Some insist that Joseph Muscat and his Labour Party are distributing the candy they had promised before the election which secured them such a huge electoral victory.

He would deny this, but it is an undeniable fact that decisions have and are still being taken which are hard to reconcile with the rosy statements and pledges Dr Muscat had made from the Opposition benches.

These many instances vary from the very serious – like the removal, practically en masse, of top civil servants to be replaced by party cronies – to the utterly petty, such as allowing taxis and Monti hawkers to occupy prime positions in the capital city.

However, like the visitor Ebenezer Scrooge had one cold night, these past electoral pledges will eventually come back to haunt Dr Muscat. There is still time for him to make amends and get on an even keel, ensuring the country continues to enjoy the sort of governance that befits a thriving democracy.

As leader of a political party, he is, of course, allowed to strive so that Labour will be people’s preferred choice when they go to the polls. However, even at a partisan level, that should not come at the cost of being branded a ‘vote buyer’ rather than a ‘best policy vendor’. More importantly, Dr Muscat must now realise that he is the Prime Minister of a country he himself insisted belongs to everybody.

It would be advisable, therefore, for him to take resolute action to change course by showing he can be an effective and efficient Prime Minister able to run a competent government.

Dr Muscat is often absent from the picture and when tricky situations surface, the press are forced to corner him to get a comment/reaction. And even then, questions are met with stock rhetoric.

The time has come to introduce Prime Minister’s Question Time in Parliament and Cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries must be more willing to make themselves more accountable, beyond the so-called ‘consultation’ meetings with the public the Labour Party in government likes to boast of.

Accountability and transparency are always essential requisites if there is to be good governance, especially when silly administrative mistakes that have become the hallmark of this government are so numerous.

The latest blunder was when a helicopter was unable to land at St Luke’s Hospital because a car was blocking the access. The version of what happened given by the Health Department was different to the account by senior officials at Mater Dei Hospital later in the day.

Only a few days earlier, contrasting statements by senior government officials were made over whether a Maltese man had been abducted or not in Libya.

Confusing, if not contradictory explanations had been given by different spokesmen of the same government as to why the opening of summer school was delayed, why was unauthorised parking allowed in Merchants Street, Valletta, how much does Sai Mizzi Laing (the Energy Minister’s wife) earn from her position at Malta Enterprise, whether the preferred bidder for the new public transport contract was chosen or not...

These are not signs of a well-oiled administration. Neither does it say much about the coordination between the different branches of government.

It would therefore pay for Dr Muscat not to wait until Christmas – for which read the next election – to heed the advice of the ghost of electoral pledges past. Otherwise, he risks having the same fate as Hans Christian Andersen’s emperor.

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