Hundreds got back to work this week following the Santa Marija holiday but it will not be before September that life begins to return to normal. This invariably means that traffic will once again pick up steadily, causing the usual gridlock situations in some of the main traffic arteries. The situation in this respect will worsen when schools reopen.
Parliament is still in recess but this does not mean that politicians will remain silent until they start meeting again to get on with their work in the House.
The moment the holidays are over, the national agenda is rolled out again and one of the items that is naturally expected to surface with speed will be the presentation of the government’s Budget for 2012.
The government has already published its pre-Budget document but this does not appear to have raised any enthusiasm about its thinking and proposals, which, in truth, are a bit thin on the ground. And, in any case, few had any inclination to go through it, let alone study it, before the summer holiday.
But now that the situation will be getting back to normal, there might be some reaction to the document.
Its main message is the need to keep concentrating on fiscal consolidation.
Given the turmoil the debt crisis has whipped up in a string of European countries, and the impact this has had on the money markets and on the euro, it would be illogical to dispute the importance of the main thrust in the document.
And it would be equally illogical if any moves are taken that could jeopardise the resolution to keep to the deficit-reduction programme.
The worst thing that can happen now is if the government were to give in to political or trade union pressure to ease its fiscal consolidation drive. However, the government has to face a problem of its own doing: how to remain resolute in its determination to keep to its programme and at the same time deflect the criticism that will come its way over the ministers’ decision to award themselves a hefty pay rise without even letting the country know about it in a proper manner. The Nationalists have yet to pay dearly for this.
Even so, while the Nationalists’ political opponents and trade unionists will, as expected, milk this political misconduct dry, the national interests will dictate that the country does not slip from the course of putting its finances in order.
The experiences other eurozone countries are going through in their efforts to stabilise their financial situation are too bitter to treat lightly or, worse, to ignore altogether.
The way some Labour politicians sometimes talk about the matter gives the impression that they are living in a different world.
Malta too needs to trim its deficit and reduce its national debt. Countries that do not live within their means will, sooner or later, have to face the repercussions of their folly for, as The Economist rightly points out, a government’s credibility is founded on its commitment to honour its debt.
Besides the problems and challenges that the economic front presents, there will, of course, be many other matters that will pack the post-holiday agenda.
One that will surely need to be tackled seriously is how to restore efficiency in public transport. The reform is as yet far from meeting the people’s expectations.
Making sure that the company delivers what it promised ought to take priority in the government’s agenda.