Now that the election is thankfully behind us, it is time for the new government to set its eyes firmly on its priorities and start tackling the major problems that still remain. To do this, it needs to have the Maltese people united behind it.

As such, it is important that Prime Minister’s appeal for unity is heeded by the Opposition and its supporters.

The President has also rightfully stressed the crucial need for national reconciliation.

The electoral campaign was one of the most negative in living memory, with a great divide being created between people of different political opinions. One could also note the contempt with which some people treated those who did not share their political opinion.

Some of the rough language used during the campaign deserved our utter condemnation. This now has to stop as the national interest demands that we unite as a nation and get on with the job of achieving progress and prosperity.

For this to be realised we need the total commitment of both the government and Opposition towards this noble aim. Hopefully, the people are mature enough to arrive towards this goal.

Once the aim of national unity is achieved, the Labour government must deal with major outstanding problems left unsolved during the last legislature. Foremost among these is the issue of good governance.

It is imperative that Labour does not repeat certain mistakes which darkened its reputation at a time when it was achieving what nobody had managed to achieve in the last few decades.

This has to be a government which functions on the basis of transparency, meritocracy and political accountability.

It has to set high standards in everything it does. The doubts instilled during the last legislature have to be erased from the collective memory through concrete action on the part of the government and a firm commitment not to repeat the mistakes of the past which embarrassed it both locally and abroad.

The next step would be to tackle the other most important outstanding problems. One of these is the traffic problem.

A study by the Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development of the University of Malta found that the traffic problem was costing Malta €274 million a year in 2015.

It estimated that the increase in traffic would cost the country €317 million by 2020 unless this problem is adequately tackled by the government.

In its manifesto, the PL mentioned that it will start preparing an ambitious project known as a Mass Rapid Transport System. In this regard, I would also suggest reviewing the Nationalist Party’s metro plan as there were some very good ideas included.

Another important priority for the new government is that of having modern, well-maintained roads. During the campaign, the PL pledged the greatest investment ever in roads, with a €700 million programme, partly financed by European funds. This is absolutely essential as we cannot go on having some roads reminiscent of a Third World country. Better, well-maintained roads are a must for economic development, especially in a country where tourism is one of its main sources of income.

As regard other government priorities, one cannot leave out the protection of citizens from abuses by the powerful construction industry.

In Malta we should consider ourselves lucky to have a vibrant construction industry, acknowledging that property developers are contributing their share towards economic development.

However, we must also admit that citizens’ rights have been regularly infringed during the past few years by captains of the construction industry.

It will be the duty of the new government to ensure that the construction industry will continue to be supported and sustained by government commitment to its welfare while simultaneously safeguarding citizens from abuses.

Something that I would like to see is that the welfare of citizens should always come before the interests of the developers’ lobby.

We cannot accept the concept that major projects should be implemented even at the cost of sacrifices on the part of the ordinary citizen.

Citizens have the right to live in peace in their homes and this right should be protected by the government. We cannot have developers make people’s lives a living hell for a number of years while a major construction project is completed.

Curbing the power of the developers’ lobby is a must during the next legislature.

Finally, but most important of all, we have to eradicate poverty. The previous Labour administration managed to cut it by half, now it has to strive to eradicate the remaining part. I am glad this aim is included in Labour’s electoral manifesto as a priority of its social policy.

Let us now all of us unite and give our full support to the democratically-elected Maltese government led by Joseph Muscat. The government’s success during the next five years will be Malta’s success and our success.

Let us work for it.

Desmond Zammit Marmarà is a Balzan Labour councillor.