographically and economically.

The letter ends with Dr Sant telling me that he is proud that together we can bring change and ensure a nice future. I tend to agree with this last part. Yes, together we can continue to change our country. We can do it together with all the different sectors in Malta, together with the other countries in the European Union and obviously together with Lawrence Gonzi again as our Prime Minister.

The last line of the letter is an invitation for me to choose Labour on Satuday. No thanks, Dr Sant. I cannot risk having other undesired surprises like I had after your first letter in 1996. I hope this time people won't be fooled as in 1996, so I will choose PN.