Labour leader Joseph Muscat was far from realistic when he said on Sunday that his set of 10 proposals could be financed by the government through the tackling of corruption and waste. He could have easily added fraud and the widespread range of outdated work practices in so many government workplaces that also substantially add to the piling up of unnecessary costs. But, however admirable his call is, it can hardly be considered as a quick-fix solution to the problem facing the government, and the country, today.

Does Dr Muscat think that if he were to be returned to power today his government would be able to check corruption, fraud, waste and outdated work practice overnight? If the Labour leader thinks all this can be done overnight, he is very well mistaken, as successive administrations, including, of course, Labour, found out for themselves.

At the Labour Party's mass meeting in Żabbar on Sunday, Dr Muscat delivered the kind of political speech the majority of his party supporters expected but, though some of the proposals he made are worth considering and taking up, he fell short of being a realist. Maybe it was not the place for him to be so but as leader of the party and of the opposition he is expected by the country to take a wider view than that generally expected by the mass of party supporters.

Considering the problems the country is facing today in the wake of the economic slowdown triggered by the credit crunch, many would have expected him to weigh his proposals against the island's economic situation. He did not do this, a failure that, naturally, did not escape the Nationalists who quickly accused his party of detaching itself from the world's financial and economic reality.

The Nationalists have much to be strongly criticised for; their handling of quite a number of issues has been either haphazard or incorrect. But, surely, it would be totally unrealistic to exclude the impact of the economic slowdown on the government's programme. To all intents and purposes, Labour has been making light of the impact, acting as if Malta had escaped the effects, when the reality is quite different. This is not the way for the party to move ahead for, had it been in government now, it would have surely expected the opposition to configure the impact of the slowdown in its criticism. The fact that Labour fails to do this does not reflect well on a party that is talking so much about a new political season.

The truth of the matter is that the government cannot afford to be liberal in dispensing its finances at a time when the country is in recession. In this context, it may well be argued that one or two projects the government has in mind could very well wait until the country rides the prevailing economic storm. The cost of living does need to be seriously tackled, with priority consideration given to getting to the root of the problem at the vegetable market, an issue that has somehow seemed elusive up to now.

However, what is ultimately very important is for the government to ensure that it keeps to the right track in managing its finances for, if not, the price to the taxpayers would be heavier. The country has to cut its cloth according to its means. So, what the country needs most right now is a strong dose of realism.