Our country has come a long way under different administrations. But in 2016, can we do even better? And more importantly, will everyone benefit from what we achieve?

Take the economy, which is supposed to be doing well. Is everyone reaping the fruit of our economic growth?

Surely, wealth can be distributed more justly to address people at risk of poverty or social exclusion – whose number has hit a record 100,000. Surely, the elderly should be getting a better pension that can actually see them through the month.

And surely, people in need of special medicine should be able to get it from our public healthcare system and not have to beg for it at the Malta Community Chest Fund and its charity marathons.

But they aren’t and this is wrong in a country where the government spends lavishly on propaganda to convince you that we have a strong economy.

And it is also unacceptable, because with our economic legacy from 2013 and more so now, with the crude oil price at just a third of what it was two years ago, our economy should be giving you more than it is today.

Instead, real average wages are not growing. When you strip the increase in our population resulting from a dubious largesse in the granting of visas and residence permits and when you take into account the effect of inflation, the real average salary in Malta in 2015 was less than it was at the end of 2012.

The government itself admitted as much in its own Economic Survey published with the Budget. The hard facts coming out of the last two Economic Surveys are that real per capita wages were increasing up to the end of 2012, but have since dropped.

This is worrying. And middle income families are also seeing any increase in their incomes eaten away by the highest inflation rate in Europe. You will not have heard this on PBS or government propaganda. But yes, according to Eurostat, throughout the latter part of 2015, we have been suffering the highest rate of inflation in Europe.

The reason is clear. Whereas other governments in Europe passed on to their citizens and their industry the two-thirds drop in the price of crude oil, our ‘Gvern li Jisma’ passed on but a few cents. And it wants us to be thankful for small mercies.

So, while Maltese families face the highest inflation rate and among the highest fuel prices in Europe, they have also experienced the lowest increase in average wages for a generation. That’s why average incomes in Malta are stagnating. And this matters too.

As it happens, this year, a new private (sic) power station should come on stream. But will it deliver cheaper electricity? That is highly dubious. In fact, the Prime Minister took strong exception to my public commitment to purchase electricity from the cheapest source. Why would he do that unless he already knows that ‘his’ new power station will deliver higher rates than the interconnector?

A socially just economy, good governance, the environment. Here are just a few themes that will certainly dominate the public debate this year

The plain truth is that we should not buy electricity at a higher price than that we can obtain. And we will make sure of that.

These are some of the issues that the Nationalist Party has identified in its pre-Budget document last year – the first ever Opposition to have done so – and in its economic blueprint – ‘An Economy for the People’. We will pursue these issues in this New Year because we strongly believe that there is a more socially equitable manner in which the wealth we create – and yes, wealth must first be created – is distributed within our society.

By the same token, our economy cannot just benefit the chosen ‘few’. For what irony it is to celebrate the collection of €4 million for charity at the latest L-Istrina telethon when our government thought nothing of signing off even bigger cheques to the Gaffarenas and Cafe Premiers of this world.

Better standards require a government that is founded on clean politics. It is precisely because we lack this that people’s confidence in politics is being eroded.

We cannot let this go on and this is why the Nationalist Party published a document entitled ‘Restoring Trust in Politics’ barely a month ago. We will start off this year in earnest by engaging in a public consultation exercise to explain this document and improve on its 100+ proposals for good governance.

And better standards also require higher environmental standards. Last year, the government used its majority to force through decisions with massive implications in terms of environmental degradation. This year, it will outdo itself by anchoring a huge gas tanker at Marsaxlokk Bay to supply the new power station.

We will not let this go unnoticed because I strongly believe that our quality of life is not for sale and that, in any case, money cannot buy everything.

This is why, this month, the Nationalist Party will kick off its political season with a specially-convened General Convention that will focus on how we can clean up our act on the environment.

A socially just economy, good governance, the environment. Here are just a few themes that will certainly dominate the public debate this year. But there will be more. And the Nationalist Party will do its part to show that yes, we can do better.

Simon Busuttil is the leader of the Nationalist Party.