Beware wolf in sheep’s clothing

We all know the fable about the wolf that dressed up as a sheep and followed the herd into their pen. The shepherd did not realise what he was letting into the sheep pen and the wolf had a feast with no difficulty at all.

One day they will regret it but until then a lot of damage will be done- Noel Muscat

This reminds me of the present, glossy Labour electoral campaign. Blue ties and white flags abound. Billboards and banners with smiling faces everywhere, professional and public figures making reassuring statements, former Nationalists giving reasons for ‘making the switch’, and so on.

Very impressive, insofar as PR and spin go.

Then there are the promises. The question is not what is the Labour Party promising but what it is not promising. It is churning out promises, trying to be everything to everybody.

Contrast this with the track record of the Nationalist Government, which has delivered, for example, in terms of health (the PL toned down its criticism of Mater Dei Hospital after Alfred Sant himself received sterling treatment there), education (new schools, the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, heavy investment at the University), political stability (EU membership), dependency (just ask Libya whether or not they could depend on us during the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi), economic leadership in certain sectors (financial services, for example), and economic stability, attracting investment and creating jobs (Lufthansa Technik is but one example).

According to the PL, the virtues I have mentioned above do not count. They are ‘the past’ and we must look to the future. How many times have I heard the standard reply that heaven forbid that no good was done in all these years?

Personally, while I believe that we should look to the future, this does not mean that we should forget the past. Indeed, I say, let’s look at one’s past to try and determine what that person, or that political party, can offer us in future.

On the other hand, let me just for a moment ‘forget the past’, as the PL very conveniently want me to. Including the PL’s past, of course, starting from their leader who, after campaigning vehemently against EU membership, went on to become an MEP and now talks almost as if he was the mastermind behind Malta’s EU membership.

Let me ‘forget’ all that and briefly concentrate on what the Nationalist Party is offering Malta for the future. This includes options to raise one’s national contributions leading to a better pension in future, more assistance for businesses to help them export their products, further investment in tourism, waiving of tax and national insurance for unemployed people who set up their own business.

These are not only concrete proposals but intelligent ones, with a strong underlying message: the Nationalist Government is not offering freebies; it is offering opportunity and assistance to those who are willing to help themselves.

The Nationalist Government is saying that if you want to export, it will help you, if you make an effort to start a business, it will help you too. If, for example, you are on a minimum wage and attend certain courses to try get a better job, it will give you an allowance that will more than make up for the €5 per month that the PL are criticising the Nationalist Government for charging you.

We all know what happened to the wolf in sheep’s clothing in the end. The wolf was caught out and eliminated. In the mean-time, however, he caused a lot of damage.

The same could happen if people are not careful and are caught up by the glitzy marketing.

One day they will regret it but until then a lot of damage will be done, damage that could be avoided by not being taken in by the PL’s marketing machine.

Noel Muscat is mayor of Swieqi and a Nationalist Party election candidate.