I have never believed in learning lessons from history. Not that I never believed past events but I have always believed you should look ahead as life is a constantly changing phenomenon. I believed that the thuggery of Labour back in the 1980s is a thing of the past. Sadly, although today the thuggery is, thankfully, not physical, we are seeing Labour in slick swish suits plunge us deeply into a hole of no return. So I have to back down and admit that history should have taught me a tough lesson. With all due respect to all true Labour-leaning people, their party has never learnt and has never changed.

They do not have thugs beating up the opposition or policemen firing tear gas at PN supporters; they do not go round the country terrorising everyone and burning down PN clubs. They do not burn down the Times of Malta offices. They do not stop us from using the name Malta and Nazzjon under their Foreign Interference Act.

But they still try to terrorise, acting like cornered rats ready to pounce. Because I now accept the lessons of history I sadly, and to my shame, believe that Labour, or rather the present leaders of the party, are a threat to our democracy and to our general well-being.

Before the 2013 election I thought that the Labour Party leaders, which had so effectively changed the branding and the look of old Labour into a new image, had really changed internally, intrinsically and forever. I thought the new slick look was here to stay and they really meant business.

All we have fought for as a party, as a nation, is on the verge of being lost

I did not like what they proposed but I had hoped they had learnt their lesson.

They obviously had not – in fact the ones leading the party now are worse than all their predecessors. These came into power to loot, to dip into the kitty, to make themselves kings of power and material wealth.

They smiled at the people, their supporters and potential voters and laughed all the way to Panama and other secret places to cover up all their wrongdoing. And when they were caught, rather than do the only honourable thing and resign, they blundered on.

Now is the time when Malta faces a crucial choice, when Maltese men and women of goodwill have to forget the little deeds or misdeeds of the PN while in power and vote them back to save Malta.

I am over 60 years old. I have lived through numerous elections and power struggles. This must rank as among the most important, when history can be made by turning the tide and we Maltese and Gozitans choose Malta and its salvation. If we choose Labour and Joseph Muscat, all we have toiled and fought for will undoubtedly go down the drain.

In 1962, Malta chose the PN and the party led the country to a glorious new chapter of Independence.

In 1987 Malta chose the PN and saved the country from the ugly clutches of Labour, from loss of liberty and rampant violence where thugs ruled and the police were led by criminals.

In 2003 the PN won the election which endorsed the referendum result leading to EU accession. Malta once again chose to join the free world, with a future that gave it hope, stability and economic wealth.

These were the pivotal elections which paved the way to build a new, vibrant Malta.

Instead of vibrancy, the 2013 election unfortunately swept us into a sea of uncertainty, fear and a relentless disappearance of all things a modern, western democracy should hope for. All we have fought for as a party, as a nation, is on the verge of being lost.

The coming election is again a pivotal one; it is so important that, like the PN, I believe we need to choose not a party but our country over all other things. We need to forget political allegiance, even if need be forget short-term selfish economic well-being and choose Malta.

This is our chance to make this election another historical one where people choose principle and stand up to be counted, to choose Malta over everything else.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.