An Oppressive PN Government

When a government loses contact with the ordinary people, when it fails to help citizens in their everyday problems, when life becomes so difficult for many in such a way that all their energies are taken up with simply surviving the present moment, these, my friends, are sure signs of an oppressive government.

Unfortunately, I am not speaking about the situation in some faraway country but, rather, about our own country, Malta. Many parents have to go out to work if they are to provide a decent standard of living for their children. For those workers with very low wages, it has become common for both spouses to work full-time and even part-time. This obviously has many negative effects on family life and it is no wonder that such stress is leading to the breaking-up of so many families.

Pensioners face a long hot summer. Although extreme heat endangers their health, given their frailty due to age, they can only hope to switch on the air conditioner for, perhaps, one or two hours daily, otherwise they will receive a bill for water and electricity which they would be unable to pay. Now, to add insult to injury, we have been informed that LPG, petrol and diesel prices have been increased. As if the sharp rise in water and electricity tariffs had not been enough! Some families are in despair at this latest announcement because they were already hardly surviving as things were, let alone now that fresh burdens have been added upon their shoulders.

Given this unacceptable situation, what does the Nationalist Prime Minister, Lawrence Gonzi, do? He insults all citizens by continuously smiling in front of the cameras and declaring that the overall situation in the country is very encouraging, that the Nationalist Government is meeting its objectives, that we must have courage because there are exciting times ahead of us.

In such a situation, it is the people who have to do something about it. Che Guevara once said : “Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves”. This is very true. In Malta’s case, it is the people who have to liberate themselves from oppression through putting pressure on the Nationalist Government to mend its ways. I am, of course, not contemplating any forms of political violence but, instead, legal and accepted means of showing one’s disapproval of the government in a democracy.

The only hope for all citizens and for our country is a return to socialism, that socialism which takes care of the poor, the weak, the downtrodden, the voiceless, the emarginated of society. That socialism that gives back dignity to all citizens who have been deprived of it.