On January 13, 2013, right at the beginning of the electoral campaign that swept them to power, the Labour Party held a press conference to announce their energy plans. The presentation was two hours long. All cards were laid on the table. The plan had clear objectives and deliverables.

One could, of course, as the Nationalist Party then did, query whether the plan was realistic and doable. But Labour convinced the electorate, not least through the level of detail contained in their presentation, that the plan as laid out was the most responsible choice for Malta.

Exactly two years down the line, things have changed radically.

Works on the power station that was supposed to be delivered within two years have not yet started. We are going to have a massive gas tanker permanently moored in Marsaxlokk.

One third of Enemalta, contrary to what was promised, has been privatised or, rather, sold to a company owned by a foreign state.

Contrary to all expectations, the BWSC plant is still operating on heavy fuel oil and, therefore, if we are to believe what Joseph Muscat used to say before the election, inflicting cancer on people who live in its vicinity.

The Prime Minister is justifying the departure from the energy plan by saying it would have been irresponsible for this government not to adapt to the opportunity that presented itself in the form of an investment from China.

It is, of course, the prerogative, and I would say the duty, of any government to change plans and take corrective action if it feels it would be in the national interest to do so. However, there is a marked difference in the way the PL was operating before it got elected to how it is operating now.

Twenty- four months ago, the PL laid all its cards on the table. Now in government, it is keeping all the cards close to its chest.

A number of agreements were signed, agreements that will bind us for many years to come. The government, despite promising to the contrary, has not published these agreements. The Opposition, the independent media and opinion makers are demanding the contracts be published. If the government wishes to have a sensible and productive debate in Parliament it should publish all documents now, giving the Opposition time to scrutinise the documentation before the discussion.

This government promised transparency but once elected shrouded itself in a thick cloak of secrecy

Only then will we be able to assess whether the plan ­– not the one that was originally promised but the one that is actually being delivered – is the responsible choice for Malta.

We need to have sight of the agreement with Electrogas Malta, the consortium that has been contracted to build the power station.

We need to see the final agreements with Shanghai Electric. The agreement that was published last December cannot be and certainly is not the final or sole agreement. It lacks important clauses that one would expect to find in any serious contract, let alone a contract which, by the government’s own admission, is one of the largest signed by the government of Malta.

The December agreement was a generic one drafted for public consumption by a government hoping to fend off an increasingly discerning media and public.

Will the share purchase agreements be published? Will the warranties be published? Will the deadlines for the conversion to gas of the BWSC plant be published? Will the conditions related to the transfer of the Enemalta employees be published? Will any exemptions granted be published? Will any undertakings accepted by the government be published? Will the power purchase agreements be published?

Will there be a tripartite agreement between the government, Electrogas and Shanghai Electrics? If so we should be told. We need to know exactly what obligations we are taking on and at what price.

As leader of the Opposition, Muscat said that contracts of this nature should be scrutinised and debated by Parliament before they are signed.

He used to argue that the people, who, after all, were going to be the ones funding the agreement, had the right to know what the government was negotiating on their behalf. He has now changed his tune.

Muscat now says that all people care about are paying less for their utility bills. I tend to disagree.

What if what we are paying today is cheaper than what we were paying two years ago but still more expensive that what we ought to be paying once all the new infrastructure is in place? The question becomes more pertinent with the predictions that the international price of oil is set to continue spiralling downwards for the foreseeable future.

In the last six months alone, the price of oil has fallen by some 60 per cent. In the light of this change of events, a reduction of 25 per cent in electricity tariffs, which are oil price driven, can pale into insignificance.

Democracy is all about giving true power to the people – power to make the right decisions. How can that happen if the information necessary to make those decisions is kept hidden?

This government promised transparency but once elected shrouded itself in a thick cloak of secrecy.

It is one of the many promises that fell to the wayside in the past 20 months.

Mario de Marco is deputy leader of the Nationalist Party.