A new plan for Malta

The vote on the new water and electricity tariffs has now been taken. Unfortunately, for all those who neither have the luxury of some form of incentive nor enjoy any privileges, this measure will exert considerable pressure on consumers and businessmen alike in times when there is dire need of more cash-flow and tax cuts.

As it usually happens, the ones that will be hit mostly will undoubtedly be those found right at the bottom of our social ladder. Those who have already been struggling to keep up with today's stratospheric taxes, fines and what have you will now have a much tougher task to make ends meet.

Additionally, many elders living on a single pension and families with teenage children attending some secondary school will now be suffering an excruciating blow due to the new tariffs hike.

The less money in hand and more taxes will ultimately result in a poorer nation in all aspects. And how about mentioning those families who are living on one minimum wage?

The time is ripe to rethink our position, one which seems to be placing a privileged few on a comfortable protective cushion, which is pressing hard on the backs of the unprivileged lots. Many people will now be forced to start cutting back on various habitual practices.

I would like to make it crystal clear that I'm all out against waste, but at this point in time this is surely not the case. What needs to be said has to be said and what needs to be done needs to be done. So, if the politicians in power truly believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ they should lead by example and show us how they plan to shield the weak, alleviate the poor and help the needy. One cannot preach health and wealth and then open the doors for disparity to seep in. That is simply hypocrisy.

Politicians come and go, but what matters more than what they do during their political career is undoubtedly what they leave behind. At this point, Malta desperately needs a new plan. This plan cannot be drawn up by simple rhetoric or by endless discussions, which lead either nowhere or only to more and more taxes. The answer is found in hard work, fresh foreign and stable investments twinned with stronger and wider diplomatic relations. A highly-educated and sustainable workforce that is motivated through the government's supportive approach and an innovative and eco-friendly tourism industry coupled with excellent service.

I also believe that we need to invest in those individuals who show superior creative or academic qualities even if they happen to be not on the side of the party in power.

If we do all this we can be sure to produce solid results for our nation. In times like these we need to use every resource at our disposal in order to move ahead but at the same time safeguard the jobs of citizens and protect families' interests, which must absolutely come first.

I repeat that our mission is to walk in the same footsteps of Jesus Christ and, therefore, to help the weak and not to crush them.

Political decisions that have been taken throughout history by world leaders have all produced results. Some have brought social prosperity but others brought about economic instability. All those who want to call a spade a spade cannot point fingers at somebody who hasn't been in the decision-making process of a country where the economy is falling behind or is facing turmoil. Full stop.

The people deserve to know the truth. Ultimately, they are sovereign and they are the ones who elect a person or a party to power. So, in that same sense, members of Parliament are morally bound to reciprocate that same trust because they are only part of a bigger picture, nothing more and nothing less. A parliamentarian is just a person representing the people under the emblem of a party, irrelevant of which party that happens to be. Ultimately s/he is obliged to cast the vote in the best interests of the people and the country who elected him and not of the party. By ignoring this viewpoint, a party will only be stretching its control to a point where it cannot be stretched any further and will eventually hit it in the face.

Malta needs politicians who work for the benefit of the workers, irrespective of which strata of society they are coming from. The truth is that the businessman will always need the customer and the customer will always need the businessman, so only by working in the interests of both while trying to keep this delicate balance intact can a party in government succeed in staying alive and well.

Nevertheless, this new plan for Malta can never materialise if politicians keep sinning in the name of their party. I believe that if only one Maltese person is falling behind, our politicians in power need to be right behind such a person to help him or her get back on track. Now that seems like a good enough plan to me.