Simply scraping the barrel

What the future holds for us is a mystery and, no matter how hard diviners try to prophesise events and interpret destiny, still the unknown remains enigmatic. The Cabinet reshuffle in January kindled a scenario that definitely was not foreseen by the soothsayers close to GonziPN.

... throughout the past 25 years, the whole country was rocked by horrendous scandals- Roderick Galdes

Surprisingly, since January, GonziPN had to face an impasse within the Nationalist parliamentary group that is not only intricate but also has a high probability of leading to checkmate! From there on, completely lost in the wilderness of fate, the gurus running the GonziPN campaign are recycling past “scoops” in a frantic attempt to mar Labour’s credentials that is fast gaining ground even with sectors of the electorate traditionally not so much sympathetic. They are simply scraping the bottom of the barrel!

Over the past weeks, GonziPN embarked on an exercise to resuscitate bygone political incidents or personalities in an attempt to revive anti-Labour sentiments. The rationale is to infer that the world of local politics is made up of two distinct realities: GonziPN, standing for the eminence of absolute truth, goodness and puritans, and the Labour Party, representing the dark forces.

But, then, throughout the past 25 years, the whole country was rocked by horrendous scandals.

Can anyone forget the most controversial Presidential pardon granted to a convicted Brazilian drug courier? The polemic Presidential pardons granted to a notorious Nationalist Party supporter? The substantial grant advanced to AMS Ltd to setup a factory in Malta, which eventually never materialised? The scandalous bribery stories related to fake driving licences and fraud at Transport Malta?

Millions of euros were fraudulently siphoned off from the VAT Department through a collusion of several individuals who were turning VAT returns into refunds for some companies.

A former aide to Finance Minister Tonio Fenech admitted in court that he had accepted bribes to cut red tape within the ministry.

According to the European Commission, the government “discriminated in favour” of bidders who proposed a diesel-fired equipment when it changed the law raising emission thresholds.

Former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami had been found guilty of “political discrimination” against Joe Camilleri, a civil servant at the computer centre.

According to GonziPN, Labour leader Joseph Muscat was making “wild promises” all the time and to everyone. “The people should be wary that the Opposition Leader was making promises that were sometimes contradictory and which could not be kept!” Unbelievable! Laughable! What cheek! Definitely a cheap shot.

Who promised the doctor of your choice scheme? Not only was it just a wild promise but everyone knows what has happened to primary health care, what is going on at Mater Dei Hospital despite the fact that it is labelled as being state-of-the-art and the acute shortage of particular medicine products. Consecutive Nationalist governments have been making different proposals over the Crafts Village at Ta’ Qali but the project never took off!

Carnival float builders had been promised a carnival village for years now but nothing ever materialised!

The Marsa power station not only did not close down but three of the four plants there have exceeded the 20,000 operational hours they were allowed under a derogation Malta obtained when it joined the European Union. Moreover, who had sent thousands of letters before every general election to workers in every sector promising that their place of work will flourish and that their job was secure? The list is endless: market hawkers, Enemalta employees, Go employees, Air Malta staff, public transport employees, Dockyard workers, developers, environmentalists, hunters, self-employed, businesses, families...

What had happened to the solemn promise to control the Budget deficit to fall within EU limits? Where is the rock-solid pair of hands to curb overruns in public expenditure? What about the accumulated national debt?

What happened to GonziPN’s electoral promise to reduce income tax? On the contrary, the Prime Minister is now declaring “that it would be irresponsible to cut tax during the ongoing international crisis”.

The wolf changes his coat but not his disposition! Over the past years, most of the people have realised that they were taken for a ride! Surely, it will not happen again this time round!

I am positive that the people are intelligent enough to realise who made wild promises throughout the past years. Scraping the barrel, maybe a residue will, by chance, eventually turn out to be the trump card.

The author is the opposition’s spokesman on planning, housing, urban development and construction.