The latest assurances from an ailing government are a true picture of why it is practically impossible to believe or decipher what to believe what is being told in the press. Recently the government came out with its portfolio for the last four years in government – a cheap propaganda glorifying a government that had completely disrespected the public for many years.

I followed the rhetoric attentively and could not but wonder if this could be the calm before the storm. Comparing Malta to other EU states is important but giving heed to what the people want is more important. Getting close to the people before a general election seems to be enshrined in the modus operandi of our political system; but the latest developments of a government that seems unable to accept not being in power is taking the situation to a totally different level.

And through this entire saga the people continue to suffer. They are not only suffering because of the miserable wage increases and the soaring fuel prices, but they are also suffering because they are living in a system that completely disrespects the population at large. The countless mishaps of governmental bodies such as the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, Transport Malta, the VAT Department and others continue to leave the population speechless to what can be done.

The people have to endure the complete mismanagement of roadworks in various main arterial roads without proper phasing of works; they have to endure the completely inefficient planning system where the opening of an aperture on a façade takes months to be approved; they have to endure hours of waiting in an emergency department that seems to always be in a complete state of panic; they have to endure the excessive prices of basic commodities against moderate and low wages.

And the list goes on. At the same time the government builds a Parliament the people don’t really need, a MITA centre that ignored all planning policies but was given the green light, a SmartCity that ended up being two large structures in the middle of nowhere and the creation of an oligarchy that favours the few and disregards the rest.

This is why the people are not respected and this is why they cannot have another GonziPN administration after the next general election.