We are just days away from a general election, and politics is in the air. Actually, it feels as if the 2013 election were held last year, and a snap election only helped to make it feel even closer. As everyone knows, the top three topics for this election are corruption, the rule of law and the economy.

I will tackle the economy and business continuity. It’s not that the issues of corruption and rule of law are less important or not important at all, but I strongly feel that a large percentage of the electorate is being mild towards the issues of corruption and threats to the rule of law simply because the economy is doing well.

To explain it in a simpler way, if the economy was doing really badly, this percentage of the electorate would probably be more vociferous in voting for change. As sad as this can sound, I feel that this is a reality and it does not only have to do with money but also with the concept of change. Yet, there is a flip side to it all.

Let’s go back to March 2013. The economy was doing well, so well that the electorate still voted for change, and they did big time. Four years ago they voted for change on, in my opinion, lesser degrees of ‘negative’ issues with definitely no threat to the rule of law. So how does one explain that at one point the economy was doing well and people voted for change and now the same people might not be so keen to vote for change because the economy is doing well? How does one explain this?

Should we remain on this path, at the rate we are going, the economy will suffer and it will hit us anyway

The plausible reason for this is three-fold. Firstly that while the economy was doing well, even with high international oil prices, it was being built as a sustainable platform, and it still needed time to grow even further and saturate. This is a fact, as the current economy is basically fuelled by pre-2013 sectors.

Secondly, the long campaign and moments of uncertainty pre-March 2013 created a lull of activity before the election which stopped most business and new activity. In fact we are kind of experiencing the same in these four weeks yet it’s a short period so it will not have time to negatively affect or be felt at a greater degree.

And thirdly, the Labour Party in their 2013 electorate did not talk about the economy and any measures at all. They completely left it out of the picture and focused on other matters. Matters which now ended being its Achilles heel with all the issues of bad governance during these four years.

Yet, moving forward, the Nationalist Party has in the latter weeks seriously addressed the economy and reassurance of business continuity from two opposing ends. One is that by having a clean administration the country’s reputation will be restored.

All of the sectors that depend on international investment and trust such as the financial services, IT, gaming, property and direct foreign investment will suffer, and we are already seeing signs of this,if the Labour Party is re-elected and continue to govern. And the just recent Malta Files story makes it imperative that the country seriously addresses this critical development and that the necessary credible and regulatory control checks are in place.

On the other end is the Nationalist Party’s or rather coalition Forza Nazzjonali’s commitment to further stimulate the economy and be positioned to an open for business approach. This does not mean that its will be a free for all, yet it will restore faith and belief that it’s a fair ball game and an efficient system to take the country forward.

The party’s electoral manifesto also provides concrete and tangible economic proposals to sustain all this.

I obviously don’t expect anyone who is set on voting Labour to understand or agree to the above. Yet what if you acknowledge the fact that this government’s track record of scandals and governance, to put it mildly, was abysmal and totally opposite of what it was elected for? What if you know it is wrong yet for some reason you are afraid to change and rock the boat because the economy is doing well?

Well, for starters, should we remain on this path, at the rate we are going, the economy will suffer and it will hit us anyway. And finally, if the economy is doing well now, imagine how much better it will perform if a trustworthy government is in place, a change that will send the right signal locally and internationally and also one that will stimulate the current performance with new energy, new sectors and a pro-business business attitude which is fair and really for all.

Then it will really be the best times for our country!