Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi seemed to put paid to rumours of an election in November when he said on Sunday that his Government planned to present the Budget for next year in that month.
Never mind that the approval of the financial estimates is this time bound to come up against some tricky political hurdles, the question of when the election is going to be held is now fast becoming an academic exercise for time is pressing anyway and the two main parties are already firmly locked in election mode.
It is wise on the Government’s part to go ahead with the presentation of the Budget ahead of the election and it would be foolish on the part of rebel backbenchers to try and put a stop to its approval.
It is essential for the administration to have the estimates of revenue and expenditure duly formulated and passed so that the country can continue to operate normally without any administrative hiccups. Let the rebel backbenchers fight it out during the debates on the ministries, but the Budget would need to be approved.
One particular MP, Franco Debono, who is now generally seen as being more interested in his personal aggrandisement than in the policies he espouses, is of course expected to put more spokes in the wheels, but the MP should now realise that people are weary of his antics.
Also, with the election so close, they have far less significance than they did earlier in the year. It would be far better if he were to go on his own way than to persist in creating trouble for the party he had previously professed to be so enthusiastically part of.
Contrary to what he may think, he is not the only MP to have put forward good ideas, and he should also keep in mind that he was elected on the strength of the party he represented.
Dr Debono ruined his own political chances by the selfish way he handled his claims. In the process, he has done considerable harm to the image of local politicians, already tarnished by a number of factors.
But there was another interesting development over the weekend – the announcement by Simon Busuttil that he plans to contest the election on behalf of the PN. Dr Busuttil is a vote-puller and his decision to contest, something that must have clearly been expected in party circles, will greatly help to boost the morale of the PN, which has been trailing Labour for quite some time in opinion polls.
The Labour Party seems to have taken an election win for granted, arguing that people have for long been clamouring for change. The political unrest within the Nationalist Party has not helped boost the party’s election chances, but the battle for Castille is not won yet.
The country does not need the kind of scaremongering Dr Busuttil resorted to when he said he was convinced that should Labour be elected, the country would be knocking on Europe’s doors for a bailout within a year or two. Such talk will do the country no good.
On the other hand, however, Labour does need to spell out its ideas in clear, unequivocal terms. As the situation stands, it is giving the impression that it has few ideas that can compete with those of the PN.
In the meantime, all eyes will be on the Prime Minister’s words this evening, in what could prove to be the most important speech he has made during this legislature.