The June 3 election is different from recent elections in that one theme dominates the campaign: the impact of the Panama Papers scandal on the country’s political governance. But there are also similarities with other elections in that the two big political parties try their best to win support in every electoral district by promising goodies that appeal to residents of particular localities.

Gozo has always been an important political battleground. The PN has traditionally been strong in this district but lost ground in 2013 when the PL gained a landslide victory. So it is to be expected that both political parties will concentrate on giving a special treatment to Gozo with the hope of asserting their electoral advantage.

One thing that both parties seem to agree on with regards to Gozo is the need to have a fixed communication link between Malta and Gozo in the form of a tunnel. Dr Simon Busuttil says that, if elected prime minister, in the first 100 days he will “take stock of geological studies on the feasibility of an underground tunnel between the two islands”. The strategy is similar to that of the PL except that the PN believes that the present administration is dragging its feet on this project.

Another not so new commitment made by the PN is to build a commercial ferry service between Gozo and the Grand Harbour, as well as a fast-ferry service between Malta and Gozo by the end of 2017. In the past two decades these services existed but were found not to be financially feasible and were abandoned.

The PL still has to clarify its position on beefing up ferry services prior to the tunnel being completed. One has to assume and hope that both political parties will give paramount importance to the financial viability of building a tunnel as well as providing new ferry services.

The PL has committed itself to invest heavily in roadworks in Malta and Gozo if re-elected. The pathetic state of the roads on our islands ranks as a top concern for most road users. Political parties do well to propose infrastructural investment on roads. The PN has mocked the PL proposal claiming that not much has been done in the last four years to address this problem.

Another controversial issue that divides the two parties is the running of the Gozo Hospital. The PL will go ahead with the public-private partnership with Vitals Global Healthcare, while the PN will ‘renationalise’ the Gozo hospital.

Perhaps the most intriguing proposal was that made by the PN that is promising a grant of €10,000 for any young couple who decide to set up home in Gozo. Dr Busuttil was cautious not to get caught up in a controversy on how this scheme would work as journalists soon raised a number of relevant issues on the practicality of this proposal.

So far no political party has come up with sound financial costings of the different electoral promises. The biggest stumbling block to the main promise proposed by both parties – the building of a tunnel – may well be the financial burden it might impose on present and future generations.

Now is the time to build bridges with the electorate. But hard financial reality checks will soon follow.

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